The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a toll on South Korea’s film industry – one of the world’s most vibrant. And with growing concern over continuing outbreaks, it’s uncertain when audiences will feel safe enough to return to movie theaters. Most South Korean cinemas never shut their doors during the pandemic even though box office sales have plummeted. In May, over 1.5 million movie tickets were sold nationwide, down from nearly 17 million in January, according to the Korea Film Council. It was an improvement over April’s numbers, which dropped to a record low of 970,000 tickets. Jason Bechervaise, who lectures on Korean cinema at Soongsil Cyber University in Seoul says the country’s film industry is “facing its biggest crisis” because of the coronavirus. It’s a setback for an industry that gained global recognition when the dark comedy “Parasite” prevailed at the Academy Awards ceremony in February, becoming the first non-English language movie to take home the Oscar for Best Picture. But, compared to film industries in Hollywood, China or Europe, South Korea’s is in a better position to bounce back, Bechervaise says. “The industry has slowed down but hasn’t ground to a halt like it has in other countries,” Bechervaise says. “It’s resilient and cinemas are still open and as (COVID-19) cases decline, hopefully people will feel more confident about going to see films again.” South Korea was one of the first nations to flatten the curve of the disease, which health officials attribute to rapid testing and technology-based contact tracing. But, in recent weeks the country has experienced an uptick in new infections, bringing the total number of cases to at least 12,121, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Monday. Faced with these rising numbers and what health experts warn could be a second wave of infections later this year, there’s scant expectation that box office revenue will return to pre-pandemic levels soon. ‘Un-tact cinema’Now, one of South Korea’s largest cinema chains is trying to make movie-fans feel more comfortable about coming back to the theater by limiting contact between guests and staff as much as possible. CJ-CGV has launched what it calls an “un-tact cinema” at one of its branches in Seoul where the popcorn, hot dogs and soft drinks have been relocated into vending machines and other snack bar orders are placed on kiosks and are delivered through a hands-free box. Ticket takers have been replaced by two roving robots that provide showtime and other theatre information on their touch-screen torsos. “It’s more hygienic than being face to face, so guests can feel safer and it’s just a more cool and interesting place,” says Lee Seung-soo, a CJ CGV official. Lee says his company had been considering rolling-out some of these automated features even before the coronavirus compelled businesses to adopt social or physical distancing policies. But the urgency of preventing disease transmission between customers pushed-up the unveiling of the “un-tact cinema.” He explains that in addition, CJ-CGV regularly disinfects all its facilities, and rows of theatre seats are left empty to provide more space between audience members. He adds that employees will not lose their jobs due to automation and will instead be transferred to other positions. “This un-tact cinema at this branch is just a test for now,” says Lee. “Based on how this program goes, we will decide whether to introduce these services to other locations.” Lotte Cinemas, another multiplex operator, has also introduced contact-free features at some of its venues according to media reports. For some South Korean film buffs though, automated cinemas still might not provide the desired protection from COVID-19 carrying strangers. Drive-in theaters Some are instead seeing the big screen from inside the safety of their own cars. Park Jae-ho, whose family runs Seoul’s only drive in movie theatre says when the pandemic began, ticket sales soared. “Normally, business isn’t so good, but once the coronavirus hit, sales went up by 30-percent,” he says. But like all cinemas in South Korea, Park’s drive in has mainly screened re-releases, because film production companies have pushed back opening dates for many new movies. “Ticket sales are getting back to normal,” Park says. “Customers won’t come if they can’t watch new films.” Lim Yoo-na and her boyfriend Kim Jeong-hak recently attended a screening of 2016’s La La Land at the Seoul drive in. The couple says they used to catch a movie up to three times a week before the pandemic. “It feels safer inside a car than at a theatre right now,” Lim, a 28-year old baker, says. Kim says he’s not sure when they will be able to resume their normal dating routine. “We are going to wait until the pandemic is over before we start returning to movie theaters,” the 35-year old web designer says. “And there would also have to be some new films to watch before we’d go back.”
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Month: June 2020
Medical Examiner Rules Atlanta Man’s Death a Homicide
A Fulton County, Georgia, medical examiner has ruled Rayshard Brooks’ death outside an Atlanta fast food restaurant Friday night a homicide. Brooks was cooperating with police officers during a sobriety test, but then struggled with the officers as they tried to arrest him and ran. The medical examiner’s autopsy found that Brooks was shot in the back twice and died from organ damage and blood loss. Officer Garrett Rolfe has been fired, and the Atlanta police chief, Erika Shields, has resigned. A second officer, Devin Brosnan, has been placed on administrative leave. Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard told CNN his office will decide later this week what kind of charges, if any, Rolfe would face. “(Brooks) did not seem to present any kind of threat to anyone, and so the fact that it would escalate to his death just seems unreasonable,” Howard said. “If that shot was fired for some reason other than to save that officer’s life or prevent injury to him or others, then that shooting is not justified under the law,” he added. Shields resigned Saturday even as the investigation into the shooting had barely begun. “I have served alongside some of the finest men and women in the Atlanta Police Department. Out of a deep and abiding love for this city and this department, I offered to step aside as police chief. … It is time for the city to move forward and build trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve.” Police dash and body cam video shows the 27-year-old Brooks asleep in his car and blocking the drive-thru lane of a Wendy’s fast-food restaurant. It took a few moments for Officer Rolfe to waken Brooks. The video shows the two having a cordial conversation, but Brooks didn’t seem to know what city he was in or what restaurant. At one point, Brooks told the officer “I know you’re just doing your job.” This screen grab taken from body camera video provided by the Atlanta Police Department shows Rayshard Brooks speaking with Officer Garrett Rolfe in the parking lot of a Wendy’s restaurant, late Friday, June 12, 2020, in Atlanta.When the second officer, Devin Brosnan, arrived, Brooks failed a breathalyzer, was handcuffed and appeared to resist arrest. The officers wrestled him to the ground, demanded he stop fighting and warned Brooks that they would use a Taser on him. Brooks apparently grabbed one of the officer’s Tasers and pointed it at the police as he tried to run off. Rolfe opened fire and three shots could be heard as Brooks falls to the ground. Fellow officers attempted to comfort Rolfe as an emergency team tended to Brooks, who was pronounced dead at a hospital. The shooting set off a day of protests in Atlanta Saturday that started peacefully but turned violent. Demonstrators tried to block an interstate highway and the Wendy’s restaurant where Brooks was shot was burned to the ground. Thirty-six people were arrested, and police are looking for the suspect who started the fire. A lawyer for the Brooks family, L. Chris Stewart, says he wants Rolfe to be charged with “an unjustified use of deadly force, which equals murder.” “You can’t say a Taser is a nonlethal weapon … but when an African American grabs it and runs with it, now it’s some kind of deadly, lethal weapon that calls for you to unload on somebody,” Stewart said. But the only African American member of the U.S. Senate, South Carolina’s Tim Scott, says more questions need to be asked. “The question is when the suspect turned to fire the Taser, what should the officer have done?” Scott told CBS’s Face the Nation, adding that what happened in Atlanta “is certainly a far less clear one than the ones that we saw with George Floyd and several other ones around the country.” The death of Brooks comes as the entire country is grappling with the issue of how police treat African American men suspected of relatively minor crimes. Many Americans regard last month’s death of George Floyd in Minneapolis as the last straw in several such incidents. Floyd died after an officer held his knee on Floyd’s neck when Floyd was suspected of trying to spend a counterfeit $20 bill. His death set off protest marches in nearly every major U.S. city and in several European capitals.
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Duterte-Critic Journalist Ressa Convicted in Philippines Libel Case
High-profile Philippine journalist Maria Ressa was convicted Monday in a cyber libel case that press freedom advocates have branded a ploy to silence critics of President Rodrigo Duterte. The verdict was handed down in a Manila courtroom against Ressa, who heads the news site Rappler, and she will be allowed to post bail.
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Top Congolese Opposition Member Dies of COVID-19
A major Congolese politician and leading opposition member has died of COVID-19.DRC media reports the family of Pierre Lumbi announced his death in Kinshasa Sunday. His exact age is unknown. Lumbi was opposition leader Martin Fayulu’s campaign manager in his unsuccessful bid for the presidency in 2018. “Very saddened by the death of Senator P. Lumbi,” Fayulu tweeted. The Deputy Africa Director at Human Rights Watch, Ida Sawyer, tweeted that she is also “very sad” to hear about Lumbi’s death. “I have fond memories of many engaging conversations with him over the years. Condolences to his family and friends.”Also Sunday, Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo said the country’s health minister has the coronavirus. He said Kwaku Agyeman Manu is in stable condition and wished the “hardworking minister for health, a speedy recovery from the virus, which he contracted in the line of duty.”Akufo-Addo said high school and university seniors will be allowed to resume classes Monday. Ghana has among the most COVID-19 cases in West Africa, but one of the lowest death rates because of what experts say has been extensive testing. In hard-hit Colombia, the number of COVID-19 cases climbed past the 50,000 mark, the health ministry said Sunday. Despite the relatively high number of cases, the nationwide lockdown is expected to be lifted on July 1. Colombia has taken a huge economic hit from the coronavirus with unemployment topping 23%. Its economy is forecast to shrink 5.5% this year.French President Emmanuel Macron told the nation Sunday that the coronavirus pandemic has taught him what he says is the need for more economic independence.Macron said the virus exposed what he described as the “flaws and fragility” of French reliance on Europe and other foreign markets to supply the nation.“The only answer is to build a new, stronger economic model, to work and produce more, so as not to rely on others,” Macron said.With the French economy expected to contract as much as 11% this year, Macron said he will come up with a blueprint for more economic independence by next month.Parisian restaurants and the city’s iconic sidewalk cafes will be allowed to full reopen Monday in time for France to lift border restrictions for tourists from the European Union.
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Group of Minneapolis Police Officers Quit as Protests Elsewhere Continue
Seven Minneapolis police officers have quit as the future of the city’s entire police department is uncertain after the death of George Floyd. It is unclear if their leaving has anything to do directly with Floyd.The department sent a statement to Minneapolis radio station WCCO saying “People seek to leave employment for a myriad of reason. The MPD is no exception. Due to these employment separations, we have not noted any indicators that would impact public safety.”But several officers have told the Minneapolis Star Tribune newspaper that they are upset by Mayor Jacob Frey’s decision to abandon the city’s third precinct during the Floyd protests two weeks ago.Officers were ordered to leave that section of the city and their precinct house was burned. “If we decided to continue to hold the 3rd Precinct there very likely would have been hand-to-hand combat, likely serious injury and maybe death, and in the decision between a building and life-or-death we decided to evacuate,” Frey has said.FILE – Onlookers inspect the burnt ruins of the Minnehaha Liquor store near the Minneapolis 3rd Police Precinct, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, June 2, 2020.All 12 city council members said in a resolution last week that they intend to dismantle the city’s police department and replace it with “a transformative new model for cultivating safety” in the city — the details of which are unclear. Fourteen police officers, who say they are speaking for the hundreds in the department of officers, have written an open letter to the people of Minneapolis, condemning the policeman who kept his knee on George Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes, which allegedly contributed to Floyd’s death.“We wholeheartedly condemn Derek Chauvin. We Are With You in the denouncement of Derek Chauvin’s actions on Memorial Day, 2020. Like us, Derek Chauvin took an oath to hold the sanctity of life most precious. Derek Chauvin failed as a human and stripped George Floyd of his dignity and life. This is not who we are,” the letter states. Chauvin has been charged with second-degree murder and three other officers with aiding and abetting.Also in Minneapolis, the city’s parks department says they have no plans to fix a sign at a city park which an anonymous person altered to pay tribute to George Floyd.The sign at the entrance to George Todd Park – named for a former city alderman – now reads “George Floyd Park” with a large decal plastered over the name Todd.The city park is about five kilometers south of where Floyd died.People fill a street June 14, 2020, inside what has been named the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest (CHOP) zone in Seattle, Washington. Protesters calling for police reform and other changes have taken over several blocks near the city’s downtown area.In Seattle, Police Chief Carmen Best says she hopes officers can move back into a section of the city taken over by peaceful protesters without resorting to “something that devolves into a force situation.”Chief Best appeared on CBS television’s Face the Nation Sunday.Anti-racist protesters have peacefully occupied a four-block part of the city which they’ve named “Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone.” Organizers say they want a neighborhood without police. A huge “Black Lives Matter” mural covers the area’s main thoroughfare.U.S. President Donald Trump has called the occupiers “ugly anarchists” and said the city should “take back” the zone. But Mayor Jenny Durkan last week likened the zone to “a block party atmosphere” and no threat to the public but said it will be restored to the city at some time. A Chicago Sun Times newspaper report says 75% of those arrested for violating a citywide curfew imposed over the Floyd protests were African American. The curfew ended June 7.A Chicago police spokesman denies any implication that race had anything to do with the arrests, saying curfew enforcement was “universal” and equally enforced in all neighborhoods.Anti-racism marches inspired by George Floyd’s death continued all weekend in some large European cities. Demonstrators in Berlin formed a nine-kilometer long chain that began at the Brandenburg Gate.Demonstrators attend a ‘This Is Solidarity’ rally organized by the Unteilbar (Indivisible) movement, in Berlin, Germany, June 14, 2020.Protesters in Milan painted the words “rapist” and “racist” on a statue honoring the late Italian journalist Indro Montanelli who had once admitted marrying a 12-year-old girl in Eritrea when it was an Italian colony more than 80 years ago.In Paris, it was the police who protested against what they say are unfair accusations of racism and brutality.Shortly after 15,000 people demonstrated in the French capital, about 50 officers and their police cars surrounded the Arc de Triomphe. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Sunday “racist thuggery” has no place in British streets after right-wing extremists attacked protesters against racism. About 100 people were arrested.London Mayor Sadiq Khan blamed the violence solely on the right-wingers and he thanked police for doing a “fantastic job” in restoring order. Also Sunday, hundreds marched through Tokyo, holding banners reading “Black Lives Matter”.“I think it is so wrong to discriminate based on appearance, and I wanted to relay the message that the American people have allies in Japan,” said one young marcher, condemning what some Japanese say is occasional police harassment of dark-skinned foreigners. Thousands also demonstrated Sunday in New Zealand and took a knee for a moment of silence for George Floyd in front of the U.S. consulate.
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CDC Media Guidance Blacklists VOA Interview Requests
A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention email released under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) tells communications staff to ignore media requests from Voice of America, according to documents published by the Knight First Amendment Institute.Documents released under the FOIA include an April 30 email sent from Michawn Rich with the subject “Rundown.” The email describes a CDC media request process to help a co-worker named Rachel to “navigate [her] new role.”Rich, a Department of Agriculture spokesperson, was moved to the CDC to help handle communications related to the pandemic earlier this year, FILE – Vice President Mike Pence speaks about the coronavirus in the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House, in Washington, April 17, 2020.The Knight Institute said the lawsuit came in response to reports alleging that CDC experts were being prevented from speaking with the press or public and had been told to coordinate with the Vice President’s Office before speaking with journalists.“We brought this lawsuit because we were concerned about the politicization of public health messaging and we thought it was critical for the public to know if and how the administration was stage-managing CDC communications, so that the public was able to judge for themselves the accuracy of any statements,” Anna Diakun, staff attorney of the Knight First Amendment Institute, told VOA.“From the documents we’ve received so far, the Office of the Vice President’s role has been totally redacted, so it is impossible for us to know exactly what role that office is playing,” she said.The Knight Institute is to receive more documents on June 18 that Diakun said the center hopes will address what role if any the Vice President’s Office played.The Vice President’s Office declined VOA’s request for comment.“What may be unusual is that it’s been exposed, I don’t know if it’s unusual.” Van Susteren said of the alleged blacklisting.“No administration, whether it’s Obama, Bush 41, or Clinton or anybody going back has liked the media,” she said. “But I’ve been at all these news organizations and I have never had this happen to me before.”Trump’s VOA Criticism Shows US-Funded News Doesn’t Mean US-ApprovedPublic dispute highlights unique position of government-funded, editorially independent journalismVOA Director Bennett said it was difficult to determine the effect the CDC ban may have had on the international broadcaster’s coverage of the pandemic.“Efforts such as those outlined in the CDC memo can result in the kind of chilling effect on our journalism that we regularly see in the markets we broadcast to that have no free press – including in China and Russia,” she said in a statement.Diakun said the Knight Institute was concerned to see from the FOIA request that CDC staff were told to ignore press queries from VOA. “It is imperative that the CDC ensures steady and timely access to information, especially in the midst of a public health crisis,” she told VOA.
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Deadly Police Shooting in Atlanta Sparks More Unrest
A deadly police shooting in Atlanta, Georgia, has further fueled unrest and demonstrations against racism and police brutality. As VOA’s Kane Farabaugh reports, the call for bipartisan legislation addressing police reform nationwide grows as protests across the country, and world, continue.
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South Korea Urges North to Uphold Deals Amid Rising Animosities
South Korea on Sunday convened an emergency security meeting and urged North Korea to uphold reconciliation agreements, hours after the North threatened to demolish a liaison office and take military action against its rival.There’s concern that North Korea could turn to provocation to bolster its internal unity and wrest outside concessions as nuclear talks with the United States remain deadlocked. Observers say North Korea desperately needs sanctions relief in the face of harsh U.S.-led sanctions and the coronavirus pandemic.South Korea’s national security director, Chung Eui-yong, held an emergency video conference with ministers in charge of security and military generals on Sunday morning to discuss the latest situation on the Korean Peninsula and the government’s possible steps, the presidential Blue House said in a statement.The Unification Ministry, which handles relations with North Korea, later said that both Koreas must strive to abide by all agreements they have reached. The Defense Ministry said separately it closely monitors North Korea’s military and maintains a firm military readiness.Both ministries said the South Korean government “views the current situation as grave.”On Saturday night, Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, warned that Seoul will soon witness “a tragic scene of the useless North-South liaison office (in North Korea) being completely collapsed.” She also said she would leave to North Korea’s military the right to take the next step of retaliation against South Korea.North Korean Leader’s Sister Threatens Military Action Against South Korea ‘We will soon take a next action,’ vows Kim Yo Jong North Korea earlier suspended communication lines with South Korea and threatened to nullify 2018 agreements that led the Koreas to halt firing exercises, remove some land mines and tear down guard posts in front-line areas.The North has linked its recent series of threats to Seoul’s failure to prevent activists from launching propaganda leaflets across their border. But some experts say North Korea is deeply frustrated that South Korea hasn’t done enough to revive lucrative joint economic projects as well as over a lack of progress in its nuclear talks with Washington.The negotiations have made little progress since a second summit between Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump in early 2019 fell apart because of disputes over how much sanctions should be lifted in return for Kim’s dismantling his main nuclear complex.Kim later vowed to expand his nuclear arsenal, introduce a new strategic weapon and overcome the U.S.-led sanctions that he said “stifles” his country’s economy.He also pushed South Korea to resume the operations of the two big inter-Korean projects — a factory park and a tourism site, both in North Korea — but South Korea was unable to do so due to the sanctions.Kim’s struggle to address economic woes has likely faced setbacks as the coronavirus pandemic forced North Korea to close its border with China, its biggest trading partner. North Korea says it hasn’t reported a single outbreak but foreign experts question that claim and warn a pandemic in the North could be dire due to its fragile heath care system.Some observers say the end of the 2018 deals could allow North Korea to send ships across the disputed sea boundary, float down mines on a border river or take other provocative steps at the border area. The South Korean Defense Ministry statement said the 2018 deals must be maintained to prevent accidental armed clashes and establish peace on the Korean Peninsula.But it’s still unclear if the North would go ahead with its threat to destroy the liaison office, which was built at a North Korean border town following a 2018 summit between Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in. Such a move could deepen anti-Pyongyang sentiments and make it difficult for the North to restore ties with South Korea when needed.
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White House Official: Trump Rally Participants ‘Probably’ Should Wear Face Masks
The thousands of people expected to attend next Saturday’s political rally for President Donald Trump in Oklahoma “probably” ought to wear a face mask to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said Sunday. The Trump campaign, however, has not said whether it plans to enforce guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control calling for face coverings at large gatherings such as the Trump rally in in Tulsa. As many as 19,000 people could crowd into the city’s BOK Center to take part in the president’s first large-scale rally in three months. Kudlow told CNN that as U.S. workers return to their jobs after being laid off because of the spread of the coronavirus, they should continue to observe social distancing guidelines calling for people to stay two meters away from others and to wear face masks. Asked whether his suggestion for workers to wear a face mask also applied to people at the Trump rally, Kudlow said, “Well, OK. Probably so.” Asked how the rally can be held safely, one of the president’s biggest supporters, Oklahoma Republican Senator James Lankford told ABC’s “This Week” show, “I don’t know how they’re going to handle that.” But he said he plans to go. Trump has repeatedly ignored suggestions that he wear a face mask in public to set an example for Americans to prevent the spread of the pandemic that has infected more than 2 million people and killed more than 115,000 in the U.S., both figures by far the most in any nation around the world. Asked about wearing a face mask, Trump at one point said, “I don’t think I’m going to be doing it.” But liability for the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, is worrying the Trump campaign. It claims that 200,000 to 300,000 people have requested tickets for the Tulsa rally in one of the biggest Trump-supportive states in the country. FILE – President Donald Trump walks onstage to speak at a campaign rally, Feb. 28, 2020, in North Charleston, S.C.But anyone requesting a ticket must agree to a disclaimer saying they acknowledge the “inherent risk of exposure to COVID-19 exists in any public place where people are present” and agrees to relinquish any right to sue the Trump campaign or the arena if they subsequently contract the virus. Trump, believing large-scale rallies are a crucial political lifeline leading up to his November national re-election contest against former Vice President Joe Biden, has made it clear he does not want to speak to a two-thirds-empty arena to accommodate social distancing or a sea of faces wearing face masks.
Trump campaign chairman Brad Parscale said last week, “Americans are ready to get back to action and so is President Trump. The Great American Comeback is real and the rallies will be tremendous.” But Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s top infectious disease expert, voiced deep concerns last week about the crowd expected to hear Trump, saying that the pandemic is far from over. “Oh my goodness,” Fauci said. “Where is it going to end? We’re still at the beginning of really understanding.” Some Americans have equated wearing a face mask as a sign of weakness, but U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams said Sunday on Twitter, “Some feel face coverings infringe on their freedom of choice — but if more wear them, we’ll have MORE freedom to go out.” He said that with face coverings, there would be “less asymptomatic viral spread, more places open, and sooner! Exercise and promote your freedom by choosing to wear a face covering!” According to the Centers for Disease Control guidelines, the Trump rally would fall into the “highest risk” category, defined as “large in-person gatherings where it is difficult for individuals to remain spaced at least 6 feet (two meters) apart and attendees travel from outside the local area.” The CDC guidance also says that “cloth face coverings are strongly encouraged in settings where individuals might raise their voice (e.g., shouting, chanting, singing)” — all of which is typical of a political rally.
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White House: US Economy in ‘Recovery Stage’
White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said Sunday the U.S. economy, the world’s largest, is “now in a recovery stage” from the debilitating effects of the coronavirus pandemic that closed thousands of businesses, even as forecasters say unemployment figures will remain high for months. Kudlow told CNN, “I think we are on our way back. 2021 is going to be a solid, solid year.” He indicated the $600-a-week unemployment compensation supplement the federal government has been paying more than 40 million unemployed workers in addition to state jobless benefits is likely to end as scheduled at the end of July. “We’re paying people not to work,” he said. “It’s better than their salaries” in some instances. He said a such a boost for unemployed workers might have made sense in the early stages of the coronavirus-caused business shutdowns, but not as the economy recovers. FILE – White House chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow talks to reporters about the economic impact of the coronavirus, at the White House, March 16, 2020, in Washington.However, he said the Trump administration is envisioning “some kind of bonus to return to work” for those who have been laid off, although not as much as the weekly federal unemployment compensation supplements that have been paid for 2 ½ months. Some lawmakers have suggested a one-time $1,200 stipend might be paid to returning workers. “We want people to go back to work,” Kudlow said. “I think people want to go back to work. We don’t want to interfere with that.” He said state unemployment compensation benefits would not end, They, however, typically only amount to somewhat less than half of what workers are paid and vary widely among the 50 U.S. states. Despite Kudlow’s upbeat assessment of the U.S. economy, he said the continuing number of coronavirus infections and deaths in the U.S. “is a concern” in impeding the economic recovery. The U.S. far and away leads all countries across the world in the number of infections, more than 2 million, and the number of deaths, more than 115,000, with tens of thousands of more people expected to die in the coming months. Kudlow said, “People must observe the [coronavirus] safety guidelines” by maintaining social distancing of at least two meters from other people and wearing face masks “in key places.” The official U.S. jobless rate was 13.3% in May, although officials say that when a survey error was accounted for, the rate should have totaled 16.4%. Another 1.5 Million US Workers Seek Jobless BenefitsIn all, 44 million workers have filed for unemployment compensation since mid-March, more than a quarter of the US labor force The Federal Reserve, the U.S. central bank, predicted Wednesday that the U.S. unemployment will fall to 9.3% by the end of this year and to 6.5% by the end of 2021, a rosier advance than some economists are forecasting. Fed Chair Jerome Powell acknowledged the continuing employment hardship for millions of Americans. “Unemployment remains historically high,” he said at a news conference. “The downturn has not fallen equally on all Americans. The rise in joblessness has been especially severe for lower wage workers, women, African Americans and Hispanics.” The Fed, at the end of a two-day policy meeting, said, “The ongoing public health crisis will weigh heavily on economic activity, employment, and inflation in the near term, and poses considerable risks to the economic outlook over the medium term.”
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Lone Black Republican Senator Says He Is Open to ‘Decertification’ of Bad Police
Tim Scott, the only black Republican member of the U.S. Senate, said on Sunday he is open to exploring whether to enact a new law that would decertify bad police officers as part of a larger law enforcement reform package.Speaking on CBS “Face the Nation,” Scott said a new policy to decertify police who engage in misconduct could be a compromise as he negotiates with Democrats, who have called more drastic measures such as ending the “qualified immunity” legal doctrine which helps shield officers from liability.”I think there’s a way for us to deal with it,” he said. “Decertification would be a path that I would be interested in looking at.” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell last week tapped Scott to oversee the drafting of new policing reform legislation in response to public outrage over high profile police killings of African Americans including George Floyd, who died after a white police officer knelt on his neck.Floyd’s death has led to protests in cities and smaller communities nationwide, as well as rallies in countries around the world, with demonstrators demanding legislative change to combat racial injustice and hold police more accountable.In the latest case to trigger anger among activists, protesters shut down a major highway in Atlanta on Saturday and burned down a Wendy’s restaurant where a black man was shot dead by police as he tried to escape arrest.Democrats who control the U.S. House of Representatives unveiled their own draft legislation last week which would allow victims of police misconduct to sue officers for damages, ban chokeholds, require the use of body cameras by federal law enforcement officers, and restrict the use of lethal force. Scott is due to unveil his own draft this week.On Sunday he said the Republican party viewed eliminating qualified immunity as a “poison pill” but he still felt optimistic that a compromise could be reached.He also cited other areas of reform he is considering, including requiring police departments to provide the Justice Department with more data on excessive use of force, mandated de-escalation training and provisions to deal with police misconduct.”If we could blend those three together, we might actually save hundreds of lives and improve the relationship between the communities of color and the law enforcement community.”
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As NYC Awakens, Navigating A Strange New Normal
The New-York City that was lingers everywhere in the New York City that is, like flashes of movement out of the corner of your eye.The subways run, but not all hours, and definitely not with anywhere near as many riders. Your favorite corner deli has your bagel and coffee — as long as you take it to go and wear a mask to get it. Go enjoy the sunshine in a park, but too many other people better not have the same idea.It begs the question: Who do we become when we can’t be who we were?New Yorkers, more than in any other place in America, have always accepted as given a cheek-by-jowl existence, treating the streets and subways and parks, their favorite restaurants and bars, the physical geography of the city all as extensions of their own personal space.“New York City is a different style of life … of density, of vitality, of 24/7, of no cultural agreement of when we should take a vacation or eat lunch,” says Kenneth T. Jackson, recently retired Columbia University history professor and editor of “The Encyclopedia of New York City.”“It’s everybody’s second home,” he says. “You can come to New York and find your group. You can’t really say that anywhere else.”But that was before these last couple of difficult months, when the city immortalized in song and scene as the never-ending hustle and flow of humanity was swapped out for the virus version, of staying near home and social distancing regulations.The streets have started to wake up in recent weeks. And as recent days of thousands upon thousands of people turning out for anti-police brutality protests have shown, passion for this place, this community, runs deep.But even that bit of New York spirit carries a risk of an increase in coronavirus cases, as does the mere act of re-opening in itself, as slow a process as that is. The threat of illness and death has abated — for now — thanks to our doing that most un-New York thing of staying away from each other.The shadow it cast remains, though, as do rules of separation and distance that make the New York City of even three months ago a peripheral vision at best.In the virus times, the near-term and maybe even longer-term impact is undoubtedly going to be ugly. Job losses have been racking up, businesses facing bankruptcy, cultural institutions going under, entire industries like restaurants forced to reconsider everything they do. Things taken for granted, such as the school day, will look different and be more complicated.New York City has been shell-shocked before. The raging waters of Superstorm Sandy in 2012 plunged whole neighborhoods into pitch darkness. The attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, covered many in dust clouds.But “those were temporary cessations. There was always a knowledge that community could refocus and gather again in some number of days,” said Daniel Gallant, executive director of the Nuyorican Poet’s Cafe, the renowned East Village performance spot.“Even when we feared for the economy, we also knew that New York was going to find a way geographically, financially and as a community, somehow or other, to bounce back,” he says.Several hundred thousand have left, The New York Times reported, particularly from the city’s wealthier neighborhoods.And a lot of those people likely aren’t coming back, says Jeremiah Moss, the blogger and author of “Vanishing New York: How a Great City Lost Its Soul.”“What they’re discovering as they go back to the suburbs or they go to the country is they really like that kind of lifestyle, they like having a yard, they like having a car, they like having space and that’s more important to them than whatever they could get in New York,” he says.But in all the unknowing of what the future holds, there’s also a thread of hope, and of steadfast faith in that other quintessential facet of New York City: that the city will adapt.Jackson, the historian, takes the long view. “You can’t judge the future by the moment. You’ve got to have the perspective of centuries, really,” he says. “This is not the first time New York has been challenged. It won’t be the last.”Some take heart from the recent wave of protests themselves, in which New Yorkers turned out to rallies and marches to call for justice for George Floyd, the black Minnesota man killed by a white police officer, and to call out police abuses in New York City alongside.The passion on display, the willingness to come together, even in defiance of a city-mandated curfew to get off the streets, was heartening, said Keris Lové, 34, a songwriter and activist living in Bronx.“We’re all out there, you know risking our lives because we imagine something better,” she said. With spirit like that, she figured, New York City would be OK.Caridad De La Luz agreed. Another Bronx native, the poet and activist had been staying in her neighborhood for weeks, refusing to come into her former stomping grounds of Manhattan. She missed it, and worried what the new normal would be.Then came the protests, and she found a way. She was still leery of the subway, so she drove, then marched, then took a CitiBike to get back to where her car was.“We are not afraid anymore,” she said. “We are taking those precautions, but I don’t have the fear that I had a month ago.”Gallant and others are also in some ways cautiously hopeful that the disruption of the virus will also strike a blow to the forces of expansion and capitalism that have done much in last two decades to make the city harder to afford, and more generic with the mega-chains and big-name stores crowding out the mom-and-pops, the artists, the up-and-comers.“We know that New York City experienced a lot of upheaval in 1970s, there was a lot that went badly at that time, there were economic challenges then. A lot of fantastic powerful amazing artistic and cultural things happened at that time as well,” he says.Moss echoes that thought. “Cities are going to become less popular,” he says, and “if cities are going to become less popular than that means rents are going to come down. And when the rents come down, then cities can become more accessible to a wider range of people and a more diverse landscape.”And while many may stay away, there will always be those who are drawn here, no matter the condition of the world, to find their own freedom, whatever form that takes in socially distant times.“We’ll have people who are desperate for cities … because their nervous systems are in tune with the nervous systems of a city,” Moss says.“New York will always be a beacon to people who are hungry for what cities have to offer, he says: “Cities from the beginning of cities have been places of liberation.”
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Racism, Conflict, Country Violations Top UN Rights Council Agenda
During the coming week, the U.N. Human Rights Council will be faced with many important issues left hanging when its 43rd session was suspended in March because of COVID-19. The meeting, which opens Monday, will employ a so-called hybrid approach, with a mix of both real and virtual presentations.To ensure the safety of participants during this time of coronavirus, U.N. officials say social distancing measures will be strictly enforced. Delegations will have a reduced number of representatives attending the session and hundreds of side events by nongovernmental organizations will not take place on U.N. premises.Presentation of reports and interactive dialogues on human rights issues will involve experts who are either physically present or speaking by video conference. Countries that will come under review include the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali, Ukraine, Libya, Afghanistan, and the Central African Republic.One of the highlights of the weeklong meeting will be an urgent debate on institutionalized racism in the United States underlined by the killing of African American George Floyd while in police custody.Geneva director of Human Rights Watch John Fisher calls this a moment of reckoning for the United States. He said the event will likely be used by some countries to advance their own agendas.“We are also very concerned that China is seeking to exploit this moment of global chaos and the disarray within the U.S. to crack down on rights and freedoms in Hong Kong … And, we are calling upon states to take this moment to bring more attention to Hong Kong, as I mentioned. We feel this is a time when China will be watching the international response, and, if that response is muted, will feel emboldened to go even further down the track,” he said.A year ago, the special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings, Agnes Callemard, presented her report on the killing of Saudi columnist for the Washington Post Jamal Khashoggi, which she claimed was by agents of the Saudi government. While this issue is not formally on the council agenda, Fisher believes it should be given renewed attention.“In addition to, of course the murder of Khashoggi, while a number of women human rights defenders have been released from prison, a number remain. There are still allegations of torture. They still face criminal charges …There continues to be use of the death penalty, flogging, a crackdown on dissent, new waves of arrests,” he said. At the end of the week, the council will take action on decisions and the adoption of more than 40 resolutions. They include recommendations on improving human rights in countries such as Libya, Iran, Nicaragua, South Sudan, and Myanmar.
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Yankee Go Home: What Does Moving Troops out of Germany Mean?
After more than a year of thinly-veiled threats to start pulling U.S. troops out of Germany unless Berlin increases its defense spending, President Donald Trump appears to be proceeding with a hardball approach, planning to cut the U.S. military contingent by more than 25%.About 34,500 American troops are stationed in Germany — 50,000 including civilian Department of Defense employees — and the plan Trump reportedly signed off on last week envisions reducing active-duty personnel to 25,000 by September, with further cuts possible.But as details of the still-unannounced plan trickle out, there’s growing concerns it will do more to harm the U.S.’s own global military readiness and the NATO alliance than punish Germany.The decision was not discussed with Germany or other NATO members, and Congress was not officially informed — prompting a letter from 22 Republican members of the House Armed Services Committee urging a rethink.“The threats posed by Russia have not lessened, and we believe that signs of a weakened U.S. commitment to NATO will encourage further Russian aggression and opportunism,” Rep. Mac Thornberry of Texas wrote in a letter to Trump with his colleagues. Sen. Jack Reed, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, slammed Trump’s move as “another favor” to Russian President Vladimir Putin.But Richard Grenell, who resigned as U.S. ambassador to Germany two weeks ago, told Germany’s Bild newspaper that “nobody should be surprised that Donald Trump is withdrawing troops.”Grenell, who declined to comment for this article, said he and others had been pushing for Germany to increase its defense spending and had talked about troop withdrawals since last summer.“Donald Trump was very clear we want to bring troops home,” he said, adding: “there’s still going to be 25,000 American troops in Germany.”The suggestion that removing troops will punish Germany, however, overlooks the fact that American troops are no longer primarily there for the country’s defense, said retired Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, who commanded U.S. Army Europe from 2014 until 2017.Gone are the days when hundreds of thousands of American troops were ready to fight in the streets of Berlin or rush into the strategic Fulda Gap, through which Soviet armor was poised to push into West Germany during the Cold War.“The troops and capabilities that the U.S. has deployed in Europe are not there to specifically defend Germany, they are part of our contribution to overall collective stability and security in Europe,” said Hodges, now a strategic expert with the Center for European Policy Analysis, a Washington-based institute.American facilities include Ramstein Air Base, a critical hub for operations in the Mideast and Africa and headquarters to the U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Africa; the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, which has saved the lives of countless Americans wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan; and the Stuttgart headquarters of both the U.S. European Command and the U.S. Africa Command. There’s also the Wiesbaden headquarters of U.S. Army Europe, the Spangdahlem F-16 fighter base and the Grafenwoehr Training Area, NATO’s largest training facility in Europe.Hodges said the facilities are a critical part of America’s global military footprint.“What’s lost in all this is the benefit to the United States of having forward deployed capabilities that we can use not only for deterrence … but for employment elsewhere,” he said. “The base in Ramstein is not there for the U.S. to defend Europe. It’s there as a forward base for us to be able to fly into Africa, the Middle East.”Trump indicated last summer that he was thinking of moving some troops from Germany to Poland, telling Poland’s President Andrzej Duda during an Oval Office meeting: “Germany is not living up to what they’re supposed to be doing with respect to NATO, and Poland is.”Duda has been trying to woo more American forces, even suggesting Poland would contribute over $2 billion to create a permanent U.S. base — which he said could be named “Fort Trump.” In the current plan, at least some Germany-based troops are expected to be shifted to Poland.Following Trump’s comments last June, U.S. Ambassador to Poland Georgette Mosbacher tweeted Aug. 8 that “Poland meets its 2% of GDP spending obligation towards NATO. Germany does not. We would welcome American troops in Germany to come to Poland.”Grenell then tweeted: “it is offensive to assume that the U.S. taxpayers will continue to pay for more than 50,000 Americans in #Germany, but the Germans get to spend their surplus on #domestic programs.”In response, Chancellor Angela Merkel reiterated Germany’s commitment to “work toward” the 2% NATO defense spending benchmark — a goal it hopes to meet in 2031.“There is a lot invested here, and I think that we, in very friendly talks, will naturally always continue to heartily welcome these American soldiers, and there are also good reasons for them to be stationed here,” she said.NATO members agreed at a 2014 summit to “aim to move toward” spending 2% of GDP on defense. Since then, the year Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula, overall NATO defense spending has grown annually.Since his election in 2016, Trump has pushed for the 2% as a hard target, and repeatedly singled out Germany as a major offender, though many others are also below the goal.NATO figures put Germany’s estimated defense spending for 2019 at 1.4%, and Poland’s at 2%. In dollar terms, however, Germany committed nearly $54 billion last year — NATO’s third-largest budget after the U.S. and Britain — while Poland spent slightly less than $12 billion.Germany does need to spend more, Hodges said, but U.S. and NATO interests would be better served if Washington pushed Berlin to spend on broader military needs, like transportation infrastructure, cyber protection and air defense, that would be easier for Merkel’s government to justify to a largely pacifist population.“We don’t need more German tanks, we need more German trains,” he said. “Why not be a little bit more strategic and think about what the alliance really needs from Germany?”
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In DRC, Young Woman Helps Orphans Guard Against COVID-19
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, one young woman is helping women and orphans protect themselves from the coronavirus. Anasthasie Tudieshe has our story.
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Thousands of African Migrants Prepare for Sea Crossings to Europe
Ports remain closed in Italy, but the end of lockdown measures, combined with favorable weather conditions, have authorities concerned that a new wave of immigrant arrivals is imminent. Intelligence sources have said more than 20,000 migrants are ready to depart from North Africa.Arrivals of migrants on Italian shores never really stopped during the months of lockdown imposed because of the coronavirus, but ports were closed as Italy declared them unsafe, and NGO vessels stopped patrolling the Mediterranean because of the emergency. Nonetheless, according to the Italian Interior Ministry, more than 6,000 migrants have already reached Italy this year compared to 2,000 for all of last year.Now, with the numbers of new coronavirus infections decreasing day by day and no longer such a concern, fears are mounting that the number of migrants that will soon take to the seas for Italy from North Africa will increase dramatically. Good weather and calm seas during the summer will also make it easier for traffickers to make the crossings.Charity vessels have resumed patrolling the Mediterranean to try to provide assistance to migrants in difficulty. The Mare Jonio ship of the Italian NGO Mediterranea Saving Humans set sail this week from the Sicilian port of Trapani on its eighth mission.The Mare Jonio’s spokesperson said the vessel was headed to the central Mediterranean to monitor and denounce the violations of human rights that continue to take place. She added that they know they will be encountering war refugees and victims of torture who are left to die at sea.In the latest tragedy at sea, the bodies of more than 60 dead African migrants were recovered this week after their vessel sank after leaving Tunisia and heading to Italy. The United Nations Refugee Agency says that so far this year the number of sea departures from Tunisia to Europe has increased fourfold.
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Thousands March in Australia Anti-Racism Rallies
Black Lives Matter protests attracted large crowds in Australia on Saturday in defiance of government warnings about the coronavirus. The marches have been inspired by mass gatherings in the United States following the death in police custody of George Floyd.Across Australia, thousands of anti-racism demonstrators rallied against high rates of indigenous incarceration, deaths in custody and the removal of indigenous children from their families. Aboriginal Australians make up about 3 percent of the population but almost a third of prison inmates are indigenous.“We are here to support our future as indigenous people and to walk against injustices of what happened to our people,” one aboriginal woman said.In Perth, Western Australia, protesters defied calls by the authorities Saturday not to attend because of coronavirus fears. Organizers handed out masks and hand sanitizer.An earlier march in Sydney was ruled unlawful by the Supreme Court on public health grounds, but hundreds of people joined the protest.“I am here because there have been 437 deaths in custody since 1991,” a protester in Sydney said. “So I am here to make a stand, and I do not care that the government has said this is illegal.”New South Wales Assistant Police Commissioner Mick Willing was not happy protesters had ignored coronavirus health orders.“It is disappointing to acknowledge that around 300 people chose to ignore the warnings that had been given by police in terms of coming to this public gathering,” he said.There have been separate rallies in Australia by groups protesting the treatment of asylum seekers and refugees.The government had urged demonstrators to stay home because of concerns that mass gatherings could spread the coronavirus, which has been mostly contained in Australia.Two women were arrested after a statue of the British explorer, Captain James Cook, was defaced in Sydney. Another was damaged in Perth. However, Peter Dutton, Australia’s Home Affairs minister, criticized calls to remove statues of European colonists in Australia as an “obscure left-wing cause.”This year has marked the 250th anniversary of Cook’s voyage to Australia. British settlement would begin 17 years later.Historical monuments across the world have been torn down in recent weeks by anti-racism campaigners following the death of George Floyd, an African American man, in U.S. police custody in Minneapolis, Minnesota, last month.
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Cambodians Revel in Now Tourist-Free Angkor Wat
The new coronavirus has left its mark on Angkor Wat, the world’s top tourist attraction.Foreign visitors are rare, the elephants are being rehoused and local businesses have gone bankrupt, but for Cambodians it’s a chance to reclaim their heritage.Authorities say the number of paying visitors have been measured by the dozens on any given day and all are among those who remained in the country after the coronavirus began crossing borders in late January, forcing lockdowns around the world and ending international travel.That compares with more than 2.2 million tourists who last year paid almost $100 million to get through the gates of the 12th century temple, which covers 208 hectares.“I find it very interesting without the tourists, because we usually have a lot of people out there and when we go there it’s just like you are visitors, not the real people who own this country, but now it’s very good,” Sreynath Sarum, a hospitality worker from Phnom Penh, said.Cambodia’s tourism industry had blossomed over the last 10 to 15 years with Angkor Wat, the ruins and surrounding temples in the country’s north west consistently winning international awards, and the nearby town of Siem Reap was rebuilt into a tourist hub.Mass tourism also brought problems, though.In this April 15, 2016, photo, tourists visit the Banteay Srey temple of the Angkor complex.Long lines at the gate, endless rows of buses, lines of Chinese visitors with selfie sticks and Westerners in Hawaiian shirts, shorts and joggers had turned a sacred religious site of Hindu gods and Buddhist traditions into a carnival theme park.That doesn’t always sit well with the monks and ordinary Khmers who value Angkor Wat as the foundation of Cambodian society, a reminder that this country was once a regional superpower and as a symbol of survival during 30 years of bloody civil war.Lonely Planet author and filmmaker Nick Ray said if there can be a positive side to a pandemic, then it was Cambodians reconnecting with their spiritual side.“From an economic point of view, it’s pretty tragic to see the absence of tourists. We know what that means for the economy and how badly businesses are hurting, like hotels, guesthouses, restaurants, cafes, bars, it’s like a ghost town, really,” he added.“But from a Cambodian perspective, it’s like they’ve reclaimed the temples. It’s Cambodian ancestry, it’s Cambodian heritage, it’s on the flag, Angkor is the spiritual symbol of a nation, and they’ve really taken that to heart again.”Angkor Wat today is not unlike it was two decades ago, when the archaeological site was serenely quiet with the Khmer Rouge disarming but bandits and the widespread theft of ancient relics by organized crime rings were issues that had to be dealt with before opening the temples up to global tourism.Standards of living have also improved over the last 20 years, and amid the ruins Cambodian children are now riding push bikes and playing in sand pits, while their parents pray at Buddhist shrines and hike through tropical forests.“I can’t imagine a time when Cambodians could go to Angkor Wat and pray in peace without hordes of people, or play badminton or picnic with their families – and that was a really kind of special experience to see,” travel writer Marissa Carruthers said.“But like I say, it’s quite stark seeing the temples and Siem Reap completely shut down.”This July 19, 2012, photo shows the Apsara sculptures carved on a wall of the Angkor Wat temple complex in Siem Reap, northwest of Phnom Penh, Cambodia.The big bucks and crowds evaporated almost immediately as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold, and getting them back as lockdowns end remains tricky.The government has announced a complicated set of rules including COVID-19 tests, medical certificates, health insurance and a new type of visa for future holiday makers.If a passenger on an inbound flight displays any COVID-19 symptoms and tests positive, everyone on board could be quarantined for two weeks. Moreover, every foreign visitor to the country must deposit $3,000 in a local bank account on arrival to cover any costs.Money that is not spent is expected to be returned, but these are moves which have upset the dormant tourism industry as unnecessary obstacles to be negotiated by travelers, particularly those from the West who already require at least two flights to get here.“That’s pretty off-putting to be honest,” Ray said regarding the deposit.“It’s almost akin to saying, ‘You know, we are closed for business,’” he added.Locals are also aware of the problems associated with COVID-19 and the harsh economic realities caused by the disease.“I would like to have the tourists come back because the people out there, they are struggling a lot, but slowly, slowly, not like a million people come back at the same time,” Sreynath Sarum said.
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Remains of Missing Idaho Children Identified
Idaho police say the two sets of remains found last week have been identified as those of two children missing since September.The police said Saturday the remains of 17-year-old Tylee Ryan and 7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow were found at the home of Chad Daybell who is married to Lori Vallow, the children’s mother.“It is not the outcome we had hoped; to be able to find the children safe,” the Rexburg, Idaho, police department said in a statement.Vallow and Daybell married late last year after the suspicious deaths of their previous spouses and after the children were last seen. The police say the couple refused to participate in the missing children investigation.The newlyweds were found and arrested in Hawaii in February. They were extradited to Idaho, where they are facing multiple charges.
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Florida Video Production Company Keeps Cameras Rolling for Community Amid Pandemic
Videographer John Oliva is used to shutting down his video production company at a moment’s notice. It’s usually when a hurricane is about to slam the South Florida coast. But in March, his business was hit with a different disaster: the coronavirus pandemic.“Everybody was pretty much ordered to stop operating, stay home. It was devastating,” said Oliva, owner of Digital Cut Productions in Fort Lauderdale. Almost overnight, he didn’t have new business coming in, his projects were canceled, and he worried about the future of the 17-year-old company.“We weren’t very prepared to be operating one day, shut down the next because of the coronavirus,” the 55-year-old Oliva told VOA.After the initial shock, he and his wife, Lauri, decided they couldn’t sit around as people suffered from isolation and mounting economic hardship.“Even if we weren’t making money, we wanted to do what we could to help our community. So we said, ‘Why don’t we use our talents and find a way to do some good?’” said the veteran videographer.Videographer John Oliva, owner of Digital Cut Productions in Fort Lauderdale, volunteers his company’s services to help others during the COVID-19 epidemic. Here, they shoot a video on a horse farm for a fellow small-business owner.Oliva’s first volunteer project took him to a horse farm, a perfect location for his small production crew to practice social distancing. They produced a home décor commercial for a fellow small-business owner whose retail store shut down in March.“It was a wonderful and kind gesture,” said Caroline Giraud, owner of La Vie En Blanc in Fort Lauderdale. “My store reopened in late May but business has been slow. This beautiful video is being used on social media to drive traffic to our website and hopefully attract new clients,” Giraud told VOA.Helping to heal a communityOn a bright Sunday morning, Oliva, his wife and two daughters would normally attend Mass at their Catholic church. But with in-person religious services canceled because of the coronavirus, Oliva set up equipment and with his priest at the altar and video-streamed online worship services.“We know the importance of worshipping during these difficult times especially for Good Friday and Easter. We wanted to do what we could to allow people to be safe and celebrate Mass at home,” said Oliva.The health crisis also forced South Florida schools to close and cancel high school graduation ceremonies. “It was heartbreaking for students not having a graduation, so we came up with the idea of producing a virtual graduation video for the students,” Oliva said.Students from The Sagemont School in Weston, Florida, sent Oliva clips which were edited into a colorful video.“They really appreciated it. It’s not as good as a real-life graduation, but it’s something they can keep as a keepsake,” he said.As many small businesses begin to reopen, Oliva said, “It could be six months to a year before things get back to normal.” Until then, his production crew is now working on fundraising videos for a charity that gives away food to those in need.“I feel South Florida is a strong community that’s seen its share of adversity, but we will bounce back,” he said. “In the meantime, we will keep the cameras rolling to help other businesses, to help our church, to help our community.”
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Ukraine Alleges $5M Bribe Over Burisma, No Biden Link
Ukrainian officials on Saturday said they were offered $5 million in bribes to end a probe into energy company Burisma’s founder, but said there was no connection to former board member Hunter Biden, whose father is running for the U.S. presidency.The Ukrainian company was thrust into the global spotlight last year in the impeachment inquiry into whether U.S. President Donald Trump improperly pressured Kyiv into opening a case against former Vice President Joe Biden, his rival in the November election race, and Biden’s son.Artem Sytnyk, head of Ukraine’s national anti-corruption bureau (NABU), said three people had been detained, including one current and former tax official, over the bribe offer.The money was the largest cash bribe ever seized in the country, NABU said. It was put on display during a press briefing, brought by masked men in see-through plastic bags.Founder now abroadBurisma said in a statement it had nothing to do with the matter. It did not respond to a request for comment from the company’s founder, Mykola Zlochevsky, a former ecology minister now living abroad.“Let’s put an end to this once and for all. Biden Jr. and Biden Sr. do not appear in this particular proceeding,” Nazar Kholodnytsky, head of anti-corruption investigations at the prosecution service, told Saturday’s briefing.The bribe related to a case of embezzling state money given to a bank, officials said. Some $5 million was offered to anti-corruption officials and a further $1 million was intended for an official acting as a middleman, Sytnyk said.The suspects were in a hurry to pay the bribe because they wanted to end the case against Zlochevsky in time for his birthday on Sunday, “to close the criminal proceedings and ensure the return of Mr. Zlochevsky to Ukraine,” he said.No evidence of Biden wrongdoing foundThe country’s former prosecutor general told Reuters in June that an audit he commissioned while in office of thousands of old case files had found no evidence of wrongdoing by Hunter Biden while he worked for Burisma.Hunter Biden joined Burisma in 2014, one of several high-profile names to join what the private company said was an attempt to strengthen corporate governance.His role has been attacked as corrupt without evidence by Trump and congressional Republicans in Washington. The Bidens deny any wrongdoing, and Democrats said Trump was trying to help his re-election prospects.
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Militants Kill 20 Soldiers, 40 Civilians in Northeast Nigeria Attacks
Islamic militants killed at least 20 soldiers and more than 40 civilians and injured hundreds in twin attacks in northeast Nigeria’s Borno state Saturday, residents and a civilian task force fighter said.The attacks, in the Monguno and Nganzai local government areas, came just days after militants killed at least 69 people in a raid on a village in a third area, Gubio.Two humanitarian workers and three residents told Reuters that militants armed with heavy weaponry including rocket launchers arrived in Monguno, a hub for international non-governmental organizations, at roughly 11 a.m. local time. They overran government forces, taking some casualties but killing at least 20 soldiers and roaming the area for three hours.The sources said hundreds of civilians were injured in the crossfire, overwhelming the local hospital and forcing some of the injured to lie outside the facility awaiting help.The militants also burned down the United Nations’ humanitarian hub in the area and set on fire the local police station. Fighters distributed letters to residents, in the local Hausa language, warning them not to work with the military or international aid groups.Militants also entered Nganzai about the same time Saturday, according to two residents and one Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) fighter. They arrived on motorcycles and in pickup trucks and killed more than 40 residents, the sources said.A military spokesman did not answer calls for comment on the attacks. U.N. officials could not immediately be reached for comment.Boko Haram and its offshoot, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), have killed thousands and displaced millions in northeastern Nigeria. ISWAP claimed the two Saturday attacks, and the Gubio attack.
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Poland and U.S. Deny that Fort Trump Proposal is Bogged Down
Some members of Poland’s government on Friday denied a Reuters report saying talks over a U.S.-Polish defense deal known as Fort Trump were crumbling amid disputes over how to fund the deployment of additional U.S troops and where to garrison them.“This is fake news,” Krzysztof Szczerski, a top aide to the Polish president, told public radio on Friday.The U.S. ambassador to Poland, Georgette Mosbacher, reacting on Twitter to the report, said negotiations remained on track.“President Trump @POTUS & @Prezydentpl Duda’s vision for increased US presence in Poland will be even greater than originally outlined. Announcement coming soon.”Mosbacher and the U.S. Embassy in Poland were not immediately available for comment to elaborate on the timing of the announcement and what the new plans would look like.A U.S. State Department spokesperson said in an email to Reuters on Saturday that talks were productive and on track.A spokesperson for Reuters said the company stood behind its reporting which accurately reflected the situation at the time.Reuters was unable on Friday to determine what fresh efforts, if any, had been made since Wednesday’s report to advance the negotiations and resolve major outstanding issues such as funding.A year ago, Polish President Andrzej Duda and U.S. President Donald Trump agreed that an additional 1,000 U.S. troops would be stationed in Poland. Six locations were shortlisted for the troops when Vice President Mike Pence visited Warsaw in September.The Reuters report published on Wednesday cited government officials in Washington and Warsaw saying they still could not agree where the troops should be stationed, and how much of the multibillion-dollar deployment Warsaw should fund.In that story, Polish deputy foreign minister Pawel Jablonski told Reuters complex issues remained to be ironed out. “There’s the question of financing, of the placement, of legal rights, under what principles these soldiers will function here,” he said.“I do think we will come to a final decision, but this will still take some time.”But Poland’s defense minister said the deal was going ahead.“We are currently agreeing the last details and discussions are taking place in a good atmosphere,” Mariusz Blaszczak said in a tweet on Thursday.
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Despite Risks, Greek Islands Keen to Reopen to Tourists
The Greek island of Mykonos’ newest bar-restaurant, Pelican, seemed to appear from nowhere.Tables, light fixtures and staff members with matching black face masks were still being slotted into place as Greeks visiting the island for a long holiday weekend trickled in to check out the place. The owner expects a slow summer but said he’s in a hurry to get back to business.Greece is, too.Heavily reliant on tourism, the country is officially reopening to foreigners on Monday after closing its borders to most during the coronavirus pandemic. Its hopes are pinned on popular tourist destinations such as Mykonos and the islands of Rhodes, Corfu, Crete and Santorini, where regular ferry service already resumed and direct international flights are set to restart on July 1.The Greek government has taken a gamble in deciding to relax coronavirus health inspections at ports and airports in order to avoid another crippling recession, having only recently emerged from an economically painful period sparked by the international financial crisis.Pelican’s owner, Vasilis Theodorou, has a view of the situation that is more steadfast than starry-eyed. Mykonos would normally be packed in early June, but its beaches were empty. Tourism might be down by as much as 80 percent this year, “so we’re waiting for the 20 percent, and we’re happy,” Theodorou said.“No matter how much we wish for it and want it, it won’t be more than that,” he said. “We expect that tourists from central Europe will come first, and hopefully Americans at a later stage. They are our best customers.”Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis acknowledged Saturday that Greece is prepared for a huge drop from the 33 million visitors who came to Greece last year. Addressing foreign journalists Saturday during a visit to Santorini, Mitsotakis went on a full sales pitch, touting everything from local products to the possibilities of year-round tourism in Greece.“We don’t know the real impact of (a truncated tourist season) on GDP,” he said, “A lot will depend on whether people feel comfortable to travel and whether we can project Greece as a safe destination.”Timely and strictly enforced lockdown measures have so far kept the infection rate in Greece low and the death toll below 200. But reopening means islands — many with only basic health facilities and previously sheltered from the outbreak on the Greek mainland — will again be receiving visitors from around the world far in excess of the local population.In this handout photo provided by the Prime Minister’s Office, Greek Culture Minister Lina Mendoni, left, walks next to Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis during their visit to the Greek island of Santorini.Mykonos Mayor Konstantinos Koukas told the AP that islanders feel prepared and have clear government guidelines.“We want to open back up and we are heading into the 2020 season with optimism,” he said. “But we are fully aware that … (it) will be nothing like the season in 2019 — and hopefully nothing like the season in 2021.”An island that to many epitomizes the high life and hedonism, Mykonos at this time of year would normally have high-paying customers spilling out of the bars and competing with cruise ship passengers for restaurant tables. VIP watchers have spotted pop star Katy Perry, soccer great Cristiano Ronaldo and other celebrities in recent summers.This year, rented cars fill fenced-off lots, and most stores remain padlocked. Stray cats and the island’s mascot, a large, light pink pelican, roam the streets for company.Mosaic artist Irene Syrianou has kept her workshop open despite the lack of customers. “We watch the news and hope for the best,” she says, cracking pieces of marble into chips with a hammer.“Nearly all my customers are American, whether it’s buying pieces of art, making orders online, or attending classes I give during the summer,” she said, before adding with a chuckle: “So it’s going to be a tough year. But I’m an artist and I’ve gone hungry before.”The government’s reopening policy has been criticized by the left-wing Syriza party, which argued tougher controls should be kept in place and arrivals limited to those recently tested in their countries of origin.Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias insisted Friday that a safety net had been built for the islands — with connections to each other and to mainland hospitals for testing and health evacuations. Doctors and support staff will be deployed with the help of more than 100 mobile units in cars and speed boats. The Health Ministry will also have 11 futuristic-looking “transit capsules” for patients heading to intensive care facilities.Greece’s gamble follows a decade of tourism growth and increasing reliance on the industry, with annual visitor numbers more than doubling since 2010 to 34 million last year and revenue up 80 percent to some 18 billion euros ($20.2 billion).During many of those years, the country teetered on the brink of bankruptcy and exit from the euro currency bloc, while Greeks endured harsh economic austerity in return for three international bailouts.Tourism Minister Harry Theoharis, once Greece’s top official for tax and revenues, said Friday that the country is determined to support its tourism industry.“We’re sending a clear message to the world’s traveling public that we won’t take a step back, either in health safeguards or in opening up the country.”And as the prime minister noted Saturday, there’s always next year.“Hopefully in 2021, we’ll have a vaccine; 2021 will be a bumper year,” Mitsotakis said.
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