Democrats appealed for party unity Monday as they reached out to voters across the United States in the first night of a virtual convention that will name their nominee for the November election. Former Vice President Joe Biden and running mate Kamala Harris, a senator from California, will get the party’s nod later this week, and as Mike O’Sullivan reports, the televised event is intended to generate excitement as the election campaign enters its final phase.
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Month: August 2020
Videos Chronicle Belarus Opposition Protests
Ongoing opposition protests in Belarus saw the largest turnout yet over the weekend, following days of public rallies against the disputed reelection of President Alexander Lukashenko.Hundreds of thousands of peaceful demonstrators gathered in Minsk and other Belarusian cities demanding free and fair elections. Protesters are seeking the release of all political prisoners, justice for perpetrators of human rights abuses and the resignation of Lukashenko.An unprecedented wave of protests have swept across Belarus in recent days after users on social media started sharing videos and photos showing security officers brutally repressing demonstrators angered by the official results of the disputed presidential election. On August 9, incumbent President Lukashenko claimed victory with more than 80% of the vote. It was his sixth consecutive win since 1994, when he took over the country.Independent exit polls are officially banned in Belarus, but according to civil society activists and members of opposition, Lukashenko’s support was only because of extensive vote rigging. Activists claim that the president’s opponent – Svetlana Tikhanovskaya – won the race with 65-70% of the vote. Tikhanovskaya had entered the race after authorities jailed her husband, Sergei Tikhanovsky, a popular blogger who tried to launch a presidential campaign.Several grass-roots groups have created “channels” on Telegram, a popular messaging app, where they have uploaded thousands of videos of the dramatic scenes. The videos, which have chronicled the protest and also carried personal testimonies from demonstrators who say they were tortured in detention centers, have outraged Belarusians and galvanized the protest movement.VOA is publishing several videos of the events shared on Telegram.Warning: some of these images are violent and graphic. Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 1 MB480p | 1 MB540p | 1 MB720p | 4 MB720p | 6 MBOriginal | 5 MB Embed” />Copy Download AudioDrone footage of central Minsk, Belarus, during the protest for free and fair elections, August 16. Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline.Download File640p | 2 MB852p | 2 MB960p | 3 MB1080p | 9 MB1080p | 12 MBOriginal | 14 MB Embed” />Copy Download AudioProtesters chant (President Alexander) “Lukashenko – to paddy-wagon” in the regional city of Grodno, Belarus, August 16. Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 1 MB480p | 1 MB540p | 1 MB720p | 3 MB720p | 4 MBOriginal | 4 MB Embed” />Copy Download AudioLenin Square in the regional city of Mogilev, Belarus, August 16.Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 4 MB360p | 5 MB360p | 6 MBOriginal | 11 MB Embed” />Copy Download AudioWarning: These graphic videos appear to show a member of a special police or military unit firing his weapon in the direction of Alexander Taraikovsky, considered the first victim of the Belarusian protests, in Minsk, August 10. Taraikovsky appears unarmed in the video. The government claims Taraikovsky died after an improvised explosive device went off in his hands.Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 2 MB480p | 3 MB540p | 4 MB720p | 9 MBOriginal | 13 MB Embed” />Copy Download AudioWarning: These graphic videos appear to show a member of a special police or military unit firing his weapon in the direction of Alexander Taraikovsky, considered the first victim of the Belarusian protests, in Minsk, August 10. Taraikovsky appears unarmed in the video. The government claims Taraikovsky died after an improvised explosive device went off in his hands.Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline.Download File640p | 1 MB852p | 1 MB960p | 2 MB1080p | 5 MBOriginal | 11 MB Embed” />Copy Download AudioSeveral members of the Belarusian riot police beat a protester who lies on the ground, in Minsk, August 11.
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France, Europe Scramble to Avoid Coronavirus Resurgence
France’s two biggest cities, Paris and Marseille, have tipped back into the highest-risk coronavirus red zone — with the French capital seeing a sixfold rise in cases in just two weeks.French authorities have widened mask-wearing requirements in outdoor spaces, following a troubling increase in cases. For two days in a row, the country has registered more than 3,000 daily cases — a level not seen in months. Violators of the mask rules face a $160 fine.Even so, not all French are following them. Here in Paris, the patchwork of regulations can be confusing.“It’s like super complicated. It’s like one street you’re supposed to, the other you’re not.” Antoni Calmon is a doctor. He’s not wearing a mask, although the Paris street he’s on requires it.”I think we should all wear the mask, everywhere.”The Paris riverside book stands are back in action after lockdown – so are old habits that can help spread the virus, the government says. (Lisa Bryant/VOA)Down the same street, Lea and Pierre—who decline to give their last names — are also violating mask rules. With streets so quiet they say — with many Parisians away on summer holiday — what’s the point?France has had one of Europe’s highest coronavirus caseloads—totaling more than 240,000 since the start of the pandemic, and more than 30,000 deaths. Like much of the region, it managed to flatten the curve after weeks of lockdown.Now the numbers are rebounding. Late last week, Britain added France to its quarantine list — and France reciprocated.Experts say young people, out partying after extensive confinements, account for a major source of the increase. The workplace is another.Spain, Britain and Germany are also seeing resurging caseloads — and new restrictions. Coronavirus cases are also growing in Greece and Romania, relatively spared until now.A man crosses the street near Paris’ Parmentier metro station – mask half down, although it is required in this area. (Lisa Bryant/VOA)Here in France, authorities want to avoid another costly lockdown. Health Director Jerome Salomon told local radio the fate of the virus was in French hands. He urged massive testing.But in Paris, Calmon says he worries people aren’t taking that advice seriously enough. He recently recovered from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.“I have to say even when I was sick, I sent a message to all the people I was in contact with … and not even 50% of the people took the test,” Calmon said.He believes France still has a tough road ahead.
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Michelle Obama Calls Trump ‘Wrong President for Our Country’ as Democrats Open Convention
Former first lady Michelle Obama hailed presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden as a capable leader for a country of “compassionate, resilient, decent people,” while sharply criticizing President Donald Trump as lacking the ability to understand the feelings and experiences of others. Capping the first of four nights of an extraordinary virtual Democratic national convention on Monday, Obama strongly argued that Trump had failed to adequately respond to economic and social crises and the coronavirus pandemic at home while turning away from international alliances built by previous administrations. “Let me be as honest and clear as I possibly can,” she said in a prerecorded speech. “Donald Trump is the wrong president for our country. He has had more than enough time to prove that he can do the job, but he is clearly in over his head.” “He cannot meet this moment,” she added, in delivering the keynote address of the opening night. “He simply cannot be who we need him to be for us.” Trump ridiculed the Democratic effort during a stop at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport earlier Monday, en route to a political gathering in Mankato, Minnesota. “When you hear a speech is taped, it’s like there’s nothing very exciting about it, right?” Trump said to laughs from his supporters.President Donald Trump waves as he steps off Air Force One upon arrival, Monday, Aug. 17, 2020, at Andrews Air Force Base, Md. Trump is returning from Minnesota and Wisconsin.Virtual convention The coronavirus pandemic pushed the Democratic Party to abandon its plans to hold this week’s nominating convention in the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, shifting instead to a virtual event with a mix of taped and lived remarks with politicians, celebrities and citizens from different parts of the country. Next week, Republicans will hold their convention in much the same manner, with limited convention activity in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Trump making his presidential renomination acceptance speech from the White House. Obama headed a parade of prominent Democrats and lesser-known Americans – as well as a handful of dissident Republicans — who spent more than two hours praising Biden as the man best suited for addressing a historic public health, economic and racial justice crisis while portraying Trump as incapable of meeting the challenges. Biden served as vice president for eight years under Obama’s husband, former President Barack Obama. Michelle Obama cast Biden as capable of meeting the country’s current challenges. “I know Joe. He is a profoundly decent man, guided by faith,” Michelle Obama said. “He was a terrific vice president. He knows what it takes to rescue an economy, beat back a pandemic and lead our country. She cited the country’s ongoing battle with the novel coronavirus that has killed more people in the United States than any other nation, the millions of people who have lost their jobs, and the protests against racial inequality and police brutality that have taken place in cities all across the country. “Whenever we look to this White House for some leadership or consolation or any semblance of steadiness, what we get instead is chaos, division, and a total and utter lack of empathy,” Michelle Obama said.In this image from video, former first lady Michelle Obama speaks during the first night of the Democratic National Convention, Aug. 17, 2020.Republican figures Monday night featured several Republican figures, including former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman and one-time presidential candidate and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Meg Whitman, making unusual appearances at the opposing party’s convention to endorse Biden as a better choice for the country than Trump. Former Ohio Governor John Kasich, who ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, said the country is “at a crossroads” and being led down “the wrong road” by a president who has pitted one person against another. “Joe Biden is a man for our times,” Kasich said. “Times that call for all of us to take off our partisan hats and put our nation first for ourselves, and of course, for our children.” The first night of the four-night convention also included statements of support from many of the Democrats who last year joined in what became a crowded field for the party’s nomination to take on Trump in November.Virtual crowd applauds former first lady Michelle Obama on the all virtual 2020 Democratic Convention hosted from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Aug. 18, 2020.The last candidate opposite Biden in the race, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, said the nation is facing an “unprecedented moment” with a number of challenges, including the coronavirus pandemic, systemic racism and climate change. “We have a president who is not only incapable of addressing these crises but is also leading us down the path of authoritarianism,” Sanders said. In a nod to the role he and his staff have had in shaping the party’s platform since he dropped out of the race, Sanders said, “Many of the ideas we fought for, that just a few years ago were considered radical, are now mainstream.” He highlighted several policy issues, including Biden’s support for a higher minimum wage, making it easier for workers to join unions, paid family leave, universal early education, affordable child care, rebuilding infrastructure and fighting climate change. “The truth is that, even before Trump’s negligent response to this pandemic, too many hard-working families have been caught on an economic treadmill with no hope of ever getting ahead. Together we must build a nation that is more equitable, more compassionate and more inclusive,” Sanders said. “I know that Joe Biden will begin that fight on day one.”WATCH: Virtual DNC Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 7 MB480p | 10 MB540p | 13 MB720p | 24 MB1080p | 52 MBOriginal | 166 MB Embed” />Copy Download AudioMail-in ballots Several of the night’s speakers also addressed Trump’s stated opposition to expanding voter access to casting ballots by mail, something many states are allowing in order to have fewer people show up to polling sites amid the pandemic. Those voicing support for such voting, and the U.S. Postal Service, included Senator Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada. “Despite what the president says, voting by mail has been a secure, proven option for decades,” she said. “In 2016, 33 million Americans voted by mail. Even Donald Trump has requested an absentee ballot twice this year.” The convention continues Tuesday with former President Bill Clinton, Biden’s wife, Jill, former Secretary of State John Kerry and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer among the speakers. Biden’s vice presidential running mate, California Senator Kamala Harris — the first Black woman and first South Asian American on a national party ticket in the U.S – anchors the Wednesday night lineup, along with former President Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Biden is set to officially accept the party’s nomination Thursday night. He plans to give his address in his home state of Delaware with only aides and political advisers present. Meanwhile, Trump and Vice President Mike Pence are visiting several political battleground states this week to try to upstage the Democrats, including a stop Thursday by Trump near where Biden grew up in the northeastern Pennsylvania city of Scranton.
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US Company to Begin Second Phase of Human Trials in South Africa for COVID-19 Vaccine
A U.S. based vaccine development company is set to begin the second phase of human testing for its COVID-19 vaccine in South Africa, which is in the midst of a surge in coronavirus cases. Novavax said in a statement that the clinical trials will include 2,665 healthy adults in South Africa. The trials will also compare the vaccine’s effect on 240 medically stable adults with HIV whose immune responses may differ from individuals without HIV. Preliminary findings from the first trial showed people receiving the two doses generated neutralizing antibodies, which can prevent the virus from entering cells, after receiving a second dose of the vaccine. Along with evaluating the immune response in the phase 2b trial in South Africa, Novavax will also organize a phase 2 trial in the United States and Australia in the near future. In Novavax’s statement, Dr. Gregory Glenn, president of research and development at Novavax said, South Africa’s surge in COVID-19 cases lends importance to the Phase 2b clinical trial, with the potential to provide an early indication of efficacy, along with additional safety and immunogenicity data for the vaccine. South Africa is the fifth most affected country worldwide, with more than 583,000 coronavirus cases and more than 11,600 deaths. Novavax said the trial in South Africa is made possible in part from a $15 million grant from The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations is providing money to manufacture doses of the vaccine needed for the trial. Last month, the U.S. government awarded Novavax a $1.6 billion contract to cover testing and development of a vaccine for the coronavirus in the United States with the goal of providing 100 million doses by January.
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Prominent Republicans Endorse Biden at Democratic Convention
John Kasich, the former Republican governor of Ohio, crossed party lines on Monday to speak at the Democratic National Convention in support of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. “I’m a lifelong Republican, but that attachment holds second place to my responsibility to my country. That’s why I’ve chosen to appear at this convention. In normal times, something like this would probably never happen, but these are not normal times,” Kasich said in his prerecorded speech on the opening night of the four-day Democratic Party convention. Kasich, who was one of President Donald Trump’s toughest rivals for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination and was the last to drop out of the race, is perhaps the most prominent Republican to both oppose Trump’s reelection and support Biden. His speech, while clearly welcomed by the Biden campaign, was dismissed as self-serving and disloyal by some conservative Republicans. Even a few progressive Democrats complained Kasich was being given an undeserved spotlight on the first night of the convention. Anti-Trump conservative A lifelong Republican, Kasich was an unbending, brash conservative when he served as a congressman in the 1990s. He became House Budget Committee chairman under Republican Newt Gingrich, the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, and engaged in contentious negotiations with then-Democratic President Bill Clinton to enact welfare reform, tax cuts and a balanced budget. Kasich was also a supporter of the Tea Party movement in 2010 that opposed former Democratic President Barack Obama’s effort to expand Medicaid, a government supported health care program for the poor.In this image from video, former Republican Ohio Gov. John Kasich speaks during the first night of the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 17, 2020.Later, as a two-term governor of Ohio, Kasich pivoted to a more moderate and practical stance, compromising with the opposition to get legislation passed and ultimately agreeing to expand Medicaid in his state. Kasich has been a frequent critic of Trump’s America First policies, especially protectionist trade practices, restrictive immigration regulations and what he called the president’s “divisive” tactics that have heightened political polarization in the country. Kasich supported President Trump’s impeachment for allegedly holding up aid to Ukraine to get political dirt on Biden and his son, Hunter Biden. Trump was ultimately acquitted of the charges in a Senate trial that ended Feb. 5. In 2016, Kasich said he did not vote for Trump, but could not support Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton either. Instead, he cast his vote for former Senator John McCain of Arizona, who was the 2008 Republican nominee. McCain died in August 2018. At the opening of this week’s Democratic convention, Kasich along with other disaffected Republicans — former New York Congresswoman Susan Molinari, former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman and Meg Whitman, CEO of Quibi — came to express support for Biden and try to persuade other Republicans to also cross over to vote for the Democratic candidate. “I know that Joe Biden, with his experience and his wisdom and his decency, can bring us together to help us find that better way,” Kasich said. The Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump, Republican-led political action committee, has also released ads supporting Biden’s campaign. “They’re more or less creating this permission gateway for Republicans to feel OK about not voting for the Republican nominee,” Republican strategist Rob Stutzman said in an interview with VOA. No Republican has ever won the presidency without winning Kasich’s home state of Ohio. In the 2016 general election, Trump won Ohio by more than 8 percentage points over Clinton. Recent polls in Ohio indicate a very close race with Biden and Trump within 1 or 2 percentage points of the other.President Donald Trump pumps his fist as he finishes speaking during an event at the Whirlpool Corporation facility in Clyde, Ohio, Thursday, Aug. 6, 2020.Kasich’s Critics The Trump campaign has downplayed Kasich’s defection, and critics say Kasich is driven by his future presidential ambitions. “Did he ever stop running for president? Did he officially drop out in 2016 or is he still actually running?” conservative talk show host Ben Shapiro asked during a recent interview with the Associated Press. Barry Bennett, a Republican consultant who worked for multiple Ohio Republicans, described Kasich as an “unemployed politician desperately seeking audience,” in an interview with the newspaper Roll Call. Some progressive Democrats, however, were also upset that the conservative Kasich, who supports abortion restrictions and opposes their expansive agenda to establish universal health care and increase economic assistance programs, was given a prime time speaking slot at the convention. Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a rising progressive star in the party who only was given one minute to speak at the convention, on Monday tweeted that while Kasich is welcome to voice his support for Biden, “a Republican who fights against women’s rights doesn’t get to say who is or isn’t representative of the Dem party.” Political crossovers While rare for a prominent party leader to speak at an opposing party convention, it is not unprecedented. Then-Democratic Senator Zell Miller of Georgia endorsed President George W. Bush’s re-election at the Republican National Convention in 2004. Then-Senator Joe Lieberman from Connecticut, who had been the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 2000, spoke at the Republican convention eight years later to support Senator McCain. And in 2016, Michael Bloomberg, who had been a Republican mayor of New York City, gave a speech at the Democratic National Convention supporting Hillary Clinton.
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Grid Operator: 3.3 Million California Homes Could Lose Power
Up to 3.3 million homes in California may lose power Monday as part of rolling blackouts to ease pressure on the state’s electric grid as a days long heat wave engulfing the West Coast creates an energy shortage, according to the operator of the grid. The California Independent System Operator says it will likely order utility companies to turn off power starting around 4 p.m. as demand for electricity to cool homes soars during the hottest part of the day beyond the power available in the grid. California ISO CEO and President Steve Berberich said the state is short about 4,400 megawatts, which equates to about 3.3 million homes, and those affected can expect to lose power for about two hours. He didn’t say where the outages might occur, which are up to the state’s utilities. The grid operator ordered the first rolling blackouts in nearly 20 years Friday as unusually hot weather overwhelmed the state’s electrical grid. The state’s three biggest utilities — Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric — turned off power to more than 410,000 homes and businesses for about an hour at a time until the emergency declaration ended 3½ hours later. A second, but shorter, rolling outage came Saturday evening, cutting power to more than 200,000 customers. Californians packed beaches and riverbanks over the weekend to cool off from scorching triple-digit temperatures that raised the risk of more wildfires and fears of the coronavirus spreading. An irate California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an emergency proclamation Monday allowing some energy users and utilities to tap backup energy sources as the soaring temperatures forced outages affecting hundreds of thousands of households. Newsom acknowledged that the state failed to predict and plan for the energy shortages. “I am not pleased with what’s happened,” he said during an afternoon press briefing. “You shouldn’t be pleased with the moment that we’re in in the state of California.” Newsom also sent a letter demanding that the state energy commission, state public utilities commission and the California Independent System Operator investigate broad energy blackouts over two days last week that he said occurred without prior warning or enough time to prepare. The Democratic governor said residents battling a heat wave and a pandemic in which they’re encouraged to stay home as much as possible were left without the basic necessity of electricity. “These blackouts, which occurred without prior warning or enough time for preparation, are unacceptable and unbefitting of the nation’s largest and most innovative state,” Newsom wrote. “This cannot stand. California residents and businesses deserve better from their government.” But Berberich said they have warned the state utilities commission of a resource gap. “We have indicated in filing after filing after filing that the resource adequacy program was broken and needed to be fixed,” he said. “The situation we are in could have been avoided.” The state Public Utilities Commission did not respond immediately to a request for comment. The last time a California governor faced power outages, he was successfully recalled. Gray Davis, a Democrat, was recalled in October 2003 and replaced by Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican. Customers are asked to reduce energy use, especially during peak evening hours, as the hot weather is expected to last through Wednesday night. California also still faces the threat of power outages to prevent wildfires. Thousands were without power for days last year when Pacific Gas & Electric and other utilities shut off lines amid high, dry winds in order to prevent wildfires.
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Sudanese Protesters Call for Democracy on Anniversary of Power-Sharing Deal
Protesters in cities across Sudan demanded faster implementation of long-delayed reforms Monday, the anniversary of a power-sharing agreement between civilians and the military. Large crowds in the capital, Khartoum, called for justice and peace before security forces dispersed them with tear gas, reported the Sudanese protesters shout slogans outside the Council of Ministers in the capital Khartoum, Aug. 17, 2020.”We came to demonstrate to put pressure on the government to speed up the reforms, because after a year, we’re not satisfied,” Mohammad Omar, a 20-year-old student, told AFP. An agreement in August 2019, known as the Sudanese protesters shout slogans outside the Council of Ministers in Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, Aug. 17, 2020.Protesters also called for a peace deal with rebels in Darfur and elsewhere, both a key demand for demonstrators and a priority for the government. Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok launched peace talks last fall. Sudan’s state news agency SUNA reported that a deal is expected Aug. 28. Despite the progress, Hamdok angered demonstrators Monday when he sent an envoy to speak in his place. The Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA), which led the original anti-Bashir protests and helped in negotiations with the military, criticized the “unacceptable” move in a statement on Twitter.تجمعُ المهنيّين السودانيين في مسلك غير مقبول قامت رئاسة مجلس الوزراء بإرسال أحد موظفيها لاستقبال مواكب جرد الحساب معتذرًا بانشغال رئيس الوزراء، وحين عبّر الثوار عن رفضهم للتصرف تدخلت قوات من الشرطة والقوات النظامية باستخدام العنف ومحاولات تفريق المواكب.#مليونية17اغسطس— تجمع المهنيين السودانيين (@AssociationSd) August 17, 2020The group said when protesters refused the envoy, security forces used violence to break up the crowd. “In light of this provocation and aggression by the security services, the options for escalation remain open and are evaluated,” the SPA said. كان على رئيس الوزراء وطاقمه التحلي بفضيلة الاستماع لمن أتوا بهم إلى مواقع المسؤولية، بل ومخاطبتهم بما يستجيب لمطالبهم؛ إزاء هذا الاستفزاز والتعدي من الأجهزة الأمنية تبقى خيارات التصعيد مفتوحة ويجري تقييمها عبر تنسيقيات لجان المقاومة، وسيُعلن عنها فور الاتفاق على الخطوات.— تجمع المهنيين السودانيين (@AssociationSd) August 17, 2020In a statement on Twitter, Hamdok called for reform. “The state apparatus needs to be rebuilt, and the legacy of (the old regime) needs to be dismantled, and the civil service needs to be modernized and developed to become unbiased between citizens, as well as effective,” he wrote.جهاز الدولة يحتاج الي إعادة بناء وتركة التمكين تحتاج إلى تفكيك والخدمة المدنية تحتاج لتحديث وتطوير ليصبح محايد بين المواطنات والمواطنين وخدمي وفاعل…— Abdalla Hamdok (@SudanPMHamdok) August 17, 2020In line with the constitutional declaration, elections are due in Sudan in October 2022. Last week, a trial for Bashir over the military coup that brought him to power three decades ago was delayed at the request of his lawyers. If convicted for the 1989 overthrow of democratically elected Prime Minister Sadek al-Mahdi, Bashir and the other defendants could face the death penalty, AFP reported. Leslie Bonilla contributed to this report.
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Vietnam’s Economy Seen as Hopeful Despite Coronavirus Surge
Western business leaders remain optimistic about Vietnam’s economic prospects despite a new surge of coronavirus cases that has prompted renewed lockdowns, especially in hard-hit neighborhoods in and around the central city of Da Nang.Vietnam had been one of the world’s most successful countries in containing the virus, with no new cases for 99 days until the new outbreak began on July 25. Since then there have been more than 900 new cases and 21 fatalities, prompting a new round of strict measures to contain the spread of the virus.“People are just staying at home and nobody is leaving the street, we had a blood test yesterday and a temperature check every morning and I cried a bit yesterday,” said Jessie Tran, a Vietnamese website designer living in one virus hot zone in Da Nang.An empty street in Da Nang, Aug. 17, 2020. (Hugh Bohane/VOA)Economists are warning that the outbreak could lead to a setback in the nation’s fairly rosy projections for short-term economic growth, according to Kenneth Atkinson, the founder of the international accounting firm Grant Thornton and vice president of the Tourism Advisory Board (TAB) in Vietnam.“I think it is too early to say but already one of the advisory committees from the policy research institute said to the prime minister, this could throw us into negative growth from the current projections of the 2 to 4% GDP growth for 2020,” said Atkinson, a dual citizen of Britain and Vietnam.Nevertheless, Atkinson told VOA he is not too worried because he believes Vietnam will remain an attractive destination for international companies wishing to relocate from China because of the U.S.-Chinese trade war.“The way Vietnam dealt with the first wave of COVID has given people a lot of confidence in the country and it can only accelerate that process that it has already started and I think Vietnam from that perspective comes out of this very well,” he said.Locals wearing masks on the street in Da Nang, Vietnam, Aug. 17,2020. (Hugh Bohane/VOA)In the meantime, normal commerce has screeched to a near halt in Da Nang, a coastal city popular with tourists because of its pristine beaches. Those beaches are now virtually empty, and authorities have closed all but essential businesses such as pharmacies, hospitals, ATMs and supermarkets.Medical experts are still uncertain about the source of the new outbreak, which Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long has attributed to a new strain of the virus although that has yet to be confirmed by scientists.Vietnam’s borders have been almost totally closed since March apart from a few flights repatriating Vietnamese from abroad, who could have brought the virus with them.A medical worker arrives to test residents in Da Nang, Aug. 17, 2020. (Hugh Bohane/VOA)Suspicion is also focused on 40 Chinese nationals who were illegally smuggled into Vietnam in April. Two Vietnamese citizens were detained on July 27 on suspicion of organizing the illegal entry and are being questioned by police.Local authorities are now acting to test Da Nang’s entire population of about 1.1 million people. Tien Son Sports Center, in Da Nang’s city center, has been converted into a field hospital and will be able to hold up to 2,000 patients.About 100 people were working frantically earlier this month to finish the task, according to a security guard who gave his name as Mr. Long.In the city’s Ngu Hanh Son neighborhood, close to My Khe beach, one street was completely locked down beginning July 30 after at least one case was detected there. The street, An Thuong 15, was cordoned off while guards and medics in hazmat suits inspected the area. The barricades were removed only a few days ago, to the delight of residents.The windows light up the Muong Thanh Hotel in Da Nang, Aug, 17, 2020. (Hugh Bohane/VOA)Despite the strict measures, most expatriates living in Da Nang give the government credit for acting swiftly and effectively to contain the virus, both earlier this year and during the current surge of cases.“I am scared but I am less worried knowing that the community I live in is so accepting of the rules and regulations enforced by the government, which are there to keep us safe,” said Eva Monique McDonough, a Canadian citizen, who teaches English and studies Vietnamese.Tran, the website designer, agreed that the Vietnamese government is trying its best to handle the outbreak and that the lockdown measures are crucial to containing it.
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Trump Takes Campaign to Midwest as Democrats Kick Off Convention Week
On the day the Democratic Party began its virtual convention, the incumbent Republican president, Donald Trump, brought his campaign to the heart of the upper Midwest. In campaign-style stops at airports in Minnesota and Wisconsin on Monday — replicating the rock music soundtracks of his “Make America Great Again” political rallies — the president, speaking to invited clusters of supporters on the tarmacs, accused his presumptive election opponent of being a clueless puppet of “left-wing fascists.” A victory by the opposition party in November, Trump warned, would mean open borders, economic collapse and other perceived calamities. Supporters cheer as President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Wittman Airport in Oshkosh, Wis., Aug. 17, 2020.“In Joe Biden’s America, the protections of American citizenship will be stripped away, and your community will be left at the mercy of the mob,” the president told the outdoor audience at the airport in Mankato, Minnesota. Later, during a similar event on the tarmac at the airport in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, Trump said “no one will be a safe in Biden-run America” because the former vice president and his running mate, Senator Kamala Harris, “are pro-crime and anti-cop.” Trump was competitive in Minnesota in 2016; Hillary Clinton barely won the state. “It is clear that to the extent that the president has a strategy, it is the old ploy to play up the fears of white middle class beset by protests, riots and changing demography,” Jennifer Delton, a history professor at Skidmore College, told VOA. “The George Floyd protests, the concurrent riots and resulting property damage, and continued calls to ‘defund’ police are all disturbing and uncomfortable realities” for many in Minnesota of the older baby boomer generation, regardless of their political leaning. Minnesota was, for much of the 20th century, a bastion of the progressive liberal tradition out of which emerged two vice presidents from the Democratic Party: Hubert Humphrey and Walter Mondale. But since the 1980s, that tradition has been challenged by a variety of conservatives. “At the same time, the state has become incredibly diverse with strong, politically active Hmong and Somali communities,” Delton said. President Donald Trump speaks to a crowd of supporters at Mankato Regional Airport in Mankato, Minn., Aug. 17, 2020.In addition to the airport visits in Minneapolis and Mankato in Minnesota and Oshkosh in Wisconsin, the president is to go to the southwestern border city of Yuma in Arizona on Tuesday. Two days later, he is scheduled to be near Biden’s boyhood home in the northeastern city of Scranton, Pennsylvania. That will occur the same day Biden makes his presidential nomination acceptance speech from neighboring Delaware. In his successful 2016 campaign for the White House, Trump reveled in the cheers from sign-waving supporters at large public rallies. But both the Trump and Biden public campaigns have been sharply curtailed this year by the coronavirus pandemic and the need to keep their adherents socially distanced from each other. The change, which Trump blames on China allowing the coronavirus to escape Wuhan, was lamented by the president Monday. Because of the risk of spreading the COVID-19 virus, the president said that when candidates give speeches now, “you have to stand two football fields away” from the audience. A supporter watches as President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Wittman Airport in Oshkosh, Wis., Aug. 17, 2020.Trump attempted to stage an arena-sized rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in June, but the crowd that showed up was far short of his campaign’s expectations. One of the prominent attendees, former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain, who did not wear a mask at the event, later died of COVID-19. This week’s swing through the four states reflects the new reality of downsized events that are the antithesis of U.S. presidential campaigns of yesteryears. Trump, who for months has been trailing Biden in national polls, is hoping to limit a further political fall-off generated by the virtual Democratic convention, where party luminaries for four days will extol Biden and pillory Trump’s 3½ years as president, particularly his handling of the pandemic and early-2020 predictions that the virus will disappear. “The China plague will fade, but we will not forget,” Trump stated in Mankato on Monday. The United States, with nearly 5.5 million coronavirus cases, also has the most reported COVID-19 deaths of any country –- more than 170,000. The president prefers to dwell on other matters during his campaign-style events. On Monday, he spoke about rebuilding the economy a second time after the pandemic hit. “You know what that is?” Trump asked. “That’s right. That’s God testing me. He said, ‘You know, you did it once.’ And I said, ‘Did I do a great job, God? I’m the only one that could do it.’ He said, ‘That, you shouldn’t say. Now we’re going to have you do it again.’” Ken Bredemeier contributed to this report.
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As Poland Hails US Troop Deal, Germany Fears Weakening of NATO
The United States and Poland have signed a deal to boost U.S. troop numbers in the country and to create a permanent U.S. base there. It follows an earlier U.S. decision to withdraw some troops from Germany. As Henry Ridgwell reports, many European allies see it as a political move following disputes over defense spending among NATO allies – but others argue the redeployment is essential to meet threats from Russia.
Camera: Henry Ridgwell Produced by: Barry Unger
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US Hits Uganda Adoption Ring with Criminal Charges, Sanctions
The U.S. government filed criminal charges and economic sanctions Monday against an adoption ring that placed Ugandan children who were not orphans with families in the United States.The U.S. Justice Department filed multiple fraud and money laundering charges against two Americans, Margaret Cole and Debra Parris, and a Ugandan lawyer, Dorah Mirembe, for conspiring to corruptly procure the children and transfer them to American adoptive parents, making hundreds of thousands of dollars in the process.Mirembe’s law firm is accused of manipulating the parents of “vulnerable families” in the Ugandan countryside to give up their children, claiming the children would be moved to Kamapala to be educated by missionaries, according to the allegations.Instead they were presented to courts as orphans who would be adopted by Americans and taken to the United States.”These three defendants preyed on the emotions of parents, those wanting the best for their child, and those wishing to give what they thought was an orphaned child a family to love,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Eric Smith in a statement.The U.S. Treasury meanwhile placed economic sanctions on Mirembe, her husband, Patrick Ecobu, and two Ugandan judges, Moses Mukiibi and Wilson Musalu Musene, who allegedly took bribes to sign off on the adoption cases.The sanctions allow the U.S. Treasury to freeze any assets they may have under U.S. jurisdiction, including financial accounts and property.
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Sudan, Egypt Optimistic on Nile Dam Deal with Ethiopia
Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia have agreed to present draft proposals on how to manage Addis Ababa’s controversial Nile hydroelectric dam by Tuesday according to Sudan’s water ministry.In a Sunday statement the ministry said, “After lengthy discussions, the attendees decided to resume negotiations … to work on unifying the texts of the agreements submitted by the three countries.”The decision was announced amid talks led by the African Union (AU) between water and foreign ministers from the three countries about the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, speaks during the opening session of the Arab Economic Forum in Beirut, Lebanon, May 2, 2019.Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and his Sudanese counterpart Abdalla Hamdok, who met in Khartoum over the weekend, expressed their support for the AU-led negotiations over the Ethiopian dam and water rights.Sudan and Egypt agree that negotiating with Ethiopia is the only way to resolve disputes over the dam, but Sudan warned Egypt against making any “unilateral procedures” without consulting with Khartoum first, said Sudan information minister Faisal Mohammed Saleh.“The two sides also reiterated their commitment to the negotiation as the only means in achieving the interest of the people in this region and they are confident towards success of the current intervention of the African Union in the talks,” Saleh said.Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok speaks inside Friendship Hall in Khartoum, Sudan, Dec. 25, 2019.Hamdok and Madbouly outlined principals that could help during the African Union-sponsored talks, according to Saleh, such as “just usage of the Nile without causing any damage on any side, based on the related international law.”The $4 billion dam on the Blue Nile River has been a point of contention between the three countries since Ethiopia broke ground on the project in 2011.A number of mediators including officials from the Trump administration have tried and failed to come up with a solution.Acting Sudanese Foreign Minister Omar Ismail Gamardin told the Sudan News Agency a final draft agreement is in the works.“We are expecting consultants from the African Union to help the three countries in drafting the agreement,” he said.Egypt and Sudan, which insist that Ethiopia not fill the reservoir until a deal is reached, view the dam as a threat to their vital water supplies, while Ethiopia considers the dam crucial to its plans for economic development.The dispute came to a head in July, when Ethiopia announced it had finished the first stage of filling the dam’s 74 billion cubic-meter reservoir.Carol Van Dam Falk contributed to this report.
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As Poland Hails US Troop Deal, Germany Fears Weakening of NATO
Poland has hailed a deal struck with the United States to base more troops in the country, saying it enhances the “deterrence potential” against Russian aggression.But the U.S. move follows a decision to halve its troop presence in Germany, and other European NATO allies fear the alliance is being undermined by political infighting over defense spending levels.There are already around 4,500 U.S. troops in Poland, part of a rotating deployment in eastern Europe. The new agreement, officially called the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), will see an additional 1,000 U.S. troops on the ground. The U.S. Army’s V Corps headquarters will also be relocated to Poland from Germany. Poland says the number of U.S. troops could be rapidly increased to 20,000 if required.WATCH: Poland Hails US Troop DealSorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo talks to an officer at Pilsudski square in Warsaw, Poland, before ceremonies commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Warsaw, Aug. 15, 2020.The deployment is strategically significant, defense analyst Jonathan Eyal of Britain’s Royal United Services Institute, told VOA Monday.“This is about a deterrence. A deterrence to Russia and a reminder to all Europeans that all member states of NATO are entitled to the same security guarantee.”Poland said the deal will help defend against threats from Russia.“Not only the physical presence and deployment is important, but it is also important to have troops deployed precisely in the locations where they should be deployed. And here we agreed together with my colleague, Secretary of State (Pompeo), that the presence of American troops in Poland enhances our deterrence potential, because we are closer to the potential source of conflict,” Czaputowicz said at A US military aircraft takes off from the US Airbase Ramstein, Germany, June 7, 2020.President Donald Trump announced plans last month to move 12,000 U.S. troops out of Germany, accusing Berlin of failing to meet the NATO defense spending target of 2% of gross domestic product. In 2019, Germany spent around 1.38% GDP on defense. Trump said about half of the troops would be sent home, with the rest deployed to other NATO allies.“Germany owes billions and billions of dollars to NATO, and why would we keep all of those troops there?” Trump told reporters in July. “We are protecting Germany. So, we’re reducing the force because they’re not paying their bills. It’s very simple. They’re delinquent.”U.S. officials say the partial withdrawal of troops from Germany and the deployment in Poland are not linked. Berlin has warned the moves could weaken the NATO alliance.Eyal argues that changes are long overdue.“In reality, what it is, is a proper recalibration of (the) alliance more than 30 years after the end of the Cold War. What is the point of having many troops massed in Germany for purely historic reasons but having no troops in the countries that feel most vulnerable and are indeed most threatened by threatening noises from Russia?” Eyal told VOA.NATO allies deployed several thousand troops in eastern Europe following Russia’s forceful annexation of Crimea and invasion of eastern Ukraine in 2014. Moscow has called the presence of U.S. troops in Poland as a “threat to its security.”
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Trump Eyes White House Funeral Service for Brother, Robert
President Donald Trump is eyeing a White House funeral service later this week for his younger brother, Robert, who died over the weekend in a New York hospital.”We’re looking at Friday. And we may do just a small service right here at the White House,” Trump told reporters Monday as he departed Washington on a trip to the Midwest.The president said such a service would be a “great honor” for his sibling.”I think he’d be greatly honored. He loves our country. He loved our country so much. He was so proud of what we were doing and what we are doing for our country,” Trump said.Robert Trump, a businessman, died Saturday after being hospitalized in New York. He was 71.President Trump announced his brother’s death in a statement Saturday that referred to his sibling as “my best friend” and promised they “will meet again.”Trump had visited his brother in the hospital on Friday; White House officials had described him as seriously ill. The cause of death has not been released.Trump discussed his brother’s death during a nationally broadcast interview Monday.”This was not a great weekend. It’s very hard. You knew it was going to happen, but still when it happens it’s a very tough thing,” the president said on Fox News Channel’s “Fox and Friends.” “He was a great guy. He was a tremendous guy. He was my friend. I guess they say best friend, and that’s true. And losing him, not easy.”Trump said Robert Trump had always supported him and there was no rivalry between them.”There was not an ounce of jealously … he was my biggest fan,” Trump said.
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Q&A: What’s Happening at the US Postal Service, And Why?
The U.S. Postal Service is warning states it cannot guarantee that all ballots cast by mail for the Nov. 3 election will arrive in time to be counted, even if ballots are mailed by state deadlines. That’s raising the possibility that millions of voters could be disenfranchised.
It’s the latest chaotic and confusing development involving the agency, which has found itself in the middle of a high-stakes election year debate over who gets to vote in America, and how. Those questions are particularly potent in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, which has led many Americans to consider voting by mail instead of heading to in-person polling places.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends mail ballots as a way to vote without risking exposure to the virus at the polls. But President Donald Trump has baselessly excoriated mail ballots as fraudulent, worried that an increase could cost him the election.
Democrats have been more likely than Republicans to vote by mail in primary contests held so far this year.
Some questions and answers about what’s going on with the post office and the upcoming election:What’s Wrong With The Post Office?
The Post Office has lost money for years, though advocates note it’s a government service rather than a profit-maximizing business.
In June, Louis DeJoy, a Republican donor and logistics company executive, took over as the new postmaster general and Trump tasked him with trying to make the Postal Service more profitable. Doing so would also squeeze businesses such as Amazon. Its chief executive, Jeff Bezos, has come under criticism from Trump because of the coverage the president has received from The Washington Post, which Bezos owns.
DeJoy cut overtime, late delivery trips and other expenses that ensure mail arrives at its destination on time. The result has been a national slowdown of mail.
The Postal Service is hoping for a $10 billion infusion from Congress to continue operating, but talks between Democrats and Republicans over a broad pandemic relief package that could have included that money have broken down.
On Thursday, Trump frankly acknowledged that he’s starving the postal service of that money to make it harder to process an expected surge of mail-in ballots. Trump on Saturday attempted to re-calibrate his position. He said that he supports more funding for the postal service but refuses to capitulate to other parts of the Democrats’ relief package — including funding for cash-strapped states.Why Does This Matter in An Election Year?
Mail-in ballots have exploded in popularity since the pandemic spread in mid-March, at the peak of primary season. Some states have seen the demand for mail voting increase fivefold or more during the primaries. Election officials are bracing for the possibility that half of all voters — or even more — will cast ballots by mail in November.
Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Utah and Washington state have universal mail voting, and California, Nevada and Vermont are starting universal mail voting in November. But the rest have little experience with such a volume of ballots cast through the mail.
Timely mail is key to voting by mail. In states without universal mail-in voting, applications for mail ballots are generally sent out to voters by mail. They’re returned, again, by mail. Then the actual ballots are sent to voters by mail, and returned, again, by mail, usually by Election Day.
Late last month, Thomas J. Marshall, the post office’s general counsel and executive vice president, sent states a letter warning that many of them have deadlines too tight to meet in this new world of slower mail.
Pennsylvania, for example, allows voters to request a mail ballot by Oct. 27. Marshall warned that voters there should put already completed ballots in the mail by that date to ensure they arrive by Nov. 3.
This has been a potential problem since the Obama administration, when the post office relaxed standards for when mail had to arrive. But it’s particularly acute when the volume of mail ballots is expected to explode in states such as Pennsylvania, which only approved an expansion of mail voting late last year. It’s also acute when the president has said openly he wants to limit votes by his rivals by keeping them from voting by mail.What Happens Next?
It’s unclear. The first question is whether there will be a coronavirus relief bill that could help fund the post office. Republicans and Democrats are far apart on the measure and Congress has gone home for a few weeks.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is calling the chamber back into session this week to address the Postal Service.
A vote is expected Saturday on legislation, the “Delivering for America Act,” that would prohibit any changes in mail delivery or services for 2020. Congress is on summer recess and had not been expected to return until September. The Senate remains away.
If there’s no resolution of the coronavirus aid, the matter is sure to come up during negotiations in September to continue to fund the federal government. The government will shut down if Trump doesn’t sign a funding bill by Sept. 30.
States can also act to change their mail balloting deadlines. That’s what Pennsylvania did this past week, with the state asking a court to move the deadline for receiving mail ballots back to three days after the Nov. 3 vote, provided the ballots were placed in the mail before polls close on Election Day.
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and some other Democratic lawmakers are also seeking a review of DeJoy’s policy changes. In response to the letter, spokeswoman Agapi Doulaveris of the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General said the office is “conducting a body of work to address the concerns raised.” She declined to elaborate.
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African Fans Bow Down to Beyonce’s ‘Black Is King’
Beyonce’s musical film, “Black is King,” is gaining global fans and critics for its portrayal of African culture. In South Africa, where several scenes in the 85-minute feature were filmed, many say it’s more than just a movie. VOA’s Anita Powell reports from Johannesburg.
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African Fans Bow Down to Beyonce’s ‘Black Is King’
“Black is King” stunned Beyonce fans when it dropped suddenly last month. The visual album, which was filmed last year in the U.S., South Africa, West Africa and Europe, is based on music from her album “The Lion King: The Gift” and features an array of African artists, musicians and dancers. Like all Beyonce products, this album has its detractors. Some accuse the Houston native of cultural appropriation for using African aesthetics.But in South Africa, where she filmed many of the scenes, those involved in the production were rapturous. Sibusiso Mathebula worked on some Johannesburg-based scenes as part of his film studies. He spoke to VOA via Google Hangouts from his hometown, Middelburg. “I’m really really honored to have become part of the crew that put together this film. I really love the film,” he said. ” It went into a lot of things that we haven’t been told in our in our schools about Black history. When I saw the film, that’s when I started to see that the stories and the attires and the outfits that she was putting and that whole scene, really represented something deeper than what people were expecting.”Reaction is coming slowly from the continent because the film’s distributor, Disney Plus, is not widely available here. But South Africa’s largest cable distributor aired the film days after it debuted in late July, and is making it available on demand for premium subscribers. Beyonce fan Kgosi Motsoane, who founded a project to tell queer narratives in Africa, says he believes the African diaspora – which includes Black Americans – has every right to reference and use what some may see as “African” culture. He told VOA via Google Hangouts he loved the film, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a few critiques.”Like, there are areas where I thought that “Black is King’ could have been improved. For example, as a queer person I would have loved to see more — I know she worked with a lot of queer people — but I would have liked to see that representation on camera,” he said. “But ultimately, like, there was no representation of transwomen there. There was no representation of, you know, of like, butch lesbians, of non- … it’s just like, a lot of those types of expressions in like the women experience, were quite sort of … silenced in a way.”And, Motsoane says, it’s important, especially now, to elevate the power and position of Black women — especially after as U.S. Democratic Senator Kamala Harris became the first Black woman vice-presidential pick. “You have a pop star who has the biggest platform in the world and is using it to sort of push Black politics. And then you have this vice president candidate that is a Black woman, taking space,” he said. “It’s really interesting to see these things happen now, considering how when we understand the politics, Black women have always been on the lowest sort of like strata of social hierarchy. And to have them occupy these really key, critical, profoundly influential platforms, that is really heartening and it’s encouraging. But also, I cannot think of a better time that we need something like this to happen.”Mathebula agrees, and says Beyonce’s film inspired him to work on his own project that will help tell more African stories. On one thing, her African supporters agree: If Black is King, Beyonce is the Queen. So whether you’re in Accra or Atlanta, they say: bow down.
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Mauritius Copes With Split Japanese Ship That Spilled Oil
Work began Monday to remove the two pieces of a grounded Japanese ship that leaked tons of oil into the protected coast of the Indian Ocean island nation of Mauritius and broke apart.
Tug boats will pull the bow — the smaller part of the shipwrecked MV Wakashio — out to sea and allow it to sink, according to environmental experts on the island. The larger part of the ship will be dragged off the coral reef where it ran aground and towed away, possibly to India for salvage.
“When the ship split in two, there was further leakage of oil, but it appears most of that fuel was on the other side of the coral reef and was in the high seas,” Sunil Dowarkasing, an environmental consultant and former parliament member in Mauritius. “With the sea currents, we don’t know if the new leakage will stay outside the lagoon or not.”
Oil barriers were in place and a skimmer ship to scoop up the fuel was nearby.
The Mauritius government has closed off the coastal area of the eastern part of the island, where thousands of civilian volunteers worked for days to try to minimize damage to the Mahebourg lagoon and protected marine wetlands polluted by the spilled fuel.
Only officials and hired workers are permitted to work in the coastal area and the waters surrounding the grounded ship.
Experts from France, Japan and the United Nations are also involved in the clean-up work.
“Now, we must rely on the government as our only source of information about the situation, so we are only getting one side of the story,” Dowarkasing said.
“We know that the damage to the area is substantial,” he told The Associated Press. “The mangroves are heavily impacted by the fuel. The extent of the damage to the coral reefs will only be known much later, but it is expected to be serious.”
The Wakasio ran aground a coral reef on July 25. After being pounded by heavy waves, the vessel cracked and it starting leaking oil on August 6. The damaged ship spilled more than 1,000 tons of its cargo of 4,000 tons of fuel into the turquoise waters of the Mahebourg Lagoon, one of the island’s most pristine coastal areas.
Most of the remaining 3,000 tons of fuel had been pumped off the ship in the past week as environmental groups warned that the damage to coral reefs could be irreversible.
The Mauritius government is under pressure to explain why immediate action wasn’t taken to empty the ship of its fuel before it began to leak. Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth earlier blamed bad weather for the slow response.
Owner Nagashiki Shipping has said “residual” amounts of fuel remained on the ship after pumping. It is investigating why the ship went off course. The ship was meant to stay at least 10 miles (16 kilometers) from shore. The company has sent experts to help clean up the damage.
The Mauritius government is seeking compensation from the company.
After the government declared an environmental emergency, thousands of volunteers rushed to the shore to create makeshift oil barriers from tunnels of fabric stuffed with sugar cane leaves and even human hair, with empty plastic bottles tucked in to keep them afloat.
The island nation of some 1.3 million people relies heavily on tourism and already had taken a severe hit due to travel restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic.
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A Century After Gaining Right to Vote, Do Women Still Face Voter Suppression?
Feminists in the late 19th and early 20th centuries fervently campaigned for women’s suffrage in the United States by organizing, petitioning and picketing. One hundred years ago this month they were finally granted the right to vote through passage of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. From the time the amendment was introduced to Congress in 1878, it took more than 40 years for it to be passed and then ratified by three-quarters of the states. The fight to vote goes back to the first women’s rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York, in 1848. Held at Weslyan Methodist Church, the convention was attended by an estimated 300 people, including abolitionist Frederick Douglass. No women of color were present. The church is now part of the Women’s Rights At the first women’s rights convention, Elizabeth Cady Stanton was the principle author of the Declaration of Sentiments, a document that called for equality with men, including the right to vote.Delegates included Elizabeth Cady Stanton, the principle author of the Declaration of Sentiments, a document written at the convention calling for equality with men, including the right to vote.During the early 20th century, a new generation of women continued the struggle with protests, silent vigils, hunger strikes and parades. This parade took place by the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. in 1913.“They give speeches for women’s suffrage in public to rally male audiences and go into crowds of men at factory gates at lunchtime, and they often win them over,” DuBois said. Renewed momentum, along with President Woodrow Wilson changing his stance and supporting the amendment in 1918, eventually led to its passage two years later. A century later, many women still face voter suppression, says the League of Women Voters, including “forcing discriminatory voter ID and proof-of citizenship restrictions on eligible voters, reducing polling place hours in communities of color, and illegally purging voters from the rolls.” Inequalities like these and others may be alleviated through passage of the Equal Rights Amendment, proponents say, which was introduced to Congress in 1923, three years after women gained voting rights. The ERA was approved by the House of Representatives in 1971 and by the Senate in 1972. It was ratified by three-quarters of the states in January 2020 — years after the deadline. Eleanor Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority Foundation, argues that if the deadline was removed, the amendment that says “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of sex,” could become a part of the Constitution. Like women who fought for voting rights, Smeal said, “the Equal Rights Amendment is very important because it establishes that all women must be treated equally under our Constitution.” Among other things, she explains, it will end pay, education and insurance discrimination, and help prevent violence against women.
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Amid Election Protests, Belarusian State TV Presenters Walk Off Job
State-television presenters in Belarus are signing off for good, fed up with putting a positive spin on the country’s turmoil, as some of their viewers take a beating while protesting what they believe to be a rigged presidential election.The television personalities are joining a growing numbers of police officers and factory workers who are walking off the job to send a message to the authorities and the government of President Alyaksandr Lukashenko, who declared a landslide reelection victory on August 9.”It’s hard to say ‘good morning’ when it’s actually bad,” Andrey Makayonak, a stand-up comedian and prominent face on the Good Morning Belarus program for Belarus-1 (BT) channel, told the daily Komsomolskaya Pravda in Belarus.At least six on-air presenters have resigned in recent days from the state broadcasting company, including Makayonak who announced his departure on August 12 after the third-straight day of demonstrations that have been met with a harsh response from Belarusian security services.The walkouts are significant since state TV dominates Belarusian broadcasting for news and entertainment programming, and it is a primary source of news for a large majority of Belarusians.More than 6,700 people have reportedly been detained since the election, and harrowing images and reports of police brutality from the streets of Minsk and other cities have filled up Telegram channels, social-media feeds, and other independent media. But state TV has often played down the street clashes, or demonized the protesters.Makayonak was joined in departing Belteleradio, the national state radio and television company, by TV presenter Volha Bahatyrevich. She announced she was leaving her position at All-National TV in an Instagram post on August 12 that showed her holding her resignation letter. It was accompanied by the message: “We are few, but we are,” capped by emoticons showing gestures used by the opposition.The same day, Uladzimir Burko, the host of the Defense Ministry’s Arsenal program that also aired on BT, announced his departure. So, too, did Vera Karetnikava, a host for both BT and the STV channel. View this post on InstagramВсем привет. Меня зовут Владимир Бурко. Я ведущий мероприятий и до недавнего времени ведущий военной программы «Арсенал» на канале “Беларусь 1”. Начну с главного: я больше не ведущий этого телепроекта, ушёл сам, не без приключений, но ушёл. – 5 лет я негласно был медийным лицом министерства обороны республики Беларусь – 5 лет я вёл программу над созданием которой трудилась большая команда потрясающих людей, каждого из которых я обниму при встрече и надеюсь они мне ответят взаимностью – 5 лет я с очень серьёзным лицом рассказывал о том, что наша армия сама доблестная и сильная, военная техника самая современная, а весь высший офицерский состав – пример для подражания… – 5 лет я читал новости, которые добровольно-принудительно утром в воскресенье смотрел весь личный состав вооруженных сил – 5 лет – это больше 3 поколений призывников, служивших 1.5 года во всех видах и родах войск К чему я это всё… Я никогда бы, даже в самом страшном сне, не подумал, что солдаты и техника, о которых я рассказывал, могут быть применены против своего народа… Против мирного населения страны, против женщин и не дай Бог детей. Я хочу обратиться к военным: солдатам и офицерам. Вы ждёте приказа. Вы прекрасно осознаёте каким будет этот приказ и скорее всего понимаете какими будут последствия для белорусов, которые просто хотели справедливости, а получат от вас пулю… Одумайтесь пока не поздно… Донесите совету безопасности и своему руководству, что ваши методы и методы смежных структур являются варварскими и антигуманными. Среди верхушки министерства обороны много разных людей. Мне кажется, как и во всех структурах, есть лизоблюды и карьеристы, но есть и настоящие офицеры, которые прошли войны, видели лицо смерти и таких офицеров большинство. Я прошу Вас принять верное решение, решение, которым мы, беларусы будем гордиться, потому что пока только нарастает ненависть от того, что мы видим… И в конце. Никто не хочет войны. Все акции проходят и будут проходить мирно. Люди хотят справедливости, люди просят их не обманывать, люди просят свободы. За последний пункт отвечаете именно вы, так что всё получится. Мы рядом и всегда поможем. #ведущийвладимирбурко #мызачестныеновости #нетвойнеA post shared by ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ВЛАДИМИР БУРКО (@vladimir_burko) on Aug 12, 2020 at 9:12am PDTThey all followed BT news anchor Syarhey Kazlovich and STV presenter Tatsyana Barodkina, who quit on August 11.In announcing his resignation, Kazlovich wrote on Instagram that his decision to leave after 10 years in the TV news business was the end of a “childhood dream.”Two days before his departure, Kazlovich reported that “provocateurs” had been blocking polling stations in order to disrupt voting, according to the media outlet Reform.by. In his reports on street clashes, he also cast protesters as the aggressors, saying police had no option but to fire rubber bullets to repel physical attacks by “aggressive young people.”STV’s Barodkina, who appeared on the cooking program Breakfast For Three along with her two daughters, wrote on Facebook that “unfortunately my children and I will no longer be able to smile from the TV screen.”She wrote that she was unsure if people would be able to read her post, due to widespread Internet blockages. Still, she urged viewers to not be afraid, and “do not deprive our children of their future!”STV correspondent Alyaksandr Luchonok, meanwhile, offered an explanation for why his colleagues had left the airwaves: “every news release is a deliberate move” as part of a grand “strategy,” he said.”I don’t want to be silent anymore!” he wrote. View this post on InstagramТем, кто по ту сторону экрана, больше молчать не хочу! Думаю, ни для кого не секрет, что вся информация, которая транслируется по ТВ, четко выверена, не один раз прочитана редакторами и идеологами. Есть определённая тактика, планирование, стратегия воздействовать на наши умы. Основная суть — аккуратно и ненавязчиво внушать людям, что наша страна не находится в «застое». Если в какой-либо сфере или отрасли провал —для сглаживания углов удар на себя принимает местная вертикаль. Это все, ещё раз повторюсь, стратегия! Вывод, к которому я пришел. Каждый выпуск новостей — продуманный ход. Поэтому сейчас сильнее всего поражает — почему ребята начали так сдавать свои позиции. — Филигранная победа с 80% голосов за АГЛ? Как мне кажется, филигранно сфальсифицировать при нынешнем расколе общества – это «нарисовать» 50+, и явно не столь массовый масштаб приобрело бы нынешнее протестное движение! — У протестующих есть кукловоды? Выйдите на улицу и задайте этот вопрос людям. Услышите чуть ли не единогласный ответ, чем они руководствуются. Сам лично интересовался. Это исключительно инициатива каждого, а отрицать и обвинять во всем Запад или объединенный штаб – отрицать свое поражение. Давайте вспомним, как прошлой весной свою победу праздновал нынешний Президент Украины Владимир Зеленский. Там был настоящий ПРАЗДНИК. Во всех наших госСМИ подчеркивают тоже самое, только почему вы призываете разогнать народное «веселье»?! — Удерживать Тихановскую в ЦИКе 6 часов и надеяться, что именно поэтому белорусы не пойдут на протест? Это ещё больше разгорячит народ, уже доказано! Символ протеста сегодня не Тихановская, а сами люди! (продолжение в карусели)A post shared by Александр Лучонок (@casper_estonia) on Aug 13, 2020 at 2:15am PDTIn leaving their jobs, members of the media joined growing ranks of police and security officers who are also quitting.Some police officers and members of the OMON security force have used social media as a platform to announce they were quitting, often in videos showing them throwing their uniforms in the trash. In one case, a security office was shown burning his uniform.Another former MVD officer rips off the patch from his uniform with the help of his children. 366/https://t.co/UZltJSTcjOpic.twitter.com/eAI56oKN7g— Rob Lee (@RALee85) August 12, 2020It is unclear how many have actually resigned.The walkouts by journalists and police officers come as workers at major state companies and factories across the country walked off their jobs in solidarity with demonstrators. Many have joined the demands calling for a full review of the official results that said Lukashenka walked away with 80 percent of the vote. They’ve also called for the release of those arrested during the protests.Among the companies affected in recent days were the Grodno meat-packing plant, the Atlant and Gefest appliance-makers, the Minsk Automobile Factory, and the Azot chemical fertilizer plant. Workers at Minsk Tractor Works — a manufacturing plant whose reputation is legendary in and outside of Belarus – – also were shown protesting.In #Hrodna, #Belarus, city officials meet with striking workers of Azot chemical fertiliser plant. – Raise your hands if you voted for Lukashenka.- Only officials do.- Raise your hands if you voted for Tsikhanouskaya.- Neary all workers do.pic.twitter.com/0pzzO4MWlj— Alex Kokcharov (@AlexKokcharov) August 13, 2020
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Japanese PM Visits Hospital Amid Speculation About His Health
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited a hospital Monday for what sources say was a follow-up to his regular checkup, although the visit generated renewed worries about his health. Video from TV Tokyo showed a black car believed to be carrying Abe pulling into Keio University Hospital in Tokyo. The prime minister’s office declined to comment on the hospital visit, saying it was not on his official schedule. Abe has been on a summer break recently, as has much of Japan. Abe, 65, has had health concerns before. He was forced to step down in 2007 after just one year in office due to complications from ulcerative colitis. He says the condition is now under control with medication. Although Abe sometimes goes to his summer home in the countryside about this time of year, he has stayed in Tokyo amid widespread concerns about the coronavirus pandemic, according to Kyodo. Abe, Japan’s longest-serving leader, is in his second tenure as prime minister.
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Opposition Candidate Says Ready to Lead Belarus
Belarusian opposition politician Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya says she is ready to become the leader of the country following a disputed election that ignited massive protests after longtime President Alexander Lukashenko was declared the winner.Lukashenko on Monday rejected holding another vote but indicated he was willing to consider sharing power, but not under pressure from street protests. His opponent in the election spoke in a video message released from Lithuania. “We all want to leave this loop that we found ourselves in 26 years ago. I am ready to take on the responsibility and become the national leader in this period,” Tsikhanouskaya said. “With the goal of calming the situation and entering into a normal period, freeing political prisoners, and in the shortest time creating the conditions and legislative base to organize new presidential elections. Real, honest and transparent elections, that will be unequivocally accepted by the international community.”Russia Could Step In to Help Embattled Belarus Leader Amid Massive Protests, Accusations of Rigged Election Kremlin says Putin, Lukashenko agree on Moscow assistance to ‘maintain security’ in Belarus Tsikhanouskaya also called on the Belarusian military to join the protesters.On Sunday, as many as 200,000 protesters marched in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, far outnumbering the crowd of Lukashenko supporters who also marched. The protest march began near Victory Park in central Minsk and was the biggest demonstration in the history of the former Soviet republic.Lukashenko Declared Winner in Belarus Election for 6th Straight Term Protests erupted challenging the results; rights groups say one person was killed, dozens injured, and several hundred arrests were made Thousands of factory workers went on strike Monday to protest what they called “rigged” elections. Some of them heckled Lukashenko as he spoke to workers during a visit to a tractor factory. He said there will be no new election “until you kill me.” The country’s Central Election Commission said that after all ballots were counted in the August 9 election, Lukashenko took 80.23% of the votes and Tsikhanouskaya took 9.9%.She entered the race after the arrest of her husband, blogger and would-be opposition candidate Siarhei Tsikhanousky.Hundreds of Thousands March in Belarus200,000 March Against Pres. Lukashenko and his longtime authoritarian rule after another allegedly stolen presidential electionTsikhanouskaya said she would never accept the results before fleeing to Lithuania for what she said was her children’s safety.Lukashenko took power after Belarus declared independence from the Soviet Union and has been president since 1994.Lukashenko told military chiefs Sunday that Russian President Vladimir Putin offered “comprehensive help” to “ensure the security of Belarus.”The Kremlin said in a statement that both presidents agreed the “problems” in Belarus would be “resolved soon” and the countries’ ties would strengthen.
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Politics Slows Flow of US Virus Funds to Local Public Health
As the novel coronavirus began to spread through Minneapolis this spring, Health Commissioner Gretchen Musicant tore up her budget to find funds to combat the crisis. Money for test kits.
Money to administer tests. Money to hire contact tracers. And yet even more money for a service that helps tracers communicate with residents in dozens of languages.
While Musicant diverted workers from violence prevention and other core programs to the COVID-19 response, state officials debated how to distribute $1.87 billion Minnesota received in federal aid.
As she waited, the Minnesota Zoo got $6 million in federal money to continue operations, and a debt collection company outside Minneapolis received at least $5 million from the federal Paycheck Protection Program, according to federal data.
It was not until Aug. 5 — months after Congress approved aid for the pandemic — that Musicant’s department finally received $1.7 million, the equivalent of $4 per Minneapolis resident.
“It’s more a hope and a prayer that we’ll have enough money,” Musicant said.
Since the pandemic began, Congress has set aside trillions of dollars to ease the crisis. A joint Kaiser Health News and Associated Press investigation finds that many communities with big outbreaks have spent little of that federal money on local public health departments for work such as testing and contact tracing. Others, like in Minnesota, were slow to do so.
For example, the states, territories and 154 large cities and counties that received allotments from the $150 billion Coronavirus Relief Fund reported spending only 25% of it through June 30, according to reports that recipients submitted to the U.S. Treasury Department.
Many localities have deployed more money since that June 30 reporting deadline, and both Republican and Democratic governors say they need more to avoid layoffs and cuts to vital state services. Still, as cases in the U.S. top 5.4 million and confirmed deaths soar past 170,000, Republicans in Congress are pointing to the slow spending to argue against sending more money to state and local governments to help with their pandemic response.
“States and localities have only spent about a fourth of the money we already sent them in the springtime,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday. Congressional Democrats’ efforts to get more money for states, he said, “aren’t based on math. They aren’t based on the pandemic.”
Negotiations over a new pandemic relief bill broke down last week, in part because Democrats and Republicans could not agree on funding for state and local governments.
KHN and the AP requested detailed spending breakdowns from recipients of money from the Coronavirus Relief Fund — created in March as part of the $1.9 trillion CARES Act — and received responses from 23 states and 62 cities and counties. Those entities dedicated 23% of their spending from the fund through June to public health and 7% to public health and safety payroll.
An additional 22% was transferred to local governments, some of which will eventually pass it down to health departments. The rest went to other priorities, such as distance learning.
So little money has flowed to some local health departments for many reasons: Bureaucracy has bogged things down, politics have crept into the process, and understaffed departments have struggled to take time away from critical needs to navigate the red tape required to justify asking for extra dollars.
“It does not make sense to me how anyone thinks this is a way to do business,” said E. Oscar Alleyne, chief of programs and services at the National Association of County and City Health Officials. “We are never going to get ahead of the pandemic response if we are still handicapped.”
Last month, KHN and the AP detailed how state and local public health departments across the U.S. have been starved for decades. Over 38,000 public health worker jobs have been lost since 2008, and per capita spending on local health departments has been cut by 18% since 2010. That’s left them underfunded and without adequate resources to confront the coronavirus pandemic.
“Public health has been cut and cut and cut over the years, but we’re so valuable every time you turn on the television,” said Jan Morrow, the director and 41-year veteran of Ripley County health department in rural Missouri. “We are picking up all the pieces, but the money is not there. They’ve cut our budget until there’s nothing left.”Politics And Red Tape
Why did the Minneapolis health department have to wait so long for CARES Act money?
Congress mandated that the Coronavirus Relief Fund be distributed to states and local governments based on population. Minneapolis, with 430,000 residents, missed the threshold of 500,000 people that would have allowed it to receive money directly.
The state of Minnesota, however, received $1.87 billion, a portion of which was meant to be sent to local communities. Lawmakers initially sent some state money to tide communities over until the federal money came through — the Minneapolis health department got about $430,000 in state money to help pay for things like testing.
But when it came time to decide how to use the CARES Act money, lawmakers in Minnesota’s Republican-controlled Senate and Democratic-controlled House were at loggerheads.
Myron Frans, commissioner of Minnesota Management and Budget, said that disagreement, on top of the economic crisis and pandemic, left the legislature in turmoil.
Then following the police killing of George Floyd, the city erupted in protests over racial injustice, making a difficult situation even more challenging.
Democratic Gov. Tim Walz favored targeting some of the money to harder-hit communities, a move that might have helped Minneapolis, where cases have surged since mid-July. But lawmakers couldn’t agree. Negotiations dragged on, and a special session merely prolonged the standoff.
Finally, the governor divvied up the money using a population-based formula developed earlier by Republican and Democratic legislative leaders that did not take into account COVID-19 caseloads or racial disparities.
“We knew we needed to get it out the door,” Frans said.
The state then sent hundreds of millions of dollars to local communities. Still, even after the money got to Minneapolis a month ago, Musicant had to wait as city leaders made difficult choices about how to spend the money as the economy cratered and the list of needs grew.
“Even when it gets to the local government, you still have to figure out how to get it to local public health,” Musicant said.
Meanwhile, some in Minneapolis have noticed a lack of services. Dr. Jackie Kawiecki has been providing help to people at a volunteer medical station near the place where Floyd was killed — an area that at times has drawn hundreds or thousands of people per day. She said the city did not do enough free, easy-to-access testing in its neighborhoods this summer.
“I still don’t think that the amount of testing offered is adequate, from a public health standpoint,” Kawiecki said.
A coalition of groups that includes the National Governors Association has blamed the spending delays on the federal government, saying the final guidance on how states could spend the money came late in June, shortly before the reporting period ended. The coalition said state and local governments had moved “expeditiously and responsibly” to use the money as they deal with skyrocketing costs for health care, emergency response and other vital programs.
New York’s Nassau County was among six counties, cities and states that had spent at least 75% of its funds by June 30.
While most of the money was not spent before then, the National Association of State Budget Officers says a July 23 survey of 45 states and territories found they had allocated, or set aside, an average of 74% of the money.
But if they have, that money has been slow to make it to many local health departments.
As of mid-July in Missouri, at least 50 local health departments had yet to receive any of the federal money they requested, according to a state survey. The money must first flow through local county commissioners, some of whom aren’t keen on sending money to public health agencies.
“You closed their businesses down in order to save their people’s lives and so that hurt the economy,” said Larry Jones, executive director for the Missouri Center for Public Health Excellence, an organization of public health leaders. “So they’re mad at you and don’t want to give you money.”
The winding path federal money takes as it makes its way to states and cities also could exacerbate the stark economic and health inequalities in the U.S. if equity isn’t considered in decision-making, said Wizdom Powell, director of the University of Connecticut Health Disparities Institute.
“Problems are so vast you could unintentionally further entrench inequities just by how you distribute funds,” Powell said.’Everything Fell Behind’
The amounts eventually distributed can induce head-scratching.
Some cities received large federal grants, including Louisville, Kentucky, whose health department was given $42 million by April, more than doubling its annual budget. Because of the way the money was distributed, Louisville’s health department alone received more money from the CARES Act than the entire government of the city of Minneapolis.
Philadelphia’s health department was awarded $100 million from a separate fund from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Honolulu County, where cases have remained relatively low, received $124,454 for every positive COVID-19 case it had reported as of Aug. 9, while El Paso County in Texas got just $1,685 per case. Multnomah County, Oregon — with nearly a quarter of its state’s COVID-19 cases — landed only 2%, or $28 million, of the state’s $1.6 billion allotment.
Rural Saline County in Missouri received the same funding as counties of similar size, even though the virus hit the area particularly hard. In April, outbreaks began tearing through a Cargill meatpacking plant and a local factory. By late May, the health department confirmed 12 positive cases at the local jail.
Tara Brewer, Saline’s health department administrator, said phone lines were ringing off the hook, jamming the system. Eventually, several department employees handed out their personal cell phone numbers to take calls from residents looking to be tested or seeking care for coronavirus symptoms.
“Everything fell behind,” Brewer said.
The school vaccination clinic in April was canceled, and a staffer who works as a Spanish translator for the Women, Infants and Children nutritional program was enlisted to contact trace for additional coronavirus exposures. All food inspections stopped.
It was late July when $250,000 in federal CARES Act money finally reached the 11-person health department, Brewer said — four months after Congress approved the spending and three months after the county’s first outbreak.
That was far too late for Brewer to hire the army of contact tracers that might have helped slow the spread of the virus back in April. She said the money already has been spent on antibody testing and reimbursements for groceries and medical equipment the department had bought for quarantined residents.
Another problem: Some local health officials say that the laborious process required to qualify for some of the federal aid discourages overworked public health officials from even trying to secure more money and that funds can be uneven in arriving.
Lisa Macon Harrison, public health director for Granville Vance Public Health in rural Oxford, North Carolina, said it’s tough to watch major hospital systems — some of which are sitting on billions in reserves — receive direct deposits, while her department received only about $122,000 through three grants by the end of July. Her team filled out a 25-page application just to get one of them.
She is now waiting to receive an estimated $400,000 more. By contrast, the Duke University Hospital System, which includes a facility that serves Granville, already has received over $67.3 million from the federal Provider Relief Fund.
“I just don’t understand the extra layers of onus for the bureaucracy, especially if hundreds of millions of dollars are going to the hospitals and we have to be responsible to apply for 50 grants,” she said.
The money comes from dozens of funds, including several programs within the CARES Act. Nebraska alone received money from 76 federal COVID relief funding sources.
Robert Miller, director of health for the Eastern Highlands Health District in Connecticut, which covers 10 towns, received $29,596 of the $2.5 million the state distributed to local departments from the CDC fund and nothing from CARES. It was only enough to pay for some contact tracing and employee mileage.
Miller said that he could theoretically apply for a little more from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, but that the reporting requirements — which include collecting every receipt — are extremely cumbersome for an already overburdened department.
So he wonders: “Is the squeeze worth the juice?”
Back in Minneapolis, Musicant said the new money from CARES allowed the department to run a free COVID-19 testing site Saturday, at a church that serves the Hispanic community about a mile from the site of Floyd’s killing.
It will take more money to do everything the community needs, she says, but with Congress deadlocked, she’s not sure they’ll get it anytime soon.
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