Seventeen people are missing and presumed dead after a Russian fishing boat sank in the northern Barents Sea Monday morning, authorities said in a statement carried by local media. “The crew consisted of 19 people. Two people were rescued,” the Russian Emergency Ministry said. Officials believe that ice accumulation on the trawler caused the accident. The privately owned ship Onega, based in Murmansk, capsized and sank near the Novaya Zemlya archipelago in the Barents Sea. Four vessels have been deployed for a search and rescue operation in the area and a criminal investigation is already underway. The Russian-flagged fishing boat had been in operation since 1979.
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Month: December 2020
Cameroon Government Orders Investigation After Bus Crashes Kill 39
Scores of Cameroonians have been visiting mortuaries to identify and collect the bodies of relatives who perished in two bus crashes Sunday that left 39 people dead between the capital Yaoundé and the western commercial city of Bafoussam.Flavien Awanou, a social worker in the western commercial town of Bafoussam said he has been in search of his two children since he was informed of Sunday’s accidents.He said a phone call from the police informed him that his son and daughter were involved in a deadly accident in Nemale village in the Ndikinimiki administrative unit.Awanou said after a fruitless search at Ndikinimiki and Makenene hospitals, he has come to Yaoundé to find out if his children are in any hospital or their bodies are in any mortuary. Awanou said his children were returning from Bafoussam where they had spent Christmas with him to celebrate the change from 2020 to 2021 with their mother in the capital Yaoundé.Paul Atanga Nji, Cameron minister of territorial administration who was sent to the scene by President Paul Biya, described what he found.Nji said the first accident occurred at 3 a.m. Sunday when a 70-seat bus from the western towns of Foumban and Bafoussam crashed on the Nemale bridge near the town of Makenene. The bus landed in a 30-meter-deep dry riverbed.The second occurred when another bus hit civilians and rescue workers who were helping victims of the first accident.”Two accidents occurred in the same place. We have come here to extend the heartfelt condolences of President Paul Biya to the bereaved families and also the wish of the head of state that the wounded should be treated quickly, Nji said. “We will have a report which will be sent to the head of state and to the prime minister head of government so that we can have further instructions.”Cameroon transport minister Jean Ernest Messina Ngale Bibehe was also sent to the scene by Biya. He said the government has ordered investigations on the causes of the accidents.Bibehe said it was a black Sunday in Cameroon as so many lives were lost in less than 24 hours. He said the government took all necessary measures to avoid road accidents during this end of year period when many people are traveling by warning drivers against excessive speed. He said unfortunately, some drivers disrespect the driving code especially on roads where there are no police officers who can charge the drivers for misconduct.He said road users should respect driving norms and stop the many accidents and deaths that occur every year in Cameroon.During the past 10 years, Cameroon has reported an average of more than 16,000 road accidents killing close to 2,000 people each year.The government blames the over-importation of secondhand cars, mechanical failure, the use of old and worn tires, hazardous overtaking, excessive speed and the bad state of roads.
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China’s Central Bank Orders Ant Group to Meet Strict Regulatory Guidelines
Regulators with China’s central bank have ordered online financial services giant Ant Group to restructure its operations to meet regulatory guidelines.The People’s Bank of China said in a statement Sunday that its regulators issued the requirements during a meeting with Ant Group executives the day before. Vice Governor Pan Gongsheng said the Bank outlined a list of problems with Ant Group, including a lack of sound governance, a defiance of regulatory demands, using its market dominance to squeeze out competitors and harming the rights and interests of consumers.Chairman and chief executive of Alibaba Group Jack Ma reacts during a session of “Future-Proofing the Internet Economy” at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in China’s port city Dalian, September 9, 2015.Pan said Bank regulators urged Ant to establish a separate holding company to ensure it has adequate operating capital, and to “strictly rectify illegal credit, insurance and wealth management financial activities.”Ant began as a payments service for Alibaba, the world’s biggest online retail company, and evolved over time as one of the world’s biggest online financial services companies, offering such services such as loans, investing and insurance. The Bank called on Ant to return to its “payment origins,” enhance transparency around transactions and prohibit unfair competition.Ant has issued a statement promising to establish a working group to ensure it is rectifying its issues with the Bank’s findings, and would fully comply with the Bank’s requirements.The government surprised the financial world last month when it suspended the Ant Group’s debut as a publicly traded company on the Hong Kong and Shanghai exchanges, a move that cost the company $37 billion, which would have set the record profit for an initial public offering.The Bank’s meeting with Ant coincides with the Chinese government’s market regulation agency decision to open an anti-monopoly investigation into Alibaba. The probe will look into the company’s practice of forcing its business partners to choose either Alibaba or a rival competitor, instead of allowing them to sell their merchandise through both outlets.Alibaba was founded in 1999 by Jack Ma, who has become the richest businessman in China with an estimated net worth of $59 billion. The company is the world’s biggest online retail company and expanded into financial services and other fields.The probe signifies Beijing’s increasing efforts to tighten control over the country’s dominant technology sector.Analysts also say Chinese leaders may be targeting Ma because he complained about China’s regulatory system at a business conference in October, accusing it of stifling innovation and blocking opportunities.
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Chinese Citizen Journalist Jailed for Four Years for Wuhan Virus Reporting
A Chinese citizen journalist was jailed for four years for her livestream reporting from Wuhan as the Covid-19 outbreak unfurled, her lawyer said Monday, almost a year after details of an “unknown viral pneumonia” surfaced in the central China city.Zhang Zhan, a former lawyer, was sentenced at a brief hearing in a Shanghai court for allegedly “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” for her reporting in the chaotic initial stages of the outbreak.Her live reports and essays were widely shared on social media platforms in February, grabbing the attention of authorities, who have punished eight virus whistleblowers so far as they defang criticism of the government’s response to the outbreak.Controlling the narrativeBeijing has congratulated itself for “extraordinary” success in controlling the virus inside its borders, with an economy on the rebound while much of the rest of the world stutters through painful lockdowns and surging caseloads a year on from the start of the pandemic in Wuhan.Controlling the information flow during an unprecedented global health crisis has been pivotal in allowing China’s communist authorities to reframe the narrative in their favor.But that has come at a serious cost to anyone picking holes in that storyline.”Zhang Zhan looked devastated when the sentence was announced,” Ren Quanniu, one of Zhang’s defence lawyers, told reporters confirming the four-year jail term outside Shanghai Pudong New District People’s Court on Monday morning.Her mother sobbed loudly as the verdict was read, Ren added.Hunger strikeConcerns are mounting over the health of 37-year-old Zhang who began a hunger strike in June and has been force-fed via a nasal tube.”She said when I visited her (last week): ‘If they give me a heavy sentence then I will refuse food until the very end.’ … She thinks she will die in prison,” Ren said before the trial.”It’s an extreme method of protesting against this society and this environment.”China’s communist authorities have a history of putting dissidents on trial in opaque courts between Christmas and New Year to minimize Western scrutiny.The trial comes just weeks before an international team of World Health Organization experts is expected to arrive in China to investigate the origins of Covid-19.Concern for Zhang’s healthAnother lawyer said Zhang’s health was in decline and she suffered from headaches, dizziness and stomach pain.”Restrained 24 hours a day, she needs assistance going to the bathroom,” Zhang Keke, who visited her on Christmas Day, wrote in a note circulated on social media.”She feels psychologically exhausted, like every day is a torment.”Zhang was critical of the early response in Wuhan, writing in a February essay that the government “didn’t give people enough information, then simply locked down the city”.”This is a great violation of human rights,” she wrote.The court said she had spread “false remarks” online, according to Zhang Keke.Sentence sets an exampleRights groups have also drawn attention to her case.Authorities “want to use her case as an example to scare off other dissidents from raising questions about the pandemic situation in Wuhan earlier this year”, said Leo Lan, research and advocacy consultant at the Chinese Human Rights Defenders NGO.Zhang is the first to face trial of a group of four citizen journalists detained by authorities earlier this year after reporting from Wuhan.Previous attempts by AFP to contact the other three — Chen Qiushi, Fang Bin and Li Zehua — were unsuccessful.
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Switzerland: British Quarantined in Ski Resort Flee
About 200 British holidaymakers forced to respect a 10-day quarantine in the Swiss ski resort of Verbier fled secretly in the night, the municipality said Sunday.About 200 out of an estimated 420 British holidaymakers stricken in Verbier by the quarantine measures imposed by the Swiss government on travelers coming from Britain since December 14, left right away, reported the newspaper SonntagsZeitung.The upscale resort of Verbier, very popular with British customers, hoped to welcome thousands of skiers from Great Britain, but the discovery of the new British variant of the novel coronavirus has shattered those hopes.Some British tourists staying in Verbier left immediately, but others decided to stay a little longer, the communications officer for the municipality of Bagnes, Jean-Marc Sandoz, said.Many remained in quarantine for a day before slipping away, he told the ATS news agency.”It was when they saw that the meal trays remained intact that the hoteliers noticed that the customers had left,” Sandoz said.”We can’t blame them. In most cases, quarantine was untenable. Imagine being four in a hotel room of 20 meters square,” he added.
The tourists left “a little angry with Switzerland” and with the feeling of having been “trapped,” he added.British tourists normally represent 21% of the clientele of this Valais resort, voted the best ski resort in Switzerland for the past two years.Two cases of the new British variant of the coronavirus have been detected in Switzerland and one in neighboring Liechtenstein, the Swiss Ministry of Health said Sunday.Two cases of the South African variant have also been reported.
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In US, Health Officials Worry About COVID Spike Over Holiday Period
In the United States, where travel has picked up due to the holidays, health officials worry about a surge of COVID-19 cases, even as vaccination efforts continue. Michelle Quinn reports.
Video editor: Mary Cieslak
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Native American Tribes Try to Protect Elders, Their Knowledge from Loss to Coronavirus
As Monica Harvey watched, crowds flocked to a Sam’s Club in northern Arizona where she works, picking shelves clean of toilet paper and canned goods. Native American seniors couldn’t move fast enough, and Harvey saw their faces fall when they reached empty shelves.The Navajo woman wanted to help tribal elders get household staples without leaving their homes and risking exposure to COVID-19, so she started Defend Our Community, a group that delivers supplies.Tribes across the nation are working to protect elder members who serve as honored links to customs passed from one generation to the next. The efforts to deliver protective gear, meals and vaccines are about more than saving lives. Tribal elders often possess unique knowledge of language and history that is all the more valuable because tribes commonly pass down their traditions orally. That means losing elders to the coronavirus could wipe out irreplaceable pieces of culture.”When you lose an elder, you lose a part of yourself,” said Harvey, who lives in Leupp, Arizona, east of Flagstaff. “You lose a connection to history, our stories, our culture, our traditions.”Harvey remembers her own grandfather explaining the stories behind Navajo songs and teaching her Navajo words from the songs. She often listened to her grandparents speaking Navajo while she practiced the words under her breath.In Oklahoma, the Cherokee Nation has increased food distributions to elders and offered financial aid to those who were struggling to pay rent or utilities. Concern for elders is also apparent in the tribe’s COVID-19 vaccine distribution plans. Participants and workers in the tribe’s elder program are first in line for the shots, along with hospital workers and first responders. Next are those whose first language is Cherokee and others considered “tribal treasures,” an honor given to members who keep Cherokee art, language and other culture alive through their work.An effort among the Blackfeet in Montana is helping the tribe’s 600-plus members connect with elders who need support. Connecticut’s Mashantucket Pequot Nation is providing its citizens with masks and telemedicine, delivering meals to their doors and organizing home visits to give flu vaccines.”Elders are like libraries. Losing one is like a library burning down,” said Loren Racine, creator of a Facebook page offering help in the Blackfeet community.FILE – A sign on a door warns people to wear face coverings, at the Kayenta Health Center on the Navajo reservation in Kayenta, Arizona, April 18, 2020.Roy Boney, Jr., who manages a Cherokee language program, said the majority of Cherokee speakers are elders. They make up a small pool of people the program relies on to teach the language he calls the “beating heart” of Cherokee identity.”For decades our language has been taken from us through forced assimilation,” Boney said. “Elders hold our history and culture but also our language…Our elders are precious.”Almost half of the Cherokee who received care from the tribe’s health services but died from the coronavirus were fluent Cherokee speakers. Losing even a handful of speakers can be devastating for language preservation and other cultural practices, Boney said.”With them goes so much information in terms of language knowledge, dialect, specialized knowledge of medicine and traditional practices,” he said. “All these things we’re trying to revitalize and save, they’re the heart of all of it.”Mashantucket Pequot elders shifted to a virtual format for the intergenerational gatherings where they tell traditional stories. An elders council also helps to organize Pequot language bingo nights and Schemitzun, the annual Festival of the Green Corn.”When we heard how COVID-19 was spreading, we were immediately concerned for our elders and how losing them would affect the tribe, so we immediately started working to protect them,” said the tribe’s chief medical officer, Setu Vora.The tribe has no known COVID-19 deaths.Pequot elders play an important role in the effort to revive the tribe’s language, which is no longer widely spoken. Elders still remember relatives who spoke the language and can verify the definitions and context of certain words. A handful of the tribe’s 2,000 members are becoming somewhat proficient in Pequot as they research and reclaim new words, Vora said.Karen Ketcher was among 28 Cherokee Nation elders who have died from the coronavirus. She was weeks shy of her 71st birthday and had decades of experience working for the tribe and the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs. Her knowledge was unmatched and invaluable, said her granddaughter, Taryn King.”There’s so much at stake when this virus hits our communities,” said King, 31, of Stilwell, Oklahoma. She described elders as “the glue that holds our communities together.”At work, Ketcher was affectionately called “Granny.” She was the go-to person for questions about Cherokee policies, tribal governance and how to apply for grants. She also was the first stop for snacks, help mending holes in sweaters or questions about community relations.One co-worker, Kamisha Hair, went into Ketcher’s office shortly before the tribe temporarily closed it in March because of the pandemic. She assured Ketcher things would be OK and implored her to pray.The two hugged and said they loved each other. Ketcher died in April.Relatives held a small outdoor service for her. When they returned to town, other Cherokees had lined the streets to pay their respects.”Losing an elder like Granny is like losing a piece of your identity,” Hair said. “It dies with them, and you can never get it back.”
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Volunteer Group Helps Clean Miami Beaches
Florida is known for its beaches but keeping them clean is hard work. Liliya Anisimova has this story from Miami, narrated by Anna Rice.
Camera: Liliya Anisimova
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South Africa Confirms Topping 1 Million COVID Cases
South Africa’s COVID-19 spike has taken the country to more than 1 million confirmed cases on Sunday and President Cyril Ramaphosa called an emergency meeting of the National Coronavirus Command Council.The country’s new variant of the coronavirus, 501.V2, is more contagious and has quickly become dominant in many areas of the resurgence, according to experts.With South Africa’s hospitals reaching capacity and no sign of the new surge reaching a peak, Ramaphosa is expected to announce a return to restrictive measures designed to slow the spread of the disease.”We are not helpless in the face of this variant,” infectious disease specialist Dr. Richard Lessells told The Associated Press. “We can change our behavior to give the virus less opportunities to spread.” He said it’s most important to avoid contact with others in indoor, enclosed spaces.South Africa announced a cumulative total of 1,004,431 confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Sunday evening. That number includes 26,735 deaths in a country of 60 million people.”One million cases is a serious milestone, but the true number of cases and deaths is almost certainly much higher,” Lessells said.”We have seen the new variant spread rapidly,” he said, pointing out that genomic sequencing shows it has become dominant in the coastal provinces of Western Cape, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. It is not yet certain if the variant is as dominant in the inland Gauteng province, which includes Johannesburg and is the country’s most populous province.”As people return from holidays at coastal areas, we can expect them to bring the variant with them,” said Lessells. “We can also expect travelers to take the variant with them across the borders to other African countries.” The mutation of the COVID-19 virus has made it bind more efficiently to cells within our bodies, say experts.Vaccinations haven’t yet reached South Africa, although Ramaphosa has said that he expects 10% of the country’s 60 million people to be inoculated in the first months of 2021. South Africa’s seven-day rolling average of daily new cases has nearly doubled over the past two weeks from 10.24 new cases per 100,000 people on Dec. 12 to 19.86 new cases per 100,000 people on Dec. 26. The number of deaths has also nearly doubled with the seven-day rolling average of daily deaths in South Africa has risen over the past two weeks from 0.25 deaths per 100,000 people on Dec. 12 to 0.48 deaths per 100,000 people on Dec. 26.
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Fauci: US Facing ‘Critical Time’ in Fight Against Coronavirus
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease expert, said Sunday that the country is “really at a critical time” in confronting the coronavirus pandemic, as the number of new cases is soaring even as the first 1.9 million Americans have been vaccinated. Fauci, who was vaccinated last week, told CNN on Sunday that it is “very tough” for people to not socialize over the holidays even though health experts have strongly advised against it. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, prepares to receive his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at the National Institutes of Health, in Bethesda, Md., Dec. 22, 2020.Authorities say 85 million Americans are traveling to visit relatives and friends, which they fear will lead to even more infections in the United States. For several weeks now, the U.S. has been recording 200,000 new cases a day. Fauci said people are “crowded in airports, a mixing of households. As much as we advise against it, it happens.” Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984 and named as the chief medical adviser to the incoming Biden administration, unequivocally urged Americans to get inoculated. Fauci said he hopes that 75% to 80% of the 209 million adult Americans will be vaccinated in the coming months, a figure that might be sufficient for herd immunity to take hold in the country to end the pandemic. FILE – Staff members receive the COVID-19 vaccine at Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck, N.J., Dec. 17, 2020.He said that with inoculations over the next several months, the U.S. could “reach a critical number of vaccinated” people by the “middle to the end of summer” next August. That would by then, he said, allow the country to “return to some form of normality.” The U.S. has started inoculating primary health care workers and elderly residents of nursing homes, with front-line essential workers and those 75 and older set to be next in line for the shots in the next few weeks. U.S. health experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defined front-line essential workers as emergency responders, teachers and other education workers, including day care personnel, food and agriculture workers, correctional facility staff members, postal workers, public transit workers, and people who work in manufacturing and in grocery stores. Fauci said U.S. health authorities are monitoring mutant strains that have shown up in Britain and South Africa. Officials in those two countries say that the vaccines developed by drug makers Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna will protect against the new strains, but Fauci said that U.S. researchers will be doing their own tests to make sure. The U.S. has recorded more than 332,000 deaths from the coronavirus and nearly 19 million infections, with both figures more than in any other country, according to the Johns Hopkins University.
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Ugandan Journalists Injured While Covering Opposition Campaign
At least two local journalists covering Ugandan presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine, were injured Sunday during an altercation involving police. Police say the journalists were only caught up in violence as crowds were dispersed and allege Wine was not using an approved route.In a video posted online, musician turned politician Bobi Wine is heard telling a police officer he is headed to Lwengo district for a rally after leaving a church service in Masaka district. A confrontation ensues and police spray tear gas on Wine’s car and those around him. “We are going to Lwengo; you are taking a lot of our time,” said Wine. … “This is the main road. Why don’t you let us use a main road? What is illegal about using a main road?” he asked the police.As Wine’s vehicle goes into reverse, more tear gas is fired. Cameraman Ashraf Kasirye, who is doing a live shot for Ghetto TV, falls, reportedly, after a rubber bullet strikes him just above his left eye. People start screaming. Kasirye was rushed to a local hospital before being transferred to Kampala for further treatment. He is reported to be in critical condition. Ali Mivule, a television journalist with NTV, was reporting from the scene when he was surrounded by police and the military, who then started dispersing the crowds using the tear gas and rubber bullets. Mivule accused the police commanding officer, whom he identified as Enoch Abaine, of then turning his tear gas gun on journalists. “I had a full body armor, and I had the head gear. I was fully identified as a journalist. But all of a sudden, Abaine pointed the tear gas gun at me and shouted, ‘Collateral damage.’ And he didn’t even hold back. Again, he cocked that tear gas gun and then pointed at us,” he said. Police say their task force had violent confrontations with Wine and his supporters after he ignored the route plan. “Unfortunately, and most regrettably, some journalists were caught up in the scuffle during the process of dispersing the violent supporters,” said Charles Twine, the spokesperson for the Criminal Investigations Department. “Notably among them was a Ghetto TV crew member identified as Ashraf Kasirye, who sustained an injury on his upper left eye, allegedly from a blunt object force.” Police say their media crimes department is investigating the circumstances regarding the journalists’ injuries. Robert Sempala, national coordinator of the Human Rights Network for Journalists, is urging police to take stern action against any security personnel found to have deliberately attacked journalists. Sempala notes that in the past, security forces attacking journalists have not been held accountable, saying impunity for such crimes is entrenched. The violence in Masaka district comes just a day after the electoral commission cancelled campaign events in 10 districts including Masaka, many of them opposition strongholds. The commission stated that this was done on the advice of the Ministry of Health identifying them as hotspots for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. Last week, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Ugandan authorities should ensure that the press can freely cover the presidential election scheduled for January 14. The CPJ cited accreditation hurdles faced by journalists ahead of the vote.
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Investigators in Tennessee Blast Looking at Link to Suburban Nashville Home
U.S. authorities are continuing to investigate the Christmas Day vehicle explosion in the southern city of Nashville, Tennessee, looking for clues in a home about 18 kilometers from the blast site. Investigators suspect a link to a resident of the duplex in the suburb of Antioch. They say the person might have blown himself up in the recreational vehicle that had been parked in an area filled with country music bars and restaurants. But authorities are running down hundreds of tips about the blast and have not reached any conclusions about the explosion, which they have described as an “intentional act” and “deliberate bomb.” The Friday morning blast damaged dozens of buildings and sent three people to the hospital with what police said were noncritical injuries. Neighbors near the home said a light-colored recreational vehicle like the one that blew up had been parked in the backyard for several months. Authorities say they have not found any evidence so far that point to other possible conspirators or threats of other explosions. Investigators on Dec. 26, 2020, walk near the scene of an explosion in Nashville, Tenn. The explosion early Friday shattered windows, damaged buildings and left several people wounded.On Saturday, communication networks remained disrupted throughout Tennessee. The blast knocked out residential phone and cellphone service as well as service at 20 call centers for 911, the number used to contact emergency personnel. Business and governmental functions were impacted, and flights at Nashville International Airport were stopped for a while. Tony Rodriguez, the resident in the other half of the duplex authorities were investigating, told The Washington Post that he never spoke to his neighbor and didn’t know his name. Rodriguez said on a few occasions, he saw the man adjusting an antenna above the house or power-washing the driveway behind their home. Rodriguez said the man posted several “No Trespassing” and warning signs around the property, particularly where he kept the recreational vehicle. The city street where the explosion occurred remained sealed off and under curfew as investigators searched the wreckage.
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Troubled Central African Republic Goes to Polls
Voting began in presidential and legislative elections in the Central African Republic on Sunday, in a key test for one of the world’s most troubled nations. The polls take place after a week of turbulence, marked by accusations of an attempted coup, the brief seizure of the CAR’s fourth-largest town and the dispatch of military personnel by Russia and Rwanda to help its beleaguered government. U.N. peacekeepers and local and Rwandan soldiers were patrolling the streets throughout the capital, with armored vehicles posted outside voting places armed with machine guns, AFP journalists saw. There was a delay of around 50 minutes before some polling stations in Bangui opened as voting materials had not been delivered on time. “It’s very important for me to be here, as a citizen. I think this vote will change our country, whoever the president will be,” teacher Hortense Reine said. Senior officials at the election authority told AFP that where polling stations had opened late, voting would continue for an additional 50 minutes. Away from Bangui sporadic fighting has been going on for nine days, and scattered incidents were reported by mid-morning on Sunday. In the northwest, more than 500 kilometers (300 miles) from the capital, rebels seized election materials in Koui and election officials received death threats in Ngaoundaye, according to a senior UN official. In some areas, rebels threatened anyone who went to vote. Meanwhile thousands of people had not received their voter cards due to insecurity, according to local and UN officials who all requested anonymity. Ousted former president Francois Bozize, who was barred from standing and has been accused by the government of plotting a coup, urged people not to vote and backed a rebel coalition. “I call on you, my countrymen, not to vote. Stay at home. Let Touadera place his ballot in the box alone,” Bozize said in an audio message published online which his party confirmed to AFP. Questions over legitimacy The frontrunner for the presidency is incumbent Faustin Archange Touadera, who was elected in 2016. The mineral-rich but poverty-stricken country has been chronically unstable since independence 60 years ago. Thousands of people have died since a civil war erupted in 2013 and more than a quarter of the population of 4.9 million have fled their homes. Of these, 675,000 are refugees in neighboring countries and cannot vote. Even though bloodshed has receded in intensity over the last two years, violence remains chronic. Militia groups hold sway over two-thirds of the territory, spurring fears about intimidation that could also affect turnout. Experts and opposition figures have already asked what legitimacy the president and 140 MPs to be elected will have, given the obstacles to a large proportion of people outside Bangui voting freely. On December 19, the government accused armed groups of banding together and advancing on the capital in a plot allegedly fomented by Bozize, a charge he denies. Fears about the rebels swept the city in the following days, although the UN peacekeeping force MINUSCA said their advance had been stopped. ‘How do we vote?’ Some voters said sporadic fighting was potentially undermining the vote. “Everyone is fleeing at the moment. I’m holed up at home,” Robert, from Boali, 80 kilometres (50 miles) north of Bangui told AFP by phone, explosions audible in the background. “How do we vote when we don’t even have our voter cards,” he added. The rebel coalition on Wednesday announced a 72-hour “unilateral cease-fire” in the runup to the vote, only to call it off on Friday. In a statement authenticated by two of its six members, the coalition said that it would resume its march on the capital. On Tuesday, the CAR’s fourth-largest town, Bambari, 380 km northeast of Bangui, was overrun but security forces backed by U.N. peacekeepers regained control the following day. On Sunday, polling stations in Bambari remained closed in the morning because of gunfire from armed groups, according to Jeannot Nguernendji, president of the local peace committee. Sixteen candidates are vying for the presidency. Touadera’s main rival is Anicet Georges Dologuele, an economist and former prime minister. He is being backed by Bozize after his own bid was barred by the CAR’s top court for being on a 2014 wanted list and under UN sanctions. A runoff vote will be held on February 14 if there is no overall majority in the first round. Around 1,500 candidates are contesting the 140 seats in the national assembly, but many have been unable to campaign because of insecurity.
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Turkey says Will Retaliate Against Any Attack by East Libya Strongman
Turkey’s defense minister said that any attack by eastern Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar on its personnel in the North African country would be met with force.”A war criminal, murderer Haftar and his supporters must know that they will be seen as a legitimate target in case of any attack on Turkish forces” by his troops, Hulusi Akar said in an address to Turkish units in Tripoli late on Saturday and made available to media on Sunday.His comments come days after Haftar said his forces would “prepare to drive out the occupier by faith, will and weapons,” referring to Turkish troops operating in support of Libya’s Government of National Accord (GNA).”If they take such a step, they will be unable to find any place to flee to,” Akar said, referring to Haftar’s forces. “Everyone should come to their senses.”Turkish support for the GNA earlier this year helped repel a 14-month offensive against the capital by Haftar, who is backed by Russia, Egypt and United Arab Emirates.The two sides struck a cease-fire agreement in October, setting the stage for elections at the end of next year.Akar on Saturday made an unscheduled visit to Tripoli where he discussed, according to Libyan officials, military cooperation between Ankara and the GNA.Turkey’s defense minister said political talks based on the cease-fire sought to find a solution.”What matters here is that everyone should contribute to a political solution. Any action other than that would be wrong,” he added.Haftar had said there would be “no peace in the presence of a colonizer on our land” during his speech on Thursday.
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EU Countries Begin Vaccinations Against Coronavirus
Several European Union countries began vaccinating against COVID-19 Sunday.In Italy, a nurse, a university professor and a doctor were the first people to receive the initial vaccine dose at Rome’s Lazzaro Spallanzani hospital.In Spain, the vaccination began at Los Olmos nursing home in Guadalajara.In the Czech Republic, Prime Minister Andrej Babis was among the first people inoculated, as vaccinations began nationwide.In Germany Saturday, 101-year-old Edith Kwoizalla, who lives in a retirement home, received the first of her two shots.In Hungary, it was a doctor, Arienne Kertesz from South Pest.In Slovakia, an infectious disease specialist was the first in line.The first shipments of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine were limited to 10,000 doses in most EU countries. Each nation decides its own vaccination program, but all are vaccinating the most vulnerable first.European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called it “a touching moment of unity” in a video celebrating the beginning of the rollout of the vaccine to nearly 450 million people.The vaccination in EU countries began as a new coronavirus variant, more contagious and more dangerous, spread internationally, adding emphasis to the World Health Organization’s warning that the current pandemic will not be the last.The warning came in a video message on Sunday by WHO’s Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.The world must learn from COVID-19 and address “the intimate links between the health of humans, animals and the planet,” Tedros said in his remarks for the first International Day of Epidemic Preparedness.“For too long the world has operated on a cycle of panic and neglect,” he said. “We throw money at one epidemic and when it’s over, we forget about it and do nothing to prevent the next one.”Tedros said every country needs to invest in what he called the supply of care: the ability to avoid, detect and mitigate all kinds of emergencies.The new virus strain is 50% to 74% more contagious than its predecessors, according to a study from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, raising fears of more hospitalizations and deaths in 2021 than in 2020.Effective Monday, U.S. authorities said passengers arriving from Britain must test negative for COVID-19 before departure.
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Niger Voters Head to Polls in Search of First Democratic Transition
Niger votes in an election on Sunday that is expected to lead to the first transfer of power between two democratically elected presidents in a country reeling from Islamist violence.Former interior minister Mohamed Bazoum, the ruling party’s candidate, is the overwhelming favorite to succeed President Mahamadou Issoufou, who is stepping down after two five-year terms leading the largely desert country of 23 million.Bazoum, 60, has promised continuity with Issoufou’s policies, while also vowing to clean up pervasive corruption.”If I am lucky enough to win this election, you will have chosen someone who is ready from day one,” he said in a campaign video.Niger faces twin security crises. It has suffered repeated attacks near its western borders with Mali and Burkina Faso from militants linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State. Near its southeastern border with Nigeria it faces attacks from Boko Haram. Hundreds of soldiers and civilians have been killed in the last year alone.The economic situation is also critical. More than 40% of the population lives in extreme poverty, and the COVID-19 pandemic has slowed growth to a crawl, compounding the effects of climate change and low prices for top export uranium.Bazoum faces 29 other candidates, who will hope to force a second round by denying him an outright majority of the vote.Hama Amadou, who finished runner-up in the last election, was barred from running because of a criminal conviction, leaving the opposition without an obvious figurehead.But last week, Amadou’s party called on its supporters to turn out for Mahamane Ousmame, who was president from 1993-96.”After my candidate was disqualified, I didn’t have the motivation to come out and vote,” said Ali Hamma, an Amadou supporter. “But with the new instructions, I am going to vote.”A peaceful transfer of power would be a milestone for Niger, which has experienced four coups since gaining independence from France in 1960.It would also stand in stark contrast to Ivory Coast and Guinea, whose presidents this year used constitutional changes to extend their tenures to three terms, raising fears of a democratic backslide in West Africa.
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Mink Caught Outside Oregon Farm Tests Positive for Coronavirus
The Department of Agriculture for the U.S. state of Oregon said among animals captured during wildlife surveillance near a mink farm that recently had a coronavirus outbreak, a mink believed to have recently escaped confinement tested positive for low levels of the virus known to cause COVID-19 in humans. State officials released a statement saying recent tests confirm mink at the farm that tested positive for the virus in late November are now clear of the virus. KOIN reports the department conducted two rounds of follow-up tests, 14 days apart, to document the animals’ recovery. The first follow-up testing occurred Dec. 7 with only one of the 62 tested animals testing positive for barely detectable levels of the virus. With the second round of testing on Dec. 21, there were no signs of the virus among all 62 tested, indicating the mink population on the farm had recovered, ODA said. One more round of testing will be conducted prior to releasing the quarantine, per federal guidelines. Scientists with USDA Wildlife Services, under the direction of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife are continuing to conduct wildlife surveillance near the farm, which entails trapping and testing animals. On Tuesday, The USDA National Veterinary Services Laboratory confirmed the trapped mink, which was captured on Dec. 13, tested positive for low levels of SARS-CoV-2. Authorities believe the captured mink had very recently escaped confinement based on the condition of the animal, necropsy findings and the location of capture. As a precaution, ODA is requesting continued surveillance, trapping and testing. “There is no evidence that SARS-CoV-2 is circulating or has been established in the wild,” said Dr. Ryan Scholz, ODA state veterinarian. The Arizona-based conservation group, Center for Biological Diversity, said the apparent escape of the mink was potentially dangerous. “It’s beyond outrageous that an infected mink can escape even from a quarantined fur farm, putting an untold range of wild animals at risk of contracting the virus,” said Lori Ann Burd, environmental health director at the CBD. U.S. authorities say the risk of the virus jumping from mink to humans is low and almost negligible when properly managed.
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Benefits Expire as Trump Does Not Sign Pandemic Aid Bill
U.S. President Donald Trump did not sign a critical pandemic relief and government funding package before midnight, allowing increased unemployment benefits and eviction protections to expire at 12:01 a.m. Sunday.Trump had sharply criticized the legislation earlier this week and indicated Saturday his continued objections to it.Trump tweeted early Saturday, “I simply want to get our great people $2000, rather than the measly $600 that is now in the bill. Also, stop the billions of dollars in ‘pork’.”I simply want to get our great people $2000, rather than the measly $600 that is now in the bill. Also, stop the billions of dollars in “pork”.— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 26, 2020The larger checks have been seen as a rebuke to members of his own Republican party, which had resisted Democratic efforts to negotiate larger payments.Fourteen million Americans will lose unemployment benefits, according to Labor Department data.President-elect Joe Biden called on Trump to sign the bill.”This abdication of responsibility has devastating consequences. … This bill is critical. It needs to be signed into law now,” Biden, who is spending the holiday in his home state of Delaware, said in a statement.The president is spending the holiday at his Florida resort as Democrats and Republicans wait to see whether he will sign the $2.3 trillion spending legislation, which includes $892 billion for coronavirus relief. The bill has been flown from Washington to his Mar-a-Lago club to be available if he decides to sign it into law.Trump has not specifically threatened to veto the bill, but he surprised lawmakers in both parties by calling it a “disgrace” after it had been passed in the House and Senate, capping months of negotiations.A partial federal government shutdown also would begin early Tuesday if Trump does not sign the bill. Congress is planning to return to work Monday, interrupting its usual Christmas recess, and could take up a stopgap measure to extend government funding for a few days or weeks while the impasse is resolved.House members are also scheduled to vote Monday to override Trump’s veto of a $740 billion bill authorizing the country’s defense programs. If the House vote passes, the Senate could vote on the measure as early as Tuesday. It requires a two-thirds vote in both chambers to override a presidential veto.Trump has criticized the defense bill on several fronts, arguing without explanation that the bill benefits China, and has demanded the removal of language that allows for the renaming of military bases that honor Confederate leaders. He has also demanded the addition of a provision making it easier to sue social media companies over content posted by their users.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Trump’s veto “an act of staggering recklessness that harms our troops.”However, Pelosi has embraced Trump’s call for $2,000 direct payments to all Americans below a specified income level, and on Thursday used a maneuver to force Republicans to defy Trump by blocking the increase.Pelosi has announced plans to force another vote on the issue Monday. It is liable to be passed in the House, where Democrats have a majority, but unlikely to progress in the Republican-controlled Senate.The White House declined to share details of the president’s schedule during his Christmas holiday. It said only: “During the holiday season, President Trump will continue to work tirelessly for the American people. His schedule includes many meetings and calls.”Nevertheless, Trump was photographed playing golf at his Florida course near Mar-a-Lago both Thursday and Friday. Reports say he was joined on the course Christmas Day by his close ally, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham.
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Dig of Pompeii Fast-food Place Reveals Tastes
A fast-food eatery at Pompeii has been excavated, helping to reveal dishes that were popular for the citizens of the ancient Roman city who were partial to eating out.Pompeii Archaeological Park’s longtime chief, Massimo Osanna, said Saturday that while about 80 such fast-foods spots have been found at Pompeii, it is the first time such a hot-food-drink eatery — known as a thermopolium — was completely unearthed.A segment of the fast-food counter was partially dug up in 2019 during work to shore up Pompeii’s oft-crumbling ruins. Since then, archaeologists kept digging, revealing a multisided counter, with typical wide holes inserted into its top. The countertop held deep vessels for hot foods, not unlike soup containers nestled into modern-day salad bars.Plant and animal specialists are still analyzing remains from the site, with its counter frescoed with a figure of an undersea nymph astride a horse. Images of two upside-down mallards and a rooster, whose plumage was painted with the typical vivid color known as Pompeiian red, also brightened the eatery and likely served to advertise the menu.Another fresco depicted a dog on a leash, perhaps not unlike modern reminders to leash pets. Vulgar graffiti were inscribed on the painting’s frame.A fresco depicting two ducks and a rooster on an ancient counter discovered during excavations in Pompeii, Italy, is seen in this handout picture released Dec. 26, 2020.Valeria Amoretti, a Pompeii staff anthropologist, said “initial analyses confirm how the painted images represent, at least in part, the foods and beverages effectively sold inside.” Her statement noted that duck bone fragment was found in one of the containers, along with remains from goats, pigs, fish and snails. At the bottom of a wine container were traces of ground fava beans, which in ancient times were added to wine for flavor and to lighten its color, Amoretti said.”We know what they were eating that day,” said Osanna, referring to the day of Pompeii’s destruction in 79 A.D. The food remains indicated “what’s popular with the common folk,” Osanna told Rai state TV, noting that street-food places weren’t frequented by the Roman elite.One surprise find was the complete skeleton of a dog. The discovery intrigued the excavators, since it wasn’t a “large, muscular dog like that painted on the counter but of an extremely small example” of an adult dog, whose height at shoulder level was 20 to 25 centimeters, Amoretti said. It’s rather rare, Amoretti said, to find remains from ancient times of such small dogs, discoveries that “attest to selective breeding in the Roman epoch to obtain this result.”Also unearthed were a bronze ladle, nine amphorae, which were popular food containers in Roman times, a couple of flasks and a ceramic oil container.Successful restaurateurs know that a good location can be crucial, and the operator of this ancient fast-food eatery seemed to have found a good spot. Osanna noted that right outside was a small square with a fountain, with another thermopolium in the vicinity.Pompeii was destroyed by the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius, which is near present-day Naples. Much of the ancient city still lies unexcavated. The site is one of Italy’s most popular tourist attractions.Human remains were also discovered in the excavation of the eatery.Those bones were apparently disturbed in the 17th century during clandestine excavations by thieves looking for valuables, Pompeii authorities said. Some of the bones belonged to a man, who, when the Vesuvius volcano erupted, appeared to have been lying on a bed or a cot, since nails and pieces of wood were found under his body, authorities said. Other human remains were found inside one of the counter’s vessels, possibly placed there by those excavators centuries ago.
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Nashville Blast Investigation Leads US Agents to Suburban Home
Federal agents investigating the explosion of a motor home in Nashville were searching a two-story suburban house Saturday for clues to the blast, which injured three people in the heart of America’s country music capital on Christmas Day.Federal agents were also trying to identify apparent human remains found near the exploded vehicle.The motor home, parked on a downtown street of the Southern U.S. state of Tennessee’s largest city, exploded at dawn Friday, moments after police responded to reports of gunfire noticed it and heard an automated message emanating from the vehicle warning of a bomb.The blast destroyed several vehicles, damaged more than 40 businesses and left a trail of glass from shattered windows.Following up on what they said were more than 500 leads, local police and agents from the FBI and U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) were searching a two-story, red-brick house on Bakertown Road in Antioch, Tennessee, 18 kilometers southeast of Nashville, paying particular attention to its basement, according to a Reuters witness.FBI and ATF agents investigate a home, Dec. 26, 2020, in Nashville, Tenn., after an explosion the day before damaged buildings and left several people injured.Officials on Saturday declined to name a person of interest in connection with the explosion, but CBS News reported that the investigation has homed in on a 63-year-old man who recently lived at the Bakertown address, public records showed. According to a document posted online, on Nov. 25 he signed over the property to a woman in Los Angeles at no cost to her. The document was signed by the man, but not by the woman.Google Street View images of the house from 2019 show what appears to be a white motor home in the driveway. Neighbors told local TV station WKRN that the recreational vehicle had been parked there for years and is now gone.”Once we have processed the scene, we will look at the evidence and anything that we have recovered from this residence and see how that fits into this investigation,” FBI spokesperson Darrell Debusk, who was at the house Saturday, told Reuters in a telephone interview.FILE – A recreational vehicle that exploded on 2nd Avenue North and injured several people is seen in Nashville, Tenn., Dec. 25, 2020, in this picture obtained from social media.”At this point we’re not prepared to identify any single individual,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Doug Korneski said at a news conference Saturday.Korneski told reporters that investigators were “vigorously working on” identifying what appeared to be human remains found in the wreckage. He declined to say whether investigators believe the remains belong to the person behind what officials say was “an intentional act.”Korneski said the FBI’s Quantico, Virginia-based Behavioral Analysis Unit was helping determine the motivation of the person responsible.The vehicle was parked outside an AT&T office, and the blast caused widespread telephone, internet and TV service outages in central Tennessee and parts of several neighboring states, including Mississippi, Kentucky, Alabama and Georgia.A recording, then a blastBefore Friday’s blast, police and witnesses described hearing a crackle of gunfire followed by an apparently computer-generated female voice coming from the RV reciting a minute-by-minute countdown to an impending bombing.Police rushed to evacuate nearby homes and buildings and called for a bomb squad, which was en route when the RV blew up.Police later posted a photo of the motor home, which they said had arrived in the area about five hours before the explosion.Officials said 41 businesses were damaged and three people were hospitalized with relatively minor injuries. City authorities hailed police officers who they said likely prevented more casualties by acting quickly to clear the area.Dozens of agents from the FBI and the ATF were surveying the scene on Saturday. Parked cars and trees were blackened and an exploded water pipe that had been spraying overnight had covered trees in a layer of ice.”All the windows came in from the living room into the bedroom. The front door became unhinged,” Buck McCoy, who lives on the block where the blast occurred, told WKRN.Communications problemsAmong those hit by communications problems as a result of damage to the AT&T building from the blast were police departments, emergency services and Nashville International Airport, which temporarily halted flights Friday afternoon.AT&T said on Saturday that a fire reignited at the building overnight, forcing it to be evacuated, but workers were able to drill access holes into the building to connect generators to critical equipment that it hoped to have back online in hours.Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee visited the scene on Saturday and said in a Twitter post it was a miracle that no one was killed. In a letter to President Donald Trump, Lee requested a federal emergency declaration to aid relief efforts.
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Vaccines Arrive as COVID-19 Cases Rise
The coronavirus pandemic has dominated the news this year, and it’s no different this holiday season. Despite public health warnings not to travel, many Americans boarded planes to celebrate Christmas with loved ones in other cities. Meanwhile, Europe is receiving its first shipments of a vaccine against the virus and the disease it causes, COVID-19. VOA’s Carolyn Presutti has our update.
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Trump Again Signals Objections to Pandemic Aid Bill
U.S. President Donald Trump indicated Saturday his continued objections to a pandemic relief and government funding package that he sharply criticized earlier this week.Trump tweeted early Saturday:I simply want to get our great people $2000, rather than the measly $600 that is now in the bill. Also, stop the billions of dollars in “pork”.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) President-elect Joe Biden leaves St. Joseph on the Brandywine Roman Catholic Church, Dec. 26, 2020, in Greenville, Del.President-elect Joe Biden called on Trump to sign the bill.”This abdication of responsibility has devastating consequences. … This bill is critical. It needs to be signed into law now,” Biden, who is spending the holiday in his home state of Delaware, said in a statement.A partial federal government shutdown also would begin early Tuesday if Trump does not sign the bill. Congress is planning to return to work Monday, interrupting its usual Christmas recess, and could take up a stopgap measure to extend government funding for a few days or weeks while the impasse is resolved.Defense bill voteHouse members are also scheduled to vote Monday to override Trump’s veto of a $740 billion bill authorizing the country’s defense programs. If the House vote passes, the Senate could vote on the measure as early as Tuesday. It requires a two-thirds vote in both chambers to override a presidential veto.Trump has criticized the defense bill on several fronts, arguing without explanation that the bill benefits China, and has demanded the removal of language that allows for the renaming of military bases that honor Confederate leaders. He has also demanded the addition of a provision making it easier to sue social media companies over content posted by their users.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Trump’s veto “an act of staggering recklessness that harms our troops.”FILE – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., speaks during her weekly briefing, Dec. 4, 2020, on Capitol Hill in Washington.However, Pelosi has embraced Trump’s call for $2,000 direct payments to all Americans below a specified income level, and on Thursday used a maneuver to force Republicans to defy Trump by blocking the increase.Pelosi has announced plans to force another vote on the issue Monday. It is likely to be passed in the House, where Democrats have a majority, but unlikely to progress in the Republican-controlled Senate.The White House declined to share details of the president’s schedule during his Christmas holiday. It said only: “During the holiday season, President Trump will continue to work tirelessly for the American people. His schedule includes many meetings and calls.”Trump was photographed playing golf at his Florida course near Mar-a-Lago both Thursday and Friday. Reports said he was joined on the course Christmas Day by his close ally, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham.
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Uganda Halts Vote Campaigning in Some Areas, Opposition Cries Foul
Uganda suspended all campaigning for January’s presidential poll in the capital and 10 populous districts Saturday, citing coronavirus risks, but critics said the real reason was the opposition’s popularity in these areas.The East African country is scheduled to hold a presidential election on January 14.
“The Independent Electoral Commission has suspended campaign meetings in districts and cities categorized by the Ministry of Health as having high spread of Coronavirus. From December 26, 2020, no campaign meetings will be held in Mbarara, Kabarole, Luwero, Kasese, Masaka, Wakiso, Jinja, Kalungu, Kazo, Kampala City and Tororo,” said commission spokesman Paul Bukenya in a statement.Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 9 MB480p | 13 MB540p | 19 MB720p | 45 MB1080p | 80 MBOriginal | 201 MB Embed” />Copy Download AudioUganda has reported 33,360 COVID-19infections and 245 deaths from the virus since the pandemic began.
Candidate and pop star Bobi Wine, 38, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, has emerged as the strongest challenger to President Yoweri Museveni, 76. The president has been in power since 1986.
Wine is popular among young people in the country. Many of his supporters say they are drawn to him by the criticism of Museveni’s government woven into his lyrics. Others say that as a young leader he is better positioned to tackle the challenges they face.
Uganda Issues New Directives for Foreign Journalists Human rights activists denounce new rules
Last month, three people died in protests that erupted after police arrested Wine while he was campaigning in the country’s east for violating anti-coronavirus measures.
Wine said the commission’s action was “cowardly” in a tweet after the announcement, adding: “The dictatorship is in panic. They have been surprised by the massive enthusiasm and support we have received within all parts of the country. They just can’t imagine what would happen if they allowed our people to meet in these areas.”
He had rallies scheduled in Kampala this coming week. The ruling National Resistance Movement has no problem with the suspension of campaigning because they believe the commission took the decision in order to save the lives of Ugandans, party spokesman Rogers Mulindwa told Reuters. The electoral commission had earlier restricted campaign rallies to no more than 200 people to avoid the spread of the virus.
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Italy Reports 261 Coronavirus Deaths Saturday
Italy reported 261 coronavirus-related deaths Saturday against 459 the day before, the health ministry said.The daily tally of new infections increased by 10,407 from 19,037 the day before, taking the total number of cases since Italy’s epidemic began to 2,010,037. Heath Agency: British Coronavirus Variant Found in Traveler to SwedenHealth Agency official Sara Byfors told a news conference the traveler, who was not identified, had kept isolated after arrival to Sweden and that no further positive cases had so far been detectedItaly Thursday became the eighth country in the world to exceed 2 million officially recorded cases.
The number of swab tests carried out in the past day was 81,285 from a previous 152,334, the health ministry said. The first Western country hit by the virus, Italy has reported 70,909 deaths since its outbreak came to light on February 21, the highest toll in Europe and the fifth highest in the world.
Patients in hospital with COVID-19 stood at 23,304, down by 98 from the day before.
The current number of intensive care patients decreased by two to 2,582, reflecting those who died or were discharged after recovery.
When Italy’s second wave of the epidemic was accelerating fast in the first half of November, hospital admissions were rising by about 1,000 per day, while intensive care occupancy was increasing by about 100 per day.
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