Fellow scientists question his findings, but an unlikely mix of supporters — from French yellow vest protesters to U.S. President Donald Trump — are cheering their promise.Last month, French immunology specialist Didier Raoult had no Twitter account. Now, he has more than a quarter-million followers, and counting. The 68-year-old French physician has emerged as one of France’s most publicized and polarizing figures of these coronavirus times, since claiming his research shows an anti-malarial drug can help fight COVID-19. Outside the Marseille university hospital where he works, a long line of sick and frightened people waits to be tested each day for COVID-19. The sick may receive a much-hyped experimental treatment — a mix of anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine and antibiotic azithromycin that have starred in a pair of quick, small-scale studies that Raoult conducted, and were published this month. Together, the studies show the “efficacy” of the anti-malarial drug in fighting the virus, Raoult and his research team claim, and the synergetic effects of adding the antibiotic. “He’s a visionary,” Renaud Muselier, head of the Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur region and a friend of Raoult, told the weekly Le Journal du Dimanche. “That’s what makes his strength today.” But critics say Raoult’s team did not follow rigorous procedures, had no control group, and drew their results based on too few people, among other failings. “The methodology is fragile, the results are forced, one doesn’t give people hope based on approximate trials,” Gilles Pialoux, infectious diseases head of Paris-based Tenon Hospital, told BFMTV. A few years ago, Raoult grew his white-blond hair long — adding a mustache and beard —just to annoy the establishment, he is reported as saying. No stranger to controversy Raoult, who heads the infectious diseases department of La Timone Hospital in Marseille, is no stranger to controversy — or applause. Born in Dakar, Senegal, he dropped out of high school in his junior year and spent a couple of years in the French merchant marines before heading to medical school. A few years ago, he grew his white-blond hair long — adding a mustache and beard —just to annoy the establishment, he is reported as saying. His award-winning research includes discovering giant viruses and new bacteria. He has published prodigiously, although his massive output has sparked skepticism about its rigor. Raoult has also questioned climate change. In January, he initially dismissed the first coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan as overblown. And while he has been added to the government coronavirus team of health experts, he has reportedly distanced himself from it, failing to attend recent meetings. “I don’t care what others think of me,” he told La Provence newspaper. “I’m not an outsider. I’m the one who is the most advanced.” After Raoult’s first coronavirus findings were published mid-March in the International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents, Trump tweeted that the two-drug combination he tested could become “the biggest game changers” in medical history. France and the United States have since authorized limited, emergency use of hydroxychloroquine and related compound chloroquine in treating the most serious COVID-19 cases. On Monday, the French food safety agency warned of potentially dangerous side effects. But the public has dismissed such strictures. Pharmacies report a rush for Plaquenil, the brand name of hydroxychloroquine, which has worried lupus and other patients who have long depended on it. Local hero New and larger experimental studies are now under way in Europe and the United States to see if Raoult’s findings, among others, can be replicated on a bigger scale. In the meantime, he has vaulted to near rock star status. His wide spectrum of supporters includes controversial French comedian Dieudonne, far-right adherents, ex-soccer champion Eric Cantona and several prominent politicians, some of whom took Raoult’s experimental treatment after contracting COVID-19. “Bravo to @raoult didier and his team,” tweeted Nice Mayor Christian Estrosi. “I’m proud to have fought beside him.” But a raft of medical experts is less enthusiastic, questioning the credibility of Raoult’s studies, the first of which involved just 20 patients. “No, ‘not huge’ I’m afraid,” tweeted Francois Balloux of University College in London, in response to the results of Raoult’s second study involving 80 patients. Released Friday, the study claimed that most of the patients treated with the combination drug had favorable outcomes. But Balloux noted that those who had tested presented mild symptoms of coronavirus and likely would have recovered anyway.
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Month: March 2020
Greece Blocks Iranian From Plotting to Arm Asylum Seekers
In Greece, the case of an Iranian migrant now jailed on charges of inciting an insurrection is highlighting the Greek government’s rising concerns about a flare-up of clashes involving migrants along Greece’s border with Turkey. Greek authorities say the Iranian man — a self-described anarchist — was urging groups in Greece to arm asylum seekers trying to enter Europe from Turkey. The man, if convicted, faces a stiff sentence of up to ten years in prison.Greek counter-terrorism forces say they arrested the 23-year-old Iranian national in central Athens after he posted a call for an armed insurrection on a website that is often visited by homegrown extremists and urban guerrilla groupings.Authorities say the unidentified man describes himself as a migrant anarchist and they say he has not denied the criminal charges set against him — among the stiffest slapped on a migrant in recent years.
Greek intelligence officials say Greece granted the man political asylum three years ago and that he has since then established a militant profile, linking up with a far-left extremist group in Greece.
Left-wing groups in Greece have long supported asylum seekers, advocating their safe passage — and their right to stay in Europe. But in his online calling, the Iranian went a step further, urging anarchists to help arm migrants, take to the streets and renew clashes with authorities in northern Greece to help tens of thousands trapped in Turkey stream in to Europe.
Authorities in Athens say they have not established links between that plot and Turkey.
But the Iranian’s arrest here and the severity of the charges laid against him underscore Greece’s desperate bid to stamp out any potential flare up of migrant clashes along the country’s borders with Turkey.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan flung open the borders to migrants heading for Europe in late February after dozens of Turkish soldiers were killed in an air raid in Syria. FILE – Migrants walk in Edirne at the Turkish-Greek border, March 9, 2020.Turkey last week said it moved 5,800 migrants away from the border crossing at Edirne province where they had been massing, citing concerns over the threat of coronavirus. The move was interpreted by some in Greece as a reversal by Ankara. But Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu told an independent broadcaster the move did not represent a policy change.
“Once the COVID-19 crisis is over, the Turkish government will not block migrants from returning to the border,” he said. Although Greek authorities have not established a link between the Iranian migrant and the Turkish government, they worry about how Ankara may use the nearly four million Syrian refugees now inside Greece.
Ioannis Mazis, an international relations analyst in Athens, said Greece has already seen Turkey using tens of thousands of migrants as pawns in the recent border clashes. He said the Turkish government has even admitted that it has orchestrated much of the border violence. So, threats of further clashes should not be underestimated, Mazis added.
By some accounts, as many 150,000 migrants and refugee tried to push into Europe last month. Greece says it succeeded in fending off more than 50,000, while many others managed to sneak in.
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South Sudan Activists Hope to Unify Divided Nation
Thirty-one-year-old Junior Dau sits in the parlor of his home in the South Sudanese capital of Juba, gazing at photos of his slain cousin. The cousin was killed as a soldier fighting in the civil war that broke out in 2013.”He got shot in the chest and in the leg in an ambush,” Dau told VOA. “[His death] hit me so much because one thing I know is he was more than a brother to me and he managed to help me through my studies.”Junior Dau, 31, looks at photos of his cousin, who was killed in South Sudan’s civil war, in Juba, South Sudan. (Chika Oduah/VOA)Losing a breadwinner made life difficult for Dau’s family. Three of his siblings also died and his mother was tortured when rebel fighters dunked her into a water tank.”My mom was put in the water; she fainted four times and that is one thing that has made her not come back to South Sudan. She hates it so much,” Dau said. His mother now lives in Kenya as a refugee; he hasn’t seen her since 2016.After losing so many family members to the conflict, Dau said he was left with smoldering resentment and bitterness toward other ethnic communities in South Sudan. “I had in mind, I want to get a gun so I can get revenge,” he said.Can South Sudan’s people reconcile?The people of South Sudan have endured decades of war, first in the fight to win independence from Sudan, and then in a brutal conflict that began in late 2013. An estimated 400,000 people died in the civil war, which officially ended with a 2018 peace agreement.The intense fighting has left deep scars on the nation, with ethnic communities pitted against one another.In February, rival politicians President Salva Kiir and former deputy Riek Machar formed a transitional unity government after more than a year of negotiation and delay.Dr. James Okuk, a professor of political science at the University of Juba, said he is cautiously optimistic about the recent formation of the unity government.”It is a start, but the task is overwhelming. We hope they will be up to the task, particularly reconciliation, which really requires a lot of time, requires a lot of effort,” he said.”The political leaders have created these grievances by making the civilians to take sides in these political quarrels, and taking sides has created these enmities among communities and with peace coming back, I think it’s time to mend those broken relations.”Members of the South Sudanese government’s National Dialogue Committee meet to discuss how to implement peace-building policies, in Juba, South Sudan. (Chika Oduah/VOA)The government recently set up a National Dialogue Committee in an effort to mend broken relations. Francis Deng, South Sudan’s first ambassador to the United Nations and a scholar on conflict management, is putting his expertise to use as a member of the committee.He said tackling complex issues such as how to administer justice for war-related atrocities will not be easy.”One line of reasoning is let’s forgive and forget. That’s one line of reasoning. The other line of reasoning is that too much harm has been done, people have been victimized, massacres have taken place. Crimes have taken place. Here you come to another point of view. The African perspective generally is to try to reconcile, maybe compensate and not talk in terms of punishment,” Deng said.The government is now promoting what Deng describes as the African approach toward reconciliation. On the streets of Juba, several peace campaign billboards display phrases such as, “It’s time to forgive.”Peace-building programsOther government-backed and private initiatives are in place to help move toward peace-building.At the University of Juba, students meet under a large tree on campus every week to learn about how to give psychosocial support to those dealing with bitterness. The class is organized by Vivean Peter, a 33-year-old woman who had her own pain to work through after a rival ethnic group gunned down her husband.Now, Peter finds hope and healing in training therapists. She takes a particular interest in helping counsel youth who can easily join militia forces to exact revenge.”They are the most vulnerable demographic, needing psychological support,” she explained.Another program called Power to Forgive, set up by the South Sudanese Council of Churches, offers a telephone hotline service. People from across the country who are coping with anger and war-related trauma call in to speak with a trained counselor.A popular clergyman known in the community simply as Pastor Emmanuel said, ”That is the role the Church plays, to reconcile back to God and to reconcile people with themselves and with others.”Lupai Samuel Stephen, director of an organization called I Am Peace Initiative, sits with his team to organize the upcoming Peace Camp program in Juba, South Sudan. (Chika Oduah/VOA)In another part of Juba, young activists are organizing an event called Peace Camp. It offers a safe space for young people to talk about the pain of the war.The organizer, Lupai Samuel Stephen, was displaced by the war and grew up in Uganda. He said the Peace Camp is more relevant now than ever.”The Peace Camp brings people together to be able to create relationships on a personal level, so you get to meet someone from a certain community that you always looked at as an enemy,” he said. ”We know there are a lot of cultural influences in this conflict based on tribalism, hate speech and negative stereotypes, and we believe the best way we can break all these stereotypes is when we actually bring people together to talk about it and that becomes a basis for other people to learn from the other’s perspective.”Junior Dau participated in a Peace Camp and said it helped him to let go of his hatred. He’s now a Peace Camp ambassador.Even though many of his friends and relatives have died, Dau said he enjoys spending time with the ones who have survived.
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South Sudan Activists Hope to Unify A Divided Nation
After years of civil war, Sudan’s new transitional unity government is urging citizens to work towards reconciliation and forgiving perpetrators of violence. But will these measures work in a deeply divided nation? Chika Oduah reports from the South Sudanese capital of Juba.
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US Unveils Venezuelan Transitional Government Plan
The United States says it is willing to lift sanctions against Venezuela in exchange for the formation of a transitional government comprised of allies of President Nicolas Maduro and opposition leader Juan Guaido, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Tuesday.
The plan calls on Maduro and Guaido to hand over power to a five-member council until presidential and parliamentary elections can be held within the next year.
Pompeo called on Maduro and Guaido to form a transitional government which would be tasked with scheduling elections within six to 12 months.
Pompeo said the U.S. would welcome efforts by Guaido to seek office in future elections, but maintained the U.S. position that Maduro must go.FILE – Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro speaks during a news conference at Miraflores Palace in Caracas, March 12, 2020.The U.S. and more than 50 countries recognize Guaido as Venezuela’s interim leader.
“We’ve made clear all along that Nicolas Maduro will never again govern Venezuela,” Pompeo said at a Washington news conference Tuesday.
Pompeo said the U.S. continues to support Guaido and added, “When we put together this pathway to democracy, we worked closely with him.”
The U.S.’ top diplomat said sanctions “will remain in effect, and increase, until the Maduro regime accepts a genuine political transition.”
The oil-rich country’s economy, already weakened by a U.S. economic pressure campaign, has been dealt subsequent blows by the coronavirus pandemic and falling oil prices. The coronavirus has also crippled the country’s health care system.Opposition leader Juan Guaido waves to supporters during a rally at Bolivar Plaza, in Chacao, Venezuela, Feb. 11, 2020. The U.S. proposal also addresses for the first time the lifting of sanctions on Venezuela’s oil sector and Maduro officials.
Officials facing accusations of human rights abuses and drug trafficking are not eligible for sanctions relief. But members of Maduro’s socialist government who have been blacklisted would benefit.
A transitional government is unlikely to be supported by Maduro and many of his allies unless he is guaranteed protections from the U.S. justice system.
“It’s a little hard to see how this is going to be convincing to the major players in the government,” said David Smilde, a senior fellow at the Washington Office on Latin America. “They seem to think the military is going to step in, but that seems extremely unlikely.”
The plan would also need the approval of Cuba, Russia or China — Maduro’s major political and economic supporters.
The U.S. campaign against the South American country was spearheaded by economic and diplomatic pressure to break the military’s support for Maduro.
Last week, however, the U.S. indicted Maduro, the head of the supreme court, the defense minister and other key allies on drug trafficking and money laundering charges.
A high-ranking U.S. administration official who spoke anonymously with reporters on Monday said the U.S. is willing to negotiate with Maduro the terms of his exit, even with respect to the indictments against him.
On Saturday, Guaido called for the establishment of a “national emergency government.”VOA’s Nike Ching contributed to this report from the State Department.
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Royals No More: Harry and Meghan Start Uncertain New Chapter
Prince Harry and his wife Meghan officially make the transition Tuesday from senior members of Britain’s royal family to — well, it’s unclear. International celebrities, charity patrons, global influencers?
The royal schism that the couple triggered in January by announcing that they would step down from official duties, give up public funding, seek financial independence and swap the U.K. for North America becomes official on March 31.
The move has been made more complicated and poignant by the global coronavirus pandemic, which finds the couple and their 10-month-old son Archie in California, far from Harry’s father Prince Charles — who is recovering after testing positive for COVID-19 — and Harry’s 93-year-old grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II.
“As we can all feel, the world at this moment seems extraordinarily fragile,” the couple said in a final post Monday on their now-mothballed SussexRoyal Instagram account.
“What’s most important right now is the health and well-being of everyone across the globe and finding solutions for the many issues that have presented themselves as a result of this pandemic,” they added. “As we all find the part we are to play in this global shift and changing of habits, we are focusing this new chapter to understand how we can best contribute.”
It is less than two years since ex-soldier Harry, who is sixth in line to the British throne, married American actress Meghan Markle at Windsor Castle in a lavish ceremony watched by millions around the world.
Soon the couple began to bristle at intense scrutiny by the British media — which they said tipped into harassment. They decided to break free, in what Harry called a “leap of faith” as he sought a more peaceful life, without the journalists who have filmed, photographed and written about him since the day he was born.
Harry has long had an uncomfortable relationship with the media, which he blames for the death of his mother, Princess Diana. She died in a car crash in Paris in 1997 while being pursued by paparazzi.
Harry’s unhappiness increased after he began dating Markle, then the star of TV legal drama “Suits.” In 2016 he accused the media of harassing his then-girlfriend, and criticized “racial undertones” in some coverage of the biracial Markle.
It’s clear that Meghan’s upbeat Californian style — embodied in the glossy images and life-affirming messages of the couple’s Instagram account — rankled with sections of Britain’s tabloid press, which is both insatiable for royal content and fiercely judgmental of the family members.
The couple — who are keeping their titles, Duke and Duchess of Sussex, but will no longer be called Their Royal Highnesses — had hoped to keep using the Sussex Royal brand in their new life. But last month they announced they wouldn’t seek to trademark the term because of U.K. rules governing use of the word “royal.”
The couple plans to launch a non-profit organization for their charitable activities in areas including youth empowerment, mental health, conservation, gender equality and education. Harry will also continue to oversee the Invictus Games, the Olympics-style competition he founded for wounded troops.
Meghan has been announced as the narrator of “Elephant,” a Disney nature documentary.
But for now, the couple’s office said they want the world to focus “on the global response to COVID-19.”
“The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will spend the next few months focusing on their family and continuing to do what they can, safely and privately, to support and work with their pre-existing charitable commitments while developing their future non-profit organisation,” the couple’s office said in a statement.
The newly independent Harry and Meghan will also need to earn money to help pay for a multi-million dollar security bill.
As senior royals, they have had bodyguards funded by British taxpayers. Since late last year, Harry and Meghan have since been based on Canada’s Vancouver Island, where security was provided by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Canadian authorities warned last month that would end once the couple ceased to be working royals.
The duke and duchess recently moved to the Los Angeles area, where Meghan grew up and where her mother still lives. The news led President Donald Trump to tweet on Sunday: “the U.S. will not pay for their security protection. They must pay!”
Harry and Meghan’s office said they had “no plans to ask the U.S. government for security resources. Privately funded security arrangements have been made.”
Some royal historians warned that Harry and Meghan could struggle to find a fulfilling role. Comparisons have been drawn to King Edward VIII, who abdicated in 1936 to marry divorced American Wallis Simpson. The couple lived the rest of their lives in luxurious but lonely self-imposed exile from Britain.
Royal historian Penny Junor said U.K.-based royals were helping boost the nation’s morale during the coronavirus pandemic. The queen has issued a message to the nation, while Harry’s brother Prince William and his children joined in a public round of applause for health care workers.
“All of this is absolutely what the family is about, and those members of the royal family that are on a limb now are pretty irrelevant,” Junor said.
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South Africa Launches Door-to-Door Coronavirus Screening
South Africa is launching an aggressive coronavirus screening program as the total number of confirmed cases tops 1,000, the largest amount of any country on the continent.President Cyril Ramaphosa announced Monday night that at least 10,000 field workers will be going door-to-door in the next few days to conduct mass screenings and testing for the virus.South Africa is already observing a 21-day lockdown aimed at containing the virus.Police have arrested scores of people for violating the lockdown.Ramaphosa said there are 1,326 confirmed cases of the virus in South Africa and three people have died. So far, more than 5,000 people have tested positive for the coronavirus across Africa and 173 deaths reported.
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Pakistan Railway Converts Train Cars Into COVID-19 Isolation Units
With train service suspended in the country, Pakistan railway officials have begun converting air-conditioned sleeper and business class cars into medical wards for COVID-19 virus patients.Pakistan Railway medical officer Dr. Abdula Samad tells the Associated Press news agency the sleeper and business class cars they converted can each hold about 36 patients, and they also can be adapted for isolation.
The railway company says overall it has converted 220 coaches with a total capacity of as many as 2,000 hospital beds.
Railway Minister Shaikh Rashid Amad told reporters Monday these mobile facilities can now be sent to any part of the country with rail service to help ease pressure on health care services in that area.
On its website, the Pakistan Health Ministry reports 1,865 cases of the coronavirus as of Tuesday, with 25 deaths.
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Taliban Team in Kabul for Afghan Prisoner Swap
A Taliban delegation arrived in Kabul Tuesday to monitor the long-delayed release of their 5,000 detainees under a prisoner swap with the Afghan government brokered by the United States.This is the first time representatives of the Islamist insurgency have visited the Afghan capital since a U.S.-led military invasion of the country ousted the Taliban from power nearly 19 years ago.
“They will pursue the issue of prisoner release and help in necessary technical steps,” said a brief Taliban announcement.
Taliban delegates reportedly traveled from southern Kandahar province to a central Afghan city before being airlifted to Kabul by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
The prisoner exchange, which requires the insurgent group to free about 1,000 government detainees, is supposed to lay the ground for peace negotiations between Afghan parties to the conflict.
The crucial peace-building steps are outlined in the February 29 agreement that Washington signed with the Taliban in Qatar, which aims to promote a negotiated end to years of a deadly Afghan war. The pact commits the U.S. and allied nations to a 14-month phased withdrawal of military forces in exchange for Taliban assurances to prevent terrorists from using Afghanistan soil as a safe haven.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s government, which is not part of the agreement, was initially reluctant to free captured Taliban fighters, citing concerns they may return to the battlefield. His refusal delayed the intra-Afghan talks that originally were scheduled for March 10 under the U.S.-Taliban accord.
Under pressure from Washington, Ghani last week announced a 21-member “inclusive” team of negotiators for the much-awaited intra-Afghan talks, a move that received praise from U.S. and other foreign partners of the war-ravaged country.
“We have seen a team identified and it looks like it’s pretty inclusive, pretty broad. We’re happy about that. We have begun to see some work done on prisoner releases as well,” Pompeo told reporters in Washington.
He emphasized that “all elements” will have to come together to move toward intra-Afghan negotiations, saying they are the only “mechanism” to deliver peace and reconciliation to the people of Afghanistan.
In a significant development Tuesday, Ghani’s main rival and self-proclaimed president, Abdullah Abdullah, also endorsed the negotiating team as representatives of “the Islamic State of Afghanistan.”
His announcement comes amid a lingering political dispute stemming from the September 28 controversy-marred Afghan presidential election, which Abdullah alleges was manipulated in favor of incumbent Ghani.
Both leaders sought competing inaugurations earlier this month, fueling political tensions and strengthening concerns their rivalry would prevent the formation of a united Afghan team to negotiate peace with the Taliban.
The insurgent group, however, has announced it would not negotiate with the government-appointed delegation, saying it does not represent all Afghans and contradicts provisions of the agreement with the U.S.
Speaking to VOA Tuesday, chief Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid stressed again that intra-Afghan talks would begin only after all insurgent prisoners are freed. He went on to blame the Ghani government for “obstructing” and “delaying” the prisoner swap and the next steps in the peace process. “The Kabul administration has also created, and continues to create, obstacles in the way to intra-Afghan talks. It has announced an unsuitable team and even declared it as a representative of the government,” Mujahid said.
The Taliban has from the outset rejected the government in Kabul as illegitimate, denouncing it as an American puppet and a product of foreign occupation of Afghanistan. The insurgent group maintains its negotiators want to negotiate peace with all Afghan sides in their individual capacity, and not as representatives of the government.
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From Dhaka to Gaza: How Do You Socially Distance in a Crowd?
Josna Begum lives with her son in a house with four other families in a slum in Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka, the world’s most densely populated city. “Distancing is impossible for us,” she said.
The 35-year-old, who occupies a single room with her 12-year-old son and earns $100 a month as a domestic worker, shares the single kitchen in the house with 22 other residents.
The Bangladeshi government this week ordered a nationwide shutdown to try to slow the spread of the coronavirus in a country considered at high risk because hundreds of thousands of overseas workers have returned home from Italy and other virus hot spots. All businesses were ordered closed except food markets, pharmacies and other essential services, and people were told to stay indoors and keep a safe distance from each other.
But in Dhaka, a city of more than 10 million where the average home is less than 120 square feet and a million people live in slums, that is easier said than done.
From Mumbai to Rio de Janeiro to Johannesburg the same story is playing out in some of the world’s most unequal regions, where tens of millions live in crowded slums without adequate water, sanitation and access to health care.
“The future of this pandemic to a greater extent will be determined by what happens in very large and densely populated countries,” Dr. Michael J. Ryan, executive director of the World Health Organization’s health emergencies program, said this week.
Experts believe the virus is mainly spread through droplets expelled from the mouths and noses of infected people when they speak, cough or sneeze, traveling 3 to 6 feet (1 to 2 meters) before gravity pulls them to the ground. And while most people suffer mild or moderate symptoms like cough or fever, in older adults and people with other health problems the risk of pneumonia or death is far higher.
Social distancing, while necessary in the face of such an easily spread virus, envisions a “citizen who is able to live in the most desirable way,” said Hyun Bang Shin, a professor of urban studies at the London School of Economics and Political Science. “Injustices and inequities that have basically been embedded are being exposed in face of this outbreak.”
Abu Bakar, 74, who lives with his family of three in a makeshift two-room structure in a slum in northern Jakarta can’t imagine how social distancing could work. “For me it is more important to keep myself clean,” he said.
But even that can be nearly impossible in an area regularly ravaged by seasonal flooding from the murky, trash-filled water of a neighboring reservoir. Marks on the walls show the flooding can be as high as 2 feet.
In the sprawling slum, where thousands lived crammed together in dilapidated structures with poor ventilation and narrow walkways, Bakar says that even if he were to become sick, he wouldn’t be able to isolate himself.
And that’s far from the only problem, said Elisa Sutanudjaja, of the Jakarta-based Rujak Center for Urban Studies.
“There’s a major lack of clinics, sanitation, and other utilities. So for many it’s not only the lack of space that’s a concern,” she said.
In Mumbai — where the city and its suburbs have seen a tenth of India’s nearly 900 cases — 53-year-old Abrar Salmani lives with 11 family members in a house so small that many regularly sleep outdoors in the Bhim Nagar slum.
The unemployed weaver said most families don’t have access to water and rely on communal washrooms for bathing. “Our demands to have a water pipeline haven’t been answered for years,” he said.
In the Gaza Strip, where 2 million Palestinians lived squeezed into 140 square miles and more than half are unemployed, the arrival of the virus this week prompted the territory’s Hamas rulers to order the closure of cafes and wedding halls, and to cancel Friday prayers at mosques. Residents were urged to stay at home and refrain from close contact.
But with chronic power shortages of at least eight hours a day, it’s hard for Gazans to stay inside their homes. And the traditional conservative Muslim society frowns upon a handshake being declined, let alone a kiss on the cheek.
“My friend was upset after I refused to shake hands with him, even though I tried to explain to him this is because of the coronavirus,” 53-year-old Yasser Anan said. “Eventually, because he is dear to me, I had to kiss his forehead in apology.”
Across Africa, home to some of the world’s fastest-growing cities with badly strained infrastructure, authorities worry that the virus could swiftly spread through slums and impoverished townships. Tear gas and gunfire have been used in a couple of cities in a rough bid to enforce social distancing. So far the continent of more than 1.3 billion people has nearly 3,500 cases, but with the global shortage of testing kits the actual number could be higher and health experts have warned that the rising rate looks like that of Europe.
In Nigeria’s seaside city of Lagos, Africa’s largest with more than 20 million people, authorities have scrambled to spread the word about the virus among slum dwellers. In the vast Makoko slum, where shacks are built on stilts and sewage runs into the sea, residents listened with a mix of fear and defiance.
Biodun Edward scooped up a handful or the murky water and drank it. “Let (authorities) come and test it, there’s no disease here,” he declared.
“Firstly, the smoke in the air will ward off disease, strong alcohol,” he added, then pulled a piece of ginger root from his pocket and called it protection.
In South Africa’s crowded, impoverished townships, tens of thousands of workers pack into groaning minibus taxis for commutes with little or no protection. At home, extended families squeeze into a single room or two and communities draw water from collective taps. A countrywide lockdown began Friday.
“Coronavirus scares us since we’re living in a shack,” said one Soweto resident on the outskirts of Johannesburg, Mando Masimola. “We don’t know how we’ll survive if the virus infects us.”
In Latin American and the Caribbean, experts are warning the virus could kill untold numbers in the poorest sectors of society, where not working means not eating, people live packed together and few have access to health care, let alone sophisticated medical care.
“Quarantine here is impossible,” said Raull Santiago, founder of two charities in the favelas, or slums, of Rio de Janeiro.
“It’s wall to wall, there are homes of two or three rooms with six people living inside,” he said on Twitter, along with a photo of tightly packed brick houses in the Complexo do Alemao favela. “How do you do it?”
The first person to die in Rio de Janeiro state was Cleonice Goncalves, a 63-year-old woman who worked as a maid for a family in Leblon, one of Rio’s wealthiest neighborhoods. The woman of the household was infected during a trip to Italy but didn’t tell Goncalves, the victim’s brother told local media. Concalves, who had hypertension and diabetes, fell ill and died on March 17.
“There’s a large population of working people … that are just going to be unable to simply stay home,” said Geoff Ramsey, a Washington-based researcher at the Washington Office on Latin America.
“We’re looking at a region that’s going to be deeply, deeply impacted by the global pandemic.”
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“Пробившие дно”: «галера» обиженного карлика пукина потеряла управляемость и идет ко дну…
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Чуда не случилось: Порошенко в который раз будет спасать Украину
Чуда не случилось: Порошенко в который раз будет спасать Украину
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Газпром окончательно скатился: Польская оплеуха одичалым
Газпром окончательно скатился: Польская оплеуха одичалым
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Hungary’s PM Wins Emergency Powers to Fight Coronavirus
Hungary’s parliament granted nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban the right to rule by decree on Monday to fight the coronavirus, ignoring calls by opponents and rights groups to put a timeframe on the extra powers.
President Janos Ader, an Orban ally, signed the legislation extending a state of emergency after it was approved by parliament, dominated by Orban’s Fidesz party. Ader said it was in line with international treaties and Hungary’s constitution.
The law has triggered criticism from opposition parties, rights groups and the Council of Europe, Europe’s main rights forum, because it does not set a specific limit on the time the additional powers will be in force.
It also imposes jail terms of up to five years on those hindering measures to curb the spread of the virus or spreading false information that could upset people or hinder the fight against the virus.
Rights groups said this might be used to muzzle journalists as remaining independent media are forced to cut staff and budgets while media loyal to the government continue to receive taxpayers’ money.
Since he took power in 2010, Orban has built media he can control, using legal levers, ownership changes and advertising money for more loyal media coverage. The economic impact of the coronavirus could accelerate the shake-up of the media, journalists say.
The government has rejected the criticism, saying the law empowers it to adopt only measures needed to fight the virus, and that parliament can revoke the special powers.
“This is an authorization limited both in time and scope … as it is solely related to the coronavirus, and you are crying a dictatorship,” state secretary Bence Retvari told opposition parties before the vote.
Justice Minister Judit Varga said it was “very damaging fake news” that the law is intended to neutralize the national assembly.
Orban, who has gradually increased his power in a decade in office, has often been in conflict with the European Union and rights organizations over his perceived erosion of democratic checks and balances and the rule of law.
Opposition lawmakers said they back the government’s overall fight against the coronavirus but wanted a time limit placed on the government’s special powers, which parliament can extend if necessary. Parliament rejected all opposition amendments.
President Ader said the government’s special authorization would end once the epidemic is over and was limited to dealing with the epidemic and its fallout.
“The controlling role of Parliament and the government’s duty to report will remain in place during the epidemic,” Ader said. Hungary has reported 447 coronavirus cases and 15 deaths.
Independent Media at Risk
Some media companies, facing severe short-term liquidity problems, have already scrapped plans for 2020.
Central Media, one of Hungary’s largest media groups, has put journalists on reduced hours and cut salaries by up to a quarter, several sources told Reuters.
Pesti Hirlap, a tabloid, has told staff it will cut jobs and switched to online-only mode. Executives at HVG, a weekly that also runs a popular web site, warned staff of budget cuts, according to several sources.
“Press freedom could fall victim to the coronavirus,” Miklos Hargitai, chair of the Hungarian Journalists Association (MUOSZ), told Reuters.
State media have an annual budget of around 90 billion forints ($280 million). The public media budget is not affected by the crisis this year, a government spokesman said.
Loyal outlets receive state advertisements regardless of their audience size, data shows.
“The coronavirus epidemic will have a devastating effect on Hungarian independent media,” said Agnes Urban, director of the Mertek Media Monitor think tank. “This can become critical for independent outlets within 2-3 months as most lack a rich owner.”
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US Outlines Plan for Venezuela Transition, Sanctions Relief
The Trump administration is prepared to lift sanctions on Venezuela in support of a new proposal to form a transitional government representing allies of both Nicolas Maduro and opposition leader Juan Guaido, U.S. officials said.
The plan, which will be presented Tuesday by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, echoes a proposal made over the weekend by Guaidó that shows how growing concerns about the coronavirus, which threatens to overwhelm the South American country’s already collapsed health system and crippled economy, are reviving U.S. attempts to pull the military apart from Maduro.
What’s being dubbed the “Democratic Framework for Venezuela” would require Maduro and Guaidó to step aside and hand power to a five-member council of state to govern the country until presidential and parliamentary elections can be held in late 2020, according to a written summary of the proposal seen by The Associated Press.
Four of the members would be appointed by the opposition-controlled National Assembly that Guaidó heads. To draw buy-in from the ruling socialist party, a two-third majority would be required. The fifth member, who would serve as interim president until elections are held, would be named by the other council members. Neither Maduro nor Guaidó would be on the council.
“The hope is that this setup promotes the selection of people who are very broadly respected and known as people who can work with the other side,” U.S. Special Representative for Venezuela Elliott Abrams told the AP in a preview of the plan. “Even people in the regime look at this and realize Maduro has to go, but the rest of us are being treated well and fairly.”
The plan also outlines for the first time U.S. requirements for lifting sanctions against Maduro officials and the oil industry — the source of nearly all of Venezuela’s foreign income.
While those accused of grave human rights abuses and drug trafficking are not eligible for sanctions relief, individuals who are blacklisted because of the position they hold inside the Maduro government — such as members of the supreme court, electoral council and the rubber-stamp constitutional assembly — would benefit.
But for sanctions to vanish, Abrams said the council would need to be functioning and all foreign military forces — from Cuba or Russia — would need to leave the country.
“What we’re hoping is that this really intensifies a discussion inside the army, Chavismo, the ruling socialist party and the regime on how to get out of the terrible crisis they’re in,” Abrams said.
For months, the U.S. has relied on economic and diplomatic pressure to try and break the military’s support for Maduro and last week U.S. prosecutors indicted Maduro and key stakeholders — including his defense minister and head of the supreme court — on drug trafficking and money laundering charges.
Still, any power-sharing arrangement is unlikely to win Maduro’s support unless the thorny issue of his future is addressed and he’s protected from the U.S. justice system, said David Smilde, a senior fellow at the Washington Office on Latin America. While Venezuelans are protected from extradition by Hugo Chavez’s 1999 constitution, the charter could be rewritten in a transition, he said.
“It’s a little hard to see how this is going to be convincing to the major players in the government,” said David Smilde, a senior fellow at the Washington Office on Latin America. “They seem to think the military is going to step in, but that seems extremely unlikely.”
It also would require the support of Cuba, China or Russia, all of whom are key economic and political backers of Maduro. In a call Monday with Vladimir Putin, President Donald Trump reiterated that the situation in Venezuela is dire and told the Russian leader we all have an interest in seeing a democratic transition to end the ongoing crisis, according to a White House readout of the call.
A senior administration official said Monday that the U.S. is willing to negotiate with Maduro the terms of his exit even in the wake of the indictments, which complicate his legal standing.
But recalling the history of Gen. Manuel Noriega in Panama, who was removed in a U.S. invasion after being charged himself for drug trafficking, he cautioned that his options for a deal were running out.
“History shows that those who do not cooperate with U.S. law enforcement agencies do not fare well, ” the official said in a call with journalists on condition of anonymity to discuss U.S. policy. “Maduro probably regrets not taking the offer six months ago. We urge Maduro not to regret not taking it now.”
Guaidó, who has been recognized by the U.S. and nearly 60 other countries as the lawful leader of the country following a widely viewed fraudulent re-election of Maduro, called on Saturday for the creation of a “national emergency government.”
He said international financial institutions are prepared to support a power-sharing interim government with $1.2 billion in loans to fight the pandemic. Guaido said the loans would be used to directly assist Venezuelan families who are expected to be harmed not only by the spread of the disease but also the economic shock from a collapse in oil prices, virtually the country’s only source of hard currency.
The spread of the coronavirus threatens to overwhelm Venezuela’s already collapsed health system while depriving its crippled economy of oil revenue on which it almost exclusively depends for hard currency.
The United Nations said Venezuela could be one of the nations hit hardest by the spread of the coronavirus, designating it a country for priority attention because of a health system marked by widespread shortages of medical supplies and a lack of water and electricity.
Last September, Guaidó proposed a similar transitional government in talks with Maduro officials sponsored by Norway, which never gained traction.
But with the already bankrupt country running out of gasoline and seeing bouts of looting amid the coronavirus pandemic, calls have been growing for both the opposition and Maduro to set aside their bitter differences to head off a nightmare scenario.
“The regime is under greater pressure than it has ever before,” Abrams said.
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Ships with People from Ill-Fated Cruise Beg Florida to Dock
Two ships carrying passengers and crew from an ill-fated South American cruise are pleading with Florida officials to let them carry off the sick and dead, but Gov. Ron DeSantis says Florida’s health care resources are already stretched too thin.As the Zandaam and its sister ship the Rotterdam make for Florida, passengers confined to their rooms are anxious for relief, hoping DeSantis will change his mind and allow them to disembark despite confirmed coronavirus cases aboard. The governor said he has been in contact with the Coast Guard and the White House about diverting them, and local officials were meeting Tuesday to decide whether to let them dock at Broward County’s Port Everglades cruise ship terminal, where workers who greet passengers were among Florida’s first confirmed coronavirus cases.Holland America said the Rotterdam took on nearly 1,400 people who appear to be healthy, leaving 450 guests and 602 crew members on the Zaandam, including more than 190 who said they are sick. More than 300 U.S. citizens are on both ships combined.”We cannot afford to have people who are not even Floridians dumped into South Florida using up those valuable resources,” DeSantis told Fox News. “We view this as a big big problem and we do not want to see people dumped in Southern Florida right now.”Holland America President Orlando Ashford penned an opinion column in the South Florida Sun Sentinel to plead with officials and residents to let the passengers disembark.”Already four guests have passed away and I fear other lives are at risk,” Ashford wrote. “The COVID-19 situation is one of the most urgent tests of our common humanity. To slam the door in the face of these people betrays our deepest human values.” With authorities in country after country sealing borders and imposing quarantines in response to the coronavirus pandemic, the Zandaam and then its sister ship became pariahs. Passengers were asked to keep their rooms dark and leave their drapes closed as they passed through the Panama Canal on Sunday night after days of wrangling with local authorities.Laura Gabaroni and her husband Juan Huergo, of Orlando, had wanted to explore the southernmost tip of South America for years — to see the penguins on the Falkland Islands and the glacial landscapes of the Strait of Magellan. But their vacation turned harrowing as countries shunned them and people fell ill.”It’s been a trying time, especially because of the many ups and downs we’ve seen along the way,” said Gabaroni. “We are unable to leave our rooms, haven’t had fresh air in days.”At least two of the four deaths on the Zandaam were caused by the coronavirus, according to Panamanian authorities. The company said eight others have tested positive for COVID-19, and that most of the passengers and crew on both ships appear to be in good health. Gabaroni and hundreds of others who were fever-free and not showing any symptoms were transferred to the Rotterdam, which replenished the Zandaam with supplies and staff last week.The Zandaam was originally scheduled to travel on March 7 from Buenos Aires to San Antonio, Chile, and then depart on March 21 for a 20-day cruise to arrive in Fort Lauderdale in early April. But beginning March 15, the Zandaam was denied entry by South American ports, even before passengers reported their first flu-like symptoms on March 22. Canal administrator Ricaurte Vásquez said Panama allowed them through for humanitarian reasons, but won’t make another exception for vessels with positive coronavirus cases.Passenger Emily Spindler Brazell, of Tappahannock, Virginia, said the company has been accommodating, offering extravagant meals, wine and unlimited phone calls — but they have to stay in their rooms, avoiding any contact with others.”The captain said something like, ‘This is not a trip anymore. This is not a cruise. This is a humanitarian mission,'” said Brazell, who was transferred to the Rotterdam on Saturday. Gabaroni, a 48-year-old technical writer, wrote a letter to DeSantis imploring him to let them off the ships.”Florida continues to receive flights from New York, and it allowed spring break gatherings to go on as planned. Why turn their backs on us?” Gabaroni said.
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