We made it home to Italy, just north of Rome, last Friday and that’s when our two-week quarantine began.As soon as we arrived, we had to declare to the local health authorities that we understood the rules — we were to stay indoors and not leave the house, not even for food. All I can say is thank goodness home deliveries are working!It took my 18-year-old twin sons and me an entire day to get home from England. We are only too aware that we were very lucky; three days earlier the EU had announced that travel into the Schengen area was halted for 30 days, with the only exception for returning long-time residents.From London Heathrow airport, we flew to Dusseldorf, Germany, to catch a completely booked connecting flight to Rome. Many on our initial flight were university students headed for Milan who discovered their connecting flight had been cancelled. No one told them what they should do. In fact, Dusseldorf airport was deserted and our flight to Rome was one of only a handful that had not been cancelled.My sons study in the south of England and I had gone there to attend a parents-teacher evening on Feb. 27. At that time, Italy had locked down 11 towns in the north due to the COVID-19 outbreak. I could not have known that soon that would be the fate of the whole of Italy.Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
An empty street leads to the ancient Colosseum, in Rome, March 24, 2020.Finally, we could go and collect our suitcases in what was another deserted airport terminal. I had never seen Rome airport so empty, with all its shops closed. I had made sure that a car with driver was waiting for us. As we were driven on Rome’s notoriously busy ring road, we could not believe how few cars we passed.As we drove into town, there were many police roadblocks, but no one stopped us. We had to collect some keys at one address, pick up some things for the kids somewhere else and finally pick up my car to drive home. We were able to achieve all that driving through a spectral Rome.We saw virtually no people or cars – a surreal scene for residents long accustomed to Rome’s unbearable traffic with its honking cars and scooters whizzing by left and right. It dawned on us very quickly there would be no freedom of movement for any of us; our lives would be radically different.Medical personnel talk outside the retirement home Giovanni XIII, where coronavirus swabs were carried out on the staff of the facility, after the death of a patient, in Rome, March 24, 2020.We were exhausted but happy to get home at 11 pm. We went to bed knowing our lives in Italy were not going to be anything like what we knew in the past. And the next morning that reality hit us — no leaving the house, no food except what was left in the elevator of our building for us, no speaking with anyone except on the phone or WhatsApp. No going for a walk, no going to the gym, no meeting up with friends. Outside, cafes, restaurants and shops all were closed.The weather at this time of the year is beautiful and we are allowed out on our terrace of course. But when we look outside we see no one; everyone is locked up at home in self-isolation. The rare person who walks by heading to buy food is wearing a protective mask and gloves. The boys and I look at each other and ask ourselves a question no one is able to answer: How long is this going to last?
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Month: March 2020
Germany Flies Hundreds of Tourists Out of Nepal
A Qatar Airways charter flight arranged by the German government has picked up hundreds of tourists stranded in Nepal as the country went on lockdown at the beginning of this week.The tourists, who were mostly German nationals or had some connection to the country, flew out of Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport on Friday, a Nepalese immigration official said.The airport in Nepal’s capital reopened for the flight, which was designated to pick up the tourists and did not bring any passengers to the country.The government ordered a countrywide lockdown that included halting all flights and road travel as a prophylactic measure to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Businesses and government offices were also closed.Up to 10,000 tourists were stranded in Nepal as result of shutdown.Nepal has confirmed only three cases of the coronavirus, including one person who has recovered.
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Venezuelan Official Confirms 1st Coronavirus Death
The grim reality of the coronavirus has arrived in Venezuela, where Vice President Delcy Rodriguez confirmed the country’s first death from the disease.Rodriquez said the victim was a 47-year-old male field worker who had a “chronic illness.”His death came as Rodriguez announced that so far, at least 107 people have tested positive for the virus.Venezuela is under a nationwide quarantine to slow the spread of the coronavirus. The virus has struck hard in other parts of South and Central America, including Brazil, with more than 2,000 cases, followed by Ecuador, Colombia, Peru and Panama.
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US Leads the World in Coronavirus Cases
The United States now leads the world in the number of confirmed coronavirus cases, and Congress is on the verge of action to relieve the outbreak’s economic toll.As of late Thursday, a count by Johns Hopkins Medical Center shows more than 85,000 cases in the United States, followed by China with more than 81,000 and Italy with about 80,500.New York state is the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak, with New York City the hot spot. There were more 21,000 cases in the country’s largest city, with officials saying that number is growing by at least 3,000 a day.On Friday, the U.S. House plans to pass the $2 trillion economic relief package that the Senate passed Wednesday night, and President Donald Trump has indicated he will sign it.A statue of a Sioux Indian scout wears a face mask as it stands on a bluff overlooking Kansas City, Mo., March 26, 2020.The centerpiece of the bill is direct cash payments to individuals who have lost their jobs and businesses forced to close their doors because of the outbreak.Although the U.S. now has the largest number of cases, Trump said Thursday the government will be able to announce in the next two days what he calls good statistics and facts, “which will make your lives easier.”He also plans to go to Norfolk, Virginia, to see the U.S. Navy hospital ship Comfort leave for deployment in New York Harbor.Canada is balking at a U.S. proposal to deploy hundreds of Americans troops along the U.S.-Candian border, which is closed to help stop the spread of the coronavirus.“Canada is strongly opposed to this U.S. proposal, and we have made that opposition very, very clear,” Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said Thursday. “The public health situation does not require such action.”South African Defense Forces patrol downtown Johannesburg, South Africa, March 27, 2020 amid a 21-day coronavirus lockdown.In their first-ever remote vote, the EU Parliament members approved a $41 billion package of economic aid to members whose economies have also taken a beating because of the outbreak.“From one day to the next, our lifestyles changed. Our streets emptied. Our doors closed. And we moved from a daily routine to the fight of our lives,” the head of the EU executive, Ursula von der Leyen, told the lawmakers. Nearly all of them were under lockdown across the 27-member bloc.Italy and Spain have been particularly hard hit by the outbreak.Elsewhere, a second U.S. soldier stationed in South Korea has tested positive for the coronavirus. Officials at Camp Humphrey said she is isolated as they clean all areas she was known to have visited. They are also trying to determine who else has been exposed.A man removes his mask to stretch and take a deep breath across from cherry blossoms at the Yuyuantan Park in Beijing on Thursday, March 26, 2020.China is temporarily closing its borders to all foreign visitors. Nearly all the new coronavirus cases in the past week in China have come from people arriving from overseas.The outbreak appears to have eased in China, and authorities don’t want a resurgence.South Africa and the Saudi cities of Riyadh, Medina and Mecca — the last are two of Islam’s holiest cities — are the latest to go under lockdown.And the Associated Press reports U.N. ambassadors from eight countries under United States sanctions — China, Cuba, Iran, Nicaragua, North Korea, Russia, Syria, and Venezuela — are asking Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to press the U.S. to lift the sanctions so they can effectively fight the outbreak. The ambassadors accused the U.S. of politicizing the pandemic.
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China Sets New Restrictions on Foreign Nationals in Coronavirus Fight
China says it will temporarily ban foreign nationals with visas or residence permits from entering country beginning at midnight on Saturday, in its latest attempt to stop the spread of the coronavirus.The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Thursday that China initiated the restrictions “in light of the outbreak situation and the practices of other countries.”China insisted it will keep communications open with other countries and properly handle personnel exchanges under the special circumstances.The government in Beijing said holders of diplomatic visas are exempt from the temporary suspension of foreigners from entering the country.In January, China banned all travel in and out of all cities in Hubei province, including Wuhan, where the virus was first discovered.
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Global Army of Volunteers Mobilizes to Battle Coronavirus
More than half a million people in Britain have volunteered to help the National Health Service cope with the coronavirus epidemic. Across the world, people are stepping forward to help the most vulnerable – offering hope that societies can overcome the huge disruption caused by the virus. VOA’s Henry Ridgwell reports from London.
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Puerto Rico Extends Coronavirus Curfew
The U.S. territory of Puerto Rico is extending a two-week curfew to April 12 and warning residents that new restrictions are on the way to help curb coronavirus cases.Gov. Wanda Vázquez said beginning Tuesday, nonessential workers will have to be home by 7 p.m., two hours earlier than the current curfew.She also said vehicles with license plates ending in even numbers can only be on the road Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Vehicles with tags ending in odd numbers are only permitted to move about on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.Vázquez said the new restrictions come in response to hundreds of people being cited for violating a curfew imposed nearly two weeks ago.The leader of Puerto Rico’s coronavirus task force, Dr. Segundo Rodríguez, estimates that there are more than 600 people infected on the island, with more than 60 already testing positive.Authorities also reported two tourists on the island had died of the virus.Meanwhile, there has been a shake-up in the territory’s health department over the handling of the coronavirus.The governor Thursday announced appointment of Lorenzo González as Puerto Rico’s third health secretary in less than two weeks. González was health secretary during the 2009 H1N1 swine flu pandemic. The move came hours after former health secretary Concepción Quiñones resigned for unclear reasons; her appointment followed the resignation of Rafael Rodríguez over complaints about the department’s handling of COVID-19.
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Spain Enters Third Week of Coronavirus Lockdown
As Spain entered the third week of lockdown Friday, the streets of Barcelona, the second-most populous municipality, were empty due to the coronavirus pandemic.Iconic tourist attractions in the capital of Catalonia region, such as Arc de Triomf, Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia and La Rambla were deserted.The only people occasionally seen on the street were those walking dogs.On a Barcelona beach, police were patrolling the area, with no one else venturing out.Spain is the hardest-hit country by the coronavirus in Europe after Italy, recording more than 56,000 cases of COVID-19 and at least 4,100 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University in the U.S.
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European Parliament Approves $40 Billion Emergency Package
The European Parliament on Thursday evening passed a $40 billion emergency package to help countries and their citizens most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.Only President David Sassoli returned to the building from protective quarantine for the extraordinary plenary session, while members cast their vote by email.The so-called Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative is intended to help people and businesses cope with the crisis.The package includes an extension of the EU Solidarity Fund for public health emergencies in Europe.Members of European Parliament also approved temporary suspension, until October, of an EU rule requiring air carriers to use 80 percent or more of their flight slots during a year to keep them.
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South Africa Begins Nationwide Coronavirus Lockdown
South Africans on Friday began the first day of a three-week nationwide lockdown aimed at stemming the tide of coronavirus cases, now topping 900 in South Africa.President Cyril Ramaphosa urged troops on Thursday to be a “force of kindness,” saying people are terrified of the virus and the soldiers should not do anything to make their situation worse.Ramaphosa delivered a similar message to police, stressing that they understand that people are fearful of the virus and its potential impact, including losing their livelihoods.South Africa’s lockdown is considered one of the strictest, with bans on alcohol sales and dog-walking, among other things. People are also not allowed to jog in public for the next three weeks.South Africa’s borders are already closed for transporting people, but cargos of essential supplies can still come into the country.The lockdown could last beyond 21 days if the situation with the virus does not improve.
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Kenya’s Turkana Herders Struggle to Survive in Cycle of Droughts, Floods
For nearly a decade, herders in Kenya’s arid northwest have depended on cash payments from the government to withstand a cycle of recurring severe droughts and floods. But herders say the payments don’t always arrive on time, and climate change is making it harder for them to maintain their livelihood. Droughts last year followed by heavy floods this year killed thousands of animals in the region. Philip Lopili, who has been herding sheep and goats for more than 60 years in Kenya’s dry northwest Turkana County, says he lost 114 animals last year. Turkana’s climate has changed for the worse, he added, and rainy seasons no longer arrive every six months, as they once did.Herder Ruth Akiru says it’s not just humans who are suffering. When the trees dry up, the goats start dying, she said, adding that when the goats lack food, it also becomes harder for humans to survive. Kenya in 2012 introduced cash payments to help herders affected by extreme weather from global warming.But the herders in Turkana say the money doesn’t always come when needed. Kenya’s National Droughts Management Authority says it lacks the money to help all the herders who are struggling.”We know what we are doing, we know where we are going,” said James Oduor, chief executive of the agency. “But because of resources, we are a bit slow to achieve what we want. So resource is a big, big problem.”In the meantime, herders like Akiru and Lopili can only wait for more support and hope for less extreme weather.
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Сукины деятели — в короне с вирусом. Украинская «элита» заразительно смеётся над обществом
Сукины деятели — в короне с вирусом. Украинская «элита» заразительно смеётся над обществом.
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Про человеческую тупость и обыкновенное скотство, присущее в особенности нашим политикам и «удачливым бизнесменам»
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Гучне вбивство Старицького в будинку регіонала. Про що мовчать риги та шарії?
Гучне вбивство Старицького в будинку регіонала. Про що мовчать риги та шарії?
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21 лютого 2020 року на Київщині було вбито Сергія Старицького. Це відбулось в будинку екс-міністра МЗС Кожари та з його нагородної зброї. Поліція дуже довго бездіяла по цій справі, а головні “борці за справедливість” на кшталт портнова, дубінського та шарія чомусь про цю тему не говорили.
Блог про українську політику та актуальні події в нашій країні
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Кремль усыхается и тухнет: нефтяной нежданчик из Нигерии
Кремль усыхается и тухнет: нефтяной нежданчик из Нигерии.
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Москва отчаянно борется за то, чтобы ее нефть и газ брали хоть по какой-то приличной цене, а в последний месяц – чтобы брали вообще
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US Announces Narcoterrorism Charges Against Venezuela’s Maduro
The U.S. Justice Department on Thursday announced narcoterrorism charges against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and other top officials, accusing them of collaborating with a leftist Colombian guerrilla group to traffic cocaine to the United States.The charges are likely to heighten tensions between the United States and Venezuela. Relations deteriorated last year after the Trump administration recognized Maduro’s electoral rival as the country’s interim president and later imposed sweeping economic sanctions designed to remove Maduro from office.In a sweeping indictment unsealed in New York, prosecutors accused Maduro of running a drug cartel in partnership with two Colombian guerrilla leaders and several top Venezuelan officials, including the speaker of Venezuela’s national assembly; a former director of military intelligence; and a former general in the Venezuelan armed forces. The four men face charges of participating in a narcoterrorism conspiracy, conspiring to import cocaine into the United States and two weapons-related charges. In a separate indictment and criminal complaint, Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez was charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine on board an aircraft registered in the United States, while Supreme Court Chief Justice Maikel Jose Moreno Perez was accused of money laundering in connection with receiving tens of millions of dollars and bribes to fix dozens of civil and criminal cases in Venezuela.In all, 15 current and former Venezuelan officials, along with two leaders of the Colombian FARC group, were indicted. The dramatic charges were announced by Attorney General William Barr and other senior law enforcement officials at a virtual press conference. “Today’s announcement is focused on rooting out the extensive corruption within the Venezuelan government — a system constructed and controlled to enrich those at the highest levels of the government,” Barr said. “The United States will not allow these corrupt Venezuelan officials to use the U.S. banking system to move their illicit proceeds from South America nor further their criminal schemes.” This image provided by the U.S. Department of Justice shows a poster of Venezuelan leaders, March 26, 2020. The U.S. Justice Department has indicted Venezuela’s socialist leader Nicolás Maduro and several key aides on charges of narcoterrorism.On Twitter, Maduro accused the United States and Colombia of conspiring against Venezuela.It is only the second time in recent decades that the Justice Department has indicted a sitting foreign head of state, though one not officially recognized. In 1988, the Justice Department indicted Manuel Noriega, then the military ruler of Panama, on drug trafficking charges. He was captured the following year during the U.S. invasion of Panama and subsequently spent 17 years in prison in the United States. Barr said the United States expects “eventually to gain custody” of Maduro, Venezuela’s president since 2013, and his associates, and will explore all options to arrest them. But Barr declined to say whether the United States would send in the military to capture them. “Some of them do travel, and that may be an opportunity,” Barr said. “Hopefully, the Venezuelan people will see what’s going on and eventually gain control.”The State Department announced a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to the arrest and or conviction of Maduro. Awards of up to $10 million were also announced for four other officials wanted by the Justice Department. In a statement, the department said the officials “violated the public trust by facilitating shipments of narcotics from Venezuela, including control over planes that leave from a Venezuelan air base.”FARC signed a peace deal with the Colombian government in 2016, ending more than 50 years of conflict. But a group of 2,500 FARC dissidents, backed by the Maduro regime, remains involved in trafficking cocaine from Colombia to the United States via Venezuela and Central America, officials said. The indictment alleges that Maduro began cultivating FARC as early as 2006 when he was foreign minister and agreed to help the group in exchange for receiving $5 million. He later agreed to keep the Venezuelan border open to the group to facilitate its drug trafficking, according to U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman of the Southern District of New York.”The scope and magnitude of the drug trafficking alleged was made possible only because Maduro and others corrupted the institutions of Venezuela and provided political and military protection for the rampant narcoterrorism crimes described in our charges,” Berman told reporters via video link. “As alleged, Maduro and the other defendants expressly intended to flood the United States with cocaine in order to undermine the health and well-being of our nation,” Berman said. “Maduro very deliberately deployed cocaine as a weapon.”
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Эмираты заморозят счета пукинских олигархов! пукин уехал из москвы!
Эмираты заморозят счета пукинских олигархов! пукин уехал из москвы!
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Последние новости россии и мира, экономика, бизнес, культура, технологии, спорт
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