Some of India’s legions of poor and people suddenly thrown out of work by a nationwide stay-at-home order began receiving aid distribution Thursday, as both the public and private sector work to blunt the impact of efforts to curb the coronavirus pandemic. India’s Finance Ministry announced a 1.7 trillion ($22 billion) economic stimulus package that will include delivering monthly grains and lentil rations to an astonishing 800 million people, some 60% of people in the world’s second-most populous country. In the meantime, the police in one state were giving rations of rice to shanty-dwellers, while another state’s government deposited cash into the bank accounts of newly unemployed workers. Aid groups, meanwhile, worked to greatly expand the number of meals they can hand out. The unprecedented order keeping India’s 1.3 billion people at home for all but essential trips to places like supermarkets or pharmacies is meant to keep virus cases from surging above the 553 already recorded and overwhelming an already strained health care system. Yet the measures that went into effect Wednesday — the largest of their kind in the world — risk heaping further hardship on the quarter of the population who live below the poverty line and the 1.8 million who are homeless. Daily wage laborers leave for their respective villages as the city comes under lockdown in Prayagraj, India, March 26, 2020.Rickshaw drivers, itinerant produce peddlers, maids, day laborers and other informal workers form the backbone of the Indian economy, comprising around 85% of all employment, according to official data. Many of them buy food with the money they make each day, and have no savings to fall back on. Untold numbers of them are now out of work and many families have been left struggling to eat. “Our first concern is food, not the virus,” said Suresh Kumar, 60, a bicycle rickshaw rider in New Delhi. He said he has a family of six who rely on his daily earnings of just 300 rupees ($4), “I don’t know how I will manage,” he said. In the northeastern state of Assam, police started handing out rice in some of the poorest districts, an informal effort they said they hope to ramp up in coming days. In India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, the government already sent 1,000 rupees ($13) to 2 million informal workers who are registered in a government database and have bank accounts. It was handing out free food rations to those are are not registered, though some in the state capital, Lucknow, said they weren’t aware of such handouts. Daily wage workers and homeless people wait for food outside a government-run night shelter during a 21-day nationwide lockdown, in New Delhi, March 25, 2020.In New Delhi, authorities teamed up with local charities and aid groups to map out locations where the city’s poor tend to congregate, distributing 500 hot meals cooked in government schools, political party headquarters and shelter kitchens. Details of the programs, from how well-funded they were to how many people they hoped to help, remained scant, however. “These are extraordinary times and proving food to the poor is a mammoth task,” said Vinay K Stephen, who runs a nonprofit group working with the government to feed the capital’s homeless. “But we will do it.” Economists had urged the government to create a stimulus package to blunt the effects of the lockdown on the poor, many of whom migrated to big cities for work and now now find themselves unable to earn a living or go home to their villages after Indian Railways suspended all passenger service or the first time in its 150 years of operating. The $22 billion package announced Thursday, which includes distributing five kilos (11 pounds) of grains and one kilo (2.2 pounds) of lentil beans every month from government stocks to 800 million people, is in addition to an earlier pledged of $2 billion to bolster the health care system. Indians stand in marked positions to maintain physical distance outside a grocery store during lockdown in Bangalore, India, March 26, 2020.It hasn’t been only the poor caught out by the lockdown. Even those with money to spend in shops have met with long lines and confusing regulations. In the city of Bangalore, people crowded roadside vendors outside a closed wholesale vegetable market. Others stood in line outside grocery stores behind chalked markings to maintain social distance. People ignored India’s new social isolation norms to keep at least one meter (3.2 feet) apart and crammed in to buy food at one store in Lucknow during the state government’s limited allowed window for shopping. “I know it is risky and [one can] get infected,” said Kamlesh Saxena, a government employee shopping at the store. “But I have no choice.”
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Month: March 2020
Virus Fuels Calls for Sanctions Relief on Iran, Venezuela
From Caracas to Tehran, officials are calling on the Trump administration to ease crippling economic sanctions they contend are contributing to the growing death toll caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The idea has gained support from prominent leftists in the U.S., including Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, who say throwing a financial lifeline to some of the United States’ fiercest critics is worth it if lives can be saved.”It’s absolutely unconscionable to keep sanctions on at this moment,” Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, said in an interview. “The only moral, sane and legal thing to do is stop the madness that is crippling other countries’ health systems.”
But almost in the same breath, the same officials in Iran have rejected U.S. offers of aid — a sign to critics that scapegoating and pride, not U.S. policies, are causing immense harm. American companies have been blocked from doing business with Iran and Venezuela for almost two years, after the Trump administration unilaterally pulled out of Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers and launched a campaign seeking to oust Venezuela’s socialist president, Nicolás Maduro, for allegedly committing fraud in his 2018 re-election.The escalating restrictions have drastically reduced oil revenue in both countries and led to tensions that, in the case of Iran, culminated in a January drone strike that killed a top Iranian general. U.S. officials have brushed aside the criticism, saying that the sanctions allow the delivery of food and medicine. But most experts say shipments don’t materialize as Western companies are leery of doing business with either of the two governments.”In most cases, compliance by banks makes it virtually impossible to do business,” said Jason Poblete, a sanctions lawyer in Washington who has represented American citizens held in Cuba, Venezuela and Iran. Iran has reported more than 1,810 coronavirus deaths as of Monday, the fourth-highest national total in the world, and its government argues U.S. sanctions have exacerbated the outbreak. It has been supported by China and Russia in calling for sanctions to be lifted. The European Union’s top foreign policy chief on Monday called on the U.S. to make clear its sanctions don’t target humanitarian aid. “Even amid this pandemic, the U.S. government has vengefully refused to lift its unlawful and collective punishment, making it virtually impossible for us to even buy medicine,” Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in a video statement. He also published on Twitter a list of the supplies that Iran urgently needs, including 172 million masks and 1,000 ventilators.”Viruses don’t discriminate. Nor should humankind,” he wrote.U.S. officials say providing sanctions relief to Iran would only fund corruption and terrorist activities, not reach people in need. They point out that Venezuela’s medical system has been in a free fall for years and shortages predate the sanctions. Far from pulling back, the Trump administration has been expanding its “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran, finding time in the middle of the virus frenzy to blacklist five companies based in China, Hong Kong and South Africa that it says are facilitating trade with Iran’s petrochemical industry. “This is a sort of tired regime talking point, saying that the sanctions are impacting their ability to deliver assistance for their people,” said Brian Hook, the State Department’s representative for Iran. “If the regime is sincere about looking for resources to help the Iranian people, they could start by giving back some of the tens of billions of dollars they have stolen from the Iranian people.”Kenneth Roth, the head of New York-based Human Rights Watch, which has issued scathing reports on abuses in Iran and Venezuela, said the international community should come together to help every country, even those under sanctions, gain access to needed medical supplies. “The U.S. government should clearly state that no one will be penalized for financing or supplying humanitarian aid in this time of a public-health crisis,” he told The Associated Press.The virus’ spread in Iran was exacerbated by days of denial from the government about its severity amid the 41st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution and attempts to boost turnout for February parliamentary elections. Hard-liners in its Shiite theocracy, meanwhile, have stormed shrines closed due to the virus as the public largely ignores guidance from health officials to stay home.In Venezuela, the impact has been less severe — only 77 confirmed cases and no deaths. But its health care system was already in shambles like the rest of the economy, with as many 70% of hospitals reporting electricity and water shortages, so even a small disease outbreak can trigger major havoc.
Together the two countries control around 30% of the world’s petroleum reserves, so they are expected to be among the hardest hit from a halving of crude prices this month that reflects forecasts for a global recession. Underscoring the economic fragility, both have gone hat in hand to the International Monetary Fund seeking billions in emergency loans. Iran’s request, its first since 1962, underscores how overwhelmed what was considered one of the Middle East’s best medical systems has become, even as authorities so far have refused to impose nationwide — or even citywide — quarantines in the nation of 80 million people. Maduro, who only a month ago was railing against the IMF as a tool of U.S. imperialism, also sought help from the international lending body. But his request was rejected in less than 10 hours, with the IMF saying there is no clarity among its 189 members whether he or Juan Guaidó, the U.S.-backed head of Venezuela’s opposition-dominated congress, is the country’s lawful leader. Those calling for sanctions relief say the political fight needs to be put aside to prevent even more people crossing into neighboring Colombia and joining the almost 5 million Venezuelans who have fled the economic calamity in recent years, “Even if you agree with the rationale for sanctions, it makes little sense to pile on in the middle of a global pandemic,” said Francisco Rodriguez, a Venezuelan economist who opposes Maduro and recently launched Oil For Venezuela, a U.S.-based group lobbying for greater assistance to the most vulnerable. There is precedent for suspending U.S. sanctions in times of crisis. In 2003, President George W. Bush temporarily did so after an earthquake near the Iranian city of Bam killed thousands. The move cleared the way for U.S. military planes to land in Iran for the first time since the 1979 revolution, delivering aid.Instead of easing sanctions, the U.S. has been offering aid to Iran. But those offers were angrily rejected Sunday by Iran’s supreme leader, who took the opportunity to air an unfounded conspiracy theory that the virus was made by America. A similar theory was propagated by Maduro last month.
“Who in their right mind would trust you to bring them medication?” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said. “Possibly your medicine is a way to spread the virus more.”Despite Venezuelan attempts to reach out to the Trump administration, no such aid offers have been made to Maduro, according to a senior U.S. official. Instead, all assistance is being channeled through Guaidó and a plan to contain the spread of the coronavirus will be revealed in the coming days as well as additional sanctions on Maduro’s inner circle, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss future actions.Despite the campaigns against the sanctions, Iranians and Venezuelans also increasingly blame their own governments’ failures for their dire situation.Anger with Iran’s government has led to sporadic protests, such as when Iranian authorities denied for days they had shot down a Ukrainian jetliner in January, killing all 176 people on board. In Venezuela, the economy has been cratering for years due to bad policies, mismanagement and corruption. The country has seen a steep rise in malaria cases amid a resurgence of long-eliminated preventable diseases. Amid the coronavirus pandemic, there have been reports of scattered looting across the country as food and gasoline grow scarce. “Venezuela is facing two tragedies: one caused by the coronavirus and the other by Maduro,” Julio Borges, an exiled lawmaker who is serving as Guaidó’s foreign policy coordinator, said in an interview. “Maduro claims he’s the victim of U.S. sanctions, but in reality he’s the one who has destroyed our health system. Now it’s up to us to rescue Venezuela from these two evils.”
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Ethiopia to Release Inmates to Curb Coronavirus Spread
Ethiopia is set to begin releasing more than 4,000 prisoners Thursday in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus.Attorney General Adanech Abebe said inmates convicted of minor crimes, with less than a year left on their sentences, and women with babies, qualify for release.Ethiopia is also deporting foreign inmates being held on drug-trafficking charges to their native countries.So far, Ethiopia has had12 confirmed cases of coronavirus, but with the disease spreading rapidly across Africa, the government decided to take action to fight the spread of the virus.Meantime, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is urging Ethiopians to practice social distancing, even as large crowds ignore warnings and gather for events in the capital, Addis Ababa.
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Brazil Transforms Sports Venues into Field Hospitals for Coronavirus
One of the most famous stadiums in Latin America is being transformed into a field hospital to treat patients infected with coronavirus in Brazil.The Maracana in Rio de Janeiro, home to Olympics and World Cup contests, is among a group of stadiums and convention centers that will be used to accommodate the growing number of coronavirus cases in Brazil.In Sao Paulo, which has the most case confirmed cases of the virus and deaths, the mayor’s office said that a combined 2,000 hospital beds would be added to the Pacaembu stadium and the Anhembi convention center in just a few weeks.Dr. Luiz Carlos Zamarco, director of the Sao Paulo’s Public Servants Hospital, said the Anhembi Convention Center will have a capacity for 1,800 hospital beds, 72 of those will serve as an intensive care unit.Brazil has more than 2,400 confirmed cases of coronavirus and at least 57 people have died of the disease.
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IS Claims Afghanistan Sikh Temple Attack That Killed at Least 25
The Islamic State group took credit for an attack on a minority Sikh place of worship in Kabul Wednesday, killing at least 25 and injuring eight others. Sayed Hasib Maududi reports from Kabul.
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South Africa to Lock Down for 21 Days, Starting Midnight Thursday
South Africa begins a 21-day lockdown at midnight Thursday aimed at stopping the country’s rising number of coronavirus cases, with which as of Wednesday tallied 709 confirmed cases, the highest on the continent.Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said he believes it may be at least two weeks before the lockdown affects the rise in cases.South Africans in health care, law enforcement, food sales and distribution, and utilities are exempt from the lockdown.Officials are urging others to only go out for essential needs.In an apparent effort to discourage mass hoarding of food, Agriculture Minister Thoko Didiza announced the country has an adequate food supply for the duration of the lockdown.The vast majority of countries across Africa have confirmed cases of the virus. So far the continent has at least 1,788.So far, at least 58 people have died in Africa, although South Africa has not recorded any confirmed deaths from the virus.
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Somaliland Women Find Opportunities, Risks Adapting to Drought
After years of devastating droughts, many rural families in the breakaway territory of Somaliland are migrating to urban centers. To survive, some women are going into business, challenging traditional gender roles that have long defined the workforce. Neha Wadekar visited the town of Burao with the charity Oxfam and has this report.
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Virus Has Brazil’s Bolsonaro Facing Governor ‘Insurrection’
Brazil’s governors on Wednesday rebelled against President Jair Bolsonaro’s call for life to return to pre-coronavirus normalcy, saying his proposal to reopen schools and businesses runs counter to recommendations from health experts and endangers Latin America’s largest population.State governors, many of whom have adopted strict measures to limit gatherings in their regions, defied the president’s instructions in a nationwide address Tuesday evening that they lift the restrictions and limit isolation only to the elderly and those with longstanding health problems.The governors weren’t the only defiant ones. Virus plans challenged by Bolsonaro were upheld by the Supreme Court. The heads of both congressional houses criticized his televised speech. Companies donated supplies to state anti-virus efforts. And even some of his staunch supporters joined his detractors.In a videoconference Wednesday between Bolsonaro and governors from Brazil’s southeast region, Sao Paulo Gov. João Doria threatened to sue the federal government if it attempted to interfere with his efforts to combat the virus, according to video of their private meeting reviewed by The Associated Press.“We are here, the four governors of the southeast region, in respect for Brazil and Brazilians and in respect for dialogue and understanding,” said Doria, who supported Bolsonaro’s 2018 presidential bid. “But you are the president and you have to set the example. You have to be the representative to command, guide and lead this country, not divide it.”Bolsonaro responded by accusing Doria of riding his coattails to the governorship, then turning his back.“If you don’t get in the way, Brazil will take off and emerge from the crisis. Stop campaigning,” the far-right president said.Bolsonaro argues that a shutdown of activity would deeply wound the country’s already beleaguered economy and spark social unrest worse than the impact of addressing the virus with only limited isolation measures. He told reporters in the capital, Brasilia, that he has listened to his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump, and found their perspectives to be rather similar.“What needs to be done? Put the people to work. Preserve the elderly, preserve those who have health problems. But nothing more than that,” Bolsonaro said. “If we cower, opt for the easy discourse, everyone stays home, it will be chaos. No one will produce anything, there will be unemployment, refrigerators will go empty, no one will be able to pay bills.”He has found some support among his base — #BolsonaroIsRight was trending atop Brazilian Twitter — but such backing has been largely drowned out in public by a week of nightly protests from many of those respecting self-isolation, who lean from their windows to bang pots and pans.His administration has also faced criticism from economists including Armínio Fraga, a former central bank governor, and Claudio Ferraz, a professor at Rio de Janeiro’s Pontifical Catholic University.“Brazil is seeing something unique, an insurrection of governors,” Ferraz wrote on Twitter. “This will become a new topic in political science: checks and balances by governors in a Federal System.”Candido Bracher, president of Brazil’s largest private bank, Itaú Unibanco, criticized Bolsonaro’s crisis management in an interview with the newspaper O Globo published Wednesday. His bank and companies like oil giant Petrobras, iron miner Vale and the brewery Ambev have made large donations to state governments for helping fight the outbreak.Rio de Janeiro Gov. Wilson Witzel, another former ally of Bolsonaro, told the president in the videoconference that he won’t heed the president’s call to loosen social distancing protocols.Last week, the governor announced he would shut down airports and interstate roads, which Bolsonaro annulled by decree contending that only the federal government can adopt such measures. By the time the president took to the airwaves Tuesday evening, a Supreme Court justice had ruled in favor of Witzel and the governors.Two days earlier Brazil’s top court issued another ruling allowing Sao Paulo state to stop repaying federal government debt amounting to $400 million so that it can beef up its health sector. The decision may set a precedent for other states.As of Wednesday, Brazil had about 2,400 confirmed coronavirus cases and 57 deaths related to the outbreak. Experts say the figures could soar in April, potentially causing a collapse of the country’s health care system. There is particular concern about the virus’ potential damage in the ultra-dense, low-income neighborhoods known as favelas.For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death.Sao Paulo, Brazil’s economic engine, is home to the majority of the coronavirus cases. It has been under partial lockdown since Tuesday, and schools, universities and non-essential businesses have mostly been closed for more than 10 days. Rio state has adopted similar measures, including closing its beaches.Other governors who hadn’t voiced criticism have begun doing so.Gov. Ronaldo Caiado of Goiás state, a doctor who had been a close Bolsonaro ally, told reporters Wednesday he is redefining their relationship.“I cannot allow the president to wash his hands and hold others responsible for coming economic collapse and loss of jobs,” Caiado said. “That is not the behavior of a leader.”Caiado joined a meeting late Wednesday of Brazil’s 26 state governors to coordinate their efforts. The federal government wasn’t invited.Carlos Moisés, governor of Santa Catarina state, which gave almost 80 percent of its votes to Bolsonaro in the 2018 presidential runoff election, issued a statement saying he was “blown away” by the president’s speech. Moisés said he will insist that residents stay home during the pandemic, ignoring the president’s advice.
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Third Day of Fighting Rocks Libyan Capital Amid Country’s First Coronavirus Case
Libyan fighter jets flew over the strategic al-Watiya Airbase near the capital Tripoli, amid conflicting reports over which side now controls the area. Sporadic fighting also continued in the capital Wednesday, as residents reported artillery shells falling in various parts of the city. The fighting came as the Tripoli-based National Unity Government reported the country’s first confirmed case of the coronavirus.Health Minister Dr. Ehmid Mohammed Bin Omar urged Libyans to heed the health ministry’s safety recommendations, adding that the ministry is taking measures to care for the infected patient. Hatem al Oraibi, spokesman for the rival government based in Tobruk, told journalists that measures were being taken in eastern towns and cities to address the coronavirus crisis. He said equipment and medication to treat the virus have been sent to area hospitals and that a hospital was being readied in Benghazi to accommodate suspected victims. FILE – Boys stand near a damaged house after shells fell on a residential area, south of Tripoli, Libya, Feb. 28, 2020.Meanwhile, areas in and around Tripoli experienced what some residents were calling the “worst fighting” in the city since the fall of former Libyan leader Moammar Ghadafi in 2011. Video posted on social media showed black smoke rising into the air in the southern Tripoli district of Bou Salim as forces loyal to the two rival governments tried to advance. Heavy fighting occurred at the western al-Watiya Airbase after a Tripoli-based commander tried to wrest it from forces loyal to eastern military commander Gen. Khalifa Hafter. Both sides are claiming control of the base. Hafter’s forces provided video on social media showing a Syrian mercenary whom they say was captured in the fighting. The man said in the video he was sent to Libya by the Turkish government, which pays his salary. Turkey backs the national unity government, while Hafter’s forces are backed by Russia and the United Arab Emirates. Fighting erupted in and around Tripoli three days ago, after a coronavirus cease-fire broke down after being agreed to by both sides. It was not immediately clear which side was responsible for the renewed fighting.
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Kenya’s Turkana Herders Facing 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 as David Lomuria reports from Lodwar, Kenya, herders say the payments don’t always arrive on time, and acknowledged that climate change is making it harder for them to maintain their livelihood.
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Germany’s Lower House Passes Massive Coronavirus Economic Aid Package
Germany’s lower house of Parliament – the Bundestag – approved an $814 billion aid package Wednesday to cushion the economy from the direct impact of the coronavirus outbreak.
In order to fund the emergency measures, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government is planning to take on more than $168 billion in new debt for the first time since 2013.
The package was presented by Finance Minister Olaf Scholz while Merkel is at home after a doctor who treated her tested positive for the coronavirus.As a precaution, members of Parliament were spaced widely apart during the debate in Berlin’s Reichstag building for the session.
Among other measures, the plan provides funding for the suffering tourism and service industries, support for small businesses, and unemployment benefits for freelance work and contract workers.
The measures passed easily in the lower house and now will move on to the upper house of Parliament, where a vote into law is expected Friday.
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Street in Britain Serenades Girl on her Birthday
Neighbors on British street this week pulled together to help an eight-year-old girl celebrate her birthday after coronavirus lockdown regulations left her stuck in her house. The entire street in a Southhampton neighborhood Wednesday sang “Happy Birthday” out their windows for the girl — named “Sophia” — who stood outside her home in tears as she listened. Cell phone video of the serenade was shared heavily on social media in Britain. The British government Monday banned gatherings of more than two people — unless they’re from the same household — and told everyone apart from essential workers to leave home only to buy food and medicines or to exercise.
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Uganda Opposition Figure Bobi Wine Releases COVID-19 Awareness Song
In Uganda, authorities have confirmed five new cases of COVID-19, among them an eight-month-old baby and two Chinese nationals who left their quarantine. Ugandan officials are trying to raise awareness of the coronavirus, including one well-known opposition lawmaker who, not surprisingly, issued his warning in song.Legislator and musician Robert Kyagulanyi, better known as Bobi Wine, is attempting to spread awareness of the deadly coronavirus.His musical message: everyone is a potential victim, everyone is a potential solution, and do not underestimate the danger. Like a majority of Ugandans and others around the world, Wine is staying indoors with his family and he tells VOA, it’s not easy.“Well, like everybody else, am struggling, laughs,” said Kyagulanyi. “Because it’s not very easy to have kids home when you’re not earning especially in our Uganda where it is mainly from hand to mouth. But we try to manage under the circumstances.”In the last two weeks, President Yoweri Museveni has addressed the nation four times through the national broadcaster, urging people to stay indoors, keep social distance and wash their hands to keep the virus at bay.Wine tells VOA, this is the time especially for musicians like him to use their talents for humanity.“We must use all the tools that we have to communicate,” said Kyagulanyi. “Music is a very powerful means of communication and it’s not only communication but it also deals with matters of stress with different people out there who are confined, who are self-quarantined.”A general view shows St. Paul’s Cathederal in Namirembe hill, amid concerns about the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Kampala, Uganda, March 22, 2020.Uganda has so far registered 14 cases of COVID-19. Most of them had traveled recently.Dr. Henry Mwebesa, the director of general health services in the Ministry of Health, said the cases include a 63-year-old man who traveled from Germany and a 57-year-old man dealing in the salt trade at the Uganda-South Sudan border.“The third case is actually an eight-month-old baby, a Ugandan, whose father travelled from Kisumu in Kenya about a week earlier,” said Mwebesa. “The two other cases were two Chinese who traveled from Guangzhou and Linyang who have been currently under quarantine. They are part of six Chinese, I think somehow they escaped out of quarantine and tried to cross to DRC via Zombo district.”To date, a total of 2,261 travelers, including Ugandans, have been identified as potential risks and are under quarantine.All of Uganda’s first eight COVID-19 case patients are reported to be in stable condition.Meanwhile, Bobi Wine reminds Ugandans to be aware of the danger.“The Coronavirus is sweeping over mankind, everybody must be alert. It’s a global pandemic we cannot afford to ignore you better watch for yourself. Yes man, this is Bobi Wine himself. Watch out for the coronavirus, you can be a very important in stopping the spread of the coronavirus,” he sings.For now, as more Ugandans adapt to their new, isolated lifestyles, they at least have a song that gives them courage to hold on.
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160-year-old Vatican Newspaper Succumbs to Coronavirus
The Vatican daily L’Osservatore Romano, which Pope Francis has jokingly called “the party newspaper,” suspended printing for only the third time in nearly 160 years on Wednesday due to the coronavirus. The paper, which was founded in 1861, will continue publishing online and most of its staff of about 60, including 20 journalists, will work from home, editor Andrea Monda said. “A newspaper and the paper on which it is printed are inextricably intertwined so it sad that this is happening but the reality is that we are all facing a crisis,” Monda told Reuters. Wednesday evening’s edition will be the last for the time being. The newspaper’ print run of about 5,000 is disproportionate to its wider influence in reflecting Vatican opinion on international affairs and Church matters. It is followed by many ambassadors. “We will try to make the best of the moment to boost our online readership until we are able to print again,” Monda said. Ten copies will continue to be printed. They are for Pope Francis, former Pope Benedict, a few top officials and several to be archived for the historical record. “We had to stop primarily because both the printers and the distributors could not guarantee their services in safe conditions because of the lockdown in Italy and the Vatican,” Monda said. Pope Francis told reporters last year he reads only two newspapers – the Osservatore and Rome’s Il Messaggero. It is very rare for the paper not to be published. Even the Nazi occupation of Rome during World War Two did not halt printing. However, the paper was not published on Sept. 20, 1870, when forces fighting for Italian unification conquered Rome and ended the Church’s temporal power over a large swathe of Italy known as the Papal States. Publication was also suspended for a period in 1919 due to labor unrest and other difficulties in Italy after World War I, Monda said.
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4 Weddings And a Pandemic: Love Under India’s Coronavirus Lockdown
Earlier this month, 27-year-old Rohit Kumar took an almost-unthinkable step for many Indians – he asked his parents to scale back his May 1 wedding.
Despite the growing spread of coronavirus across the country – and a nationwide three-week lockdown imposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi late on Tuesday – they have so far refused.
Weddings take on outsize importance in India, where families spend huge sums on elaborate multi-day ceremonies, often involving thousands of guests.
A 2017 report by consultant KPMG estimated the Indian wedding market at more than $50 billion per year, second only behind the United States and growing rapidly.
But in recent weeks, the rapid spread of the coronavirus that has already infected more than 550 in the densely populated country of 1.3 billion, has put a damper on the celebrations.
As authorities have tightened restrictions across the country in an attempt to control the spread, couples planning to wed have been faced with three options – postpone, downsize or attempt to carry on as normal.
After Tuesday’s move by Modi, ordering people not to leave their homes, there may be only one option for those set to wed within the next three weeks – postpone.
Development worker Kumar and his fiancée, 25-year-old policewoman Soni Kumari, are both children of farmers in the eastern state of Bihar who have so far spent a combined 200,000 Indian rupees ($2,618.86) on the ceremonies, he said – a vast sum for both families.
“This money means a lot to us… (but) I think they should understand the seriousness of this,” he said. “A thousand people will come if it happens the traditional way.”
In desperation, Kumar even wrote a letter to Modi, asking the leader to persuade his parents to cut back on the number of guests. With postal services across India severely disrupted, he is yet to receive a reply.
Empty Chairs
Weddings across India in recent weeks have been an unusually muted affair, with swathes of empty seats and leftover food.
Mahesh Pakala, a 28-year-old financial analyst, said his wedding in the software hub of Bengaluru was impacted by the sudden restrictions on public gatherings of more than 100 put in place by the Karnataka state government on March 13.
“We had a lot of relatives who were already on their way, by trains from other states,” he said. “We told some of them to turn back without giving them a chance.”
At a wedding in India’s capital New Delhi on Sunday, the groom’s brother Mohammed Ahmed said only a quarter of the thousand expected guests turned up due to travel restrictions.
“A lot of food got wasted,” Ahmed said.
On the same day in the southern city of Chennai, over 2,000 guests were expected, but only a little over 400 turned up.
Workers offered hand sanitizer to guests at the entrance, and caterers and those serving food all wore masks.
“Ultimately, we were happy that most of our closest friends and family made it,” said S Varsha, the bride’s sister who had to repeatedly ask guests not to shake hands with the couple. “A few empty chairs did not bring down our spirits.”
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At Least 60 Ethiopian Migrants Found Dead in Cargo Truck in Mozambique
At least 60 people, believed to be undocumented migrants from Ethiopia, were found dead in a cargo truck in Mozambique this week. Authorities heard banging noises from inside the truck’s container at a checkpoint in northwestern Tete province, where it was stopped after crossing the border from neighboring Malawi. They discovered 14 survivors along with the bodies of the migrants when they opened the doors of the container. The victims are believed to have died from a lack of oxygen. The survivors were taken to a local hospital for treatment. The truck driver and one other person were taken into custody. The southeastern African nation of Mozambique is a transit route for poor migrants trying to reach South Africa, one of the continent’s most industrialized countries.
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