Author: CensorBiz

More than 40 people have tested positive for the novel coronavirus following a church service in Frankfurt, Germany’s financial center, earlier this month, the head of the city’s health department told a news agency Saturday.“Most of them are not seriously ill. As far as we know only one person has been admitted to hospital,” Rene Gottschalk told the dpa agency.The service took place on May 10 at a Baptist church, the department’s deputy chief Antoni Walczok told local newspaper Frankfurter Rundschau. On its website the church says it holds services in both German and Russian.“The situation is very dynamic,” Walczok told the paper, adding that the church did not violate official guidelines aimed at containing the spread of the virus.Churches in the German state of Hesse, where Frankfurt is located, have been able to hold services since May 1 provided they adhere to official social distancing and hygiene rules.Frankfurt’s health department was not available for comment outside business hours Saturday.
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A strong cyclone that struck parts of eastern India and Bangladesh earlier this week, leaving a trail of mass destruction and chaos, has caused $13 billion in damage to infrastructure and crops, Indian officials said Saturday.In neighboring Bangladesh, government officials initially said Cyclone Amphan had caused $130 million in damage, but that the number could rise.Amphan killed at least 102 people in the two countries, largely because of collapses of homes and electrocutions.Officials said the death toll could have been higher if more than 3 million people had not been evacuated before Amphan made landfall.Two West Bengal government officials told Reuters on Saturday that the cyclone had damaged homes, crops and other property owned by more than 13 million people.Wreckage in KolkataThe cyclone also left a trail of devastation through the state’s densely populated capital, Kolkata, with rain and strong winds uprooting trees and electric poles, disrupting power supply, damaging buildings and leaving homes waterlogged in low lying areas.U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said in statement Saturday that he was “saddened by the loss of lives and destruction” in the two countries and commended “the governments, first responders and communities for their pre-emptive work to make people safe ahead of the storm and to meet their immediate needs afterwards.”Residents salvage their belongings from the rubble of a damaged house in the aftermath of Cyclone Amphan, in South 24 Parganas district in the eastern state of West Bengal, India, May 22, 2020.Guterres also said the U.N. “stands ready to support these efforts.”The storm struck while South Asia struggles with the coronavirus pandemic.The U.N. children’s fund (UNICEF) said earlier this week that  the storm had put 19 million children at risk, not only from the direct effects of floods and wind damage but also from the potential spread of COVID-19 in crowded evacuation shelters.Amphan caused additional misery for the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees living in camps in Bangladesh and Myanmar, which have already reported a number of COVID-19 cases.Little protectionU Khine Myo Aung, the manager of one camp in Kyauktaw Township in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, told VOA’s Burmese service earlier this week that the tents in which the refugees were living provided little protection from the storm.The manager of another camp, Ko Shwe So, told VOA that children and the elderly were suffering most: “As camp manager, I would like to build proper accommodation for refugees, but no funds are available.”Bangladesh has a history of being hit by cyclones, but Amphan ranks among the most powerful, said Save the Children in Bangladesh humanitarian director Mostak Hussain.VOA Burmese service stringers Zaw Htet and Thet Naing and VOA U.N. Correspondent  Margaret Besheer contributed to this report.
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Iran’s president has warned the United States not to interfere with a shipment of oil bound for Venezuela after the South American nation said it would provide an armed escort for the tankers.In a statement posted on his website, Hassan Rouhani said the United States had created unacceptable conditions'' in different parts of the world, but that Iran wouldby no means” be the one to initiate conflict.If our tankers in the Caribbean or anywhere in the world face any problems caused by the Americans, they will face problems as well,” he added.We hope the Americans will not make a mistake.”Rouhani made the remarks in a call with Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the ruling emir of Qatar, which has close relations with both Iran and the United States.FILE – A view of a vessel, the Clavel, sailing on international waters crossing the Gibraltar stretch, May 20, 2020. Five Iranian tankers likely carrying gasoline and similar products are now sailing to Venezuela from Iran.The five Iranian tankers now on the high seas are expected to start arriving in Venezuela in the coming days. They are carrying gasoline to alleviate severe fuel shortages in the country that have caused days-long lines at service stations, even in the capital, Caracas.Venezuela said Wednesday that planes and ships from the nation’s armed forces would escort the tankers in case of any U.S. aggression.U.S. President Donald Trump imposed heavy sanctions on Iran after he withdrew the U.S. from Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. The administration has ramped up sanctions on Venezuela to try to force President Nicolas Maduro from power.A force of U.S. vessels, including Navy destroyers and other combat ships, patrol the Caribbean on what U.S. officials call a drug interdiction mission. Venezuelan officials paint them as a threat, but U.S. officials have not announced any plans to intercept the Iranian tankers.
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A court in Zimbabwe has jailed two journalists who are charged with breaking the country’s COVID-19 lockdown regulations. Rights lawyers say the arrests confirm their fears that freedom of the press in Zimbabwe remains in dire jeopardy.
 
Paidamoyo Saurombe of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, who is representing journalists Frank Chikowore and Samuel Takawira, said Saturday the magistrate court would hold the men until it makes a bail ruling Tuesday. Paidamoyo Saurombe, of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, told reporters in Harare, May 23, 2020, that it was disturbing that journalists were being arrested for doing their job. (Columbus Mavhunga/VOA)“It is disturbing. These are journalists who were in the course of what they should do when they were arrested. So, it is quite surprising.  Why would you arrest someone who is going to work? You never know. It becomes scary that if you are arrested while going to work, what else will happen?” Saurombe asked.
 
According to court papers, the two journalists broke COVID-19 regulations when they entered a hospital to interview three members of the political opposition who were being treated for injuries sustained after being abducted and tortured by suspected security agents.  
 
Dewa Mavhinga, the southern Africa director at Human Rights Watch, said Harare must drop the charges against the journalists.
 
“Failure to do so severely undermines any image of Zimbabwe as under a new dispensation and reaffirms the sense that Zimbabwe is now a pariah or rogue state that is not respectful of the rights of journalists, of the constitutional rights to the freedom of the media. There is need to ensure that journalists, in the course of [the performance of] their duties are free to do their work without fear that the police will arrest them without cause,” Mavhinga said.
 
Zimbabwe’s minister of information, Monica Mutsvangwa, told VOA that she would only comment on the matter after the courts have completed the case.
 
Tabani Moyo, who the Media Institute in Southern Africa in Zimbabwe, called it an assault on the country’s press.
 
“Journalism is in the line of fire. There is a daily threat when you are a journalist in Zimbabwe. For us to defeat this pandemic – we have said it again and again – all hands should be on the deck, focusing on the pandemic rather than pointing in a misplaced manner at what is presumed to be the weaker targets; that is the media,” Moyo said.
 
Rights groups say they have recorded 14 cases of harassment of journalists and nearly 300 cases of citizen assaults by Zimbabwe authorities since late March when the government imposed a lockdown to contain the coronavirus pandemic.   
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Egypt’s Interior Ministry says 21 suspected terrorists were killed within 24 hours when police stormed two hideouts in the northern Sinai. Police say terrorists were plotting attacks on the Eid al-Fitr holiday marking the end of Ramadan.
          
Arab media showed photos of the bodies of terrorist suspects killed by Egyptian police during raids on two locations where they were allegedly preparing attacks.
 
One of the police raids took place at an abandoned house in the northern Sinai town of Bir al-Abed, where terrorists have attacked security forces several times in recent months. The second police raid took place in an agricultural region near the northern Sinai coastal town of el-Arish. Several police commanders were wounded in the raids.
 
Terrorists have staged attacks on government security forces during major holidays in recent years to try and sap the moral of the police and military. Terrorists also killed nearly 300 worshippers at a northern Sinai mosque in 2017.  
 
Amateur video showed Egyptian military officers talking with a crowd of northern Sinai residents recently, encouraging young people to oppose terrorism and defend their country.
 
Egyptian media frequently accuse Qatar and Turkey of supporting the terrorists in the northern Sinai and along the border in Libya. Both countries deny the charges, although they admit to supporting Egypt’s now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group.
 
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Some scientists now say “superspreader” events may be responsible for at least 80 percent of coronavirus infections.A report on the website of The Telegraph, a British newspaper, details some findings that “closely packed markets, vigorous dance classes, loud bars and choirs” may be the primary culprits in the spreading of the virus.The public is already aware that established superspreaders of the virus can include “hospitals, nursing homes, large dormitories, food processing plants and food markets.”One of the largest spreaders, however, according to the article, came from a bar in the Tyrolean Alps. The Telegraph said hundreds of infections in Britain, Germany, Iceland, Norway and Denmark have been traced back to the Kitzloch bar, “known for its après-ski parties.”A South Korean study found that “Intense physical exercise in densely populated sports facilities could increase risk for infection” of the coronavirus. It found that 112 people were infected with the virus within 24 days after participating in “dance classes set to Latin rhythms” at 12 indoor locations.In other studies, choir members were found to be susceptible to contracting the virus, but scientists believe singing was not the only pathway of the spread during the early days of the contagion before social distancing was observed. The coronavirus was likely spread when choir members greeted each other, shared drinks and “talked closely with each other.”The newspaper account said the virus swept through an Amsterdam choir, infecting 102 of its 130 members.
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Religious communities around the United States are reacting cautiously to President Donald Trump’s call to reopen houses of worship. White House correspondent Patsy Widakuswara has the story.   
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The United States will exempt some foreign athletes who compete in professional sporting events in the United States from entry bans imposed because of the novel coronavirus epidemic, acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf said on Friday.”In today’s environment, Americans need their sports. It’s time to reopen the economy and it’s time we get our professional athletes back to work,” Wolf said in a statement issued by the department announcing he had signed an order for the exemption.President Donald Trump’s administration is pushing to reopen the U.S. economy after drastic measures to combat the pandemic this year put tens of millions of people out of work.Major U.S. professional sports were shut down as part of the effort to tackle COVID-19, the respiratory disease cause by the coronavirus which has killed more than 96,000 people in the United States and infected more than 1.6 million.In its response to the epidemic, the Trump administration has also imposed bans on entry of travelers from China, where the epidemic started, as well as Iran and much of Europe.Besides the athletes, the exemption applies to the sporting leagues’ essential staff, spouses and dependents, the statement said.The sports covered by the exemption include Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association, the Women’s National Basketball Association, the Professional Golfers’ Association Tour, the Ladies Professional Golf Association Tour, the National Hockey League, the Association of Tennis Professionals, and the Women’s Tennis Association. 
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The Trump administration discussed last week whether to conduct its first nuclear test explosion since 1992, the Washington Post reported late on Friday, citing a senior official and two former officials familiar with the matter.The topic surfaced at a meeting of senior officials representing the top national security agencies after accusations from the administration that Russia and China are conducting low-yield nuclear tests, the Washington Post said.The meeting, however, did not conclude with any agreement to conduct a nuclear test.A decision was ultimately made to take other measures in response to threats posed by Russia and China and avoid a resumption of testing, the report added.U.S. officials could not be reached immediately for a comment. 
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A new report is warning that China may be spying on African government officials from within their own buildings.The report by the FILE – Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian takes a question at the daily media briefing in Beijing, April 8, 2020.Chinese government responseDuring a May 22 news conference, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian strongly denounced the report, saying it was filled with “lies, illusions and ideological bias.”“We urge [a] certain think tank in the U.S. to spend more time and energy on assisting Africa with real actions instead of spreading lies,” Lijian said, according to the FILE – Construction work by Chinese state-owned firms is seen at the University of Nairobi, Kenya, Sept. 2, 2015.“For decades, a central element of China’s international diplomatic efforts has been cultivating strong relationships with senior African officials and giving them glitzy, brand-new government buildings,” Meservey said. “It is clearly a way of building favor with these governments. … These are designed as pieces of political influence.”His report found that Chinese companies had built at least 24 African presidential or prime ministerial palaces, residences or offices and at least 26 parliaments or parliamentary offices.Meservey said China might be looking to pick up information from third-party countries such as the U.S. when its diplomats visit African countries. He said it might be interested in gathering financial data on African countries for future investments and gaining the upper hand in loan negotiations. China also may be looking to gather useful, personal information about African leaders.“It’s possible to gather information on specific leaders, learn about their habits, their predilections, their financial situation,” he said. “Things that you could use to manipulate them or even to recruit them as an asset if either through blackmail or just knowing how to tailor your pitch to them.”
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Southeastern Conference schools will be able to bring athletes in all sports back to campus for voluntary activities starting June 8 at the discretion of each university.The SEC’s announcement Friday was the latest sign that a college football season will be launched in some form this fall. Other conferences are expected to follow suit, though decisions could be left to individual schools.  The move came two days after the NCAA Division I Council voted to lift a moratorium on voluntary workouts on campus by football and basketball players, effective June 1. The NCAA updated that ruling Friday by saying voluntary activities would be allowed in all sports starting June 1.”At this time, we are preparing to begin the fall sports season as currently scheduled, and this limited resumption of voluntary athletic activities on June 8 is an important initial step in that process,” SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said.SEC officials noted any workouts would take place “under strict supervision of designated university personnel and safety guidelines developed by each institution.” They referred to June 8 as the start of a “transition period that will allow student-athletes to gradually adapt to full training and sports activity after this recent period of inactivity.”Limit on actionsPermitted actions are limited by the NCAA to voluntary activities supervised by strength and conditioning personnel. Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity said it was “only the first step with further details and plans coming over the next several days and weeks.””This is an important first step toward having a season this fall, and we will continue to collectively work together as our top priority is to ensure the safety and well-being of our student-athletes, coaches and staff,” Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said in a statement.The SEC decided to resume athletic activities with the guidance of a league task force that includes public health, infectious disease and sports medicine professionals from each of the league’s 14 member schools.  The task force prepared a series of best practices for screening, testing, monitoring, tracing, social distancing and maintaining clean environments to serve as a guide for each school.FILE – Louisiana State University quarterback Joe Burrow and LSU head coach Ed Orgeron celebrate after the Southeastern Conference championship football game against Georgia, Dec. 7, 2019, in Atlanta. LSU won 37-10.Recommendations included testing of symptomatic team members (including athletes, coaches and staffers) as well as screening athletes before they arrive on campus within 72 hours of entering athletic facilities and on a daily basis once they resume athletic activities.  Other recommendations include immediate isolation of team members who are diagnosed with COVID-19 or are under investigation, followed by contact tracing under Centers for Disease Control and local public health guidelines.”Health and safety have been our top priority as we’ve gone about this planning process, and we’ll continue to follow guidance from medical experts and health officials as we navigate the coming weeks,” Tennessee athletic director Phillip Fulmer said. “Our staff and student-athletes should be prepared for a ‘new normal,’ as we’ll be implementing changes to how everyone accesses and uses our facilities.”SEC officials said the task force’s recommendations could provide a guide to league members. Sankey noted that each school would get to make its own decisions regarding plans for how to make sure student-athletes return safely.For example, even though the task force’s recommendations mentioned testing only symptomatic team members, Georgia senior associate athletic director for sports medicine Ron Courson said in a statement that the Bulldogs “will conduct COVID testing and perform medical evaluations on all student-athletes.”Big 12 plansA Big 12 Conference moratorium on in-person team activities and voluntary workouts currently goes through May 31, a few days after spring meetings by leaders of the conference’s 10 schools who have discussed options in biweekly calls since the pandemic outbreak shut down sports more than two months ago.  Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby has said football teams will need six weeks or so to get ready to play, including some time for players to get reacclimated before a traditional preseason camp. Based on the current schedule for season openers on Labor Day weekend, that would mean teams would need to be back together by around mid-July.  Texas Governor Greg Abbott said Friday that he thought college football would return on schedule with at least some spectators. Abbott has already issued new rules to allow youth sports leagues to resume in June and for some professional leagues to hold events without spectators.”Once we get to college football season, our goal right now is to have college football season start as planned, with fans in stands,” Abbott said in an interview with Austin television station KXAN. “What we don’t know is what the capacity level would be.”
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On just one day this month, 50 Tanzanian truck drivers tested positive for the coronavirus after crossing into neighboring Kenya. Back home, their president insists that Tanzania has defeated the disease through prayer.  All the while, President John Magufuli has led a crackdown on anyone who dares raise concerns about the virus’s spread in his East African country or the government’s response to it. Critics have been arrested, and opposition politicians and rights activists say their phones are being tapped. The country’s number of confirmed virus cases hasn’t changed for three weeks, and the international community is openly worrying that Tanzania’s government is hiding the true scale of the pandemic. Just more than 500 cases have been reported in a country of nearly 60 million people. While many African countries have been praised for their response to the coronavirus, Tanzania is the most dramatic exception, run by a president who questions — or fires — his own health experts and has refused to limit people’s movements, saying the economy is the priority. Fatma Karume, a human rights activist and former president of the Tanganyika Law Society, said authorities are discouraging people from going to hospitals to avoid overwhelming them, but they are not giving adequate guidance about the virus. “When you are disempowering a whole nation by withholding information and creating doubt on how they should respond to the crisis, the outcome can be disastrous,” Karume said. FILE – A man washes his hands with chlorinated water at the Mabibo market in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, April 16, 2020.The president has refused to shut churches, mosques and other gathering places, such as pubs and restaurants. He has questioned the accuracy of tests done by the national laboratory, saying the swabs used may themselves be tainted with the virus. He has suspended the head of the laboratory and fired the deputy health minister. On Thursday, Magufuli ordered the Health Ministry and other agencies not to receive personal protective equipment from donors until tests are done to ensure it works and is safe. While Magufuli halted international passenger flights in April, he is now allowing them to resume — and says any visitor who doesn’t have a fever will be allowed in.  For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness and lead to death.  The president has argued that if restrictive measures are adopted, Tanzanians may have nothing to eat.  In fact, rather than urge Tanzanians to keep their distance, one Magufuli ally encouraged them to flood the streets this weekend to celebrate.  “Make all kinds of noise as a sign of thanksgiving to show our God has won against disease and worries of death that were making us suffer,” Paul Makonda, the regional commissioner of commercial hub Dar es Salaam, said at a news briefing. In March, Magufuli ordered three days of national prayers against COVID-19 and has since said they have been answered. While health experts say recorded coronavirus cases and deaths the world over are undercounts, opposition leaders accuse Magufuli’s government of hiding the outbreak’s true toll.  Government spokesman Hassan Abbas told The Associated Press that it would be impossible to cover up an outbreak. He also dismissed reports that hospitals were overwhelmed, noting that one, which has room for over 160 patients, only had 11. “It is unfortunate that COVID-19 has come up with lots of misinformation, propaganda and false news,” he added. He said Tanzania has taken measures to curb the disease, and infection rates are falling, though he gave no data. He said the country’s health officials have been working hand in hand with international experts, including at the World Health Organization. Calls to share dataOfficials outside Tanzania remain worried. “We strongly call on Tanzania, encourage Tanzania, to share data in a timely fashion,” the head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, John Nkengasong, said this month, adding that fighting the virus is more difficult without accurate data from all member states. “No country is an island,” he warned. On Thursday, Nkengasong said Tanzania still had not provided the body with any more information — but officials were still hoping the government would eventually cooperate. FILE – People look at newspapers without adhering to the rules of social distancing despite the confirmed COVID-19 coronavirus cases in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, April 16, 2020.Kenya closed its border with Tanzania this month except for cargo traffic and imposed stringent testing measures on Tanzanian truck drivers after more than 50 of them tested positive for the virus in a single day. The U.S. Embassy in Tanzania has issued an unusual statement, warning its citizens that “all evidence points to exponential growth of the epidemic” and that hospitals in Dar es Salaam have been overwhelmed with COVID-19 cases. “On Tanzania, yes, it’s very disappointing,” the top U.S. diplomat for Africa, Tibor Nagy, told reporters this week. “Obviously, they are very concerned with the economic impact that the loss of the tourism industry is going to have on them, but I can’t imagine any tourists flocking back there in such an uncertain environment.” In a more subtle note of concern, the British High Commission announced a charter flight for British nationals who want to leave. Critics: Climate of fear Meanwhile, the climate of fear has grown inside Tanzania, rights groups and critics say, as Magufuli seeks a second term in an October election that shows no sign of being delayed despite the pandemic. Magufuli has stifled independent journalism since taking office and severely restricted the work of non-governmental organizations, according to rights groups.  “People in Tanzania cannot express themselves,” said Roland Ebole, an Amnesty International researcher based in neighboring Kenya. Lawyer Albert Msando was arrested in late April after a video circulated showing him distributing masks to journalists and talking about the importance of the news media’s role in informing the public, according to the Tanzania Human Rights Defenders Coalition. Tanzanian authorities have also targeted media that have attempted to report on the pandemic, according to Amnesty International.  Three media organizations were fined for “transmission of false and misleading information” about the government’s response, and a newspaper had its online publishing license suspended for publishing a photo that it said showed the president flouting “global social distancing guidelines.” Authorities contend the photo was not recent.  
 
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Russia will see a sharp rise in the mortality figures for May, officials said Friday, as the coronavirus death toll rises. “There will be a significant mortality increase in May” Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova said at a government meeting with President Vladimir Putin, referring to official analysis and the country’s coronavirus curve. “The illness and chronic conditions don’t always have a positive ending,” Golikova said, despite doctors trying to “save the maximum number of patients.” 
 
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin also said the capital’s death toll for May would be “considerably higher than in April.” 
 
His deputy Anastasia Rakova later explained in a televised interview that “the peak of mortality is usually delayed by two to three weeks after the peak of hospitalizations” for the coronavirus. 
 
Russia registered 150 deaths from the coronavirus on Friday, its highest daily rate yet, amid criticism that the authorities are under-reporting deaths to play down the scale of the crisis. 
 
Health officials have reported a total of 3,249 virus-related deaths, a fraction of the number in some European countries, while Russia has the second-highest number of infections in the world, after the United States, with 326,448 cases. Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a cabinet meeting via teleconference at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow Moscow, Russia, May 22, 2020.“Seriously ill are building up” 
 
Other countries with lower numbers of cases and more modern health systems, such as Italy, have reported ten times the number of deaths. 
 
Russian officials said fatalities will rise in May due to the number of gravely ill patients in hospital. 
 
Around 109,000 people are currently hospitalized, with some 2,500 of those in intensive care, Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said Friday. The number in hospital has increased from around 80,000 on May 6. 
 
“The number of deaths from the coronavirus will be higher in May than in April, because the virus peak was at the beginning of May,” Sobyanin said. 
 
“The seriously ill are building up. Doctors try to save each one who lies there for two, three or more weeks … unfortunately it’s not possible to save them all.” 
 
Golikova said that around 4% of the current cases are in a grave condition, or around nine thousand people. 
 “Preparing the public” 
 
Some commentators said the statements were aimed at preparing Russians for much higher death figures. 
 
“Based on Golikova and Sobyanin’s words, they are preparing the public for adjustment of coronavirus death statistics,” tweeted rights lawyer Pavel Chikov. 
 “Amazing, isn’t it? Just two days ago this same Golikova said the epidemic had almost passed,” tweeted Kira Yarmysh, spokeswoman for leading opposition politician Alexei Navalny. 
 
Russian officials said earlier this week that the virus situation in the country is gradually becoming less acute. 
 
Sobyanin said Moscow — the worst-affected city — has managed to avoid the “worst-case scenario” and Putin said the “situation in the country as a whole is stabilizing.” 
 
High-profile hospitalized patients include Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov, who is suspected to have coronavirus, and Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov. 
 
Russia says its lower virus death figures are partly down to mass testing which has identified many coronavirus cases with mild or no symptoms. 
 
The government insists that it records causes of death meticulously based on the results of autopsies and according to international standards set out by the World Health Organization. 
 
But experts say the methods used mean some coronavirus patients will be recorded with a different cause of death. 
 
There is a considerable delay in releasing statistics and official death figures for the month of April will only be available on May 29. 
 
Those figures are expected to give a clearer picture of whether there has been a large year-on-year increase in deaths not officially attributed to coronavirus.    
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Nearly three months after a U.S.-Taliban exit deal was finalized in Doha, journalists and press freedom advocates on the ground in Afghanistan say they’ve largely been frozen out of a planned series of reconciliation talks between the Taliban, the Afghan government, and representatives of Afghan society. Analysts say their absence could imperil recent achievements for press freedoms after 19 years of war. Rahim Gul Sarwan has more from Kabul in this report narrated by Bezhan Hamdard.
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On Red Carpet this week, nurses in Kenya are dancing off stress and lifting their spirits amid having to care for COVID-19 patients and how some celebrities helped make graduation special for the class of 2020 despite the circumstances. And, a new documentary highlights Senegalese designer Sarah Diouf’s journey as she aims to inspire the world of African fashion. These stories and much more on this episode.
 
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A passenger plane with at least 98 people on board crashed in a populated area minutes before landing Friday afternoon in Pakistan’s biggest city Karachi, destroying multiple buildings on both sides of a narrow street. Huge plumes of dust and smoke, heat from the crash on an already hot afternoon, and narrow neighborhood streets made rescue efforts difficult. “Pak Army Aviation helicopters flown for damage assessment and rescue efforts. Urban Search & Rescue Teams are being sent on site for rescue efforts,” tweeted military spokesman Major General Babar Iftikhar. Multiple civilian and military rescue agencies arrived at the scene soon after the crash. Ambulances of non-government aid agencies could be seen evacuating the injured. Large crowds of locals also gathered around the site. The plane from the national carrier Pakistan International Airlines was flying from Lahore to Karachi when it crashed in an area called Model Colony.The cause of the crash is still being investigated.  “Saying anything right now would be premature. Our crew is trained to handle emergency landings. All my prayers are with the families. We will continue to provide information in a transparent manner,” PIA spokesperson Abdul Sattar told local English language Dawn newspaper. The plane had a capacity of around 160 passengers but due to the social distancing guidelines linked to the novel coronavirus, the onboard numbers were kept low.  
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China’s plan to impose a national security law on Hong Kong to prevent and punish acts of “secession, subversion or terrorism activities” that threaten national security has drawn fire from critics and ordinary Hong Kongers alike, with many lamenting this is the end of the free and open city that the world has known.  The plan also would allow Chinese national security organs to set up agencies in Hong Kong “when needed.” China has long indicated its intention to bring Hong Kong under tighter control — it warned in a 2014 policy white paper that it has “comprehensive jurisdiction” or “comprehensive power to rule” over Hong Kong.  The millions-strong, often violent protests last year sparked by a controversial extradition law shocked the Chinese leadership and in recent months, Chinese officials have unequivocally ordered the city to enact legislation to bar subversion, separatism, and foreign interference to plug the national security “loopholes” that threaten the country’s stability. In the communique of a key Communist party meeting in November, the Fourth Plenum, Beijing told the city to “perfect” its legal system to safeguard national security.Critics say Beijing’s efforts to incorporate Hong Kong into its national security system through bypassing the city’s parliament amount to a breach of its promise of the “one country two systems” policy enshrined in the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration that is meant to guarantee Hong Kong a high degree of autonomy.At the opening of China’s annual parliamentary session Friday, Wang Chen, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, said a draft version of the proposal had been submitted to the legislature for deliberation.  In the proposal, the parliament would authorize the standing committee to formulate laws on “establishing and improving the legal system and enforcement mechanisms for [Hong Kong] to safeguard national security” to prevent and punish acts in Hong Kong seen as subversion, terrorism, separatism and foreign interference, or “other acts that seriously endanger national security, as well as activities of foreign and external forces that interfere in the affairs of Hong Kong.”   He also told the parliament that “when needed,” China’s national security organs will set up agencies in Hong Kong to “fulfill relevant duties to safeguard national security.” He said relevant national security laws will be implemented through Hong Kong’s mini-constitution, the Basic Law’s Annex III, which allows national laws to be applied to the city.   However, Martin Lee, a drafter of the Basic Law and founder of Democracy Party, pointed out that the Basic Law mandates that national laws to be applied to Hong Kong in Annex III should be “confined to those relating to defence and foreign affairs” and “other matters outside the limits of the autonomy” of Hong Kong. Under the article 23 of the Basic Law, Hong Kong is meant to enact laws “on its own” to prohibit “treason, secession, sedition [and] subversion” against the Chinese government, and other acts including the theft of state secrets and foreign political organizations engaging in political activities in the city.    Given the widespread opposition over the years, though, Hong Kong’s inability to legislate such a law of its own accord made it necessary for China to take action,  Wang told the parliament.  “More than 20 years after Hong Kong’s return, relevant laws are yet to materialize due to the sabotage and obstruction by those trying to sow trouble in Hong Kong and China at large, as well as external hostile forces,” Wang said.“Efforts must be made at the state level to establish and improve the legal system and enforcement mechanisms for [Hong Kong] to safeguard national security, to change the long-term ‘defenseless’ status in the field of national security,” Wang said.  He justified China’s move by saying “the increasingly notable national security risks in Hong Kong have become a prominent problem” and protests activities have “seriously challenged the bottom line of the ‘one country, two systems’ principle, harmed the rule of law, and threatened national sovereignty and security.”The drastic move caused jitters across Hong Kong, among ordinary Hong Kongers and the business community.  “The national security law is clearly pushing Hong Kong towards an end.  Apart from the impact on freedom of speech …  it also tells us how useless the Legislative Council is because the National People’s Congress standing committee can totally bypass it,” said a 17-year-old student who did not want to give his name.  “If it can happen once, there is a high likelihood that the same thing will happen again for other laws.”Many said the move was a wake-up call that provided fresh impetus for the year-old anti-government movement that has largely stalled amid the COVID-19 pandemic and  authorities’ intensifying clampdown.“We cannot deceive ourselves anymore,” said a post on LIHKG.com, a site popular with protesters in the anti-government movement.“Many people have felt discouraged and helpless, while feeling there was nothing they could do except to watch Hong Kong die, then this national security law came along and our fighting spirit has returned!” said another post.  “I know this is the end of Hong Kong, but it’s also the beginning of the Hong Kong people.” Michael Davis, a Global Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center and former law professor at the University of Hong Kong, said Beijing’s imposition of the national security law “clearly flies in the face of the Basic Law.”Beijing’s hardening policies also show that it has not understood what caused discontent in Hong Kong in the first place, he said. “It has long been clear that most protests in Hong Kong are driven by Beijing’s interference that weakens Hong Kong’s autonomy and the rule of law. Instead of taking on board that message, they have continually doubled down on their interference.”China’s move is also expected to lead to the flight of capital and talent from the Asian financial hub, and some wealthy individuals have already begun to scout for investment options elsewhere, bankers and headhunters told Reuters. Hong Kong’s main stock market index tumbled the most in almost five years after Beijing’s plan was revealed.  The benchmark Hang Seng Index dived 5.6%, or 1,349.89 points, to 22,930.14 on Friday, its biggest decline since July 2015.The jitters have also caused some to want to emigrate.“We have kids, we really have to think about leaving,” said a parent on an online chat group.
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