Author: CensorBiz

The family of U.S. journalist Daniel Pearl, who was kidnapped and murdered in Pakistan in 2002, say they will appeal a decision by a Pakistani court this week that acquitted Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and three others convicted of the murder.“We absolutely, as Danny’s friends and family, believe that the overturning of the convictions for murder is a great injustice to Danny,” said Asra Nomani, a close friend and former colleague of Pearl.“We believe that it’s a travesty of justice,” Nomani told VOA, adding that “Danny’s family is investigating and appealing the decision.”Pearl, 38, was a Wall Street Journal reporter covering Pakistani extremists when he was kidnapped in Karachi in January 2002 and was killed weeks later. Three men accused of involvement in the murder subsequently were convicted and handed sentences of life imprisonment, while the fourth one, British national Sheikh, was convicted and sentenced to death.The four men had been in prison for 18 years until Thursday, when the high court in Sindh province overturned their convictions and decided to release them. Despite the ruling, the men remain in detention as Pakistani authorities Friday said they had “sufficient reason” to rearrest the men and hold them for three more months as the government announced it would challenge the court’s verdict.WATCH: Pakistani court decision in Daniel Pearl case comes under scrutinySorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
FILE – Pakistani police escort Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, who was convicted in the 2002 killing of American journalist Daniel Pearl, as he exits a court in Karachi, Pakistan, March 29, 2002.Meanwhile, the Sindh provincial government’s Home Department said it ordered the rearrest of the four men for three more months, starting Thursday. A top Sindh official said the decision was made because of concerns the released men might act “against the interest of the country,” Reuters reported.It remains unclear if the appeal will be heard next week, as Pakistan’s court system has remained partially shut down because of the spread of the coronavirus.Sindh’s prosecutor general, Faiz Shah, told VOA he was filing an appeal for homicide and ransom charges, stating that the case had “some infirmities.”He added that the appeal could be challenged by “many technical faults and a defective investigation.”“The most important thing is the FBI agent who appeared in the witness box and deposed. There is a serious contradiction in his statement, which the appellate court was really inspired by that piece of evidence,” said Shah.The Pearl Project, an investigative journalism team led by Pearl’s colleague Nomani at Georgetown University, in a three-year investigation concluded that Pearl was beheaded and dismembered by Khalid Sheikh Mohammad.Mohammad is believed to be the mastermind of September 11, 2001, terror attacks and is currently held at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He initially claimed responsibility for beheading and dismembering Pearl, but he was never charged after his lawyers said his confession was made after he had been subjected to waterboarding.VOA’s Muhammad Saqib and Khalil Ahmad contributed to this story from Karachi. VOA’s Urdu service contributed to the story from Washington.
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The U.N. human rights office is urging countries to release prisoners from overcrowded facilities to reduce the risk of coronavirus infections spreading throughout the prison population and into the wider community
 
U.N. officials say they are encouraged by the number of countries heeding High Commissioner Michele Bachelet’s prisoner release appeal.  For example, they say Iran has released around 100,000 prisoners or 40 percent of its prison population on a temporary basis. They note Indonesia has announced plans to release some 30,000 prisoners convicted of minor crimes and Turkey is considering a similar action.
 
U.N. human rights spokesman Rupert Colville said prisoners at high-risk of infection, such as the elderly, people with disabilities, and pregnant women who pose no risk to society should be immediately released.   
 
He told VOA people who are being held illegally should be released immediately.  They include political prisoners and those detained for critical, dissenting views, such as journalists and human rights defenders.  He said very few political prisoners are among the thousands that have been released in Iran.
    
“That is a big issue and obviously, these are not rapists, murderers, people guilty of serious crimes.  Indeed, under international law, many are not guilty of any crime at all.  So, we believe these should be absolutely among the first prioritized for release,” he said.   
    
Colville said the mass incarceration of people in Syria’s overcrowded central prisons and detention facilities run by the government security branches and military is alarming.  Even before COVID-19 became an issue, he says his agency had received reports of people dying in these facilities due to torture and denial of medical care.
 
He said similar conditions exist in facilities run by non-state armed groups, but on a smaller scale.
 
The U.N. human rights office is appealing to the Syrian government and armed groups to urgently thin out their prison populations to prevent COVID-19 from spreading and adding to yet more loss of life after nine years of brutal civil war.
  
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Conservation groups are concerned the wildlife trade will be allowed to resume as China begins to ease restrictions on movement and work in areas of the country hit hardest by COVID-19, which could pose a threat to human health.  
 
Scientists say the coronavirus outbreak likely originated through animal-to-human transmission at a wild animal market in Wuhan, and studies by the Global Virome Project, a California-based effort to prevent pandemics, predict about five new animal-borne pathogens will infect humans each year.
   
The wildlife trade in Asia is big business; China’s annual wildlife trade market is estimated  to be worth more than $7 billion, “and this goes up tenfold when you include the business surrounding it,” according to Steve Galster, founder of Freeland, a Bangkok-based environmental conservation and human rights organization.  
 
Most experts are calling for a permanent ban on the trade and consumption of wild animals.  
 
“We’re not talking about banning deer or duck hunting. We’re talking about ending the global commercial trade in wild animals,” Galster said.
 
“This COVID-19 started in a wildlife market in Wuhan, China. The Chinese know it. That’s why they closed that and every other market across the country and have banned wildlife trade and wildlife consumption,” he said.   
 
Asia’s appetite for pangolins and other wildlife led to several virus outbreaks in the early 2000s including the SARS pandemic and bird flu.
 
Coronavirus transmission was believed to have occurred from bats to civets and pangolins, whose scales are highly valued in traditional Chinese medicine.
 
Early COVID-19 infections were found in people who had had exposure to Wuhan’s wet market, where snakes, bats, civets and other wildlife were sold.  
 
China temporarily shut down wildlife markets in January, warning that eating wild animals posed a health and safety threat. The country took similar action in 2003 during the spread of SARS, severe acute respiratory syndrome.
 
None of the past animal-borne diseases have had the coronavirus’s devastating effect, though.
 
Dr. Wittaya Reongkovit, a Thai public health officer was working in Bangkok during the SARS outbreak that began in November 2002 and spread to 29 countries, including Thailand.
 
“This pandemic is spreading faster right now but we also have better and faster communication in the era of big data on a real timeline and that is helping develop our newer biotechnology,” Wittaya said.
 
“If they can ban the wildlife trade permanently it will be good because many people in Asia like to eat the wildlife meat raw or barely cooked because it is in their tradition,” he said.
 
“If you cook and clean the meat properly it is much safer but people in the poorer areas of Asia are without access to proper hygiene and nutrition.”
 
As China continues easing restrictions in former COVID-19 hotbeds, conservation groups say they will continue applying pressure to ban wildlife trade and the deadly viruses that come with it.  
 
“There are divisions within the Chinese government now on whether to keep a strict ban, or eventually loosen it up,” Galster said.
 
“If we don’t treat the cause of this mess, current efforts will amount to expensive Band-Aids the that need frequent changing,” adds Galster.
  
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The International Committee of the Red Cross is calling for immediate action to curb the spread of COVID-19 and save lives in Somalia, saying the country is at a critical juncture.In a statement issued in Nairobi, Kenya, ICRC expressed deep concern for “the impact that the virus could have on communities weakened by violence and conflict, where displacement, malnutrition, and outbreaks of disease are already widespread.”About 500 health workers and SRCS volunteers have been trained in COVID-19 prevention and symptoms, the statement said.Head of ICRC’s delegation for Somalia, Juerg Eglin said “Speed is critical, and we are working with our colleagues at the Somali Red Crescent to fight COVID-19 from fully taking hold.”SRCS and ICRC are stepping up efforts to reach 130,000 households, organizing information sessions and providing guidelines on how to prevent the COVID-19. They emphasize that use of soap and chlorine is crucial under the present circumstances.In addition, the ICRC is distributing gloves, bleach, and other equipment to hospitals and clinics across the country. It has also provided six-months’ worth of soap for all inmates and staff to detention centers in Mogadishu and Kismayo.“We must do everything we can to prevent the virus from entering a prison,” health coordinator for the ICRC in Somalia, Ana Maria Guzman, said. “Physical distancing is nearly impossible, and an outbreak of COVID-19 in a jail would be devastating for both inmates and staff.”Compounded with violence and poverty, the situation in Somalia is particularly critical.“Violence continues. Climate shocks continue. We will have to respond to the needs of the most vulnerable in Somalia, with the additional threat that COVID-19 brings,” Eglin said.“If we have a surge in cases, the health system will not be able to cope,” Guzman said.
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With parties championing Malaysia’s Malay Muslim majority back in power following February’s FILE – Supporters of People’s Justice Party gather outside the National Palace to give support to Anwar Ibrahim in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2020.“I am a brother to the Malays, the Chinese, the Indians, the Sikhs, the Ibans, the Kauaians, the Dusun, the Murut,” Muhyiddin, a Malay Muslim, said in his first public address after taking power. “I am your prime minister.”Many have their doubts.”The core of this government coalition is really the three most popular ethnic Malay conservative parties. That means that these politicians are likely to push for a revival of the kind of racial policies that we have seen prior to the 2018 election,” said Harrison Cheng, an associate director with consulting firm Control Risks who follows Malaysia.Malaysia’s ethnic Malays and Bumiputra draw on a raft of affirmative action benefits that help placate a deep-seated complex about losing out to the country’s generally better-off ethnic Chinese. With the main Malay and Muslim parties at his back, Cheng said, Muhyiddin will likely push those benefits forward by increasing the majority’s promised quotas for jobs and public contracts, even at the risk of scaring off some foreign investment.Parliament is not due to reconvene until May 18, after Muhyiddin postponed the original March 9 start date to give himself time to shore up support in case of a no-confidence vote.Ahmad Martadha Mohamed, a professor of government at Utara Malaysia University, said the new government has begun beefing up subsidies for Malays and Bumiputra already. Because they make up a disproportionate share of the lowest-income earners, he said they will also benefit most from the economic stimulus plans sure to follow the coronavirus outbreak.”After all, UMNO, PAS and Bersatu, these are the Malay groups, they get the support from the Malays, so of course what they are doing now is to make sure that they are targeting this group first,” Martadha Mohamed said.The return of UMNO and PAS to power also comes with a fear of more race-baiting politics.”There is nothing in UMNO and PAS’ track record in opposition in the past 18 months [to suggest] that they would shy away from using inflammatory rhetoric to stir up public anger against the Chinese and the Indians,” said Cheng.FILE – A supporter of People’s Justice Party wearing a national flag face mask as he gathers with others outside the National Palace in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2020.”That is their modus operandi, and I don’t think they’re going to move away from that, because they have seen how it has helped them to secure several by-election victories in the past 18 months as well as propel them into federal office now.”How high Malaysia’s racial and religious tensions run will turn heavily on how hard PAS pushes its Islamist agenda, including the federal application of Islamic law. The party has imposed a degree of it in the few states it runs but had efforts to take it nationwide rebuffed by UMNO during its first stint in power.The new government has sought to allay fears of an Islamist push and conspicuously passed PAS over for the religious affairs portfolio.Cheng and Martadha Mohamed said the new government could not afford to rile other groups and parties too much before its strength in parliament is tested and proven but added that PAS may be given more rope if and when it is.”I’m sure sooner or later it will come time when, you know, they will try to push for their own agenda … now [that] they are also part of the government, because that’s been the objective of the party,” Martadha Mohamed said.Before its demise, Pakatan had lined up several reform-minded bills to make the government more open and accountable. They included a bill that would set up an independent committee to hear complaints against the police and another to make the funding of political parties more transparent. In an article for Forces of Renewal Southeast Asia, an advocacy group Tricia Yeoh of the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs, a Malaysian research group, said those bills “will likely be shelved.”Thomas Fann, chairman of the Malaysian democratic rights group Bersih, said the country was in for the return of a more repressive brand of government as well.FILE – I this Feb. 22, 2020, photo, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, center right, speaks during a press conference in Putrajaya, Malaysia.In the days that followed Pakatan’s collapse and Muhyiddin’s rise by royal decree, protesters took to the streets of Kuala Lumpur, the capital, complaining of a “backdoor” government and calling for new elections. Police ordered them to stop.Some were called in for questioning and investigated for sedition.”They were very quick to call people in for questioning, and even people who showed up to show solidarity were also called in for questioning. So that was, I think, a sign that the police are taking their cue from the new government that they should crack down more on any sort of dissent,” said Fann.”We do expect that this government … will be less tolerant of civil rights.” 
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The World Health Organization and International Monetary Fund are joining forces to protect the world against the dual health and economic crises triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.The coronavirus pandemic has infected more than a million people around the world and killed more than 50,000.  Director-General of the World Health Organization Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said this is more than a health crisis.  He siad it is also a social and economic crisis.He said the restrictive measures nations are taking to try to stem the spread of this disease are taking a heavy toll on the income of individuals and families, as well as the economies of communities and nations.Tedros said drastic measures must be implemented to protect both lives and livelihoods.  He said countries must aggressively tackle the coronavirus by finding, testing, isolating and treating every contact to save lives.  But he cautioned countries against taking premature action to revive their economies.A health care worker in Redondo Beach, California, works at a new coronavirus drive-thru  testing site on April 3, 2020.“If countries rush to lift restrictions too quickly, the virus could resurge, and the economic impact could be even more severe and prolonged,” he said. “Financing the health response is therefore an essential investment, not just in saving lives, but in the longer term social and economic recovery.”Managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, said her organization is joining with WHO to combat this unprecedented health and economic crisis.She said the world economy is at a standstill and the world is in recession.  She considers the current economic situation to be far worse than the 2008 global financial crisis.  She said everyone must come together to confront and overcome this dual disaster.”WHO is there to protect the health of people,” she said. “The IMF is there to protect the health of the world economy.  They are both under siege and only united we can do our duties.”Georgieva said the economies of emerging markets and developing countries are hardest hit by the pandemic.  She noted that nearly $90 billion of capital investment has flown out of these countries, much more than during the global financial crisis.  She is calling for a moratorium on developing country debt to help them stave off bankruptcies and economic collapse.She said the IMF, World Bank and other international financial institutions have a $1 trillion war chest they will use to protect the economies from this searing crisis.
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U.S. President Donald Trump has removed from office the intelligence community’s watchdog.Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson informed Congress about the whistleblower complaint that led to Trump’s impeachment earlier this year.Trump officially notified the intelligence committees of both houses of Congress on Friday that Atkinson’s firing would go into effect in 30 days.He said in a letter that he “no longer” had “the fullest confidence” in Atkinson. Trump said he would name a replacement for Atkinson “at a later date.”The move was immediately criticized by the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.“At a time, when our country is dealing with a national emergency and needs people in the Intelligence Community to speak truth to power, the President’s dead of night decision puts our country and national security at even greater risk,” congressman Adam Schiff, a Democrat from California, said in a statement. 
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The Trump administration abruptly changed its description of the Strategic National Stockpile, the federal government’s repository of life-saving medicines and supplies, to conform with President Donald Trump’s insistence that it is only a short-term backup for states, not a commitment to ensure supplies get quickly to those who need them most during an emergency.The change, reflected on government websites Friday, came a day after Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and White House senior adviser who has taken a larger role in the coronavirus response, offered a new argument about the stockpile.After saying that states should use their own stockpiles first, Kushner said, “And the notion of the federal stockpile was it’s supposed to be our stockpile. It’s not supposed to be states’ stockpiles that they then use.”Dance instructor Morgan Jenkins makes a video in front of a mural amid the global outbreak of the coronavirus disease in Los Angeles, California, U.S., on April 3, 2020.Until Friday, the federal Health and Human Services website had reflected a markedly different approach to the stockpile. The “Strategic National Stockpile is the nation’s largest supply of life-saving pharmaceuticals and medical supplies for use in a public health emergency severe enough to cause local supplies to run out,” the website used to say, according to an archived search.”When state, local, tribal, and territorial responders request federal assistance to support their response efforts, the stockpile ensures that the right medicines and supplies get to those who need them most during an emergency,” the website had said.But, according to data, the description changed Friday morning: “The Strategic National Stockpile’s role is to supplement state and local supplies during public health emergencies. Many states have products stockpiled, as well. The supplies, medicines, and devices for life-saving care contained in the stockpile can be used as a short-term stopgap buffer when the immediate supply of adequate amounts of these materials may not be immediately available.”Officials at the agency said the change had been in the works for weeks, downplaying any connection to Kushner’s comments. Kushner made his claim during his first appearance at the daily White House coronavirus task force briefing, a moment meant to highlight his growing role in managing the federal response to the pandemic, particularly in delivering vital supplies.Trump has long insisted that the onus for battling the crisis lies with the states and that Washington is meant to play more of a supporting role. He has resisted calls to issue a national stay-at-home order and said that he didn’t want to overly use the Defense Production Act, which allows him to mobilize private companies for the effort, because he believed the states should take the lead in obtaining supplies. 
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The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted global food supplies and is causing labor shortages in agriculture worldwide.Are there food shortages?Panic buying by shoppers cleared supermarket shelves of staples such as pasta and flour as populations worldwide prepared for lockdowns.Meat and dairy producers as well as fruit and vegetable farmers struggled to shift supplies from restaurants to grocery stores, creating the perception of shortages for consumers.Retailers and authorities say there are no underlying shortages and supplies of most products have been or will be replenished. Bakery and pasta firms in Europe and North America have increased production.Food firms say panic purchasing is subsiding as households have stocked up and are adjusting to lockdown routines.The logistics to get food from the field to the plate, however, are being increasingly affected and point to longer-term problems.In the short term, lack of air freight and trucker shortages are disrupting deliveries of fresh food.In the long term, lack of labor is affecting planting and harvesting and could cause shortages and rising prices for staple crops in a throwback to the food crises that shook developing nations a decade ago.Agricultural workers clean carrot crops of weeds amid an outbreak of the coronavirus disease at a farm near Arvin, Calif., April 3, 2020.What’s disrupting the food supply?With many planes grounded and shipping containers hard to find after the initial coronavirus crisis in China, shipments of vegetables from Africa to Europe or fruit from South America to the United States are being disrupted.A labor shortage could also cause crops to rot in the fields.As spring starts in Europe, farms are rushing to find enough workers to pick strawberries and asparagus, after border closures prevented the usual flow of foreign laborers. France has called on its own citizens to help offset an estimated shortfall of 200,000 workers.More wide-scale crop losses are looming in India, where a lockdown has sent masses of workers home, leaving farms and markets short of hands as staple crops like wheat near harvest.Is food going to cost more?Wheat futures surged in March to two-month highs, partly because of the spike in demand for bakery and pasta goods, while corn (maize) sank to a 3½-year low as its extensive use in biofuel exposed it to an oil price collapse.Benchmark Thai white rice prices have already hit their highest level in eight years.Swings in commodity markets are not necessarily passed on in prices of grocery goods, as food firms typically buy raw materials in advance. A sustained rise in prices will, however, eventually be passed on to consumers.Some poorer countries subsidize food to keep prices stable.The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization has warned that a rush to buy by countries that rely on imports of staple foods could fuel global food inflation, despite ample reserves of staple crops.Fresh produce such as fruit or fish or unprocessed grains such as rice reflect more immediately changes in supply and demand.FILE – A farmer feeds iceberg lettuce to his buffalo during a 21-day nationwide lockdown to slow the spread of coronavirus disease, at Bhuinj village in Satara district in the western state of Maharashtra, India, April 1, 2020.Will there be enough food if the crisis lasts?Analysts say global supplies of the most widely consumed food crops are adequate. Wheat production is projected to be at record levels in the year ahead.However, the concentration of exportable supply of some food commodities in a small number of countries and export restrictions by big suppliers concerned about having enough supply at home can make world supply more fragile than headline figures suggest.Another source of tension in global food supply could be China. There are signs the country is scooping up foreign agricultural supplies as it emerges from its coronavirus shutdown and rebuilds its massive pork industry after a devastating pig disease epidemic.
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Fake news about the coronavirus can do real harm. Polygraph.info is spotlighting fact-checks from other reliable sources here​.Daily DebunkClaim: American students will have to repeat the school year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.Verdict: FalseRead the full story: FactCheck.org​ Social Media Disinfo​FTC websiteCirculating on social media: Claims that silver prevents COVID-19.Verdict: FalseRead the full story: “This Idaho Chiropractor Was Running Ads On Facebook Falsely Claiming Silver Prevents The Coronavirus” — BuzzFeed​ Factual Reads on CoronavirusAn antibody test for the novel coronavirus will soon be available
In the short term, this will be important because it will permit the authorities to identify who may return to their jobs without risk of infecting others.
– The Economist, April 2
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Much publicized COVID-19 supplies donated by Chinese billionaire Jack Ma and his Alibaba Group never made it to Eritrea, despite Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s saying the supplies had been delivered to the entire continent.The reasons why the goods did not reach Eritrea are unclear, but rights activists accuse the government of ignoring the needs of its people.Two officials at the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which helped organize delivery of the coronavirus masks and test kits to various African countries, confirmed to VOA that no supplies reached Eritrea.A senior Africa CDC official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter, said the plane carrying the supplies was supposed to fly from Sudan’s capital to Asmara on March 23, but Eritrean officials never authorized the plane to land.   Forced to bypass Eritrea, the pilots instead flew to Djibouti and Kenya before returning to their starting point, Addis Ababa, he said.James Ayodele, a spokesperson for the Africa CDC, said “the issue is still being discussed at a diplomatic level.”Threat to healthWhatever the reason for Eritrea’s failure to accept the medical supplies, Meron Estefanos, executive director of the Eritrean Initiative on Refugee Rights, said the government is severely jeopardizing the health of its own citizens.“I don’t believe that it was incompetence. I believe it’s just that they don’t care. If it was just because of bureaucracy, they would have just fixed the airline and they would have had it the next day. This is a country that can do lots of things. Importing something from Ethiopia to Asmara is a one-hour flight. They could even allow them to land right now, you get the point, just for medical purposes,” Meron said.Health experts and human rights activists are gravely concerned that Eritrea is severely underequipped in the event of a severe coronavirus outbreak. The government has confirmed 18 COVID-19 cases to date.  Meron said that rather than accepting goods from abroad, the government is asking its diaspora across the globe to give money to the government.”Eritrea is not ready for anything. First of all, just eight months ago they shut down 29 Catholic clinics. These were the best clinics in the country, giving free service to the public. But because of the Catholics’ call for peace [and the] release of political prisoners, they shut down the clinics. But who is getting hurt?  It’s the people,” Meron said.Talks continuingAsked to comment on the matter, Billene Seyoum, a spokesperson for Ahmed, said only that talks were ongoing to resolve the issue. The Alibaba Foundation declined to comment.Daniela Kravetz, the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in Eritrea, said she did not want to specifically address the matter of Jack Ma’s supplies as she did not have firsthand information.She did underline the dire need for medical supplies in Eritrea and the need to open the door to humanitarian aid.“I am concerned about the fact that, if this continues to escalate, the reality is that many Eritreans will not be able to seek or obtain medical help. There is a lack of functioning intensive care units with adequate ventilators, shortage of water, shortage of medical staff, shortage of labs to carry out tests. I don’t really think the country has the medical capacity to deal with a pandemic like this one,” Kravets said.She also called on Eritrea to release political prisoners and low-risk offenders because of the risk of COVID-19 spreading inside the country’s overcrowded prison system. 
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While the coronavirus pandemic and resulting lockdowns across Europe have been devastating for many businesses, Albania’s anchovy industry is reporting a boom in demand for its product.The Nettuno Anchovy factory, located in the port city of Durres on Albania’s Adriatic Sea coast, had been forced to reduce its staff due to lockdown regulations that have been in place for weeks in the country.But that smaller staff is working all the harder — while wearing masks and other protective gear — to meet a demand that has risen by 30 percent since the pandemic began.Plant owner Orlando Salvatore tells the French news agency he believes the anchovies are popular because they are easily shipped in enclosed containers, considered nutritious, and are popular with Europeans on pizzas, which he says more people are making at home because of their confinement.Salvatore says most of the increased sales are going to Spain and Italy, but the company ships to France and elsewhere in Europe as well.  
 
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Officials in Prague on Friday removed the statue of a controversial Russian World War II army commander, under protests from Russia and the pro-Russia Czech Republic President Milos Zeman.Marshal Ivan Konev led forces of the Soviet Union’s Red Army into what was then Czechoslovakia and Prague itself in 1945, liberating it from Nazi occupation. The statue honoring Konev was erected in 1980, when Czechoslovakia was part of the Soviet bloc.The statue became a subject of controversy after the fall of the communist Czech government in 1989, because of Konev’s post-World War II activities, most notably playing a leading role in crushing an uprising in Hungary in 1956. Czech historians say he also played a role in the 1968 Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslavkia.After the statue was targeted by vandals, city officials in Prague’s 6th district proposed removing it and formally approved the move Thursday.Russia’s foreign ministry and its embassy in Prague issued statements condemning the removal, and Zeman also expressed opposition to the move.City officials said they will erect a new memorial to World War II liberators at the site and the statue will be transferred to a museum. 
 
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The lockdown has been in place just over a week here in Britain, and beyond the economic and health concerns, the new restrictions are having myriad effects on a society that finds itself largely locked indoors.The first place where people vent their thoughts and frustrations is on the local school parents’ WhatsApp group. The messages flood in in before we’ve fed the children breakfast. All schools are closed, so the WhatsApp group has become a vital tool for tips on completing homework, with parents having to relearn everything they’d forgotten since primary school as they perform as stand-in teachers. For us, it’s the Norman invasion of England in 1066, mixed with long division. Inevitably there are technical problems with the online learning system, prompting another flood of complaints.Other parents post ‘breaking news’ style updates as supermarkets open online delivery slots — a scarce and valuable commodity as panic buying grips the country.Homework done, it’s time for the children to catch up with their classmates using apps like ‘Zoom’ or ‘House Party.’ My thoughts turn to what it would be like to be on lockdown with no internet. Would the sense of isolation be even more intense?It seems to me the lockdown has pitted two core British values against each other: the right to privacy, to one’s own life, to roam freely; versus the general instinct to play by the rules, obey the law and maintain the social contract between government and individual.That clash has manifested itself most clearly in the police response to the lockdown. Traditionally, policing is done here on the principle of community consent. By far the majority of police officers don’t carry guns. Suddenly, as in many countries across the world, Britain has become a surveillance state. In some places there are police checkpoints. We’re only allowed out to exercise once a day or to buy essential goods. Anyone caught breaking the new law faces a fine of $75.When one police force released disapproving drone footage of walkers out in a national park there was an outcry on social media, with one former judge warning that it had ‘shamed the tradition of British policing.’ Another commentator claimed it was creating a vision of ‘dystopia.’ And when a British lawmaker recently tweeted a photo of himself briefly visiting his elderly father to wish him happy birthday, the local police force admonished him publicly on Twitter, even though they had stayed outdoors and at a safe distance. I too have elderly parents and would like to visit them to check that they are okay, but it’s not clear to me if that is an ‘essential journey’ under the new rules.It’s not only the police who are monitoring people’s movements. There have been instances of neighbors reporting each other to authorities for leaving the house to exercise more than once a day, or for having people visit. Several police forces have set up hotlines or online portals to facilitate this.There is much confusion about what is permitted under the new legislation. When I go out for my once-daily run or bike ride, am I allowed to take a five-minute rest halfway through, or must I hurry home? On our local Facebook page, some older residents have posted disapproving photographs of children playing in the park, describing it as bad parenting. In the comments sections beneath, other residents have noted that many older people didn’t follow the initial guidance on social distancing as they packed out the local garden centers and nurseries just days before the lockdown came into effect. It seems the new rules have caused some tension between the generations.Most people do try to comply with the rules in their day-to-day interactions. I recently took my children to the local park to play in the cricket practice nets. It’s proving a popular option for the daily exercise outing, as the summer cricket season approaches and kids are desperate to play sports. Under normal circumstances, several families can use the adjacent nets at the same time, but the social distancing rules mean each family now politely waits their turn. One family insisted that this was nonsense and said we should all play alongside each other. That prompted a heated dispute, with accusations of queue-jumping, of breaking the spirit of the new laws, of putting health at risk. As the old British saying goes, ‘it’s just not cricket’ – meaning it’s not in the spirit of fair play, of British manners and gentlemanly conduct.Such values may belong to a different era. But it’s clear that the unwritten rules of British society are being sorely tested and will likely become even more frayed by the time these restrictions come to an end, many weeks from now.
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Living during the COVID 19 lockdown can feel stifling to put it mildly. But so far, most people are abiding by the rules for everyone’s sake. But as VOA’s Henry Ridgwell discovered, it is stifling, especially for people used to living in a free and open society like the UK.
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While admitting he wants to prioritize domestic needs, U.S. President Donald Trump denied placing a moratorium on overseas shipments of personal protective equipment such as masks and gowns to help other countries. White House Correspondent Patsy Widakuswara has this story.
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Pat Marmo walked among 20 or so deceased in the basement of his Brooklyn funeral home, his protective mask pulled down so his pleas could be heard.”Every person there, they’re not a body,” he said. “They’re a father, they’re a mother, they’re a grandmother. They’re not bodies. They’re people.”Like many funeral homes in New York and around the globe, Marmo’s business is in crisis as he tries to meet surging demand amid the coronavirus pandemic that has killed around 1,400 people in New York City alone, according to a tally from Johns Hopkins University.His two cellphones and the office line are ringing constantly. He’s apologizing to families at the start of every conversation for being unusually terse, and begging them to insist hospitals hold their dead loved ones as long as possible.His company is equipped to handle 40 to 60 cases at a time, no problem. On Thursday morning, it was taking care of 185.”This is a state of emergency,” he said. “We need help.”Employees deliver a body at Daniel J. Schaefer Funeral Home, on April 2, 2020, in the Brooklyn borough of New York.Funeral directors are being squeezed on one side by inundated hospitals trying to offload bodies, and on the other by the fact that cemeteries and crematoriums are booked for a week at least, sometimes two.Marmo let The Associated Press into his Daniel J. Schaefer funeral home in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn on Thursday to show how dire the situation has become.He has about 20 embalmed bodies stored on gurneys and stacked on shelves in the basement and another dozen in his secondary chapel room, both chilled by air conditioners.He estimated that more than 60 percent had died of the new coronavirus. For most people, the virus causes mild or moderate symptoms, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness and lead to death.”It’s surreal,” he said.Hospitals in New York have been using refrigerated trucks to store the dead, and Marmo is trying to find his own. One company quoted him a price of $6,000 per month, and others are refusing outright because they don’t want their equipment used for bodies.Even if he gets a truck, he has nowhere obvious to put it. He’s wondering if the police station across the street might let him use its driveway.He’s also hoping the Environmental Protection Agency will lift regulations that limit the hours crematoriums can operate. That would ease some of the backlog.”I need somebody to help me,” he said. “Maybe if they send me refrigeration, or guide me in a way that I could set up a refrigerated trailer that I could keep, and I could supervise.”Patrick Kearns, a fourth-generation funeral director in Queens, said the industry has never experienced anything like this. His family was prepared on 9/11 for their business to be overrun, but with so many bodies lost amid the rubble, the rush never came.He’s seeing it now. The Kearns’ business in Rego Park is just minutes from Elmhurst Hospital, a hot spot in the city, which itself has emerged as the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak. Through the first 15 days of March, the family’s four funeral homes held 15 services. In the second half of the month, they had 40.Pat Marmo, owner of Daniel J. Schaefer Funeral Home, walks through a viewing room set up to respect social distancing April 2, 2020, in the Brooklyn borough of New York.Like Marmo, Kearns has converted a small chapel into a makeshift refrigerator with an air conditioner. Other funeral directors told The Associated Press this week they were prepared to take similar measures.The surge in deaths is coming at a time when there are tight restrictions on gatherings, making saying goodbye a lonely process.A family at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn this week leaned over a yellow chain serving as a cordon and tossed roses at the casket of a loved one. Another in Queens offered final goodbyes through the windows of their cars. At one cemetery in the Bronx, where visitors were barred entirely, a funeral director stood over the grave and took photos to send to mourners.”The whole process, including the experience for the family during the funeral, is one of sort of isolation rather than the support,” said Bonnie Dixon, president of Maple Grove Cemetery in Queens.Jackie McQuade, a funeral director at Schuyler Hill funeral home in the Bronx, has struggled to tell families no. But she has no choice, given rules limiting services to immediate family only, if that.One cemetery she worked with has locked its gates to family and friends. Only she and a priest were allowed at the site of a burial. She photographed the casket being lowered, hoping it could bring some closure to the family.
“We would be going crazy if it were one of our loved ones,” she said. “We’re bearers of bad news on top of a sad situation.”Marmo said he’s hardly sleeping from the stress, worried he’ll forget a small but critical task, like removing someone’s ring before they’re sent for cremation.
He’s set to host a funeral Friday for a 36-year-old New York City subway driver who died last week helping riders evacuate a burning train. There will be a limited service in his main chapel, where he has 10 chairs, lined in two rows with 6 feet (2 meters) between each. The best he can do while respecting “social distancing” guidelines.”The guy deserves a funeral down the Canyon of Heroes,” Marmo said, referring to a stretch of Broadway in lower Manhattan where ticker tape parades are traditionally held. “Is he going to get that? He’s not going to get that. And it’s horrible.”
 
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