Author: CensorBiz

U.S. lawmakers are working to quickly pass a bipartisan bill providing billions of dollars in emergency funding to address the worldwide spread of a coronavirus. Increasing the pressure on lawmakers to address the threat is the first U.S. coronavirus case with no known cause, meaning the female victim in Northern California did not travel outside the U.S. or come in contact with anyone who is infected.Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline. Embed” />CopyMore cases likelyNevertheless, health officials briefing lawmakers on the U.S. response said the public should not panic, even though more cases are expected.“The risk of the American public is low,” said Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “We have an aggressive containment strategy that really has worked up to this time; 15 cases in the United States. Until the case that we just had in Sacramento, we hadn’t had a new case in two weeks. We do believe we’re going to continue to see new cases.”The rapid movement of the virus is forcing many lawmakers to acknowledge that no one knows how much money will be enough, whether it’s the president’s $2.5 billion plan or Senate Democrats’ $8.5 billion proposal.“We should just be ready to make sure our scientists and the folks that are on the front line, particularly the folks that are in public health systems and hospitals on the frontline have the resources and support,” said Rep. Ami Bera, a Democrat from California and a physician.Funding soonDespite political disagreements, lawmakers are expecting to pass that extra funding by mid-March.McConnell, speaking on the Senate floor, said he has faith that bipartisan discussions on the Senate Appropriations Committee would agree on “the right sum … at this time to ensure our nation’s needs are fully funded” within the next two weeks.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has tried to calm fears about the virus by visiting a Chinatown in her California congressional district, said lawmakers were getting close to a deal.“We must stand ready to work in a bipartisan fashion in Congress, and with the administration to achieve the necessary goal,” she said. “Lives are at stake. This is not a time for name calling or playing politics.”Reuters contributed to this report.
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U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham on Thursday called for the establishment of a no-fly zone over Syria’s Idlib and called on President Donald Trump to help stop the killing of civilians there by Syrian government forces backed by Russia and Iran.”The world is sitting on its hands and watching the destruction of Idlib by Assad, Iran, and the Russians,” Graham, a Republican and an ally of Trump, said in a statement. “I am confident if the world, led by the United States, pushed back against Iran, Russia, and Assad that they would stand down, paving the way for political negotiations to end this war in Syria.”FILE – Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., is surrounded by reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Feb. 25, 2020.Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces have pushed hard in recent months to retake the last large rebel-held region in northwestern Syria after nine years of war that has displaced millions and killed hundreds of thousands.Turkey has sent thousands of troops and heavy military hardware into Idlib province in an incursion to back the rebels against the offensive and have come under multiple attacks by Syrian government forces backed by Moscow.Late on Thursday, Rahmi Dogan, governor of the Turkish southern province of Hatay, bordering Syria, said 22 soldiers were killed in an airstrike by Syrian government forces in Idlib. But war monitor Syrian Observatory said at least 34 Turkish soldiers were killed.Kay Bailey Hutchison, U.S. Ambassador to NATO, responding to the latest incident in a briefing, said she hoped that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan would see who Ankara’s reliable ally is, alluding to the United States.”I hope President Erdogan will see that we are the ally of their past and their future,” she said. “They see what Russia is, they see what they’re doing now,” she told reporters in a briefing. She repeated Washington’s call on Ankara to walk away from the purchase of the Russian missile defense system.Turkey and the United States have been at loggerheads over Ankara’s decision to buy the Russian S-400 systems. Washington has threatened to impose sanctions on its NATO ally Turkey if Ankara refused to drop the weapons.
 
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The Russian-backed Syrian government push to capture the Idlib province in northwest Syria has worsened the humanitarian situation as nearly 1 million civilians have been forced to flee eastward to safer locations. VOA’s Zana Omer filed this report from Manbij, Syria.
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Iran girded Wednesday for a long battle against the coronavirus that is spreading rapidly across the country and the wider Middle East, even though officials in the Islamic Republic had earlier minimized the outbreak that has now killed 19 people, the highest toll outside of China.President Hassan Rouhani said there were no immediate plans to quarantine cities, but he acknowledged it may take “one, two or three weeks” to get control of the virus in Iran, which has been linked to most of the over 210 confirmed cases in the region.In this photo released by the official website of the office of the Iranian Presidency, President Hassan Rouhani speaks in Iran, Feb. 25, 2020. As Iran’s 80 million people find themselves increasingly isolated in the region by the outbreak, the country’s sanctions-battered economy saw its currency slump to its lowest level against the U.S. dollar in a year.Rouhani sought to portray the virus crisis in terms of Iran’s tense relationship with the U.S., which under President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from its nuclear deal with world powers and sent its economy into freefall.”We must not let the United States attach a new virus to the coronavirus by stopping our social activities through tremendous fear. This is a conspiracy we see today and you see in foreign propaganda,” Rouhani said at a Cabinet meeting, according to a transcript on the presidency’s website.”They are also suffering from coronavirus. Influenza has killed 16,000 people in the United States, but they are not speaking about themselves. Americans better take care of thousands of flu casualties in their own country,” he said.Scope of crisisThe comments by Rouhani came as Iran appeared to be slowly coming to grips with the scope of the crisis.In Tehran overnight, mass transit workers disinfected buses and the capital’s subway system, removing overhead handles to try to limit surfaces where the virus could rest. Traffic again appeared lighter on Tehran’s normally gridlocked roads amid a winter rain. Signs warned Iranians not to touch surfaces in crowded areas.A medic moves a patient in a ward dedicated for people infected with the coronavirus, at Forqani Hospital, in Qom, 78 miles (125 kilometers) south of the capital Tehran, Iran, Feb. 26, 2020.In Qom, the Shi’ite holy city south of Tehran that government statistics say has been hit hardest by the virus, photos published by the judiciary’s Mizan news agency showed doctors wearing high-end face masks.The masks are difficult to find in Iran, as is alcohol-based hand sanitizer and other materials, because Iranian law typically prohibits the import of items that can be made locally. Those rules have been loosened in the crisis.Health Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said 19 people have died from the illness, which is named COVID-19, with 139 confirmed cases in the country. The World Health Organization says the virus has infected more than 80,000 people globally, causing over 2,700 deaths, mainly in China.The first two cases of the virus were reported Wednesday by the government of neighboring Pakistan, with one of the infected patients having traveled to Iran with his family.Questioning reportsExperts are concerned that Iran may be underreporting cases and deaths, given its rapid spread from Iran across the Persian Gulf. Ahmad Amirabadi Farahani, a hard-line lawmaker, has alleged there have been 50 deaths in Qom alone, which the government denies.Figures released Wednesday still showed no cases confirmed in the Iranian city of Mashhad, even though a number of cases reported in Kuwait are linked to there.Workers disinfect subway trains against coronavirus in Tehran, Iran, in the early morning of Feb. 26, 2020.”We must be optimistic, because pessimism causes us to attract this disease,” said Afsaneh Azarloo, a Tehran resident. “We should be optimistic and hope that nothing bad will happen to us.”That optimism was not shared by another passer-by, who gave his name only as Saeed.”I’m worried. It’s the first time I have left home after a week,” he said. “My home is now my workplace too.”That pessimism is widespread, especially after the top official in charge of Iran’s response to the coronavirus tested positive for the illness after trying to play down the disease a day earlier.Iran’s Cyber Police reported that 24 people were arrested and 118 other were warned about “spreading rumors” on the internet about the virus.”Coronavirus must not be turned into a weapon for our enemies to halt work and production in our country,” Rouhani said.Economic falloutIran’s currency, the rial, fell to its lowest level against the U.S. dollar in a year, likely pushed by the country’s neighbors closing borders and air routes. The rial traded at 160,000 to $1. At the time of Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers in 2015, it traded at 32,000 to $1.Rouhani’s estimate of up to three weeks to control the virus followed efforts by officials repeatedly to minimize its threat.That has sparked more concern among Iranians already angry over nationwide economic protests, the U.S. drone strike that killed a top Iranian general, and Iran accidentally shooting down a Ukrainian jetliner and then denying it for days. The Feb. 21 parliamentary election also saw the country’s lowest recorded turnout.Jahanpour suggested Tuesday it could take as long as late April to control the virus. And with the Persian New Year, or Nowruz, coming on March 20, experts worry it could worsen.”Containment of the COVID-19 virus within Iran will be a challenge because of Iran’s poor health infrastructure and traditional unwillingness to communicate freely and openly across all branches of government and between health institutions,” the Austin, Texas, private intelligence firm Stratfor said.That worry was echoed by analysts at the Eurasia Group.”Tehran is likely significantly underestimating the risk posed by an outbreak of coronavirus to its citizens, economy and neighbors,” they wrote. “Iran has a relatively robust public health system, although it has been weakened by U.S. sanctions. But a breakdown in national-level decision-making has severely hampered its ability contain the spread of the virus.”
 
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Lawmakers from both parties told Pentagon leaders on Wednesday that the Defense Department is undermining its own efforts to get military money by diverting billions of dollars for the construction of President Donald Trump’s U.S.-Mexico border wall.
    
The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee and the committee’s top Republican warned Defense Secretary Mark Esper that overturning congressional funding decisions to shift money for the wall is an enormous problem that will have consequences.
    
The plan to shift money has triggered rare Republican opposition to one of Trump’s priorities.
    
Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, said the result may be that Congress will place greater restrictions on the Pentagon’s ability to move money around to meet military needs. The chairman, Democratic Rep. Adam Smith of Washington, said the money transfer is “very, very damaging to the Pentagon.”
    
“The message it sends is the Pentagon has plenty of money,” said Smith, adding that it “undercuts any arguments for any need for resources.”
    
The Pentagon announced this month that it was slashing billions of dollars in funding for Navy and Air Force aircraft and other military programs to free up money for the construction of the wall.
    
Esper approved the $3.8 billion border wall request from the Department of Homeland Security, and the Pentagon acknowledged that more cuts could be coming to provide additional dollars for the wall. Trump has repeatedly claimed that Mexico is paying for his promised “big beautiful wall,” but that has never happened.
    
The Pentagon’s decision, announced in “reprogramming” documents provided to lawmakers, stripped money from major aircraft and procurement programs that touch Republican and Democratic districts and states.
    
Despite congressional opposition, Trump faced no consequences when making similar transfers last year, when the Pentagon canceled dozens of military construction projects to free up $3.6 billion and transferred $2.5 billion in counterdrug money.
    
Altogether, Trump has obtained just over $3 billion for border barrier construction by working through regular congressional channels, subject to limitations imposed by lawmakers. He has used various transfer and emergency authorities to shift almost $7 billion more from the emergency declaration, from a forfeiture fund containing money seized by law enforcement and from funding for military counterdrug activities.
    
Specifically, the plan targets money for more than a dozen aircraft, including two F-35 fighters sought by Texas Rep. Kay Granger, the top Republican on the House Appropriations Committee, and other members of the Texas congressional delegation.
    
It also cuts money for eight Reaper drones, four Air Force C-130 transport aircraft, two Marine V-22 Osprey helicopters and also for amphibious ships, National Guard equipment and Army trucks. 
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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealed for calm on Wednesday after days of clashes between Hindus and minority Muslims over a controversial citizenship law in some of the worst sectarian violence in the capital in decades.Twenty people were killed and nearly 200 wounded in the violence, a doctor said, with many suffering gunshot wounds amid looting and arson attacks that coincided with a visit to India by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Police and paramilitary forces patrolled the streets in far greater numbers on Wednesday. Parts of the riot-hit areas were deserted.
“Peace and harmony are central to our ethos. I appeal to my sisters and brothers of Delhi to maintain peace and brotherhood at all times,” Modi said in a tweet.
Modi’s appeal came after a storm of criticism from opposition parties of the government’s failure to control the violence, despite the use of tear gas, pellets and smoke grenades.
Sonia Gandhi, president of the opposition Congress party, called for the resignation of Home Minister Amit Shah, who is directly responsible for law and order in the capital.
The violence erupted between thousands demonstrating for and against the new citizenship law introduced by Modi’s Hindu nationalist government.
The Citizenship Amendment Act makes it easier for non-Muslims from some neighbouring Muslim-dominated countries to gain Indian citizenship.
Critics say the law is biased against Muslims and undermines India’s secular constitution. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party has denied it has any bias against India’s more than 180 million Muslims.
Reuters witnesses saw mobs wielding sticks and pipes walking down streets in parts of northeast Delhi on Tuesday, amid arson attacks and looting. Thick clouds of black smoke billowed from a tyre market that was set ablaze.
Many of the wounded had suffered gunshot injuries, hospital officials said. At least two mosques in northeast Delhi were set on fire.
On Wednesday, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) said in a tweet that it was alarmed by the violence and it urged the Indian government “to rein in mobs and protect religious minorities and others who have been targeted.”
 
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Coronavirus outbreaks inside two South Korean medical facilities  reveal the vulnerability of people with disabilities to the disease that appears poised to become a global pandemic.On Tuesday, local media reported that 11 of 30 residents of a private, care center for the disabled in North Gyeongsang province have contracted COVID-19. An additional 10 employees, half of whom also have a disability, also tested positive for the pneumonia-like virus.According to the Grain of Wheat Love House, it’s remaining residents and staff have been quarantined inside the facility, which has undergone disinfection.“We apologize for the public concern caused by this unexpected situation,” said a notice posted on the charity’s website. This came just days after a surge of infections  at the Daenam Hospital in Cheongdo county, a region in the same province that Seoul has designated as a “special care zone.” At least 100 patients in the complex’s psychiatric ward were sickened from the coronavirus.  The Korea Center for Disease Control (KCDC) said by midday on Wednesday that more than1000 people have been infected with COVID-19  and that seven of the country’s 12 -deaths attributed to the illness originated at the Daenam Hospital.Kim Hyun-chung, a psychiatrist who formerly counseled patients  for nine-years at a general hospital in Seoul, says conditions inside such treatment centers are fertile ground for the transmission of diseases.  “If a patient has a chronic mental health condition, like depression or schizophrenia, social norms can deteriorate and they might not take care of their hygiene,” she says, adding that it’s the responsibility of the typically over-worked medical staff to ensure that patients shower and brush their teeth, for instance.Kim says rooms in South Korean hospitals often sleep up to six patients as well as their caregivers- increasing the potential spread of a virus among people who are already sick. And psychiatric facilities don’t always receive the same resources given to other hospital departments, she explains.“Mental health wards don’t make a lot of money for the hospital,” she says.The South Korean healthcare system has come under criticism for its reliance on institutionalizing people with a mental health disability.“Korea needs to reduce the level of dependence on long-term treatments in hospitals,” according to a study published last year in the International Journal of Mental Health Systems.  “Many patients become long-term residents at these facilities and lose their will to return to their own communities.”A worker in protective gear stacks plastic buckets containing medical waste from coronavirus patients at a medical center in Daegu, South Korea, Feb. 24, 2020.In response to the coronavirus outbreak at the Daenam Hospital, Seoul’s Ministry of Health says it will test patience at around 420 other mental health clinics across the country.For Kim, the psychiatrist, the outbreak is a reminder of how economic necessity as well as a sense of “shame and stigma” compel many South Korean families to “lock up” their loved ones who are suffering from mental illness in these institutions- putting them at greater risk of contracting diseases like COVID-19.Concern over quarantines    The World Health Organization has warned countries to prepare for the spread of the new coronavirus, suggesting that the disease could soon be declared a pandemic.“Does this virus have pandemic potential? Absolutely it has,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the WHO told reporters in Geneva on Tuesday” Are we there yet? From our assessment, not yet.”The majority of the more than 80-thousand cases of COVID-19 and at least two-thousand related deaths are still centered in China, where authorities have virtually locked down the city of Wuhan, where the disease was first detected, as well as much of surrounding Hubei province. And as clusters of the virus have spread in South Korea, Iran and Italy, governments are stepping up quarantine efforts and in some cases have limited access to and from affected areas.These enhanced measures concern Alex Ghenis at the World Institute on Disability in Berkley, California.“Somebody with an intellectual, developmental or psychological disability may experience heightened anxiety and stress-related factors if they are isolated,” he writes in a message to VOA. “People with other disabilities will surely have extra stresses due to managing disability-related life factors while under quarantine.”Ghenis says that during times of panic brought on by a public health emergency, people with disabilities could be viewed as “pariahs” due to incorrect perceptions that they inherently have compromised immune systems.He adds that if healthcare workers start to prioritize treating coronavirus patients who they determine would be “most likely to survive”, a person with a mobility, sensory or cognitive impairment could be regarded as  “lower on the triage list.”Official announcements and other important information must also be accessible for all, including making printed material available online so that it can be read by a visually impaired person using assistive technology or having a sign language interpreter on stage during televised press conferences.  The South Korean disability news site Be Minor reported this week that the deaf are unable to call the KCDC hotline since it does not offer a video service that would allow communication by signing, adding that for the same reason,  over the phone consultations with doctors are also inaccessible.“Hearing-impaired people also have the right to receive information and counseling for infectious diseases,” said an unnamed disability advocate quoted in the article.The report says people who are hard of hearing can still send text messages or chat through the KakaoTalk app with healthcare officials, but this service is only available during business hours Monday through Friday.  
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A U.S. soldier has tested positive for the coronavirus, U.S. military officials in South Korea said Wednesday – the first confirmed infection of a U.S. service member.The patient, a 23-year-old male, has been placed in self-quarantine at his off-base residence, U.S. Forces Korea said in a statement.The soldier was stationed at Camp Carroll, a U.S. Army base in the southeastern part of the country, but also visited Camp Walker.”Health professionals are actively conducting contact tracing to determine whether any others may have been exposed,” the USFK statement said.Both military bases are near the epicenter of the South Korea coronavirus outbreak, which has put the country on edge over the past week.South Korean officials reported 169 new virus cases Wednesday, bringing the total number of confirmed infections to 1,146. Just last week, that number was only 30.Twelve coronavirus patients in South Korea have died.Most of the South Korean infections are in and around Daegu, the country’s fourth-largest city. The U.S. military has thousands of service members in the region.On Tuesday, U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said upcoming annual joint military exercises with South Korea could be scaled back because of virus concerns.Dangerous new componentThe spread of the virus within military ranks would represent a dangerous new component of the outbreak, since many service members live within close quarters and share common meals.At some bases nearest the outbreak, U.S. soldiers have been prevented from non-essential off-base travel. Many visitors are also prevented from visiting some bases. Some on-base restaurants and entertainment venues have been closed. Department of Defense schools in Korea have also been shuttered.Earlier this week, the U.S. military in South Korea raised its risk level to “high” after reporting that a 61-year-old woman with the coronavirus visited a store at Camp Walker. The woman was the widow of a retired soldier.At least 18 members of the South Korean military have also been infected the virus. Over 9,000 South Korean service members have been quarantined at their bases, the Yonhap news agency reported.Highly contagiousThe coronavirus causes a respiratory illness known as Covid-19. The disease currently has a mortality rate of around 2 percent. But it is highly contagious, in part because those with Covid-19 can spread the disease before showing symptoms.Over 80,000 people worldwide have contracted the virus. Almost 2,800 people have died. Most the cases have been in China, where the virus originated.But over the past week, countries including Iran, Italy, and South Korea have reported a surge in confirmed cases. World health officials are now worried the outbreak could turn into a global pandemic.
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Pressure appears to be building on the White House and U.S. intelligence agencies to declassify some information and brief the public on possible Russian attempts to meddle in the upcoming presidential election.Much of the push is coming from former U.S. intelligence and security officials upset at a series of leaks that led to reports Russia was trying to bolster the campaigns of both President Donald Trump and one of his Democratic challengers, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.  But some of the pressure is also coming from lawmakers who want see the American public get what they describe as an untainted assessment of what Russia is and is not doing, rather than see the allegations used for domestic political gain.Congressional officials say, so far, lawmakers have not made any official requests to the intelligence agencies for any sort of public briefing or official statement on possible Russian meddling, due to concerns about protecting intelligence sources and methods.Still, the officials note some sort of public disclosure is in line with the recommendations of a But on Friday, Sanders confirmed U.S. intelligence had, in fact, warned him about the Russian meddling. He later warned Moscow to stay out of U.S. politics.It is those contradicting narratives that have former intelligence and security officials calling for some sort of public disclosure. “I would certainly encourage it…no matter what it says,” former acting CIA Director John McLaughlin told VOA. “We don’t know the whole story yet.”Other longtime intelligence officials agree. “Indications and warnings of threats to our democratic process are not like fine wine, getting better with age,” Daniel Hoffman, a former CIA chief of station, said. “We learned from 2016, we need a coordinated assessment based on the facts rather than innuendo and poor analysis tinged with confirmation bias.”At least one White House official has indicated an openness to sharing some of the existing intelligence with the public. “I’d have no problem with that,” U.S. National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien told CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday. “If there’s intelligence that we can declassify, that we can get out there — all the better — because, again, we weren’t in office in 2016 when the last election meddling took place and the administration did very little about it.”However, some of those who were in office in 2016 accuse the Trump administration of doing even less. “It is vital that the Trump administration declassify what we know so it can be described by our intelligence community publicly, so the voters are armed with this information,” Jeh Johnson, who served as Homeland Security secretary under former President Barack Obama, said during a forum in Detroit Monday.  “That’s what we did in the prior administration,” he added, referring to a statement he and other top officials issued in October 2016 blaming Russia for hacking and then leaking emails from the Democratic National Committee.Some Democratic lawmakers have also seized upon the president’s handling of the latest allegations of Russian meddling. “What does the president do in response to that information? He fires the head of the intelligence community,” Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen said on the floor of the Senate late Tuesday, arguing for the passage of election security legislation.  “He fires them because he doesn’t want them to tell Congress what the Russians are doing,” he said.Trump administration officials have consistently pushed back, arguing the president has made it clear that interference by Russia or anyone else will not be tolerated.  “Meddling in our elections is unacceptable,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters Tuesday. “Should Russia or any foreign actor take steps to undermine our democratic processes, we will take action in response.”Some former intelligence officials caution that President Trump’s long-contentious relationship with U.S. intelligence agencies, dating back to their 2017 assessment that Russia did seek to help Trump win the election, is hurting the administration’s credibility. “One doesn’t get a warm and fuzzy feeling,” said Larry Pfeiffer, a former CIA chief of staff and former senior director of the White House Situation Room, who has been critical of Trump in the past. “The congressional intelligence committees should demand open hearings in order to assure the American people, and closed hearings in order to conduct appropriate oversight of the activities to assess that threat.”Katherine Gypson contributed to this report.
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Fears of coronavirus transmission have waylaid two cruise ships and sent stocks plummeting for multiple cruise lines. VOA correspondent Mariama Diallo reports on the effects the outbreak is likely to have on the travel industry now and for the foreseeable future.
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Parts of northern Italy are on lockdown following an outbreak of the coronavirus, or COVID-19, with at least seven deaths in the region. The sudden outbreaks in recent days, from South Korea to Iran to Italy, have raised fears that the virus — which originated in China — will turn into a global pandemic. Meanwhile, a new report warns that southeast Asian and sub-Saharan African economies could be badly hit, even if there are no outbreaks of the disease there. Henry Ridgwell reports from London.
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European Union members said Tuesday they are ready to offer Britain a substantial and wide-ranging post-Brexit trade deal, but differences between the two sides are wide — even before they start talks next week.Meeting in Brussels, European ministers set out clear negotiating lines for a future trade deal, beyond which they claim they will not budge.Chief negotiator Michel Barnier said the 27 EU members want a fair and balanced partnership with Britain. But he acknowledged the talks will be difficult — especially given the year-end deadline the U.K. has set to wrap them up.“We are ready to offer a highly ambitious trade deal to the U.K., but the U.K. cannot expect high-quality access to the single market if it is not prepared to accept guarantees that competition remains open and fair — free and fair,” said Barnier.To get the best deal possible, EU members say Britain must adapt to the bloc’s rules and regulations in areas like environmental and working standards. London wants to set its own laws and standards.And while the U.K. reportedly wants a Canada-style free trade agreement with zero tariffs, Barnier dismissed the prospect.“The U.K. will be the EU’s third largest trading partner, almost 10 times bigger than Canada. At the same time, Canada is some 5,000 kilometers away. It’s clear the rules cannot be the same,” he said.EU members also insist the U.K. honor commitments it has already made in Brexit negotiations last year, if it is to get a good deal moving forward.Irish Sea borderHere’s Ireland’s foreign minister Simon Coveney on the question of enforcing the Irish Sea border.“The withdrawal agreement involves significant commitments in the context of Northern Ireland through the Irish protocol that both the EU and the U.K. need to follow through on. If that doesn’t happen, it will damage significantly the prospects of getting even a bare-bones trade agreement,” he said.The first round of post-Brexit negotiations are set to begin in Brussels on Monday, before talks switch to Britain. Barnier said he’ll be providing a progress check in June. 
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Kyrgyzstan’s Supreme Court has started to hear the appeal of ethnic Uzbek human rights activist Azimjan Askarov against a life sentence he was originally given in 2017.Askarov’s wife, Khadicha Askarova and their son Sherzod Askarov, as well as human rights defenders and representatives of foreign diplomatic missions attended the first day of the hearing on February 25.Journalists were not allowed in the courtroom but Khadicha Askarova told RFE/RL that she expects “good news” from the appeal.After prosecutors and Askarov’s lawyers presented their arguments, they asked the court for more time to study case materials because of new details that have emerged.The judge granted the motion, adjourning the hearing until April 6.Askarov, who also contributed to independent news websites, has been jailed since 2010 on charges of creating a mass disturbance and involvement in the murder of a police officer during deadly ethnic clashes between local Uzbeks and Kyrgyz in June 2010. More than 450 people, mainly Uzbeks, were killed and tens of thousands more were displaced during the violence.Askarov, 68, has insisted that his case is politically motivated. Rights groups, including the UN Human Rights Committee, have urged Kyrgyzstan to release the activist, saying that he was arbitrarily detained, tortured, and denied his right to a fair trial.Ahead of the Supreme Court hearing, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) urged the Kyrgyz authorities not to contest Askarov’s appeal and to release him immediately.”If Kyrgyzstan wants to wash the terrible stain from its press-freedom and human rights record, it should finally release Azimjon Askarov,” Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, said in a statement.”Kyrgyz authorities should deliver long-overdue justice in Askarov’s final appeal, and allow him to reunite with his loved ones and get adequate medical treatment,” according to Said.In July 2016, the Supreme Court voided Askarov’s conviction and sent the case back to a lower court for review in light of “new circumstances that appeared in the case.”However, a court in Bishkek reinstated a life sentence for Askarov in January 2017.And in July last year, a court in the northern Chui region upheld Askarov’s sentence in a ruling described as a “triumph of injustice” by Amnesty International.
 
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The United States will act if Russia seeks to undermine this year’s U.S. presidential election, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Tuesday, but gave no other details about what steps the Trump administration would take.”Meddling in our elections is unacceptable,” Pompeo told  reporters at a news conference. “Should Russia or any foreign actor take steps to undermine our democratic processes, we will take action in response.”
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Longtime Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak has died at the age of 91.His death was reported Tuesday by state television.Mubarak ruled Egypt for almost 30 years before being swept from power in 2011 after 18 days of popular protests.He rose through the ranks of the Egyptian air force, eventually becoming commander and deputy defense minister.Mubarak was named President Anwar Sadat’s deputy in 1975 and was at his side when Sadat was assassinated in October 1981 by Islamist militants.The autocratic leader then assumed the presidency and retained power by positioning himself as a trusted Western ally who honored the 1979 peace treaty with Israel despite fierce opposition throughout most of the Middle East.At home, Mubarak ruled with an iron fist, imposing Egypt’s infamous emergency law, which gave security forces sweeping powers to crack down on dissent and curb basic freedoms.Mubarak cracked down when Islamist extremists launched a violent campaign in the 1990s that killed hundreds of Egyptian policemen, soldiers and civilians, as well as dozens of foreign tourists.The authoritarian president had long fought to suppress the Muslim Brotherhood, the Arab world’s largest transnational Islamist movement, which originated in Egypt. In doing so, he also marginalized moderate Islamists, alienating their supporters. Many accused him of corruption.For three decades, Mubarak presided over an uneasy period of enforced stability and economic development.In January 2011, mass protests against his government erupted in Cairo and other Egyptian cities. On February 1, the aging leader announced he would not seek re-election in a vote scheduled for September. He also promised constitutional reform, but Egyptians demanded more radical change in the wake of the Arab Spring movement beginning to sweep the region.On February 11, 2011, Vice President Omar Suleiman announced Mubarak was stepping down and that the military’s supreme council would run the country. The defiant leader and his family fled to their Red Sea resort home.Mubarak was later arrested and tried over the deaths of anti-government protesters. On June 2, 2012, he was found guilty of complicity for failing to prevent the killing of hundreds who had revolted against him.He was sentenced to life in prison along with his former interior minister, Habib Al-Adly, but Egypt’s top court later cleared them.In 2015, Mubarak and his two sons were sentenced to three years on corruption charges, and after being in custody for six years was freed in 2017.
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The field of candidates hoping to take over leadership of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party narrowed Tuesday, as one top contender announced that he was bowing out of the race to support another in his bid.Health Minister Jens Spahn told reporters that it is a pivotal time for Germany and the Christian Democratic Party amid broad global challenges like climate change and migration, and that he hoped his decision to back North Rhine-Westphalia governor Armin Laschet would lead to a quick decision and a clear course.”It is about the future of the country and the future of our party,” he said.The leader of the CDU will be chosen at a special party convention in Berlin on April 25, and would be the presumptive candidate to run for chancellor for Merkel’s conservative bloc in 2021 since Merkel has said she will not run again.Spahn said Laschet’s track record as governor of Germany’s most populous state had convinced him that he was the right choice. Spahn would serve as deputy CDU leader if Laschet is elected.”Armin Laschet has demonstrated, and demonstrates every day in North Rhine-Westphalia, his liberal, social and conservative leadership,” Spahn said.Laschet said despite Germany’s low unemployment rate and current prosperity, there is growing concern over rising rents, climate change, migration, digitalization and other issues, and a rise in “hate and anger” against many groups, including increasing anti-Semitism.”We cannot allow that,” he said.He pledged to work to bridge gaps between older and younger Germans, between people in the former East Germany and West Germany, to push ahead with Germany’s energy plan to end the use of nuclear and coal power in favor of renewable energies, and to work on a European level with other nations so as to be an anchor of stability for Europe.”We need more Europe,” he said.The decision to work together suggests Laschet and Spahn learned a lesson from the internal competition that saw outgoing party leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer narrowly elected to succeed Merkel as party leader in 2018. Since then the CDU has had a string of poor showings in state elections and Kramp-Karrenbauer has struggled to establish her authority over the party, leading to her decision earlier this month to step down.Former environment minister Norbert Roettgen, announced last week that he would seek the CDU leadership.The third main contender to replace Kramp-Karrenbauer, former parliamentary group leader Friedrich Merz, was expected to announce his candidacy later Tuesday. Merz, who has been in the private sector in recent years, is widely thought to have the support of the conservative side of the CDU.
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The White House on Monday sent lawmakers an urgent $2.5 billion plan to address the deadly coronavirus outbreak, whose rapid spread and threat to the global economy rocked financial markets.The White House budget office said the funds are for vaccines, treatment, and protective equipment. The request could advance quickly through Congress and came as coronavirus fears were credited with Monday’s 1,000-plus point drop in the Dow Jones Industrials and are increasingly seen as a potential political threat to President Donald Trump.The request was released Monday evening and came as key government accounts were running low. The Department of Health and Human Services had already tapped into an emergency infectious disease rapid response fund and was seeking to transfer more than $130 million from other HHS accounts to combat the virus but is pressing for more.Few commuters ride in an almost empty subway train in Beijing, Feb. 24, 2020.”Today, the Administration is transmitting to Congress a $2.5 billion supplemental funding plan to accelerate vaccine development, support preparedness and response activities and to procure much needed equipment and supplies,” said White House budget office spokeswoman Rachel Semmel. “We are also freeing up existing resources and allowing for greater flexibilities for response activities.”The administration is requesting $1.25 billion in new funding and wants to transfer $535 million more in funding from an Ebola preparedness account. It anticipates shifting money from other HHS accounts and other agencies to complete the $2.5 billion response plan. House Democrats are likely to reject the offsetting cut to Ebola preparedness, said a spokesman for Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita Lowey, D-N.Y.Briefing TuesdaySenators returning to Washington after a weeklong recess will receive a classified briefing Tuesday morning on the government’s coronavirus response, a Senate aide said.”All of the warning lights are flashing bright red. We are staring down a potential pandemic and the administration has no plan,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who blasted a shortage of kits to test for the virus and Trump’s proposed budget cuts to health agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “We have a crisis of coronavirus and President Trump has no plan, no urgency, no understanding of the facts or how to coordinate a response.”Trump was a vocal critic of President Barack Obama’s response to the 2014 Ebola scare, which barely touched the U.S. but was seen as a factor in that year’s midterm elections, which restored control of the Senate to Republicans.Trump took to Twitter Monday to defend his record.”The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA. We are in contact with everyone and all relevant countries. CDC & World Health have been working hard and very smart. Stock Market starting to look very good to me!” he tweeted.FILE – Personnel in biological hazard suits await passengers evacuated from Wuhan, China, shortly after the plane landed at the March Air Reserve Base in Riverside, California, Jan. 29, 2020.Among the needs is funding to reimburse the Pentagon, which is housing evacuees from China — who are required to undergo 14-day quarantines — at several military bases in California.Democrats controlling the House wrote HHS Secretary Alex Azar earlier this month to request funds to help speed development of a coronavirus vaccine, expand laboratory capacity, and beef up screening efforts at U.S. entry points. Azar is slated to testify before the Senate Appropriations Committee on Tuesday, and the U.S. response to the outbreak is sure to be a major topic.The White House budget office, led by Russell Vought, worked with HHS to shape the request, with the agency seeking more than the White House is likely to approve. There is a receptive audience for the request on Capitol Hill, though stand-alone emergency spending bills can be tricky to pass since they are invariably a target for lawmakers seeking add-ons.The stock market dove Monday over coronavirus fears, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average diving by 3.6%.The quickly spreading virus has slammed the economy of China, where the virus originated, and caseloads are rapidly increasing in countries such as South Korea, Iran and Italy. Almost 80,000 people have contracted the disease, with more than 2,500 deaths, mostly in China.The United States, however, has had only 14 cases of the disease spread across seven states.Pelosi in ChinatownIn San Francisco, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi took a walking tour of Chinatown on Monday to let the public know the neighborhood is safe and open for business.Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., looks over items at The Wok Shop during a tour of Chinatown in San Francisco, Feb. 24, 2020.Pelosi, a Democrat who represents the heavily Chinese American city, visited the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory, whose owner Kevin Chan, says his business and others are down 70% since the outbreak of the coronavirus.”Come to Chinatown,” Pelosi said. “Precautions have been taken by our city, we know that there’s concern about tourism, traveling all throughout the world, but we think it’s very safe to be in Chinatown and hope that others will come.”Asked about the Trump administration’s looming request, Pelosi said she would want to know how the money would be used.
 
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