Author: Worldnews

If you have cough, fever and shortness of breath contact a doctor and stay away from other people

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No current evidence that cats and dogs can be infected
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U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is scaling back the aggressive operations it launched under President Donald Trump as the country contends with the new coronavirus outbreak.

ICE said that starting Wednesday, it was focusing its efforts on tracking down people in the U.S. without legal authorization who pose a risk to public safety or would be subject to mandatory detention on criminal grounds. The agency had been aggressively detaining anyone in the country without authorization as part of stepped-up enforcement under the Trump administration.

The agency said in a statement that its investigations unit would focus on public safety and national security. That would include drug and human trafficking as well as anti-gang operations and child exploitation cases.

ICE said the change was temporary and intended to ensure the welfare and safety of the public and its agents.
It will not carry out enforcement operations at or near health care facilities except in “the most extraordinary circumstances” during the crisis.

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A year after eastern Zimbabwe was hit by Cyclone Idai, one of the worst tropical storms for Africa on record, some survivors are still recovering.  The cyclone killed hundreds of people in Zimbabwe and left thousands homeless.  Authorities have been rebuilding but many are still living in temporary housing, as Columbus Mavhunga reports from Chimanimani District, on the border with Mozambique.

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The race to slow the spread of the coronavirus in the United States is placing an unprecedented burden on the country’s cyber infrastructure, potentially making it as vulnerable as it has ever been. 

At issue are the U.S. government agencies, thousands of businesses and millions of Americans, who suddenly have been forced to telework and rely on the security of their internet connections and good cyber hygiene, to keep businesses and services running. 

The result, some officials warn, is an opening for anyone who would like to strike a virtual blow. 

“We’re mindful that our adversaries often see opportunity in situations like these,” a U.S. official told VOA on the condition of anonymity, given the sensitive nature of the subject. 

Both the FBI and private cybersecurity firms warn the assault is already well underway. 

“We’re seeing a significant amount of threat in email, leveraging social engineering at scale to do a variety of attacks,” said Sherrod DeGrippo, senior director of threat research and detection at Proofpoint. 

Watch out for emails claiming to be from the @CDCgov or others saying they have information about the virus, and don’t click on links you don’t recognize. For the most up-to-date information about #COVID19, visit the CDC’s website at https://t.co/VAxaOUzfeu.

— FBI Washington Field (@FBIWFO) March 16, 2020

Some of the emails are designed to look like they are coming from legitimate agencies such as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) or the World Health Organization (WHO), using fear of the coronavirus to get a recipient to click on a malicious attachment or link. 

DeGrippo says the largest attack involved about 300,000 emails, and that new variations are coming in constantly. 

“We’re just seeing this being used across every potential attack style that you can possibly do,” she said. “It’s incredibly widespread.” 

So far, almost all the attacks Proofpoint has documented have come from cybercriminals.  But the potential for damage is significant. 

Teleworking and the cyberthreat 

Some attacks are focused on phishing, looking to steal user IDs and passwords. Others involve installing malware (malicious coding) designed to steal data or to access financial accounts and steal money. 

And while those sorts of attacks are not new, many of the individuals being targeted are inexperienced. 

“We are now in the situation of 100% work from home for a huge number of employees in corporate America,” DeGrippo said. “They don’t have the same technological protections and control at their home that they did have in their office.” 

“You really completely shifted the attack surface,” she added. 

For years, cybersecurity experts in government and the private sector have warned that the networks Americans rely on are not secure and that many may have already been compromised. 

Last week, a bipartisan report by lawmakers and experts warned the United States is still not prepared. 

 “The status quo in cyberspace is unacceptable,” according to the intergovernmental U.S. Cyberspace Solarium Commission. “The current state of affairs invites aggression and establishes a dangerous pattern of actors attacking the United States without fear of reprisal.” 

 

 Cyberattack amid a pandemic 

Those fears were front and center Monday when officials confirmed there had been a “cyber incident” involving networks belonging to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which has been playing a key role in the government’s coronavirus response. 

HHS officials say despite the attack, none of their systems have been penetrated and that no information was compromised. 

Security officials have yet to assign any responsibility for the attack, though they are looking at whether a state actor may be to blame. 

In the meantime, there is concern that additional attacks, whether targeting the country’s cyber infrastructure, government health agencies or even medical manufacturers, are likely. 

 “Supply chains are global. So, if you somehow can interfere or affect those supply chains, that causes some issues that we haven’t had to deal with before,” said Stuart Brotman, a fellow in the Science and Technology Innovation Program at The Wilson Center in Washington. 

“That would have a major impact on being able to confront the virus,” he added. 

U.S. officials and independent experts admit that for most state actors, such an attack would come with substantial risk, as many countries are also battling the coronavirus pandemic. 

Rogue actors, like criminal syndicates or North Korea, which has shown a willingness to attack companies like Sony and banks around the world, might be tempted, they say. 

The bigger concern, though, is that some U.S. adversaries may see this as a chance to ramp up other cyber campaigns, like attempts to meddle in the upcoming presidential election, while U.S. officials focus on stopping the virus’s spread. 

“Clearly, we are in this critical electoral moment which happens to overlap with COVID-19,” said Brotman. “So, now if you were on the other side trying to figure out how do we create some immediate pain, you would want to take both of those elements and put them together.” 

Despite the myriad vulnerabilities, U.S. officials are not giving up, encouraging government agencies and the private sector to do what they can to improve their cybersecurity posture. 

As the #COVID19 situation evolves, many organizations are exploring telework options for staff. Here’s some guidance to help organizations take appropriate #cybersecurity measures: https://t.co/6GboT4YlSp#CoronaViruspic.twitter.com/NB2xKzDTBG

— Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (@CISAgov) March 18, 2020

“In this kind of condition, where you’re expanding your network, relying more and more on digital connectivity, it’s never too late,” Mark Montgomery, executive director of the U.S. Cyberspace Solarium Commission, told VOA. 

“The consequences are higher now,” he said. “If they take action now, they still have time to make an impact.” 

 

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Family and rights groups of Nigerian journalist Omoyele Sowore call on the government to end delay tactics in court and drop all charges. Salem Solomon has the latest on his case.

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Technology and spirituality normally don’t go together. But at a recent conference in San Francisco there were tips on how to use technology to achieve more inner peace. Deana Mitchell went to see if it was possible.

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One of the supposedly most valuable exhibits at the Museum of the Bible in Washington has turned out to be fake. 

Experts have determined that 16 waxy yellow fragments said to be remnants of the Dead Sea Scrolls are not part of an ancient Hebrew Bible, but rather forgeries. 

The real ancient scrolls were first found in 1947 in Qumran caves near the Dead Sea shore. They are considered to be one of the most significant historic discoveries of all time and are kept in Israel. 

American billionaire Steve Green acquired the fakes about 10 years ago from private collectors to be one of the central exhibits in his Bible museum, which opened in 2017. Scholars were immediately suspicious of the authenticity of the scrolls, compelling the museum to submit the items for analysis by more than one appraiser. Evidence that the scrolls were not authentic led the museum to hire Art Fraud Insights for expert analysis that took six months and resulted in a 200-page report. 

“After an exhaustive review of all the imaging and scientific analysis results, it is evident that none of the textual fragments in Museum of the Bible’s Dead Sea Scroll collection are authentic,” said the head of the investigation, Colette Loll of Art Fraud Insights.     

Scientists have found that the collection of fragments was a set of deliberately made forgeries created in the 20th century with the intent to mimic the authentic Dead Sea Scroll fragments. The forgers have used mineral surface deposits consistent with Middle East archeological digs and used small scraps of ancient leather, coated with an amber material to create a surface with the appearance of ancient parchment.  

Investigators have also determined that the ink used on the fragments did not match the ink on the authentic scrolls. 

The scientific report notes that since 2002 the antiquities market has become flooded with unknown textual fragments written in Hebrew or Aramaic, described as newly discovered biblical fragments.  

The 200-page report is accessible from the museum’s web page.

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Volkswagen Group , the world’s biggest carmaker, is suspending production at factories across Europe as the coronavirus pandemic hits sales and disrupts supply chains, the company said on Tuesday.   

The German carmaker, which owns the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Ducati, Lamborghini, Porsche, Seat and Skoda brands, also said that uncertainty about the fallout from coronavirus meant it was impossible to give forecasts for its performance this year.   

“Given the present significant deterioration in the sales situation and the heightened uncertainty regarding parts supplies to our plants, production is to be suspended in the near future at factories operated by group brands,” Chief Executive Herbert Diess said on Tuesday.   

Volkswagen’s powerful works council concluded it was not possible for workers to maintain a safe distance from each other to prevent contagion and recommended a suspension of production at its factories from Friday.   

Production will be halted at VW’s Spanish plants, in Setubal in Portugal, Bratislava in Slovakia and at the Lamborghini and Ducati plants in Italy before the end of this week, Diess said.   

Most of its other German and European factories will prepare to suspend production, probably for two to three weeks, while Audi said separately it would halt output at its plants in Belgium, Germany, Hungary and Mexico.   

Volkswagen’s vast factory in Puebla, Mexico, and plants in Brazil and the United States were not affected but that would depend on how the coronavirus spreads, VW said.   

Volkswagen has 124 production sites worldwide of which 72 are in Europe, with 28 in Germany alone.   

“2020 will be a very difficult year. The coronavirus pandemic presents us with unknown operational and financial challenges. At the same time, there are concerns about sustained economic impacts,” Diess said.   

Production in China resumes   

Volkswagen Group sold 10.96 million vehicles last year, putting it ahead of Toyota based on the latest figures from the Japanese carmaker. Globally, VW employs 671,000 people and it delivered 4.86 million vehicles to European customers in 2019.   

Only last month the car and truck maker based in Wolfsburg in Germany predicted that vehicle deliveries this year would match 2019 sales and forecast an operating return on sales in the range of 6.5% to 7.5%.   

“The spread of coronavirus is currently impacting the global economy. It is uncertain how severely or for how long this will also affect the Volkswagen Group. Currently, it is almost impossible to make a reliable forecast,” Chief Financial Officer Frank Witter said.   

Sales in January and February were down about 15% and earnings before interest and taxes in the first three months of the year were expected to at least halve compared with the same period a year earlier, Witter said.   

While VW was preparing to suspend production in Europe, manufacturing has resumed in China, with the exception of plants in Changsha and Urumqi, and the company still plans to boost its operations in the country where the coronavirus first emerged.   

“We are looking at ways in which we can strengthen our position in China,” CEO Diess said. VW has joint ventures with Chinese automakers FAW and SAIC.   

Volkswagen Group also said its operating profit rose 22% to 16.9 billion euros ($18.5 bln) in 2019 thanks to strong sales of higher-margin cars and lower diesel charges, defying an industry downturn that has hurt rivals.   

Earnings were driven by higher profits at its VW, Porsche, Seat and Skoda brands, and a return to profitability for its luxury sportscar brand Bentley.   

Improvements in the mix and price positioning in particular compensated for lower sales of Volkswagen passenger cars, launch costs and the impact of exchange rates, VW said.   

 

 

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France, Italy, Spain and Belgium curbed stock market trading on Tuesday, banning short-selling to shield some of Europe’s biggest companies from a sell-off triggered by the coronavirus.   

The move will temporarily halt bets on falling shares at scores of companies from the world’s largest brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev, to Spanish bank Santander and Air France-KLM.

The radical curbs, and calls by some Italian politicians for stock markets to be shut, were in contrast to the United States and Britain, where regulators said they should stay open and no curbs are imposed.   

They also differed from Germany and highlighted the splintered approach of the European Union and its haphazard response to the health pandemic and economic fallout.   

The intervention by some of Europe’s biggest countries, last seen in the wake of the financial crisis, also underscores a growing sense of alarm in Europe’s capitals as they scramble to contain a disease that has shut schools and shops.

In short-selling, traders borrow a company stock with a view to selling it, hoping to buy it back later at a lower price and pocket the difference, a practice that often exacerbates market moves amid panic selling.   

In Italy, Tuesday’s 24-hour short-trading ban applies to its biggest bank UniCredit and car maker Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.   

Italian market regulator Consob is expected to announce on Tuesday a more lasting short-selling ban which it can introduce for up to 90 days, a person familiar with the matter said.   

The ruling 5-star party, part of a governing coalition, had even called for the country’s stock markets to be closed entirely. That, however, has not gained wider political support.
 
“CALM THINGS DOWN”

Asked whether stock markets should be closed, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told RTL radio that other things could be done first, such as banning short selling, describing that as “a first step to calm things down.”   

He said it was important to keep financial markets open so companies can be correctly valued.   

Other countries are hesitant to follow.   

Germany has said it is not planning a ban, while the Dutch financial watchdog said it saw no reason for such a move.   

The splintered response highlights differing views in Europe to financial markets, with Italy and France traditionally more skeptical and interventionist, while Britain, the Netherlands and, to some extent, Germany more liberal.   

The London Stock Exchange declined to comment on a trading suspension for the whole market, but noted it did not suspend trading in previous times of extreme volatility like the financial crisis and the 1987 “Black Monday” rout.   

France is banning short-selling on 92 stocks, the financial markets authority said. Spain imposed a one-month ban that could be extended.   

Such restrictions can wrong-foot hedge funds, who often rely on short selling to turn a profit in a downturn, as well as to counterbalance other bets they have taken.   

In Italy, hedge funds held 84 short positions as of Tuesday compared with 33 in Spain and 20 in Belgium. French regulator the AMF reported 728 notifications of changes to short positions in 2020.   

Bridgewater, the world’s biggest hedge fund, has placed a $15 billion bet against European and British companies although it is not clear whether the firm owns more European stocks than it shorts.   

Under European Union law, national authorities have the power to introduce such bans. They are required to inform the EU umbrella body, the European Securities and Markets Authority.   

Many countries curbed short-selling around the time of the 2008 financial crisis. While such bans can soften the impact of a shock, however, market experts say they only work for a limited time.

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Britain will on Tuesday unveil a rescue package for businesses threatened with collapse by the coronavirus outbreak as budget forecasters said the scale of the borrowing needed might resemble the immense debt splurge during World War II.
 

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who told people to avoid pubs, clubs, restaurants, cinemas and theaters on Monday, was expected to address the nation alongside finance minister Rishi Sunak later on Tuesday.
 

Sunak last week announced help for business, including some tax suspensions for smaller firms, alongside emergency moves by the Bank of England.
 

But the virtual shutdown of swathes of the economy since then has forced the government – like many other countries around the world – to come up with a new plan.
 

Britain’s independent budget office drew comparisons with World War II.
 

“Now is not a time to be squeamish about public sector debt,” Robert Chote, head of the Office for Budget Responsibility, told lawmakers.
 

“In some ways it’s like a wartime situation,” Chote said. “We ran during the Second World War budget deficits in excess of 20% of GDP five years on the trot and that was the right thing to do.”
 

OBR member Charlie Bean said there was a “very good argument” for the government to act as insurer against coronavirus losses and any attempt to forecast what would happen to the economy in the next year or two was “pie in the sky.”
 

But Bean also said the economic damage from coronavirus should prove to be less than the hit caused by the global financial crisis a decade ago.
 

In his first budget statement to parliament last week, Sunak promised 30 billion pounds ($37 billion) of measures to support public healthcare, affected businesses and provide broader economic stimulus in the face of the coronavirus.
 

On Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron said his government would guarantee 300 billion euros worth of loans, and promised that no French company would be allowed to collapse.
 

Adam Marshall, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, called for more government action.
 

“Government has got to do more on the upfront costs facing businesses,” he told the BBC.
 

Suspension of tax bills would be the most useful immediate step, he said.
 
 
Businesses hit
 

British companies have already been hit by the crisis. The world’s biggest catering firm, Compass Group, warned that its half-yearly operating profit would be lower than expected.
 

Johnson is under pressure to clarify whether he plans to formally order pubs and theaters to close after telling the public to avoid these businesses.
 

Business owners said the announcement would destroy demand, but unless the government mandated their closure they would be unable to claim on insurance policies.
 

“You can’t tell the nation to avoid ‘pubs and clubs’ and not officially ‘close us’ so that we can claim our insurance. Please help,” said Fraser Carruthers, who co-owns nightclubs, including Mahiki, which was popular with younger members of the royal family.
 

Shares in pub group Marstons were down 28% and Mitchells & Butlers down 16%.
 

New Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey promised more “prompt action” on Monday, less than a week after an emergency rate cut by the BoE as the scale of the coronavirus hit to the economy became clearer.
 

Investors are watching for another rate cut, possibly before the BoE’s next scheduled announcement on March 26, even though its room for maneuver has been reduced by last week’s action when its benchmark lending rate was cut to 0.25%.
 

The central bank is also expected to expand its 435 billion-pound government bond buying program. (Additional reporting by Kylie MacLellan; Editing by William Schomberg; Jane Merriman and Giles Elgood)

 

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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday he will close the country’s borders to anyone not a citizen, an American or a permanent resident and asked all Canadians to say home amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“All Canadians as much as possible should stay home,” Trudeau said said outside his residence, where is self-isolating after his wife tested positive for the virus.

Trudeau said his government based its decisions on science and public health recommendations, but said Americans would exempted despite cases surging in the U.S.

“We recognize that the level of integration of our two economies,” he said.

The U.S. is by far Canada’s largest trading partner — accounting for 75 percent of the country’s exports. Trudeau has spoken to U.S. President Donald Trump in recent days.

Trudeau also said his government will restrict flights to Canada to airports in four major cities. The Canadian government is also mandating air carriers to screen passengers with symptoms of the novel coronavirus out of lines so they don’t board planes home.

He said the country is taking “increasingly aggressive steps” to keep everyone safe.

 

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Motion capture technology is no longer just available for filmmakers and video game makers to transform human actors into other creatures. With the smartphone and other technologies, anyone can have their movements captured and analyzed to learn about how the body is moving for better physical performance and to avoid injuries.  VOA’s Elizabeth Lee has the details. 

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Spain is suffering Europe’s worst coronavirus contagion after Italy, according to government officials who have declared a “state of alarm” to implement the type of emergency measures instituted in Italy, forcing people to stay indoors even at the risk of economic paralysis. 

According to Spanish health authorities, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases rose past 9,000 on Monday, increasing at a rate of 35% over the weekend when the government issued quarantine orders for all of Spain. 

In Italy, confirmed coronavirus cases by Monday had exceeded 24,000, second only to China where the infection began. The government there has been criticized for not instituting emergency measures earlier than it did.   

“By applying nationwide measures early on we hope to get above the contagion curve,” said Madrid Community Vice President Ignacio Aguado, who administers health programs in Spain’s capital where about half of Spain’s coronavirus cases are concentrated. 

He says the number of fatalities has been reduced through stepped-up testing and emergency care throughout the country, including the requisitioning of private hospitals and mobilizing of military medical teams. Fewer than 350 people were reported to have died in Spain as of Monday, compared to more than 1,800 in Italy.   

But the measures are expected to take a heavy toll on the economy. 

“Calculations of the economic impact are of major proportion” said Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez when he announced the state of emergency on Saturday. As in other countries, the Madrid stock market has seen share values decline by about one-third. 

Tourism – a major source of income which has helped to cushion Spain from previous economic crises – has suffered the heaviest blow as beaches, scenic town centers and all forms of outside entertainment have been declared off limits or banned. 

During the weekend, police vans and drones armed with loudspeakers warned citizens to stay away from beachside promenades and boulevards, while tourists crowded into airports to await repatriation to their respective countries.   

The city of Seville is being forced to cancel its annual holy week processions, famous bull fights and horse fairs at a cost of about $500 million – a sum that some fear could bankrupt the southern region of Andalucia.   

Union and business leaders say they fear massive unemployment if the crisis drags on for months.   

Public health officials in Madrid predict that that the epidemic will not peak until April. 

Madrid Mayor Jose Luis Martinez Almeida has blamed the rapid propagation of the virus in Spain’s capital on a March 8 Women’s Day march led by government ministers. City officials had called for the march to be canceled in view of the growing health emergency.  

The wives of Sanchez and of Deputy Prime Minister Pablo Iglesias were found to be infected with the virus after participating the march.   

The entire leadership of the far right VOX party also went into quarantine last week following a rally in the Madrid suburb of Vista Alegre.   

At a press conference Sunday night, the ministers of interior, defense, sanitation and transport – who make up a newly formed emergency cabinet – announced plans to reduce road transport throughout Spain by 85%.   

Their declaration followed complaints from local authorities in eastern and southern coastal regions that Madrid residents were coming to serve their quarantines at their vacation homes.  

Protesting neighbors gathered outside the villa of former prime minister Jose Maria Azanar when he arrived from Madrid at the southern resort of Marbella with his family. 

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Berlin is trying to stop Washington from persuading a German company seeking a coronavirus vaccine to move its research to the United States, prompting German politicians to insist no country should have a monopoly on any future vaccine.

German government sources told Reuters on Sunday that the U.S. administration was looking into how it could gain access to a potential vaccine being developed by a German firm, CureVac.

Earlier, the Welt am Sonntag German newspaper reported that U.S. President Donald Trump had offered funds to lure CureVac to the United States, and the German government was making counter-offers to tempt it to stay.

There was no comment immediately available from the U.S. embassy in Berlin when contacted by Reuters over the report.

“The German government is very interested in ensuring that vaccines and active substances against the new coronavirus are also developed in Germany and Europe,” a Health Ministry spokeswoman said, confirming a quote in the newspaper.

“In this regard, the government is in intensive exchange with the company CureVac,” she added.

Welt am Sonntag also quoted an unidentified German government source as saying Trump was trying to secure the scientists’ work exclusively, and would do anything to get a vaccine for the United States, “but only for the United States.”

CureVac issued a statement on Sunday, in which it said: “The company rejects current rumors of an acquisition”.

The firm said it was in contact with many organizations and authorities worldwide, but would not comment on speculation and rejected “allegations about offers for acquisition of the company or its technology.”

A German Economy Ministry spokeswoman said Berlin “has a great interest” in producing vaccines in Germany and Europe.

She cited Germany’s foreign trade law, under which Berlin can examine takeover bids from non-EU, so-called third countries “if national or European security interests are at stake”.

EXPERIMENTAL VACCINE

Florian von der Muelbe, CureVac’s chief production officer and co-founder, told Reuters last week the company had started with a multitude of coronavirus vaccine candidates and was now selecting the two best to go into clinical trials.

The privately-held company based in Tuebingen, Germany hopes to have an experimental vaccine ready by June or July to then seek the go-ahead from regulators for testing on humans.

On its website, CureVac said CEO Daniel Menichella early this month met Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force and senior representatives of pharmaceutical and biotech companies to discuss a vaccine.

Karl Lauterbach, a professor of health economics and epidemiology who is also a senior German lawmaker tweeted: “The exclusive sale of a possible vaccine to the USA must be prevented by all means. Capitalism has limits.”

CureVac in 2015 and 2018 secured financial backing for development projects from its investor the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, working on shots to prevent malaria and influenza.

In the field of so-called mRNA therapeutics, CureVac competes with U.S. biotech firm Moderna and German rival BioNTech, which Pfizer has identified as a potential collaboration partner.

Drugs based on mRNA provide a type of genetic blueprint that can be injected into the body to instruct cells to produce the desired therapeutic proteins. That contrasts with the conventional approach of making these proteins in labs and bio-reactors.

In the case of vaccines, the mRNA prompts body cells to produce so-called antigens, the tell-tale molecules on the surface of viruses, that spur the immune system into action.

Companies working on other coronavirus-vaccine approaches include Johnson & Johnson and INOVIO Pharmaceuticals, Inc. 

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A clinical trial evaluating a vaccine designed to protect against the new coronavirus will begin Monday, according to a government official.

The first participant in the trial will receive the experimental vaccine on Monday, the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the trial has not been publicly announced yet. The National Institutes of Health is funding the trial, which is taking place at the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute in Seattle, the official said.

Public health officials say it will take a year to 18 months to fully validate any potential vaccine.

Testing will begin with 45 young, healthy volunteers with different doses of shots co-developed by NIH and Moderna Inc. There’s no chance participants could get infected from the shots, because they don’t contain the virus itself. The goal is purely to check that the vaccines show no worrisome side effects, setting the stage for larger tests.

Dozens of research groups around the world are racing to create a vaccine as COVID-19 cases continue to grow. Importantly, they’re pursuing different types of vaccines — shots developed from new technologies that not only are faster to produce than traditional inoculations but might prove more potent. Some researchers even aim for temporary vaccines, such as shots that might guard people’s health a month or two at a time while longer-lasting protection is developed.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. The worldwide outbreak has sickened more than 156,000 people and left more than 5,800 dead. The death toll in the United States is more than 50, while infections neared 3,000 across 49 states and the District of Columbia.

The vast majority of people recover. According to the World Health Organization, people with mild illness recover in about two weeks, while those with more severe illness may take three weeks to six weeks to recover.

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Sairagul Sauytbay, who said she faced torture in the Chinese detention camps in the Xinjiang region, never thought her story of survival would gain international attention one day.

The 43-year-old Kazakh woman said she was stunned last Wednesday when U.S. first lady Melania Trump handed Sauytbay the U.S. State Department’s International Women of Courage Award for providing firsthand details of the human rights situation in the camps.

“I am also thankful to this country and the Trump administration for upholding values of democracy and human rights, and for sending a strong signal to China to stop its abuses against both Kazakhs and Uighurs who are being oppressed,” Sauytbay told VOA.

She said she hoped her story of survival could inspire other Xinjiang residents to speak up about the harsh conditions they are facing. 

“I strongly hope that this award would help raise awareness to the human tragedy in East Turkestan, and other countries around the world also step out and help the plight of the voiceless Uighurs and Kazakhs oppressed in China,” she said. 

East Turkestan is a term often used by the Muslim community in China to refer to Xinjiang.

Stepped-up campaign

Sauytbay worked as a medical doctor when the Chinese authorities stepped up their campaign in Xinjiang in early 2017.

Before her detention by the authorities, she said, she was forced to work in a camp as an instructor, teaching other detainees Mandarin and Chinese Communist Party propaganda.

“Chinese authorities confiscated my passport long before I was first detained in 2017,” Sauytbay told VOA, adding that she was prevented from moving to Kazakhstan with her husband and two children in early 2016.

She was allegedly tortured and imprisoned in the detention camps for about six months before her release in March 2018.

She crossed the border illegally into Kazakhstan in April 2018 because of fears that she could be detained again.

“The only dream I had at the time was to unite with my family in Kazakhstan. So I decided to take the risk to cross the border without legal documents,” she told VOA.

While in Kazakhstan, Sauytbay was jailed for illegal border-crossing and denied asylum. Sauytbay and her family later moved to Sweden, where she gained international attention as a female activist spreading awareness of the alleged Chinese crackdown in Xinjiang.

‘Continues to inspire’

During the award ceremony Wednesday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Sauytbay “bravely” gave details of the detention camps and “continues to inspire other former detainees and family members to come forward to tell their stories to the world.”

Xinjiang is a majority Uighur autonomous region but also hosts about 1.5 million Kazakhs. Many Chinese Kazakhs who flee the region slip into neighboring Kazakhstan, which shares a 1,770-kilometer border with China

Those who arrive in Kazakhstan say that Kazakhs, along with Uighurs, are facing a severe government crackdown by the Chinese government. More than a million people are believed to be detained in the camps.

China, however, has denied such allegations, claiming the facilities are “vocational training centers” that help the local community obtain “new skills.”

Chinese officials have said the measures taken in Xinjiang are part of China’s “war on three evils”: extremism, terrorism and separatism.

During his visit to Kazakhstan in February, Pompeo urged Kazakh officials to offer “safe refuge and asylum” to those fleeing China. The U.S. official met with five Chinese Kazakhs who said their family members were either held in camps or sentenced to long prison terms, and some were forced to work in factories as cheap labor. 

One of the five Kazakhs, Aqiqat Qaliolla, became a naturalized Kazakhstan citizen in 2018, four years after his move from China. He told VOA that he had yet to learn the whereabouts of his parents and two brothers who were put in camps in early 2018.

“I first lost contact with my family in March 2018. Later, friends told me that my father, mother and two brothers were taken to concentration camps. I also heard that China even sentenced my father to 20 years in prison,” he said. 

Immigrating to Kazakhstan 

For years, the government in Kazakhstan has said it welcomes the influx of Kazakhs living around the world, including from Xinjiang. By 2016, nearly 1 million Kazakhs had acquired Kazakhstan citizenship, with almost 15% of them believed to have come from China. 

The Chinese Kazakhs, aided by shared language and culture, were quick to assimilate in Kazakhstan but still maintained close ties with their relatives in Xinjiang. However, those ties were cut in 2017 during the Chinese crackdown in the region.

Aidin Aghimolda, a Kazakh from Xinjiang, went to Kazakhstan in 2003 as a student and later became a Kazakhstan citizen. He told VOA he had recently learned that his three siblings and a sister-in-law in Xinjiang were taken to detention camps in August 2018.

“Two of my brothers, a sister and a sister-in-law were all taken to camps on the same day in August of 2018 for no apparent reason,” Aghimolda told VOA, adding that all of them were given long prison sentences, ranging from 11 to 14 years.

Another victim, Muhamet Qizilbek, immigrated with his family to Kazakhstan in 2014 and obtained his citizenship in 2018. He said his wife went to visit her parents with a Chinese passport and Kazakh residence card in 2017, and she has not been able to come back since then. 

“When my wife arrived in China, they took away her passport and Kazakh residence card, and she had been first put in house arrest for 90 days before being taken to an internment camp. She was in the camp for a year and then was moved to a factory with an 800-yuan monthly salary,” he told VOA.

Kazakhstan’s dilemma 

Nargis Kassenova, a senior fellow at the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University, told VOA that the Xinjiang issue has put Kazakhstan’s government in a difficult position because of the country’s close economic ties to China.

“It tries not to make strong moves that would upset too much the domestic public opinion and China, keeping both moderately upset,” Kassenova told VOA. 

She said Kazakh officials are trying to maintain the “delicate balance” by “downplaying the plight of ethnic Kazakhs in Xinjiang, at the same time increasing the number of visas issued to ethnic Kazakhs from China.”

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In the darkness, the team suits up quietly, putting on their helmets and tactical gear. Federal agents lug battering rams, bolt cutters and heavy weaponry by foot up a hill on a residential California street that’s softly aglow from street lamps. Then the agents turn onto the walkway of their target’s home.

“Police! Search warrant!” one officer yells as agents bang on the front door. “Police search warrant!” And then three thunderous bangs as the task force breaks down the front door.

Moments later, a reputed member of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, known as CJNG, is walked out in handcuffs.

In early-morning raids Wednesday, agents fanned out across the United States, culminating a six-month investigation with the primary goal of dismantling the upper echelon of CJNG and hoping to get closer to capturing its leader, one of the most wanted men in America. There’s a $10 million reward for the arrest of Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera.

The gang controls between one-third and two-thirds of the U.S. drug market. It is so violent that members leave piles of bodies in streets and hanging from overpasses in Mexico, and they fill the city of Guadalajara with mass graves. They carry machine guns and hand grenades. They once used rocket launchers to shoot down a Mexican military helicopter.

More than 600 people have been arrested during the operation in recent months, more than 15,000 kilos of meth was seized and nearly $20 million was taken as search and arrest warrants were executed. About 250 were arrested Wednesday.

“El Mencho and his associates prey on the addicts, and they prey on small towns where they can act as bullies and infiltrate these small towns,” said Wendy Woolcok, the special agent in charge of Drug Enforcement Administration’s special operations division. “They promise hope, and they deliver despair.”

A top target

For the U.S, combating Mexico’s fastest-growing and most violent gang is a top priority. Law enforcement officials believe the gang has drug distribution hubs in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Houston and Atlanta. It is believed to have a presence in 24 of Mexico’s 32 states.

Unlike other cartels, CJNG shows no reluctance in directly attacking police and army patrols and is blamed for the deadliest attacks against law enforcement forces in Mexico. In eliminating rivals, it has carried out spectacular acts of violence.

“Their propensity to violence is a big part of it. They’re a very violent organization, they’re a well-armed organization. But really, the gasoline that was thrown on the fire was synthetic drugs,” said Bill Bodner, the special agent in charge of the DEA’s field office in Los Angeles.

The Associated Press had exclusive access to the raid outside Los Angeles and the national command center.

In California, about a dozen team members prepped early Wednesday for their target. They searched the home, a stately, salmon-colored Spanish Colonial-style with a large chandelier in the foyer, palm trees in the front yard, and crawled on the ground to look under cars, including a black Lexus, in the driveway. No shots were fired.

Victor Ochoa, 34, was arrested on drug charges. The DEA alleges he acts as a stash house manger for the cartel.

Command center

At the command center tucked inside a nondescript government building in northern Virginia, a group of a dozen analysts and agents sat behind computer screens. As agents were banging down doors across the country, the phones rang at the command center and analysts recorded the number of arrests and amount of drugs seized on printed worksheets.

An analyst entered the information into a DEA computer as other analysts ran phone numbers, addresses and nicknames found inside the homes being searched.

The special agent in charge of the special operations division assembled with her team in front of a heat map — red dots glowing darker and darker as more arrests are made, primarily in Texas, California and New Jersey. By 9 a.m., more than 60 people had been taken into custody.

Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski, head of the Justice Department’s criminal division, called the operation “the most comprehensive action to date in the Department of Justice’s effort to disrupt, dismantle and ultimately destroy CJNG”

While Mexican drug cartels made their money predominantly from marijuana in past decades, the market has somewhat dissipated with the state-level legalization of cannabis in dozens of states across the U.S.

Now, they’ve turned to methamphetamine and fentanyl, selling it at almost 14 times the price it cost to make and flooding the streets of the U.S., fueling homelessness and the opioid crisis, and leaving behind another trail of bodies: from overdoses.

Multidrug shipments

The Jalisco Cartel was formed in 2010 from a wing of the Sinaloa cartel based in the western city of Guadalajara. While it once specialized in producing methamphetamine, like most Mexican cartels it has expanded into multidrug shipments including fentanyl, cocaine, meth and heroin.

The cartel is led by the elusive Oseguera, whose bodyguards once shot down a Mexican military helicopter to prevent his arrest. In recent weeks, prosecutors have brought charges against his son, Nemesio Oseguera, also known as “El Menchito,” and his daughter, Jessica Johanna Oseguera.

And officials say he’s more dangerous than reputed Mexican drug kingpin and escape artist Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, who as leader of the Sinaloa cartel ran a massive drug conspiracy that spread murder and mayhem for more than two decades.

“I think the threat from El Mencho and CJNG is greater right now because in my opinion, at the time Chapo was captured or at the time he was kind of at his at his heyday, so to speak, the Sinaloa Cartel was fractured. It was a little broken up,” Bodner said.

El Chapo was a little flashier, but Mencho and the Jalisco gang see their drug business as just that — business, Bodner said.

“They have a little bit more discipline. They’re not necessarily into the partying and living the good life. It’s just about the business of drug trafficking and control, and that’s what makes them scarier,” Bodner said.

The Jalisco cartel is also known for brazen tactics such as driving around in convoys of pickup trucks marked with the letters “CJNG” and for circulating videos of heavily armed cartel gunmen in military-style dress. While Mexico says it is no longer concentrating on detaining drug lords, the Mexican government has extradited Oseguera’s son and has detained some of his associates.

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Pacific islands are imposing strict lockdown measures to combat the coronavirus, denying access to supply vessels and prohibiting human-to-human contact during aircraft refueling, amid fears their small health care systems could be overrun.

The region recorded its first case of coronavirus this week, in French Polynesia, although most island nations cannot screen for COVID-19 cases onshore, which is potentially masking its spread.

One of the wealthiest Pacific nations, Fiji, this week opened its first facility capable of testing for the coronavirus, one of only four such facilities in the region, Radio New Zealand reported.

Brad Ives, senior captain on the supply vessel Kwai, said the sailing ship was loaded with supplies for five populated coral atolls in the northern Cook Islands, in the South Pacific, when it received word it would be refused entry.

“Fortunately, we got notice that they were going to refuse the ship before we departed our last port,” Ives told Reuters.

“There’s cargo on it that will expire. It’s a bit of a problem for us that we are solving as we go.”

Kwai is now in the Line Islands reorganizing its route.

Complete isolation

While all Pacific nations have introduced widespread restrictions on international travelers over the past several weeks, some are now completely isolating their island populations.

The United States-backed Marshall Islands this week suspended all incoming air travel, while those on aircraft landing to refuel are being restricted from human-to-human contact.

Cruise ships have been denied port calls in New Caledonia, Tonga, Cook Islands and Samoa, among others, over the past fortnight, as local authorities tighten controls.

The island of Pukapuka, a tiny coral atoll in the Cook Islands with a population of 500, has been left short of foods like sugar, flour and rice after turning away the Kwai supply vessel.

Island residents understand that coronavirus infection could be catastrophic because of a lack of medical facilities, said Pukapukan community member Kirianu Nio, who now lives on the more heavily populated island of Rarotonga.

“They are short in processed foods, which are the main supplies they normally order in bulk, but that’s a small price to pay,” said Nio.

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Vladimir Putin has formally signed off on constitutional amendments that would allow the Russian leader to run again for president in 2024.

His approval comes a day after it was reported that all of Russia’s regional parliaments had voted in favor of the measures.

In January, Putin announced a major shake-up of Russian politics and a constitutional overhaul, which the Kremlin described as a redistribution of power from the presidency to parliament.

But earlier this week, Putin, who has been president or prime minister of Russia for two decades, appeared in the State Duma to back a new amendment that would allow him to ignore a current constitutional ban on him running again in 2024.

The previous rules forbade him from running for a third consecutive mandate, but that changes with the provisions of the amendments, meaning he can seek a fifth overall presidential term in 2024, and conceivably a sixth in 2030.

The Kremlin notes that Putin has not said whether or not he will run again in 2024.

Other constitutional changes further strengthen the presidency and emphasize the priority of Russian law over international norms — a provision reflecting the Kremlin’s irritation with the European Court of Human Rights and other international bodies that have often issued verdicts against Russia.

The changes also outlaw same-sex marriage and mention “a belief in God” as one of Russia’s traditional values.

Both houses of the national parliament have already backed the changes as has every single regional parliament.

“The Federation Council [the upper house of parliament] has received the results of voting in all 85 regional parliaments,” said Andrei Klishas, chairman of the council’s committee on constitutional law. “They are all positive,” RIA cited him as saying on March 13.

The list of 85 regions he referenced includes two which are part of Russian-controlled Crimea, which Moscow forcibly annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

Russia’s Constitutional Court must now examine the constitutional changes, which are due to be put to a nationwide vote in April.

Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of the State Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament, urged its members on March 12 to rally behind Putin against what he said was a foreign campaign to discredit the constitutional reforms.

 

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An official of the United Nations mission in Mali says two people who were kidnapped in Burkina Faso in December 2018 have been released.  

Mission officials say the Canadian woman and the Italian man were found near Kidal, in northern Mali, and were turned over to U.N. peacekeepers in good health.  

The two are identified as Edith Blais and Luca Tacchetto.
 

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India prides itself on popularizing yoga and meditation in many parts of the world. Now it is watching to see if the country’s traditional greeting, the namaste, described as “virus-proof,” goes global as some world leaders adopt it amid the coronavirus pandemic.
 
As health authorities advise people to avoid shaking hands to curb the spread of the highly contagious coronavirus, U.S. President Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Britain’s Prince Charles this week used something resembling the Indian greeting, which involves welcoming a guest with palms pressed together.   

“Namaste,” a combination of two Sanskrit words, translates into “bowing to you” and does not involve skin contact and allows people to maintain a distance.   
 
Macron folded his palms in the traditional Indian manner and bowed slightly while greeting Spain’s King Felipe and Queen Letizia at the Elysee Palace in Paris earlier this week.

The French ambassador to New Delhi, Emmanuel Lenain, tweeted, “President Macron has decided to greet all his counterparts with a namaste, a graceful gesture that he has retained from his India visit in 2018.”
 
When Trump was asked by reporters how he greeted the Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar during their meeting in Washington Thursday, both leaders put their hands together to demonstrate what they did.

“I just got back from India. And I did not shake any hands there, and it was very easy because they go like this and Japan goes like this,” Trump said doing a quick demonstration of the Indian namaste and the Japanese ojigi — bowing.

“They are ahead of the curve,” he said.
 
Of course, it is not easy to forego the customary handshake, the usual photo opportunity in the halls of power that is often carefully watched to see how long or warm it is.

Trump said “we looked at each other and said what are we going to do? Sort of a weird feeling.”  

“It almost feels impersonal. It feels like you’re being rude,” Varadkar said. “But we just can’t afford to think like that for the next few weeks.”
 
In Britain, Prince Charles, the heir to the throne, also used the namaste-style greeting instead of a handshake as he met guests at a London event.

Again, replacing the deeply ingrained habit was not easy.
 
A video shows him putting his hand forward to greet Sir Kenneth Olisa, the lord lieutenant of Greater London, Queen Elizabeth’s representative in Greater London, and then quickly withdrawing it and folding his hands instead.

“It’s just so hard to remember not to,” he is reported to have said.

Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu advocated the Indian-style greeting to his country and went on to demonstrate it by folding his hands at a press conference.     
 
In India, too, where handshakes and hugs have become popular, especially in cities, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reminded the country of the benefits of sticking to the traditional greeting.
 
Saying that the world is picking up the habit, he advised citizens who had junked the namaste that this is the right time to revert to it.

Most people are heeding the advice amid mounting fears of the spread of the coronavirus.
 

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Welsh-born designer Lucy Jones has launched a unique fashion brand in New York City — clothes made specifically for people with disabilities. Anna Nelson met with the inspiring designer to learn more about her business — and Anna Rice narrates her story.

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As Xi Jinping toured the coronavirus-stricken city of Wuhan this week, setting the tone for an official narrative that China will win a “People’s War,” numerous social media users went to extraordinary lengths to make an alternative voice heard.

The effort to get around China’s censors and publish the words of Wuhan doctor Ai Fen, the first to sound the alarm about the virus, was among the most elaborate in an outpouring of dissent against the government narrative as the outbreak exacts a devastating human and economic toll.

In a bid to fool censors’ artificial intelligence software, netizens translated an interview with Ai, head of the emergency room at Wuhan Central Hospital, into at least five languages and reformatted it in at least 22 ways.

The text was rendered backward, into emojis, Braille, oracle bone script, Morse code, song sheets and even the Elvish language from Lord of the Rings.

“The scale and intensity of the pushback against propaganda during this virus outbreak is unprecedented,” said Zhan Jiang, a media professor at Beijing Foreign Studies University.

“To some extent, the ‘404 system’ has collapsed temporarily,” he told Reuters, referring to the error message that appears when content has been moved or deleted. “It will bounce back into this seesaw game with the netizens.”

Tighter lid

Under Xi, censorship has steadily tightened. Alfred Wu, an associate professor at the National University of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, expects that to continue after the virus outbreak.

“Aware that many are unhappy, it is in the nature of the party to adopt the strategy of offense as defense,” he said, referring to the ruling Communist Party.

The Cyberspace Administration of China, the country’s internet regulator, did not reply to a request for comment.

Xi acknowledged the suffering of those infected or forced to stay at home when he visited Wuhan.

“People under lengthy quarantine have some frustrations to vent,” which should be understood and tolerated, state television cited him as saying.

In the article that was repeatedly deleted and reposted, Ai recounted how instead of taking early precautions after she warned others about the virus, the hospital chastised her for spreading rumours and causing panic — part of the suppression of early information that exacerbated the spread of the virus, officially named SARS-CoV-2.

“Had I known how things would turn out, I wouldn’t care if I got criticized. I would’ve told the whole world,” Ai, who has lost patients and colleagues to the novel coronavirus, said in the interview with Chinese magazine People, giving a grim account of deaths and the strain on medical staff.

Neither Ai nor a hospital representative could immediately be reached for comment.

‘Decisive battle’

Xi, who was conspicuously absent from state media coverage in the outbreak’s early days, has become the face of the virus fight. After his Wuhan visit, state news outlet Xinhua posted a video, The People’s Leader commanding the decisive battle.

There is little sign that Xi has been politically weakened by the outbreak. Indeed, the worsening global pandemic makes China’s response look effective, strengthening Beijing’s official narrative.

After Xi visited a Wuhan hospital and stood in front of a red banner that said, “Resolutely winning the people’s war,” Fang Fang, a Wuhan novelist who has gained a following by posting diary entries about life in a city under lockdown, wrote: “Remember, there is no win, only an end.”

Fang’s postings are often scrubbed from social media, but her blog is intact on Caixin, an independent media outlet, where each entry gets tens of thousands of reads.

The death from coronavirus last month of Li Wenliang, a doctor from the same Wuhan hospital and one of the eight given a police warning for circulating Ai’s message about the disease, triggered a rare outpouring of outrage against authorities. The government ended up honoring Li among more than 500 “model health care workers.”

“A healthy society should have more than one voice,” Li said in a Caixin interview before his death from the virus, in what became a rallying cry for free speech among Chinese netizens.

Last week, a rare view of public anger involving a top central official went viral: A video clip showed residents of a Wuhan apartment complex accusing employees of staging the delivery of groceries to impress a high-level inspection tour, jeering, “It’s fake!”

Last Friday, Wuhan party secretary Wang Zhonglin’s launch of a “gratitude education” campaign asking residents to be thankful to Xi and the party triggered backlash.

“Anyone with a conscience would not demand the people of Wuhan, still reeling from shock, to be grateful,” commentator Chu Zhaoxin said in a WeChat article that went viral.

The official newspaper article announcing Wang’s campaign was later removed.

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The coronavirus outbreak has increased preventive measures in airports around the United States. Everyone from travelers, TSA agents and staff members are using all kinds of methods to keep themselves germ-free. VOA’s Celia Mendoza asked passengers about their main concerns while flying.  

 

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