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Nepal’s political turmoil may get new twist as Madhesi party gets poll panel nod - world news

A newly-formed Madhesi party officially registered with Nepal’s election commission on Sunday after all its documents were accepted by the poll panel.The Janata Samajbadi Party of Nepal (JSPN) was formed on April 23 after the merger of Samajbadi Party Nepal and Rastriya Janata Party Nepal.The party had applied for registration on June 7, but claimed that the process was delayed by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, who is facing turmoil within his ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP).The certificate for registration was finally issued on Sunday.With 32 seats in the Lower House, the JSPN has now become the third-largest party after the NCP with 173 seats and the main Opposition Nepali Congress with 60 seats in the 275-member House of Representatives.Though it has supported the constitutional amendment bill passed by the Nepal government to change the country’s map, the JSPN has been against a new citizenship amendment bill being pushed by the Oli government which seeks to impose restrictions on people who are not the country’s citizens.The Madhesis, mostly of Indian-origin, belong to this category.They had launched a six-month-long agitation during Oli’s previous term in 2015-16 in which more than 50 people were killed. The agitation had also crippled the landlocked country’s economy as supplies from India were blocked.The new Madhesi party can play a crucial role in Nepal’s political spectrum as pressure is mounting on Oli to quit the post of the prime minister. Read the full article

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Dalai Lama is welcome to visit Taiwan, says foreign ministry - world news

Taiwan would welcome a visit by exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, its foreign ministry has said, adding that any invitation would be handled under “relevant rules” if a request to visit is received, reported Radio Free Asia, a US-funded international broadcasting corporation.The Dalai Lama is “welcome to come to Taiwan again to propagate the Buddhist teachings,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou said on Monday, adding that an application by the Dalai Lama to visit would be handled “in accordance with the principle of mutual respect and at a time of convenience for both sides.”A visit to Taiwan by the Dalai Lama would be his first since 2009 and would certainly anger Beijing, which claims self-governing Taiwan as a renegade province and regards the Tibetan spiritual leader as a dangerous separatist intent on splitting Tibet from Chinese rule.“As the political scenario changes, it may be that I’ll be able to visit you in Taiwan again soon. I hope so,” the Dalai Lama said in a video message sent to supporters in Taiwan on the occasion of his birthday, July 6, and referring apparently to recent moves by the country’s president Tsai Ing-wen to further distance from China.“Whatever happens, I’ll remain with you in spirit,” the Dalai Lama said.Greetings Read the full article

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Serbia police detain 71 after 4th night of coronavirus protests - world news

Serbian police detained 71 people after clashes during the fourth night of anti-government protests against the Serbian president that were initially sparked by his plans to reintroduce a coronavirus lockdown.Fourteen policemen were injured in the rioting Friday evening when hundreds of right-wing demonstrators tried to storm the parliament building in downtown Belgrade, police director Vladimir Rebic said Saturday. Many demonstrators and several reporters were also injured in the protests. More protests were expected Saturday night.Serbian media reported that among the detained is a former parliament member and one of the leaders of the violent protesters, pro-Russian far-right politician Srdjan Nogo.The protesters, defying an anti-virus ban on gatherings, threw bottles, rocks and flares at police who were guarding the parliament building, and police responded with tear gas to disperse the angry crowds.Similar clashes erupted twice earlier this week. The protests first started when populist President Aleksandar Vucic announced a strict curfew for this weekend to curb a surge in new coronavirus cases in the Balkan countryVucic later scraped the plan to impose the lockdown. Authorities instead banned gatherings of more than 10 people in Belgrade, the capital, and shortened the working hours of indoor businesses.Many Read the full article

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Bolsonaro’s love for hydroxychloroquine costs Brazil another health minister - world news

Brazil’s health minister resigned Friday after less than a month on the job in a sign of continuing upheaval over how the nation should battle the coronavirus pandemic, quitting a day after President Jair Bolsonaro stepped up pressure on him to expand use of the antimalarial drug chloroquine in treating patients.Dr. Nelson Teich, an oncologist and health care consultant, took the job April 17 faced with the task of aligning the ministry’s actions with the president’s view that Brazil’s economy must not be destroyed by restrictions to control spread of the virus.Teich’s predecessor, Luiz Henrique Mandetta, also had rejected the use of choloquine, which also had been touted by US President Donald Trump as a treatment.Officials say more than 13,000 people have died in Brazil from Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, though some experts say the figure is significantly higher due to insufficient testing. The peak of the crisis has yet to hit Latin America’s largest nation, experts say.Gen. Eduardo Pazuello, who had no health experience until he became the Health Ministry’s No. 2 official in April, will be the interim minister until Bolsonaro chooses a replacement. Brazilian media have said that Teich’s ability to do his job had been weakened by the appointment of dozens of military personnel to jobs in the ministry.“Life is made up of choices and today I decided to leave,” Teich told journalists in capital Brasilia. He did not explain why he left the job and refused to answer questions.Teich’s resignation came one day after Bolsonaro told business leaders in a video conference he would ease rules for use of chloroquine to treat people infected with the coronavirus. Teich has frequently called use of the drug “an uncertainty,” and this week warned of its side effects.The Health Ministry previously allowed chloroquine to be used in coronavirus cases only for patients hospitalized in serious condition.At Bolsonaro’s urging, the country’s Army Chemical and Pharmaceutical Laboratory boosted chloroquine production in late March.Researchers last month reported no benefit in a large analysis of the drug or a related substance, hydroxychloroquine, in U.S. hospitals for veterans. Last month, scientists in Brazil stopped part of a study of chloroquine after heart rhythm problems developed in one quarter of people given the higher of two doses being tested.Governors who have recommended quarantine measures and refrained from touting the drug’s unproven potential said Teich’s resignation reflects Bolsonaro’s failure to manage the pandemic.Rio de Janeiro Gov. Wilson Witzel, a former ally of Bolsonaro, said “no one can do serious work with interference in ministries.” “That is why governors and mayors need to lead the pandemic crisis, and not you, Mr. President,” Witzel said on Twitter.The governor of Ceara, one of Brazil’s most hard-hit states, said Teich’s exit “brings enormous insecurity and concern.”“It is unacceptable that in the face of this serious health crisis, the focus of the government is still on political and ideological discussions. That is an affront to the nation,” Camilo Santana said.Bolsonaro fired Teich’s predecessor, Mandetta, on April 16 after disagreements over efforts to contain the new coronavirus. The president opposed governors’ quarantine recommendations and restrictions on businesses, was eager to resume economic activity and warned failure to do so would cause Brazil to descend into “chaos”.Mandetta had sided with the governors and became the embodiment of challenges to Bolsonaro’s position. Teich took office pledging to balance health care concerns and the president’s economic worries. He did not openly challenge the president’s views, but did defend stay-at-home measures.Miguel Lago, executive director of Brazil’s non-profit Institute for Health Policy Studies, which advises public health officials, said Teich wasn’t able to build his own team, didn’t have Mandetta’s political strength and wasn’t willing to violate the scientific recommendations.“He clearly had limitations,” Lago said. “He would not challenge what has been consensus among the scientific community. He would never accept the chloroquine thing that Bolsonaro wanted him to do, to recommend publicly that chloroquine was a remedy to be used in the public health system.”Risk consultancy Eurasia Group noted that while governors play a key role in responding to the virus, the Ministry of Health coordinates between states and ensures that “medical equipment is distributed to states with more need. The capacity of an effective coordinating role looks to have dropped with Mandetta’s exit,” analyst Filipe Gruppelli Carvalho said.“Ultimately, Teich’s dismissal reinforces our view of increasing risks from the government’s poor response to the pandemic, which could contribute to a weaker presidency and decline in support for Bolsonaro in the post-pandemic phase,” he said. After Teich’s resignation was announced, pot-banging protests were heard in different regions of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Read the full article

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‘Coronavirus cough’ is now a crime in United Kingdom - world news

Threatening people in emergency and essential services with a ‘coronavirus cough’ by individuals claiming to have the virus has been made a criminal offence following reports of the police, shop workers and vulnerable people being deliberately coughed at in the UK.The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said such behaviour is illegal and assaults specifically against emergency workers are punishable by up to 12 months in prison. Coughs directed as a threat at other key workers or members of the public could be charged as common assault.Some individuals have already been charged and sentenced for such assaults. The police have also been given new powers to ensure and enforce social distancing. Some gatherings and parties by people ignoring official advice have been thwarted by the police. Max Hill, director of public prosecutions, said: “Emergency workers are more essential than ever as society comes together to tackle the coronavirus pandemic. I am therefore appalled by reports of police officers and other frontline workers being deliberately coughed at by people claiming to have Covid-19”.“Let me be very clear: this is a crime and needs to stop. The CPS stands behind emergency and essential workers and will not hesitate to prosecute anybody who threatens them as they go about their vital duties.”East London-based Darren Rafferty, 45, has admitted three counts of assaulting an emergency worker after claiming to have coronavirus and directing coughs at Scotland Yard officers arresting him for another offence.Blackburn-based David Mott, 40, has been jailed after threatening to spit at the police who had asked him what he was doing out with two others after Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced stricter social distancing rules on March 23. Read the full article

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Indian-origin chef Floyd Cardoz, culinary director of The Bombay Canteen, dies because of coronavirus - more lifestyle

Home / More Lifestyle / Indian-origin chef Floyd Cardoz, culinary director of The Bombay Canteen, dies because of coronavirus

Indian-origin chef Floyd Cardoz, the culinary director of the restaurant The Bombay Canteen, has passed away in New Jersey. Floyd had tested positive for COVID-19 recently.

more-lifestyle Updated: Mar 25, 2020 18:29 IST

Floyd Cardoz had tested positive for COVID-19 recently.(Floyd Cardoz Instagram) Indian-origin chef Floyd Cardoz, the culinary director of the restaurant The Bombay Canteen, has passed away in New Jersey. Floyd had tested positive for COVID-19 recently.  Cardoz had tested positive for COVID -19, after which the company Hunger Inc., that owns The Bombay Canteen, released a statement confirming it: “Mr. Cardoz (59), currently admitted to a hospital in New York in the U.S., tested positive for COVID-19 on March 18, 2020. As a precautionary measure, we have informed the Health Department in Mumbai about the same. We are also reaching out personally to people who have interacted with him during his visit to India, so they can take necessary medical advice should they indicate any symptoms (fever, cough, shortness of breath) and/ or self-quarantine. Mr. Cardoz flew back to New York from Mumbai via Frankfurt on March 8, 2020,” it said.  Cardoz was born in Mumbai and had trained to become a biochemist, but later discovered his passion for cooking. He went to culinary school in India and Switzerland and later moved to New York City. Thank you for subscribing to our daily newsletter. Read the full article

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US President Trump spars with nation’s top immunologist over covid-19 cure - world news

In an extraordinary exchange, President Donald Trump and the government’s top infectious disease expert, Dr Anthony Fauci, publicly sparred Friday on whether a malaria drug would work to treat people with coronavirus disease.The scene played out on national television during the daily White House briefing on the outbreak. Anxious for answers, Americans heard conflicting ones from a just-the-facts scientist and a president who operates on gut instinct.Reporters asked both men — first Fauci then Trump — if a malaria drug called hydroxychloroquine could be used to prevent COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus. A day earlier, when Fauci wasn’t with him at that briefing, Trump had called attention to the drug.On Friday, Fauci took the reporter’s question and got right to the point.“No,” he said. “The answer ... is no.“The information that you’re referring to specifically is anecdotal,” Fauci added firmly. “It was not done in a controlled clinical trial, so you really can’t make any definitive statement about it.” He went on to explain that the Food and Drug Administration is looking for a way to make the drug available for emergency use, but in a manner that gives the government data about whether it’s safe and effective. Fauci is director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at NIH and in more than 30 years has handled HIV, SARS, MERS, Ebola and now the new coronavirus.Currently, there is no medicine specifically approved for treating COVID-19.But Trump stuck to what his gut was telling him. As the two men took turns at the podium, Trump said he disagreed with the notion that there is no magic drug for the coronavirus disease. “Maybe and maybe not, ” he said. “Maybe there is, maybe there isn’t. We have to see.” He struck an upbeat note, while trying not to directly challenge Fauci.“I think without seeing too much, I’m probably more of a fan of that,” he said, referring to the malaria drug. “And we all understand what the doctor said is 100% correct.” Then the president added, “It’s a strong drug. So, we’ll see.” Hydroxychloroquine and a similar drug — chloroquine — are sold around the world under a variety of brand and generic names. They can be prescribed off-label by doctors in the United States. They may interfere with the coronavirus being able to enter cells, and some scientists have reported possible encouraging signs in test-tube and other small studies.Other scientists are skeptical that those promising test-tube results will translate to benefits for patients.Fauci has a track record of being the fact-based counterpoint to the Trump administration’s upbeat assessments of the coronavirus outbreak. For much longer than that, he’s specialized in the same calm and persistent repetition of the information he thinks his audience — whether the public or physicians — needs to know.Weeks ago, after Fauci said that even with all deliberate speed a vaccine could take a year to 18 months, Trump told a political rally one could be ready “relatively soon.” As administration officials repeatedly assured the public that coronavirus tests were rapidly becoming available, Fauci at a congressional hearing said the lack of widespread testing was “a failing” of the system.Although Fauci has publicly supported Trump’s travel restrictions to try to keep the virus out, he warned the worst was coming even as Trump suggested the crisis was under good control.Rather than fighting with Trump, he stepped up to the podium Friday to say he’s not ruling the drug out, but that it must be studied before making any promises.Trump wasn’t dialing back his enthusiasm.“Look, it may work and it may not work and I agree with the doctor,” Trump said. “I feel good about it. That’s all it is. Just a feeling. You know, I’m a smart guy. I feel good about it ... You’re going to see soon enough.” The two even debated the safety of the malaria drug, with Trump saying it has a proven record and Fauci cautioning that must be validated again for coronavirus disease.In the end, the scientist seemed to be trying to find a way to avoid a direct confrontation with the president.“You know, I’m not dismissing it at all, and I hope that that interpretation wasn’t widespread,” Fauci said later on Fox News. “What I said is that we don’t have definitive proof that it works.” It wasn’t just Trump with whom Fauci took issue. Read the full article

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China sends masks, experts abroad to reshape coronavirus narrative - world news

As the fight against a new virus shifts to Europe and beyond, China is supplying millions of masks and other desperately needed items to struggling governments, hoping to build political ties and defuse criticism that it allowed the disease to spread early on.Serbia’s president plans to be at the airport this weekend to welcome a shipment of medical supplies from his “brother and friend,” Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Xi’s government has flown gloves and protective clothing to Liberia. It is sending 100,000 test kits to the Philippines. More than 10 flights carrying millions of masks and other supplies are bound for the Czech Republic this week.China, said Czech Interior Minister Jan Hamacek, is “the only country capable of supplying Europe with such amounts.”It’s part of an effort by the Communist Party to reshape the narrative, from one of early missteps to a nation that acted decisively to bring the outbreak under control. China is touting its deliveries of ventilators and masks overseas and dispatching its medical experts to share the lessons of its success.China hopes to benefit from a realization in the West of how difficult it is to bring the virus under control, said Julian Ku, a law professor at Hofstra University in New York.“The Chinese government’s failures ... will be less harshly viewed in light of the failures of other governments to respond effectively as well,” he said.Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic blasted the European Union and praised China for offering help when he announced a state of emergency to combat the outbreak. His country wants to join the EU, but his government has moved closer to Russia and China in a seesaw battle for influence.“I believe in my brother and friend Xi Jinping and I believe in China’s help,” Vucic said. “European solidarity,” he said, was just a fairy tale.EU officials denied they were stopping aid to Serbia, but said their first priority was EU members.China has given $20 million to the World Health Organization for COVID-19 efforts. While the EU and the U.S. have made larger pledges to combat the disease, they are now preoccupied by the crisis at home.The Chinese “are winning points,” said Theresa Fallon, the founder of the Center for Russia Europe Asia Studies in Brussels. “Serbia thinks that China is their savior.”Six weeks ago, Chinese authorities were trying to quell outrage at home and condemnation abroad. The critics said due to politically motivated foot-dragging, China had mishandled the viral outbreak racing through a major province and its capital, Wuhan.Now the criticism is raining down on governments from Tehran to Washington, D.C. A visiting Chinese Red Cross official chastised Italy on Thursday for letting so many people stroll the streets of Milan.“Right now we need to stop all economic activity, and we need to stop the mobility of people,” said Executive Chairman Sun Shuopeng.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 vast majority of people recover from the new virus.At one level, China is reciprocating assistance it received. Nearly 80 countries sent supplies to China, some on charter flights they sent to evacuate their citizens from Wuhan.“It is China’s traditional virtue to repay goodwill with greater kindness,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said, citing an ancient Confucian saying: “You throw a peach to me, and I give you a white jade for friendship.”But at the same time, China is deepening ties with countries that have been receptive to its outreach as it assumes a larger international role. It is shipping supplies to Cambodia, whose Prime Minister Hun Sen has been an outspoken supporter of Xi and even visited him in Beijing last month as the outbreak raged.China moved quickly to send experts and equipment to Italy, which last year became the first western European country to join China’s Belt and Road Initiative. The massive program seeks to expand trade by building ports, roads and other transportation projects in a 21st century version of the fabled Silk Road.China is ready to work with Italy to contribute to international cooperation on epidemic control and to the building of a “Health Silk Road,” Xi was quoted as telling Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte in a phone call Monday.“It’s not an accident that the heat map of where Xi Jinping is sending condolences and China is sending N95 masks overlaps pretty closely with those countries that have demonstrated a willingness to accommodate China,” said Daniel Russel, a former senior U.S. diplomat now with the Asia Society Policy Institute in New York.Opinions vary on the effectiveness of China’s efforts.“It’s an open question how far that’s going to get ... but they’re clearly giving it the old-school try,” Russel said. The Communist Party’s propaganda, he said, has been more successful at home than abroad.Clive Hamilton, author of “Silent Invasion: China’s Influence in Australia,” said that China has poured enormous resources into shaping the global discourse in recent years.“It would be a mistake to underestimate how effective” this “major international campaign to rewrite the history of the coronavirus” might be, he said.But Chu Yin, a professor of public administration at the University of International Relations in Beijing, said China lags the U.S. and Europe in its understanding of public diplomacy and has always struggled to convert humanitarian aid into diplomatic returns.“If people really expect a big boost of China’s influence through the aid, it will be difficult,” he said. “In my opinion, let’s just take the aid as doing a good deed, and it would help China’s economy if the epidemic situation in these countries is contained.” Read the full article

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US senators urge Twitter to ban Chinese Communist Party from platform - world news

Two influential Republican lawmakers on Friday urged Twitter to ban the Chinese Communist Party from using its platform for spreading “propaganda and whitewash” the entire history of its alleged coronavirus cover-up. “While the coronavirus pandemic is afflicting families, governments, and markets around the world, the Chinese Communist Party is waging a massive propaganda campaign to rewrite the history of COVID-19 and whitewash the Party’s lies to the Chinese people and the world,” wrote Senators Ben Sasse and Congressman Mike Gallagher in a letter to Twitter CEO Jack Dorse. The widespread use of Twitter by communist officials of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) during this crisis emphasises the contradiction in officials from governments that deny their citizens access to social media platforms like Twitter having access to those same platforms, oftentimes to spread disinformation, they alleged. “By banning Twitter in China, the Chinese Communist Party is keeping its citizens in the dark,” the two lawmakers said. “By putting propaganda on Twitter, the Chinese Communist Party is lying to the rest of the world,” the Senators wrote. “We believe that the propaganda campaign Chinese government officials are currently waging on Twitter -- especially during the current global crisis -- merits the removal of these individual accounts from the platform,” the letter said. In an accompanying statement, Sasse and Gallagher said that it is clear that the Chinese Communist Party officials are using Twitter to “disseminate propaganda” in the midst of a dangerous global crisis. “Even worse, this propaganda obscures and confuses users over the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic and potentially undermines efforts to contain and control the outbreak. We believe this behaviour more than warrants their removal from the platform,” they said. “Additionally, given the humanitarian importance of free and open access to the internet, we believe that access to social media platforms should be denied to government officials from countries that prohibit their own populations from accessing this very content,” the two lawmakers wrote. Read the full article

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In UK, even doctors treating patients for coronavirus not being tested - world news

Several Indian and other doctors in the frontline of treating coronavirus patients in the UK have complained that they themselves are not being tested for the virus, prompting growing concern over the ways in which the crisis is being handled by British authorities.“The worst is yet to come. Indian doctors and nursing staff are among those in the frontline of treating coronavirus patients, but we are concerned that they are not being tested”, Ramesh Mehta, president of the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin, said on Wednesday.“Indian staff is on the frontline, if they and others also go in isolation, it will further worsen the critical staff shortage in National Health Service (NHS). We have written to the Department of Health on this issue. Those who have symptoms should at least be tested,” he added.The Boris Johnson government is bracing for a spike in cases in the next three weeks. Besides advising self-isolation and closure of restaurants, pubs, theatres and public events, it has allocated an additional 330 billion pounds to deal with the situation.Besides concern expressed by many in the Indian community and Indian visitors over the lack of testing for the virus, NHS consultants and others working with less protection have spoken to the British news media, alleging the UK’s guidelines on the issue is “chaotic”.Nishant Joshi, who works in the A&E department of the Luton and Dunstable hospital, told The Guardian: “I’m treating patients who are perhaps presenting for a broken ankle and they suddenly start coughing all over you. You’re breathing in an aerosol spray of droplets and we’re not even wearing a mask – just scrubs and a plastic apron.”“So many of my friends are doctors, nurses and healthcare workers on the frontline…But it’s not going to just be a question of sacrificing ourselves, it’s the risk we pose to everyone we come into contact with which includes some of the most vulnerable people in Britain.”Joshi, whose wife is also a doctor, said “it just makes no sense to any of us”, and recalled World Health Organisation’s advice that testing and contact tracing is vital: “Yet, the (UK) government is not even testing those of us who are being exposed in the course of our work fighting this on the frontline.”Pleading to be tested, Iszy Lord, 25, a doctor working in a hospital in Grimsby, told the BBC: “We’re young and fit whereas our colleagues are much older. We’re just the sort of people who should be working in hospital right now”.“The potential implications for self-isolating people without testing are huge. What’s going to happen if anyone gets anything resembling a cold for the next few months, are we going to have to self-isolate for 14 days each time? It’s alarming”. Read the full article

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Coronavirus: Over 25 countries announce school closures, more than 300 million kids affected - india news

The coronavirus outbreak is hitting industries, economies across the globe. With more and more people choosing to stay home in the wake of the virus scare and primary education institutes temporarily discontinuing classes for children indefinitely, UN estimates nearly 300 million children to have been affected. Over 25 countries have announced or implemented some form of school closures in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. 14 countries have mandated nationwide closure of schools, impacting around 290 million school-going kids who would normally attend pre-primary to upper-secondary classes. As per the latest UN figures, more than countries have some sort of localised school closures in place. Should these nations also decide to mandate a nationwide closure of schools, the move is estimated to affect another 180 million school-going kids. The countries that have nationwide closure of schools in place include China, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Japan, Iran, Italy, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mongolia, Georgia, Bahrain, Armenia, Azerbaijan, the UAE and Republic of Korea.India is among those countries that have localised closure of schools in place. Other such nations include Afghanistan, Bhutan, France, Germany, Greece, Iraq, Pakistan, Palestine, Ukraine, the UK, the United States and VietnamOf the total 291,550,056 school kids that are being affected due to school closures across the globe, a whopping 233,169,621 are in China. The coronavirus outbreak has killed over 3,000 people across the world with more than 100,000 infected. The number of positive cases in India stands at 41 with no loss of life reported. Read the full article

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Florida: 2 dead in the state who tested positive for coronavirus - world news

Florida health officials say two people who tested positive for the new coronavirus have died in the state.The Florida Department of Health said Friday evening that the two patients who died were in their 70s and had traveled overseas. One of them was a man with underlying health issues in Santa Rosa County, in Florida’s Panhandle, according to the statement.It said the second death was that of an elderly person in the Fort Myers area.Florida also raised on Friday the number of people who have tested positive for COVID-19, the new virus strain, from four to seven.Officials had previously announced five Florida residents who had been traveling in China have also been quarantined elsewhere after testing positive for the virus.Florida authorities are announcing both people who have tested positive for the virus in the state as well as Florida residents who have tested positive elsewhere, and who may be part of other state tallies. Read the full article

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‘Completely absurd’: China’s coronavirus control tactics trigger outrage among citizens - world news

An elderly man in virus-hit China pops out to use a public toilet without wearing a compulsory face mask. The next thing he knows, police are ordering him into a van to be taken into quarantine.A video of the incident in the northern province of Hebei has been widely shared on social media amid growing anger over apparently arbitrary measures aimed at stopping the deadly epidemic from spreading.Criticised for their slow response to the virus, which emerged in the central city of Wuhan in December, chastened authorities have gone on the offensive in recent weeks, as the death toll has risen to more than 3,000 with over 80,500 infected in the country.From locking down tens of millions of people at the epicentre of the outbreak to imposing two-week quarantines on anyone who has travelled to virus-affected provinces or countries, officials are pulling out all stops to contain the virus.But there are growing complaints that their efforts are excessive, with neighbourhood committees -- which enforce the orders of the ruling Communist Party -- sometimes accused of going too far.“In my case, they acted in a simplistic and rude manner,” Zhang, a 29-year-old woman in Beijing, told AFP.Zhang was quarantined after her flatmate returned from another province and was banned from even setting foot in the shared corridor.To ensure she obeyed, a notice was stuck on her front door warning neighbours “this person is currently in quarantine. Please watch over them.”“It’s humiliating,” Zhang said.In another case shared on social media, three relatives under lockdown in the hardest-hit province of Hubei were playing mahjong when they were reprimanded by staff enforcing the prevention measures, apparently for being too close to each other.‘Completely absurd’Ge Daye was also quarantined in his home near Beijing on the orders of local officials -- not because he had travelled to a virus-hit area, but because he was born in Hubei.“I haven’t been there for six months,” the 29-year-old said.“They say the measure comes from above and admit themselves that it is not good. But the orders are the orders.”“I understand the politicians. They don’t want to bother” sorting out potentially infected people from the rest, he said.But the approach “is completely absurd”.Faced with growing discontent over its handling of the health crisis, the government is taking action.In a recent editorial, the Communist Party’s mouthpiece the People’s Daily warned against the arbitrary implementation of virus measures.“This will inevitably provoke resentment and opposition from the people,” it said.Beijing city officials also noted recently the existence of “certain problems” of abusive procedures and promised to do better.Nearly one million returnees have had to undergo 14-day quarantine in the capital.In collaboration with hundreds of municipalities, tech giants Alibaba and Tencent have launched mobile apps that use metadata to determine if the user should be isolated.If a QR code shows up green, no problem. Yellow or red means the user is off to quarantine. Read the full article

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Trump names Rep. Mark Meadows his new chief of staff - world news

Under fire for his handling of the coronavirus crisis, President Donald Trump on Friday announced a major staff overhaul, naming Rep. Mark Meadows as his new chief of staff and replacing Mick Mulvaney, who has been acting in the role for more than a year.Trump announced the surprise staff reshuffle in a series of Friday night tweets, saying Mulvaney would become the U.S. special envoy for Northern Ireland.“I have long known and worked with Mark, and the relationship is a very good one,” he wrote, thanking Mulvaney — who never shook his “acting” title — “for having served the Administration so well.”The long-rumored move makes Meadows, who announced he was not seeking reelection for his House seat from North Carolina, effectively Trump’s fourth chief of staff since taking office in 2017.The decision comes as the Trump administration has faced criticism for its handling of the novel coronavirus outbreak. Mulvaney had been leading the interagency response to the virus until Trump designated Vice President Mike Pence to lead the whole-of-government effort more than a week ago.Mulvaney has been marginalized inside the White House for months, taking on a more and more narrow role. And Trump has been eyeing the change for months, but wanted to wait until after impeachment, according to a person familiar with his thinking who spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss it publicly.Mulvaney’s allies, however, had long brushed off rumblings off his imminent departure and had said as recently as last month that he planned to stay at least through the election in November. Read the full article

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Coronavirus: 21 people test Covid-19 positive on cruise ship off California - world news

Twenty-one people aboard a mammoth cruise ship off the California coast tested positive for the new coronavirus and 19 of them are crew members, Vice President Mike Pence announced Friday, amid evidence the vessel was the breeding ground for a deadly cluster of more than 10 cases during its previous voyage.He said federal officials were working with California authorities on a plan to bring the ship to a non-commercial port. There was no immediate word on where or when the vessel will dock, and in the meantime, everyone on aboard was keeping to themselves in their rooms.“All passengers and crew will be tested for the virus,” Pence said. “Those that will need to be quarantined will be quarantined. Those who will require medical help will receive it.” Follow coronavirus latest updates here Pence said 46 of the more than 3,500 people aboard were tested in the first round. A military helicopter crew lowered test kits onto the 951-foot (290-meter) Grand Princess by rope Thursday and later retrieved them for analysis as the vessel waited off San Francisco, under orders to keep its distance from shore.Health officials trying to establish whether the virus is circulating on the Grand Princess undertook the testing after reporting that a passenger on a previous voyage of the ship, in February, died of the disease.In the past few days, health authorities disclosed that at least 10 other people who were on the same journey also were found to be infected. And some passengers on that trip stayed aboard for the current voyage — increasing crew members’ exposure to the virus.“We know the coronavirus manifested among the previous passengers ... we will be testing everyone on the ship, we will be quarantining as necessary,” Pence said. “We anticipate that they will be quarantined on the ship, they will not need to disembark.”Princess Cruises said the ship’s doctor would inform passengers and crew of their results after confirmation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Another Princess ship, the Diamond Princess, was quarantined for two weeks in Yokohama, Japan, last month because of the virus, and ultimately about 700 of the 3,700 people aboard became infected in what experts pronounced a public-health failure, with the vessel essentially becoming a floating germ factory.Meanwhile, the US death toll from the coronavirus climbed to 14, with all but one victim in Washington state, while the number of infections swelled to over 200, scattered across about half the states. Pennsylvania, Indiana, Minnesota and Nebraska reported their first cases.Also read: Swab samples of 300 Indians in coronavirus hit- Iran to arrive todayOn Wall Street, stocks swung wildly as fears mounted over the potential damage to the global economy from factory shutdowns, travel bans, quarantines and cancellations of events big and small — a list that grew to include the world-famous South by Southwest arts festival in Austin, Texas, which was set to begin next week.President Donald Trump signed an $8.3 billion measure to help public health agencies deal with crisis and spur development of vaccines and treatments.Worldwide, the virus has infected more than 100,000 people and killed over 3,400, the vast majority of them in China. Most cases have been mild, and more than half of those infected have recovered.Most of the dead in the US were from suburban Seattle’s Life Care Center nursing home, now the subject of federal and state investigations that could lead to sanctions, including a possible takeover of its management. Washington state has the nation’s biggest concentration of cases, with at least 70.Thirty medical professionals from the US Public Health Service will arrive Saturday at the nursing home to help care for patients and provide relief to the exhausted staff, said Dow Constantine, executive in charge of Seattle’s King County.Also read: Army to establish quarantine centres for 1,500 people as coronavirus spreads“We are grateful the cavalry is arriving. It will make rapid change in the conditions there,” he said.The nursing home was down to 69 residents after 15 were taken to the hospital in the preceding 24 hours, Constantine said.Some major businesses in the Seattle area — including Microsoft and Amazon, which together employ more than 100,000 people in the region — have shut down operations or urged employees to work from home. The University of Washington called off classes at its three Seattle-area campuses for the next two weeks and will instead teach its 57,000 students online. And a comics convention next week in Seattle that was expected to draw about 100,000 people was cancelled.In California, the ship was returning to San Francisco after visiting Hawaii.A Sacramento-area man who sailed aboard the Grand Princess last month during a visit to a series of Mexican ports later succumbed to the virus, California authorities said. Others who were on that voyage also have tested positive in Northern California, Nevada, and Canada.Three dozen passengers on the Grand Princess have had flu-like symptoms over the past two weeks or so, said Mary Ellen Carroll, executive director of San Francisco’s Department of Emergency Management.An epidemiologist who studies the spread of virus particles said the recirculated air from a cruise ship’s ventilation system, plus the close quarters and communal settings, make passengers and crew vulnerable to infectious diseases.“They’re not designed as quarantine facilities, to put it mildly,” said Don Milton of the University of Maryland. “You’re going to amplify the infection by keeping people on the boat.”He said the fallout from the ship quarantined in Japan demonstrates the urgent need to move people off the ship and into a “safer quarantine environment.”Steven Smith and his wife, Michele, of Paradise, California, said they are a bit worried but feel safe in their room aboard the Grand Princess.“What’s given us hope is that the system that is in place, our government, the CDC, we feel is doing a remarkable job,” Steven Smith said. 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Pakistan struggles to combat devastating locust plague - world news

Pakistan’s farmers are struggling to combat the worst locust plague in nearly three decades as insect swarms decimate entire harvests in the country’s agricultural heartlands and send food prices soaring.Heavy rains and cyclones sparked “unprecedented” breeding and the explosive growth of locust populations on the Arabian peninsula early last year, according to the United Nations.The insects have since fanned out and wreaked havoc on farms from East Africa to India before making their way into Pakistan from the desert on the country’s southwestern border with Iran. The crisis is so severe that the government has declared a nationwide emergency and urgently appealed for help from the international community. Officials in southern Sindh province fear the infestation will devastate the supply of cotton, the local cash crop, ahead of its harvest in the coming months. Local surveys of the damage are continuing, but the Sindh Chamber of Agriculture says nearly half of all crops have been destroyed near the port city of Karachi.“I have not seen an infestation like this one in my career,” said Shehbaz Akhtar, an agricultural official charged with locust eradication efforts in the village of Pipli Pahar in central Punjab province.‘Combat operation’Local authorities had “launched a combat operation” to clear the area of infestation with pesticide sprays, he said. Clouds of the noxious gas envelop the nearby fields each morning, where villagers gather the husks of dead insects for an official bounty of 20 rupees (13 cents) per kilogramme bag.“We spray twice a day here,” says Fayyaz Azeem, clad in a face mask and thick industrial gloves on top of a tractor discharging pesticide into rows of crops.But the process is slow and time-consuming, and by the time locusts are killed off in one field they have often already destroyed the next.The pesticides used by officials are also dangerous for consumption, so even when the locusts are dead the remaining crops have to be discarded.Some farmers have been forced to opt for more desperate solutions while waiting for their fields to be sprayed and have attempted to scare off the swarms by shouting and banging pots.A team of Chinese experts has arrived in Pakistan to survey the crisis, food security ministry chief Muhammad Hashim Popalzai told AFP.Beijing could also offer aerial spraying -- a much faster and more efficient method of pest control -- and Pakistan may also import pesticides from China.Earlier reports circulating online suggested China was planning to send thousands of ducks to Pakistan to devour the scourge. Pakistani officials said no such plans were being considered.The UN Food and Agriculture Organization has also set up meetings between India and Pakistan to prevent the swarms from spreading, Popalzai said.‘What can I do?’Agriculture accounts for 20 percent of Pakistan’s GDP but the sector has already struggled for years in the face of drought and dwindling water supplies.The country is also experiencing 12-year inflation highs, with the cost of sugar nearly doubling and flour prices jumping 15 percent in the past year.Years without a locust attack meant the government “had become complacent” about the risks of a new infestation, said Pakistan Farmers Bureau president Zafar Hayyat.Though he applauded the steps being taken to fight the plague, Hayyat warned of the risk that swarms would return mid-year after the next locust breeding season. For many farmers in Pipli Pahar, the extermination campaign has already come too late. Sitting in the corner of a wheat field with her cow, Rafiya Bibi watches the flurry of pesticide spraying around her. The locusts have already destroyed her crops of canola, sunflower, chili and tobacco, which she had bought after borrowing 45,000 rupees from the government.With no harvest, she has no way to repay the loan. “What can I do?” she said. “All I can do is cry, what else can I do?” Read the full article