WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump has extended emergency coronavirus restrictions for the United States, where his top scientist warned up to 200,000 people could die, as the Russian capital and Africa’s biggest city readied to go into lockdown on Monday.
The reassessment by Trump, who had previously said he wanted the country back to work in mid-April, came as Britain and hard-hit Italy warned measures to prevent the spread of the disease would be in place for months to come.
COVID-19 has already killed more than 33,000 people worldwide, with the number of confirmed cases nearing 700,000.
As of Sunday, more than 3.38 billion people were asked or ordered to follow confinement measures, according to an AFP database, as the virus infects every sphere of life — wiping out millions of jobs, postponing elections and clearing the sporting calendar.
Trump warned that the US crisis, which has seen a doubling of infections in only two days, would continue to get worse.
“The modelling estimates that the peak in death rate is likely to hit in two weeks,” he said, announcing an extension of social distancing guidelines until April 30.
“Nothing would be worse than declaring victory before the victory is won.”
The president was speaking after Anthony Fauci, who leads research into infectious diseases at the National Institutes of Health, said he believed 100,000 to 200,000 Americans could die from the disease, and millions could be infected.
The US health system is groaning under the weight of new cases.
On Sunday a charity began setting up a field hospital in New York’s Central Park to help take some of the strain off the city’s overwhelmed institutions.
“There’s lots of cases here in New York and a lot of people that need help,” said Elliott Tenpenny, a doctor and team leader for Samaritan’s Purse COVID-19 Response Team.
“The hospitals all over the city are filling up and they need as much help as they can get. That’s why we’re here.”
The human consequences of a shutdown that has seen huge chunks of the US economy grind to a halt were playing out at food banks, where organizers say demand has exploded.
“Before, there were 1.2 million people in New York who needed help for food. Now, there are three times as many,” said Eric Ripert of City Harvest, a food rescue organization.
Trump’s re-evaluation of a back-to-normal timeline came as Europe’s situation continued to worsen.
Spain logged 838 deaths in a 24-hour period, the third consecutive day it has seen a rise.
“My ICU (intensive care unit) is completely full,” said Eduardo Fernandez, a nurse at Infanta Sofia hospital in Madrid, where authorities have set up a 5,500-bed field hospital and transformed an ice rink into a morgue.
“If it is not a complete collapse, we are on the verge,” he added.
British officials said life may not return to usual for six months, with Deputy Chief Medical Officer Jenny Harries saying it would be several weeks before doctors could tell if the current lockdown had slowed the spread of the disease.
Measures would be reviewed every three weeks, “probably over the next six months” or even longer, she said.
In Italy, which has logged a third of global deaths, the government warned citizens should be ready for a lengthy lockdown that would only be lifted gradually.
“We are in a very long battle,” said government medical adviser Luca Richeldi. “Through our behavior, we save lives.”
Yet the strains on Italian society imposed by measures that might have seemed unimaginable just weeks ago are gradually starting to show.
The starkest example came when armed police began guarding entrances to supermarkets in Sicily after reports of looting by people who could no longer afford food.
Moscow became the latest European city to tell people to stay indoors.
Citizens will only be allowed to leave their homes in a medical emergency, to travel to jobs judged essential by the authorities, and to shop for food or medicines.
They will, however, be allowed to walk their dogs within a 100-meter radius of their homes.
Africa’s biggest city, Lagos, was due to join the global stay-at-home from Monday, with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari ordering a two-week lockdown for its 20 million people.
The measures also apply to the capital Abuja.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation with some 190 million people, has so far registered just 97 confirmed infections and one death from COVID-19, but testing has been limited.
Officials have warned that the country risks seeing an “exponential” rise in cases unless contacts of suspected carriers are tracked down faster.
Enforcing a total lockdown will be a mammoth challenge for authorities in a country where tens of millions live in poverty and rely on their daily earnings to survive.
The same holds true for large parts of Africa.
In Benin, President Patrice Talon said his country could not enforce public confinement because it lacks the “means of rich countries.”
Aid groups have warned that the coronavirus toll in the developed world could pale compared with the devastation it wreaks on defenseless populations in poor states and war zones such as Syria and Yemen.
Three billion people around the world lack access to running water and soap, the most basic weapons of protection against the virus, according to UN experts.
Donald Trump ditches hopes of quick coronavirus bounce-back for US
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Donald Trump ditches hopes of quick coronavirus bounce-back for US
- ‘Nothing would be worse than declaring victory before the victory is won’
- Donald Trump’s re-evaluation of a back-to-normal timeline came as Europe’s situation continued to worsen
Singapore’s long-ruling party on track for landslide win
- Supporters of the PAP, which had ruled Singapore since 1959, gathered at a stadium waving flags and cheering in an early celebration
SINGAPORE: Singapore’s long-ruling People’s Action Party is on track to win another landslide in Saturday’s general elections, according to a sample count of votes released by the Election Department.
The sample count showed the PAP in strong leads in 82 out of 97 seats, which gives it a total 87 seats in an enlarged parliament.
The opposition Workers Party maintained 10 seats. The sample count was not conclusive, but has mirrored final results in the past.
It marked an improvement for the PAP, which secured 83 seats in 2020 polls. It also will bolster Prime Minister Lawrence Wong in his first electoral test since taking office a year ago. A final result was expected in the early hours of Sunday.
Supporters of the PAP, which had ruled Singapore since 1959, gathered at a stadium waving flags and cheering in an early celebration.
Gabon swears in ex-junta chief Oligui as president
- The main concerns are an aging electricity network, which suffers frequent power cuts, youth unemployment that hovers at 40 percent, poor or lacking roads, and a ballooning public debt, forecast to hit 80 percent of GDP this year
AKANDA, Gabon: Gabon began swearing in on Saturday President-elect Brice Oligui Nguema, who led a coup ending decades of Bongo family rule and swept polls last month with nearly 95 percent of the vote.
The general and former junta leader, who toppled Ali Bongo in August 2023, ending 55 years of dynastic rule by the Bongo family, officially takes the presidential reins after leading a 19-month transition government.
Some 20 African heads of state arrived for the inauguration ceremony at a stadium north of the capital, Libreville, while supporters decked out in T-shirts and flags bearing Oligui’s likeness packed out the 40,000-capacity venue.
BACKGROUND
Some 20 African heads of state arrived for the inauguration ceremony at a stadium north of the capital, Libreville.
Leaders in attendance include Gambia’s Adama Barrow, Senegal’s Bassirou Diomaye Faye, Djibouti’s Ismail Omar Guelleh, and Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo from Equatorial Guinea.
The Democratic Republic of Congo’s president, Felix Tshisekedi, likewise entered around midday.
Tickets were free to attend the investiture at the Angondje stadium, built to honor the friendship between Gabon and China.
It marks the country’s first swearing-in ceremony for such a large audience.
From the morning, the roads of the capital, Libreville, and around the Angondje stadium were clogged with traffic, AFP journalists saw.
On the program for the ceremony was a series of artistic performances and a military parade, according to state media, which will be followed by a “victory concert” on the Libreville waterfront in the evening.
In the lead-up, hundreds of workers have been painstakingly cleaning and repainting areas around the main roads leading to the stadium.
Authorities and official media have called for people to be public-spirited because of the influx of foreign guests.
“All citizens of Greater Libreville are asked to extend a warm welcome to these distinguished guests,” the Interior Ministry said in a statement.
It called on residents near the stadium to “take part in cleaning and beautifying” the area.
Oligui, 50, faces serious challenges in leading the oil-rich country, which needs to revamp crucial infrastructure and diversify its economy, but is heavily indebted.
The main concerns are an aging electricity network, which suffers frequent power cuts, youth unemployment that hovers at 40 percent, poor or lacking roads, and a ballooning public debt, forecast to hit 80 percent of GDP this year.
During the transition, Oligui portrayed himself as a “builder,” launching numerous construction projects, while vowing to “crack down” on corruption to get the country back on track.
Over 45,000 affected by Somalia flash floods
- “The flooding swept away homes and inundated crops, disrupting livelihoods in one of Somalia’s most agriculturally vital regions,” OCHA noted
NAIROBI: More than 45,000 people have been affected by flash floods in Somalia since mid-April, the UN said, with at least four people killed in the rapidly rising waters.
The Horn of Africa is one of the regions most vulnerable to climate change, and extreme weather events are becoming increasingly frequent and intense. “Since 15 April, flash floods due to heavy to moderate rains in Somalia have affected over 45,000 people and swept away four people, including two children and a woman,” said UN humanitarian agency OCHA, in a report published on April 30.
It warned the flooding came at a time when NGOs — often the frontline responders — are “facing crippling funding reductions that have severely limited their ability to respond to emerging needs.”
It detailed that roughly 6,000 people were displaced in the Middle Shabelle region after the Shabelle River burst its banks on April 29.
It said families have sought refuge in makeshift camps on higher ground but are “facing acute shortages of food, clean water, and health care.”
“The flooding swept away homes and inundated crops, disrupting livelihoods in one of Somalia’s most agriculturally vital regions,” OCHA noted.
The day before, some 9,500 people were also displaced in central Galmudug State after light to moderate rains caused flash floods, it said. The floods come as the international humanitarian community grapples with the US decision to dismantle much of USAID, the country’s main foreign development arm.
“Currently, many humanitarian organizations in areas where the flash flooding is occurring have been forced to pause, scale back, or even close their critical programs,” OCHA noted.
Intense floods hit Somalia in 2023. More than 100 people were killed and over a million were displaced after severe flooding caused by torrential rains linked to the El Nino weather pattern.
Zelensky says won’t play Putin ‘games’ with short truce
- “This is more of a theatrical performance on his part. Because in two or three days, it is impossible to develop a plan for the next steps to end the war,” Zelensky said
- He said Ukraine would not be “playing games to create a pleasant atmosphere to allow for Putin’s exit from isolation on 9 May“
KYIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has dismissed a three-day truce ordered by Russian leader Vladimir Putin as theatrics, but said Kyiv was ready for a full ceasefire.
Moscow said the truce, set to coincide with its World War II commemorations on May 9, was aimed at testing Kyiv’s “readiness” for long-term peace, accusing Zelensky of making a “direct threat” to events on the holiday.
The Kremlin rejected an unconditional 30-day ceasefire proposed by Kyiv and Washington in March, and Putin has since offered little to end the three-year Russia invasion.
“This is more of a theatrical performance on his part. Because in two or three days, it is impossible to develop a plan for the next steps to end the war,” Zelensky said.
He was speaking Friday to a small group of journalists including AFP in remarks embargoed until Saturday.
Some in Ukraine have criticized the truce as an attempt to prevent Kyiv from disrupting the World War II anniversary celebrations, with foreign leaders due in Moscow to watch a military parade on Red Square and an address by Putin.
Zelensky said Ukraine would not be “playing games to create a pleasant atmosphere to allow for Putin’s exit from isolation on 9 May.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters the ceasefire was aimed at testing “Kyiv’s readiness to seek ways to achieve long-term sustainable peace.”
Russian shelling killed two people in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region on Saturday, while a drone strike on the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson left one other person dead, regional officials said.
Russian authorities meanwhile accused Ukraine of an overnight attack on the southern port city of Novorossiysk, damaging apartment buildings and injuring five people.
Leaders of around 20 countries, including China’s Xi Jinping, have accepted invitations to join the May 9 celebration, according to the Kremlin.
Zelensky said some countries had approached Kyiv to warn they were traveling to Russia and had requested safety.
“Our position is very simple toward all countries that have traveled or are traveling to Russia on May 9 — we cannot take responsibility for what is happening on the territory of the Russian Federation,” he said.
“They are ensuring your safety,” Zelensky said, adding that Russia “may take various steps on its part, such as arson, explosions, and so on and then blame us.”
Zelensky did not say what Ukraine would do during the truce, but Russia jumped on the comments, accusing Kyiv of making a “direct threat” to the commemorations.
“He is threatening the physical safety of veterans who will come to parades and celebrations on the holy day,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Telegram. “His statement... is, of course, a direct threat.”
Russian officials have promised grand celebrations for the occasion, during which Putin will seek to rally support for his troops fighting in Ukraine.
Russian troops have been making gruelling gains on several parts of the front, as both Moscow and Kyiv have stepped up their aerial attacks.
The United States has warned it could abandon efforts to broker a ceasefire if it does not see progress.
Washington is seeking “a complete, durable ceasefire and an end to the conflict,” rather than a “three-day moment so you can celebrate something else,” US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said this week.
Bruce said it would ultimately be up to Trump to decide whether to move ahead with diplomatic efforts.
Trump has overhauled US policy toward Russia since taking office, initiating a rapprochement with the Kremlin.
This culminated in an on-camera clash between Trump and Zelensky at the White House on February 28, where both leaders had been set to sign a mineral deal granting US access to Ukrainian resources in exchange for some protection.
Ukraine has since renegotiated the deal, which would see Washington and Kyiv jointly develop and invest in Ukraine’s critical mineral resources.
Zelensky on Friday said the deal was beneficial to both sides and protected Ukraine’s interests, even though the accord offers no concrete security guarantees for Kyiv.
That followed a meeting between Trump and Zelensky at the end of April before Pope Francis’s funeral at the Vatican, the first encounter since their public clash.
“We had the best conversation out of all those that preceded it,” Zelensky said Friday.
“I am confident that after our meeting in the Vatican, President Trump began to look at things a little differently.”
Serbia’s President Vucic cuts short US visit and returns home after falling ill
- Vucic suddenly fell ill during a meeting in the US
- He was admitted to the Belgrade Military Hospital upon arrival
BELGRADE: Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic has cut short a visit to the United States and returned to Serbia over an unspecified health emergency, state RTS television reported on Saturday.
Vucic suddenly fell ill during a meeting in the US and decided to return home after consulting doctors, the report said. He was admitted to the Belgrade Military Hospital upon arrival, it added.
Vucic was previously in Miami, Florida, where he had met with former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani. Vucic had said he also was hoping to meet with US President Donald Trump.
Richard Grenell, US presidential envoy for special missions, expressed hope that Vucic would recover. “Sorry to miss you but hope all is ok,” Grenell wrote on X.
It was not immediately clear what happened and Vucic’s office said they will inform the public later. Vucic, 55, is known to have high blood pressure.
Serbia’s populist leader also has said he would travel to Russia later this month to attend a Victory Day parade in Moscow, despite warnings from European Union officials that this could affect Serbia’s bid to join the bloc.
