NEW YORK: The New York governor said Saturday the Chinese government was facilitating a shipment of 1,000 donated ventilators to his state, highlighting the extreme measures leaders are taking in what has become a cutthroat scramble to independently secure enough lifesaving devices during the coronavirus pandemic.
In a sign of the disorganized response to the global crisis, Gov. Andrew Cuomo praised the Chinese government for its help in securing the shipment of the breathing machines that was scheduled to arrive at Kennedy Airport on Saturday, while acknowledging that the US government’s stockpile of medical supplies would fall drastically short.
“We’re all in the same battle here,” Cuomo said, noting that the state of Oregon also volunteered to send 140 ventilators to New York. “And the battle is stopping the spread of the virus.”
The rush to secure supplies has prompted intense squabbling between the states and federal government at a moment the nation is facing one of its gravest emergencies. Leaders like Cuomo have been forced to go outside normal channels and work with authoritarian governments and private companies.
Trump said states are making inflated requests for medical supplies when the need isn’t there and suggested he had a hand in the ventilator shipment arriving from China to New York. Trump also said he’d like to hear a more resounding “thank you” from Cuomo for providing medical supplies and helping quickly to add hospital capacity. Cuomo acknowledged he asked the White House and others for help negotiating the ventilators.
“We have given the governor of New York more than anybody has ever been given in a long time,” Trump told reporters in Washington.
While the state of Massachusetts used the New England Patriots’ team plane to pick up over a million masks from China, Russia has also sent medical equipment to the US Meanwhile, Trump has said he’d prevent the export of N95 protective masks to Canada and other nations, prompting a rebuke from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who said his country won’t bring retaliatory measures as it continues to ship gloves and testing kits to the US
The number of people infected in the US has exceeded 300,000, with the death toll climbing past 8,400; more than 3,500 of those deaths are in New York state, including more than 1,900 in New York City. In addition to getting ventilators from China and Oregon, Cuomo ordered private hospitals in the state to redistribute breathing machines to those most in need.
“I want this all to be over,” Cuomo said, noting that while it’s been roughly 30 days since the state’s first case, “it feels like an entire lifetime.”
Trump said the federal government is setting up a 2,500-bed field hospital at New York’s Javits Convention Center that will be staffed by the military. He said similar hospital projects are being built in Louisiana and Dallas.
“There will be a lot of death, unfortunately, but a lot less death than if this wasn’t done,” Trump said. He later added that the federal government is “a backup ... the greatest backup that ever existed for the states.”
As the number of people infected has grown to more than 1.1 million worldwide, health care systems are straining under the surge of patients. In China, air raid sirens sounded across the country Saturday and flags flew at half staff in tribute to victims of the coronavirus pandemic, including the health care “martyrs” who have died fighting to save others.
With the highest number of infections in Europe and their hospitals overwhelmed, Spain and Italy struggled to protect medical staff on the front lines, while 17 medics in Egypt’s main cancer hospital tested positive for the virus.
Italy and Spain, with combined deaths of more than 25,000 and nearly a quarter-million infections, have reported a high percentage of infections among health care workers.
Carlo Palermo, head of Italy’s hospital doctors’ union, fought tears as he told reporters in Rome of the physical risks and psychological trauma the outbreak is causing, noting reports that two nurses had killed themselves.
“It’s a indescribable condition of stress. Unbearable,” he said.
Overall, new infections continued to slow their once-exponential pace in Italy, with 4,805 new cases registered Saturday that brought the country’s official count to 124,632. The death toll continued to mount, with 681 new victims bringing the world’s highest toll to 15,362.
In France, 7,560 people have died of coronavirus-related issues including at least 2,028 in nursing homes, health director Jerome Salomon said. More than 440 of the overall deaths happened in the last 24 hours.
In the US, the outbreak is deepening in other areas beyond New York. More than 400 people have died in Louisiana, and state authorities have been sprinting to find ventilators similar to New York. Michigan has more than 14,000 infections and 500 deaths, with Detroit being the state’s epicenter.
With the arrival of the weekend and spring weather, many Americans struggled to adhere to social distancing and stay-at-home orders that cover most of the country. The sheriff in San Diego issued about two dozen citations to people, saying violators were breaking the rules by having picnics near the beach.
And officials from the major sports leagues had a phone call with Trump about resuming competition. Asked if he thought the NFL season would start on time in September with fans in the stands, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, said: “I’m not anticipating that happening in this state.”
In China, where the coronavirus was first detected in December, authorities have cautiously lifted restrictions amid dropping numbers of infections. On Sunday the government reported just 30 new coronavirus cases, including 25 people who had arrived from overseas. The other five were in the southern province of Guangdong, which borders Hong Kong. There were three new deaths for an official total of 3,329.
Spain’s Health Ministry reported 18,324 infected health workers as of Saturday, representing 15% of the total number of infections in the country.
As Spain completes its third week in a state of emergency, there were signs the number of new infections were slowing. But they were still high, with 7,026 new cases reported overnight Saturday and 809 deaths.
Worldwide, confirmed infections rose past 1.1 million and deaths exceeded 63,000, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. Experts say both greatly under-count the true number of victims because of lack of testing, mild cases that were missed and governments that are underplaying the crisis.
At the same time, more than 233,000 people have recovered from the virus, which causes mild to moderate symptoms such as fever and cough in most patients, who recover within a few weeks. But for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and death.
New York gets Chinese ventilators; Trump wants more thanks
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New York gets Chinese ventilators; Trump wants more thanks
- Worldwide, confirmed infections rose past 1.1 million and deaths exceeded 63,000, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University
Chinese dams to be discussed in India visit of US national security adviser
- Washington and its Western allies have long viewed India as a counter to China’s rising influence in Asia and beyond
- New Delhi says it has conveyed concerns about China’s plan to build a hydropower dam in Tibet on Yarlung Zangbo River
WASHINGTON: US national security adviser Jake Sullivan’s visit to New Delhi from Jan. 5-6 is expected to include discussions with Indian counterparts about the impact of Chinese dams, a senior US official said late on Friday.
Washington and its Western allies have long viewed India as a counter to China’s rising influence in Asia and beyond.
“We’ve certainly seen in many places in the Indo-Pacific that upstream dams that the Chinese have created, including in the Mekong region, can have really potentially damaging environmental but also climate impacts on downstream countries,” a senior US official said ahead of Sullivan’s visit.
The official added that Washington will discuss New Delhi’s concerns in the visit.
The Indian government says it has conveyed its concerns to Beijing about China’s plan to build a hydropower dam in Tibet on the Yarlung Zangbo River which flows into India. Chinese officials say that hydropower projects in Tibet will not have a major impact on the environment or on downstream water supplies.
The construction of that dam, which will be the largest of its kind in the world with an estimated capacity of 300 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, was approved last month.
Washington also expects that topics such as civilian nuclear cooperation, artificial intelligence, space, military licensing and Chinese economic overcapacity will be brought up in the visit, the US official said.
American officials will not be meeting the Dalai Lama during the visit, another US official said.
Washington and New Delhi have built close ties in recent years with occasional differences over issues like minority abuse in India, New Delhi’s ties with Russia amid Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and alleged assassination plots against Sikh separatists on US and Canadian soil.
Myanmar junta to release nearly 6,000 prisoners in annual amnesty
- The military has arrested thousands of protesters and activists since its February 2021 coup
- The ruling junta said it ordered the pardons ‘on humanitarian and compassionate grounds’
NAYPYIDAW, Myanmar: Myanmar’s embattled junta government on Saturday said it would release almost 6,000 prisoners as part of an annual amnesty to mark the country’s independence day.
The military has arrested thousands of protesters and activists since its February 2021 coup that ended Myanmar’s brief democratic experiment and plunged the nation into turmoil.
More than 5,800 prisoners — including 180 foreigners — will be freed, the junta said in a statement on Saturday, when the country marks 77 years of independence from British colonial rule.
It did not give details of what the prisoners had been convicted of or the nationalities of the foreign detainees who were set to be deported on release.
The military said it ordered the pardons “on humanitarian and compassionate grounds.”
The junta also announced that 144 people who had been sentenced to life in prison would have their sentences commuted to 15 years.
Myanmar frequently grants amnesty to thousands of prisoners to commemorate holidays or Buddhist festivals.
Last year, the junta announced the release of more than 9,000 prisoners to mark independence day.
The annual independence day ceremony held in the heavily guarded capital Naypyidaw on Saturday morning saw around 500 government and military attendees.
A speech by junta chief Min Aung Hlaing — who was not present at the event — was delivered by deputy army chief Soe Win.
Soe Win reiterated the junta’s call to dozens of ethnic minority armed groups that have been fighting it for the last four years to put down arms and “resolve the political issue through peaceful means.”
He repeated a military pledge to hold delayed democratic elections and called for national unity.
South Korea in political crisis after impeached president resists arrest
- Yoon faces criminal charges of insurrection, one of a few crimes not subject to presidential immunity
- But his presidential guards and military troops shielded him from investigators trying to arrest him on Friday
SEOUL: South Korea’s political leadership was in uncharted territory Saturday after the sitting president resisted arrest over a failed martial law decree days before the warrant expires.
In scenes of high drama on Friday, Yoon Suk Yeol’s presidential guards and military troops shielded the former star prosecutor from investigators, who called off their arrest attempt citing safety concerns.
The South Korean president was impeached and suspended last month after the bungled martial law declaration — a political move swiftly overturned by parliament — with a separate warrant later issued for his arrest.
“There was a standoff. While we estimated the personnel blocking us to be around 200, there could have been more,” an official from the investigation team said Friday on condition of anonymity.
“It was a dangerous situation.”
Yoon faces criminal charges of insurrection, one of a few crimes not subject to presidential immunity, meaning he could be sentenced to prison or, at worst, the death penalty.
If carried out, the warrant would make Yoon the first sitting president ever arrested.
Since his impeachment, Yoon has holed up in his presidential residence in the capital Seoul, where he has refused to emerge for questioning three times.
The unprecedented showdown — which reportedly included clashes but no shots fired — left the arrest attempt by investigators in limbo with the court-ordered warrant set to expire on Monday.
Officials from the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO), which is probing Yoon over his martial law decree, said there could be another bid to arrest him before then.
But if the warrant lapses, they would have to apply for another from the same Seoul court that issued the initial summons.
The Constitutional Court slated January 14 for the start of Yoon’s impeachment trial, which if he does not attend would continue in his absence.
Former presidents Roh Moo-hyun and Park Geun-hye never appeared for their impeachment trials.
Yoon’s lawyers decried Friday’s arrest attempt as “unlawful and invalid,” and vowed to take legal action.
Experts said investigators could wait for greater legal justification before attempting to arrest the suspended president again.
“It may be challenging to carry out the arrest until the Constitutional Court rules on the impeachment motion and strips him of the presidential title,” Chae Jin-won of Humanitas College at Kyung Hee University told AFP.
South Korean media reported that CIO officials had wanted to arrest Yoon and take him to their office in Gwacheon near Seoul for questioning.
After that, he could have been held for up to 48 hours on the existing warrant. Investigators would have needed to apply for another arrest warrant to keep him in custody.
Yoon has remained defiant despite the political impasse he initiated with his December 3 decree.
He told his right-wing supporters this week he would fight “to the very end” for his political survival.
By the time investigators attempted to execute the warrant for Yoon’s arrest, he had layered his presidential compound with hundreds of security forces to prevent it.
Around 20 investigators and 80 police officers were heavily outnumbered by around 200 soldiers and security personnel linking arms to block their way after entering the presidential compound.
A tense six-hour standoff ensued until early Friday afternoon when the investigators were forced to U-turn for fear of violence breaking out.
The weeks of political turmoil have threatened the country’s stability.
South Korea’s key security ally, the United States, called for the political elite to work toward a “stable path” forward.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby reaffirmed Washington’s commitment to maintaining bilateral ties and readiness to respond to “any external provocations or threats.”
Outgoing US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is scheduled to hold talks in Seoul on Monday, with one eye on the political crisis and another on nuclear-armed neighbor North Korea.
US plans $8 billion arms deal with Israel, Axios reports
- Israel has killed at least 45,658 people in Gaza, the majority of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory's health ministry which the United Nations considers reliable
- President Joe Biden is due to leave office on Jan. 20, when Donald Trump will succeed him
WASHINGTON: The Biden administration has informally notified the US Congress of a proposed $8 billion arms sale to Israel that includes munitions for fighter jets and attack helicopters, Axios reported on Friday, citing two sources.
The deal would need approval from House and Senate committees and includes artillery shells and air-to-air missiles for fighter jets to defend against threats such as drones, the report said.
The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“The President has made clear Israel has a right to defend its citizens, consistent with international law and international humanitarian law, and to deter aggression from Iran and its proxy organizations,” a US official was quoted by Axios as saying.
The package also includes small-diameter bombs and warheads, according to Axios.
Diplomatic efforts have so far failed to end the 15-month-old Israeli war in Gaza. President Joe Biden is due to leave office on Jan. 20, when Donald Trump will succeed him.
Mixed reactions as Biden blocks takeover of US Steel by Japan’s Nippon Steel
- Biden cites national security as reason for blocking sale of the US' third largest steel company
- Companies call decision a ‘violation of due process’, steelworkers union praises it as a good move
WASHINGTON/TOKYO: US President Joe Biden blocked Nippon Steel’s proposed $14.9 billion purchase of US Steel on Friday, citing national security concerns, dealing a potentially fatal blow to the contentious plan after a year of review. The deal was announced in December 2023 and almost immediately ran into opposition across the political spectrum ahead of the Nov. 5 US presidential election. Both then-candidate Donald Trump and Biden vowed to block the purchase of the storied American company, the first to be valued at more than $1 billion. US Steel once controlled most of the country’s steel output but is now the third-largest US steelmaker and 24th biggest worldwide.
“A strong domestically owned and operated steel industry represents an essential national security priority and is critical for resilient supply chains,” Biden said. “Without domestic steel production and domestic steel workers, our nation is less strong and less secure.” Nippon, the world’s fourth-largest steelmaker, paid a hefty premium to clinch the deal and made several concessions, including a last-ditch gambit to give the US government veto power over changes to output, but to no avail.
In a statement, Nippon and US Steel blasted Biden’s decision, calling it a “clear violation of due process” and a political move, and saying they would “take all appropriate action” to protect their legal rights.
Pittsburgh-based US Steel had warned that thousands of jobs would be at risk without the deal.
US Steel CEO David Burritt said late on Friday the company planned to fight Biden’s decision, which he termed “shameful and corrupt.” He added that the president had insulted Japan and also refused to meet with the US company to learn its point of view.
“The Chinese Communist Party leaders in Beijing are dancing in the streets,” Burritt added.
The United Steelworkers union, which opposed the merger from the outset, praised Biden’s decision, with USW President David McCall saying the union has “no doubt that it’s the right move for our members and our national security.”
White House spokesperson John Kirby defended the decision.
“This isn’t about Japan. This is about US steelmaking and keeping one of the largest steel producers in the United States an American-owned company,” Kirby said, rejecting suggestions the decision could raise questions about the reliability of the US as a partner. Nippon Steel has previously threatened legal action if the deal was blocked. Lawyers have said Nippon Steel’s vow to mount a legal challenge against the US government would be tough.
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States spent months reviewing the deal for national security risks but referred the decision to Biden in December, after failing to reach consensus.
It is unclear whether another buyer will emerge. US Steel has reported nine consecutive quarters of falling profits amid a global downturn in the steel industry. US-based Cleveland-Cliffs, which previously bid for the company, has seen its share price fall to the point where its market value is lower than that of US Steel.
Shares of US Steel closed down 6.5 percent at $30.47 on the New York Stock Exchange.
A spokesperson for President-elect Trump, who also vowed to block the deal, did not immediately comment on Friday.
KEY ASIA ALLY
Japanese industry and trade minister Yoji Muto expressed disappointment over Biden’s decision, saying it was both difficult to understand and regrettable.
“There are strong concerns from the economic circles of both Japan and the US, and especially from Japanese industry regarding future investments between Japan and the US, and the Japanese government has no choice but to take this matter seriously,” he said in a statement. Japan is a key US ally in the Indo-Pacific region, where China’s economic and military rise and threats from North Korea have raised concerns in Washington. In November, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba urged Biden to approve the merger to avoid marring efforts to improve economic ties, Reuters exclusively reported.
US Steel and Nippon Steel had sought to assuage concerns over the merger. Nippon Steel offered to move its US headquarters to Pittsburgh and promised to honor all agreements in place between US Steel and the USW. A source familiar with the matter said this week that Nippon Steel had also proposed giving the US government veto power over any potential cuts to US Steel’s production capacity, as part of its efforts to secure Biden’s approval.
Nippon Steel faces a $565 million penalty payment to US Steel following the deal’s collapse, which is set to prompt a major rethink of the Japanese company’s overseas-focused growth strategy.
With the acquisition of US Steel, Nippon Steel aimed to raise its global output capacity to 85 million metric tons a year from the current 65 million, nearing its long-term goal of taking capacity to 100 million tons.
“The Nippon deal would have increased the ability to have more competition for domestic steel,” said Chester Spatt, a finance professor at Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Mellon University. “The deal could have potentially created a competitive advantage, and we should have encouraged it.”
Democrats in Congress praised Biden’s decision. Senator Sherrod Brown said the deal “represented a clear threat to America’s national and economic security and our ability to enforce our trade laws.”
Jason Furman, who was an economic adviser to President Barack Obama, said Biden’s claim that Japan’s investment in an American steel company was a threat to national security was “a pathetic and craven cave to special interests that will make America less prosperous and safe. I’m sorry to see him betraying our allies while abusing the law.” (Reporting by David Shepardson and Andrea Shalal in Washington and Tim Kelly in Tokyo; Additional reporting by Devika Nair, Kanishka Singh, Alexandra Alper, Yuka Obayashi, Satoshi Sugiyama, Aatreyee Dasgupta, Yoshifumi Takemoto, Sakura Murakami, Nobuhiro Kubo and Amy Lv; Writing by Lincoln Feast and John Geddie; Editing by David Gaffen, Heather Timmons, Paul Simao and Matthew Lewis)
