Russia’s Rosneft oil company said Saturday that it’s halting operations in Venezuela and selling its assets there to a company fully owned by the Russian government, a move apparently intended to protect Russia’s largest oil producer from U.S. sanctions while Moscow continues supporting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.The sale follows the U.S. imposition of sanctions on two Rosneft subsidiaries in an effort to cut a critical lifeline Russia extended to Maduro after the U.S. government made it illegal for Americans to buy crude from Venezuela.Rosneft, led by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s longtime associate Igor Sechin, said that its move meant that “all assets and trading operations of Rosneft in Venezuela and/or connected with Venezuela will be disposed of, terminated or liquidated.”It said in a statement that it “concluded an agreement with a company 100% owned by the government of the Russian Federation, to sell all of its interest and cease participation in its Venezuelan businesses,” including multiple joint ventures, oil-field services companies and other activities.The sale could help shield Rosneft by handing over control of the Venezuelan operations to a fully state-owned venture that unlike the state-controlled Rosneft isn’t answerable to private investors.U.S. pressureIn February, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on the Rosneft subsidiary based in Geneva that sells crude to European customers. U.S. authorities vowed to keep applying pressure and hit a second Rosneft subsidiary with sanctions earlier this month.FILE – Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro speaks during a news conference at Miraflores Palace in Caracas, March 12, 2020.Rosneft spokesman Mikhail Leontyev said the company’s decision was aimed at “protecting the interests of our shareholders.” He added in remarks carried by Russia’s Tass news agency that Rosneft expected the U.S. to now waive sanctions against its subsidiaries.”We really have the right to expect American regulators to fulfill their public promises,” he said.Konstantin Kosachev, the Kremlin-connected head of the foreign affairs committee in the upper house of the Russian parliament, reiterated that Russia’s view is that “unilateral U.S. sanctions against Venezuela are unlawful and inhumane.””Moscow and Caracas will remain partners amid the U.S. sanctions against Venezuela,” he told the Interfax news agency.Recognition of GuaidoThe U.S. was first among nearly 60 nations to recognize opposition leader Juan Guaido a year ago as Venezuela’s rightful leader. The international coalition considers Maduro illegitimate after 2018 elections widely deemed fraudulent because the most popular opposition candidates were banned from running against him. Russia’s support has helped Maduro to face down U.S.-backed efforts to unseat him.Rosneft said in its statement that “the concluded transaction and the sale of assets will result in Rosneft receiving as a settlement payment a 9.6% share of Rosneft’s equity capital that will be held by a 100% subsidiary of Rosneft and accounted for as treasury stock.”
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A prominent member of the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday issued a highly critical statement on U.S. policy toward Kosovo.Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia in 2008. Since than the country has been recognized by more than 110 countries, including the United States, but not by Serbia and its ally Russia.House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel, a Democrat, said there is something wrong with the U.S. foreign policy toward Kosovo and “we need to correct it.”In his statement, Engel expressed his serious concerns “with the heavy-handed tactics the Trump administration is using with Prishtina,” Kosovo’s capital.Engel was referring to State Department pressure on Prishtina, especially on the government of Prime Minister Albin Kurti, to lift tariffs the country had imposed on Serbia.“This administration turned to economic penalties just a few short weeks after the Kurti government took office. Rather than letting a new government facing a pandemic staff its agencies and set up internal procedures, the U.S. contributed to a political crisis in Prishtina over the tariffs on Serbia,” Engel said.On March 25, after only 50 days in office, the Kurti government did not survive a no-confidence vote in parliament, initiated by its ruling coalition partner, the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK).The government was dismissed following political bickering over whether to declare a state of emergency to prevent the spread of the coronavirus and after Kurti dismissed the LDK internal affairs minister, Agim Veliu.Kurti’s government is expected to continue as a caretaker government, pending creation of a new government.“There are good reasons for Kosovo to lift tariffs, mostly that they are hurting Kosovo more than they are providing leverage to reach a peace deal with Serbia,” Engel said.“Regardless, tariffs are a legitimate tool of a sovereign nation. As such, they’ve been imposed around the world by [U.S.] President [Donald] Trump against friends and foes, alike, for economic and political reasons,” Engel said.Engel said the Trump administration used “overbearing tactics with a friend which relies on our support” instead of working with Kurti government, “as it sought to work with the previous Kosovo government” to forge policies that promote lasting peace and prosperity.“Strong-arming a small democracy is the act of a bully,” Engel said.While Serbian diplomats are campaigning around the world to “derecognize” Kosovo’s independence, and Serbia is purchasing heavy weaponry from Russia and strengthening the relationship with Moscow, the pressure imposed on Prishtina for its tariffs on Serbia has been “decidedly unbalanced,” Engel said.The U.S., he added, should work with European allies “to treat both countries as independent and sovereign partners, applying consistent standards to both sides as we try to restart peace talks.”The arms purchases from Russia require U.S. sanctions on Serbia under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, passed in the aftermath of 2016 Russian interference in U.S. elections, Engel said.“Neither have we imposed those sanctions, nor have we energetically pressed Serbia to end its derecognition efforts,” Engel said.“When U.S. law says we should sanction Serbia due to its security ties with Russia, we should.”    
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A Chinese company offered Friday to replace thousands of faulty coronavirus test kits after Spanish health authorities – desperate for materials to cope with the world’s second highest COVID-19 death toll – complained they did not work as promised.China has sold face masks and other medical equipment through a series of personal contacts with Spanish authorities, including discussions between chief executives of Chinese tech giant Alibaba and Spain’s King Felipe.But the first shipment of 640,000 test kits was found to have “insufficient sensibility” to reliably identify infected patients, according to Health Minister Salvador Illa, who announced Thursday that 58,000 kits had been returned.FILE – This undated file photo provided by U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows CDC’s laboratory test kit for the new coronavirus.The Chinese company supplying the test kits, Shenzhen Bioeasy Technology, said in a statement quoted by Reuters that the incorrect results may have resulted from a failure to collect samples or use the kits correctly.The firm said it had not adequately communicated with clients how to use the kits and would resend them “assuring the sensitivity and specificity needed to help Spain fight against COVID-19.”Spanish medical experts, who have examined the 9,000 kits delivered last week, said they have only a 30 percent probability of detecting the virus.“They are useless,” said Victor Jimenez Cid, a senior professor in microbiology at Madrid’s Complutense University. For a test to be effective it must have a 70 percent to 80 percent probability of detecting the virus, Cid said.The failure of Bioeasy’s testing kits is a painful setback for Spanish medical authorities, who are struggling to cope with more than 64,000 cases of COVID-19 and more than 4,900 deaths, second only to Italy.It is also hugely embarrassing to China, which is seeking to rehabilitate a national image tarnished by its faulty early response to the virus in Wuhan by offering assistance to other hard-hit countries.“First they send us the virus, then they sell us the medications to stop it and then defraud us. It’s great for China” said a guest in a panel discussion on a broadcast on the Spanish TV channel La Sexta.An emergency worker wearing a protective suit closes the door of an ambulance transferring a COVID-19 patient in Barcelona, Spain, March 27, 2020.The test is performed by dipping a swab with a sample of a patient’s saliva in a protein extraction that gives color indications of the virus’s presence. The speedy method is essential for emergency examinations by hospitals as well as improvised drive-through facilities that Spanish authorities are setting up to isolate and quickly treat cases of contamination.Until now, Spanish hospitals have relied on slower molecular laboratory testing, which requires specialized personnel and take four hours to produce a result. Tests like those offered by Bioeasy are supposed to produce a diagnosis in 15 minutes.Mass testing methods proved essential in South Korea’s successful effort against coronavirus and they are recommended by the World Health Organization as an essential way of controlling the pandemic’s spread.A priest wearing a gloves to protect against coronavirus waits in front the cemetery chapel during the coronavirus outbreak in Madrid, Spain, March 27, 2020.The Chinese embassy in Spain tweeted that Shenzen Bioeasy is not licensed to sell the product and is not included on a list of “recommended suppliers,” which its ministry of commerce offered the Spanish government.Spain’s health ministry said Bioeasy products have been approved by European Union quality control agencies and that the “specifications of this test, at least of the lot that was received, do not correspond with EU quality certifications.”Officials said the deal with Bioeasy was made through an unidentified intermediary.Health ministry emergency coordinator Fernando Simon said Spain is trying to import 6 million testing kits from China and other EU countries. He also said that “intense efforts” are underway with Spanish biotechnology firms to produce them. 
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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Friday he had tested positive for coronavirus and was in self-isolation at his Downing Street office.
 
Here is reaction to the news.
   Jeremy Corbyn, Leader of UK’s Opposition Labor Party 
 
“I wish the Prime Minister a speedy recovery and hope his family are safe and healthy. Coronavirus can and does affect anyone. Everyone be safe. Our own health depends on everybody else.”   
 Indain Prime Minister Narendra Modi 
 
“You’re a fighter and you will overcome this challenge as well. Prayers for your good health and best wishes in ensuring a healthy UK.”
 Northern Ireland’s First Minister Arlene Foster 
 
“Best wishes to the Prime Minister and Carrie (Symonds, Johnson’s fiancee). No one is immune. Let’s all follow the guidelines.”
 Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon 
 
“I send my very best wishes to Boris Johnson and his family. I don’t underestimate for anybody how difficult it is to be positive for this virus so I certainly send my best wishes to him for a very speedy recovery.”
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Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon reports that as of Friday, there were 1,059 cases of COVID-19 in Scotland — an increase of 165 from Thursday.
 
At a news conference Friday in Edinburgh, Sturgeon also reported an additional eight deaths from the virus overnight, bringing the total number of fatalities in Scotland to 33.
 
The first minister said she expects those numbers to be an underestimate. She urged people to stay indoors, and to go out only for essential shopping and exercise, or care for others.   
 
Sturgeon also stressed the importance of supporting mental health during the coronavirus crisis, and she announced Friday about $4.7 billion in additional funding for National Health Service mental health support services, including 24-hour support phone lines and internet services. 
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The Belarusian news website ej.by says state authorities have detained its director and editor in chief on suspicion of accepting a bribe.
 
Syarhey Satsuk was detained on March 25 during a special operation by officers from the Financial Investigations Department, the website said on March 26.
 
The editorial office of the online publication was searched following the detention of the site’s editor in chief, the Belarusian Association of Journalists said, adding that documents were seized during the operation.
 
Calling the accusations against Satsuk “lies and nonsense,” his brother, Alyaksandr Satsuk, told RFE/RL that he did not rule out that the detention may be connected with investigative reporting he’s done into alleged corruption at the Health Ministry related to the import of medications.
 
The OSCE representative on freedom of the media, Harlem Desir, on March 26 said he was “very much concerned” over Satsuk’s detention.
 
Desir noted that the journalist is “known for his previous reporting on corruption issues in the health sector” and also recently published articles critical of the country’s response to the coronavirus outbreak.
 
The OSCE representative insisted that journalists “should not be intimidated, prosecuted, or detained for reporting on issues of public interest and on the COVID-19 situation.”
 
“Journalists have a key role to play in reporting on the pandemic and in providing important information to the public,” he added.
 
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We made it home to Italy, just north of Rome, last Friday and that’s when our two-week quarantine began.As soon as we arrived, we had to declare to the local health authorities that we understood the rules — we were to stay indoors and not leave the house, not even for food. All I can say is thank goodness home deliveries are working!It took my 18-year-old twin sons and me an entire day to get home from England. We are only too aware that we were very lucky; three days earlier the EU had announced that travel into the Schengen area was halted for 30 days, with the only exception for returning long-time residents.From London Heathrow airport, we flew to Dusseldorf, Germany, to catch a completely booked connecting flight to Rome. Many on our initial flight were university students headed for Milan who discovered their connecting flight had been cancelled. No one told them what they should do. In fact, Dusseldorf airport was deserted and our flight to Rome was one of only a handful that had not been cancelled.My sons study in the south of England and I had gone there to attend a parents-teacher evening on Feb. 27. At that time, Italy had locked down 11 towns in the north due to the COVID-19 outbreak. I could not have known that soon that would be the fate of the whole of Italy.Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
An empty street leads to the ancient Colosseum, in Rome, March 24, 2020.Finally, we could go and collect our suitcases in what was another deserted airport terminal. I had never seen Rome airport so empty, with all its shops closed. I had made sure that a car with driver was waiting for us. As we were driven on Rome’s notoriously busy ring road, we could not believe how few cars we passed.As we drove into town, there were many police roadblocks, but no one stopped us. We had to collect some keys at one address, pick up some things for the kids somewhere else and finally pick up my car to drive home. We were able to achieve all that driving through a spectral Rome.We saw virtually no people or cars – a surreal scene for residents long accustomed to Rome’s unbearable traffic with its honking cars and scooters whizzing by left and right. It dawned on us very quickly there would be no freedom of movement for any of us; our lives would be radically different.Medical personnel talk outside the retirement home Giovanni XIII, where coronavirus swabs were carried out on the staff of the facility, after the death of a patient, in Rome, March 24, 2020.We were exhausted but happy to get home at 11 pm. We went to bed knowing our lives in Italy were not going to be anything like what we knew in the past. And the next morning that reality hit us — no leaving the house, no food except what was left in the elevator of our building for us, no speaking with anyone except on the phone or WhatsApp. No going for a walk, no going to the gym, no meeting up with friends. Outside, cafes, restaurants and shops all were closed.The weather at this time of the year is beautiful and we are allowed out on our terrace of course. But when we look outside we see no one; everyone is locked up at home in self-isolation. The rare person who walks by heading to buy food is wearing a protective mask and gloves. The boys and I look at each other and ask ourselves a question no one is able to answer: How long is this going to last? 
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A Qatar Airways charter flight arranged by the German government has picked up hundreds of tourists stranded in Nepal as the country went on lockdown at the beginning of this week.The tourists, who were mostly German nationals or had some connection to the country, flew out of Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport on Friday, a Nepalese immigration official said.The airport in Nepal’s capital reopened for the flight, which was designated to pick up the tourists and did not bring any passengers to the country.The government ordered a countrywide lockdown that included halting all flights and road travel as a prophylactic measure to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Businesses and government offices were also closed.Up to 10,000 tourists were stranded in Nepal as result of shutdown.Nepal has confirmed only three cases of the coronavirus, including one person who has recovered. 
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More than half a million people in Britain have volunteered to help the National Health Service cope with the coronavirus epidemic. Across the world, people are stepping forward to help the most vulnerable – offering hope that societies can overcome the huge disruption caused by the virus. VOA’s Henry Ridgwell reports from London.
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As Spain entered the third week of lockdown Friday, the streets of Barcelona, the second-most populous municipality, were empty due to the coronavirus pandemic.Iconic tourist attractions in the capital of Catalonia region, such as Arc de Triomf, Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia and La Rambla were deserted.The only people occasionally seen on the street were those walking dogs.On a Barcelona beach, police were patrolling the area, with no one else venturing out.Spain is the hardest-hit country by the coronavirus in Europe after Italy, recording more than 56,000 cases of COVID-19 and at least 4,100 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University in the U.S.
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The European Parliament on Thursday evening passed a $40 billion emergency package to help countries and their citizens most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.Only President David Sassoli returned to the building from protective quarantine for the extraordinary plenary session, while members cast their vote by email.The so-called Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative is intended to help people and businesses cope with the crisis.The package includes an extension of the EU Solidarity Fund for public health emergencies in Europe.Members of European Parliament also approved temporary suspension, until October, of an EU rule requiring air carriers to use 80 percent or more of their flight slots during a year to keep them.  
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Spain is reeling under the onslaught of the coronavirus, with fatalities surpassing those of China, the health system collapsing and retirement homes becoming open graves. Hospitals are running out of critical supplies, and about a third of medical staff have been contaminated by the highly contagious virus, carried by tens of thousands of infected people cramming clinics in Madrid, Barcelona and other large cities.   “Intensive care units and hospitals are on the verge of collapse,” Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told Congress on Wednesday evening, when he asked for his emergency powers to be extended until April 12.   Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez holds a videoconference with some of his ministers over the coronavirus outbreak, at the Moncloa Palace in Madrid, March 13, 2020.He also asked Congress for $350 billion in emergency funding to confront the crisis and cushion the country against the economic consequences of confining people to their homes for a month. The government expects three months of economic paralysis, which could cause a 9.7% drop in GDP this year and a 10% rise in its deficit, according to Goldman Sachs. “There are more dark and uncertain days ahead,” Sanchez said before an almost empty congressional chamber. Most lawmakers could not attend because of quarantines and other travel restrictions. Several leading ministers have caught the virus. Spain’s coronavirus cases have risen to 48,000 this week, according to the health ministry. But Social Security Minister Jose Luis Escriva has said that almost twice that number could yet be infected, as there are 83,000 workers reporting coronavirus symptoms who have not yet been diagnosed. Twenty-five percent of hospital workers have contracted coronavirus, according to the health ministry, which reports that 5,400 medical staff have been contaminated on an accelerating scale, with 2,000 falling ill in the past two days.   Patients are being neglected at Madrid’s Gregorio Marañon hospital, where videos broadcast over national television have shown patients strewn across the floor. A nurse at the hospital told reporters that they are out of essential supplies and that she and other medical staff are using garbage bags as protective gowns.   Despite overstretched resources, health workers in Spain have managed to cure more than 5,000 coronavirus patients, who have been discharged, according to the health ministry. Spain’s King Felipe VI visits a military hospital set up at the IFEMA conference center in Madrid, March 26, 2020.The daily death toll was reported to be dropping Thursday, although Spain’s deaths have surpassed the 4,000 mark, well above the 3,200 reported in China, according to a tally maintained by Johns Hopkins University in the United States. Italy remains the worst-hit country with more than 8,000 fatalities and more than 80,000 confirmed cases, almost equal to China’s figure.  Coronavirus deaths have mostly struck people older than 70, considered the most vulnerable age group. Military emergency teams inspecting retirement homes in Madrid and other cities have found them abandoned by staff and with most of the residents dead in their beds. “Survivors mingled among cadavers,” an army officer told reporters. Army engineering units have set up field hospitals in parks and turned empty warehouses, fair pavilions and other public spaces into makeshift clinics to relieve the overcrowded hospitals. This has led to ugly scenes in some neighborhoods, where protests have erupted over the busing-in of potentially contaminated people. A youth gang in the city of La Linea, which has until now been a zone of low contamination, fought police in an attempt to block buses bringing groups of elderly citizens from badly hit regions. In a first-ever electronic vote, Congress unanimously passed the 15-day extension of emergency powers and funding requested by the government. But Sanchez faced strong criticism from opposition parties, which accused his administration of “dithering” and being late to act despite clear warning signs from health experts weeks before the pandemic broke out. Far-right leader Santiago Abascal held separatist authorities in Catalonia responsible for the spiraling number of coronavirus cases reported in Barcelona, where they tried to block a deployment of the army. 
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As Italy continues to battle the coronavirus, a patient who contracted the virus earlier this month warns the world to be careful because the virus can be passed by those who show no symptoms.Italy’s rate of coronavirus infection slowed for a fourth day Thursday, with many hopeful that the long lockdown is providing the results everyone has been praying for.  Authorities are cautious, though, asking Italians not to lower their guard and continue to respect the rules.  One hospitalized patient is speaking about his experience. Fausto Rossi, 38, started feeling unwell with a fever March 5 and four days later he was taken to Santa Maria Goretti Hospital in the city of Latina, where he tested positive for the coronavirus.  He says, “the problem with this virus is when it gets to your lungs because it attacks them aggressively and causes a very serious pneumonia with an extremely high percentage of death.”  He stressed that this pneumonia is devastating.He said, “It’s incredibly strong and has a very high mortality rate.” He added that, if he suffered from other ailments or was of a different age, he would probably not be here today.  “It’s a horrible feeling not to be able to breathe,” he said.Rossi, who is still in the hospital, but has been released from the intensive care unit and hopes to soon return to his family at home, said everyone in Italy underestimated this virus. He said he hopes this pandemic will end as quickly as possible so that everyone can return to their normal lives. He offered his advice.People wear masks as they line up to enter a pharmacy, in Rome, March 16, 2020.People must respect the restrictive measures that have been put in place, leaving the house only for primary needs; they must stay at home and avoid social contact with others because “this virus walks on his own legs of those who have no symptoms, so anyone could have it.”Rossi is very grateful towards those who treated him.”My thanks go to all the doctors and nurses of the hospital’s infectious diseases unit, they are the true heroes of this battle. Every day they work in extreme conditions, psychologically under pressure and with the constant fear of contracting the virus and of not being able to return home to their families,” he said.This Italian coronavirus patient says his days in the hospital were passed in great solitude with no family members nearby and no one to support him.  He said the experience has changed his life and taught him to appreciate the small things he took for granted: “living, breathing, a walk, a hug, a glass of wine, freedom.”
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Illegal migration flows to Greece have dropped to their lowest point since the start of the year, counting upwards of 100 cases this week, after the governments in Athens and Ankara lock down their countries to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
 
The dramatic decrease offers some respite for Greece, which has been struggling to fend off thousands of asylum seekers from streaming into the country after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced in late February he no longer would block their access to Europe.
 
Faced with a burgeoning health crisis, the Turkish leader rescinded his orders last week. By that time, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu explained Thursday, some 150,600 migrants and refugees had managed to enter Greece — the biggest migrant push to the West since more than 1 million, mainly Syrian refugees, fled to Europe to escape their country’s civil war in 2016.  
 
Athens refutes the figures, and United Nations’ data show the total number of migrant entries to Greece totaling 9,486 since the start of the year. Just 105 were recorded in the last week, 10 times less than the 1,288 documented in early March, according to the U.N.’s refugee agency.
 
Coast guard and migration officials are calling the swoon “dramatic,” saying it is among the largest drop-offs since the EU and Turkey stitched together a landmark deal to limit the 2016 refugee crisis.“We’re seeing zip, zilch, zero rubber rafts for days now,” said a senior coast guard official on Lesbos, an island on the forefront of Europe’s lingering migration crisis. “Even so,” the official said on the condition of anonymity, “we remain vigilant.”
 Many refugees are arriving at Istanbul’s bus station broke, exhausted and often sick after failing to cross the border into Greece. Formal aid organizations or journalists are not on the scene, March 20, 2020. (Courtesy of aid workers)NATO allies Greece and Turkey have been at loggerheads for years over conflicting sea and air rights, mainly in the oil and mineral-rich Aegean Sea. Athens frequently has accused Erdogan of using the more than 3 million refugees in his country to pressure the EU and Washington into supporting its own military offensive in the nine-year Syrian war.
 
Now that migratory pressures having eased, though, officials in the Greek capital are scrambling to shield more than 100,000 asylums seekers trapped in the country since a host of Balkan states sealed their borders and threw up steel fences to stop them from reaching the heart of Europe during the 2016 refugee crisis. More than 40,000 refugees are crammed in unsanitary and overcrowded camps on a host of Aegean islands.
 
“We are enforcing the strictest possible controls, even tougher than those imposed on the rest of the population in Greece, to cope with the situation,” Migration Minister Notis Mitarakis said.
 
But Athens is refusing to heed pressure from the EU to move migrants from five island camps to the Greek mainland – a move the government fears could enflame the spread of coronavirus.
 
To date no cases of COVID-19 have been reported among Greece’s community of refugees and migrants.
 
On Thursday, Greek Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson said she was working with the Greek government “to agree on an emergency plan to help reduce the risk as much as possible in the overcrowded hotspots on the islands.”
 
She suggested the plan could include relocating the most susceptible to the virus – mainly the disabled, elderly and chronically ill.  
 
Earlier this month, the government imposed strict restrictions on the movement of asylum seekers in camps. It also has designs to turn at least two of the five Aegean camps into enclosed facilities.
 
Aid workers and human rights advocates have been critical of the measures, warning that if the virus spreads to the camps, it could decimate the migrant communities.
“The government’s strategy is to lock everyone in one place and throw away the key,” said Eva Cossé, a researcher at Human Rights Watch.
“Thousands of people, including older people, those with chronic diseases, children… pregnant women, new mothers, and people with disabilities, are trapped in dangerously overcrowded, deplorable conditions on the islands amid the COVID-19 pandemic,” Human Rights Watch said.“Forcing asylum seekers to remain in conditions that violate their rights and are harmful to their well-being, health, and dignity cannot be justified on grounds of public health,” the international, New York-based non-governmental organization said in a statement.
    
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A 72-year-old woman diagnosed with the coronavirus died in Armenia on Thursday, the Health Ministry’s spokeswoman said, reporting the country’s first death related to the virus.Armenia, a country of around 3 million people, had reported 290 coronavirus cases as of Thursday, the highest number among countries in the South Caucasus region.
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In a redeveloped urban park in Lisbon, a “drive-thru” clinic is performing five-minute swab tests through car windows on people with coronavirus symptoms, as Portuguese authorities ramp up testing facilities to tackle the growing health emergency.Portugal reported on Thursday 3,544 confirmed cases of the virus since the start of the epidemic, with 60 deaths. That is still far below neighboring Spain or Italy, but the government expects the epidemic only to peak around mid-April.The model of mobile clinics now popping up across Europe and the Americas began in South Korea in February and has been recommended by the World Health Organization as a way of alleviating pressure on hospitals and reducing the risk of contagion by keeping patients in their cars.The Lisbon “drive-thru,” which opened on Monday and expects to perform 150 tests a day, is one of 10 new testing centers to be launched in coming weeks in Portugal.Portugal’s first such site, in the northern city of Porto where the country’s first coronavirus case was detected, started operations last week and now tests about 400 people a day.
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Germany’s lower house of Parliament – the Bundestag – approved an $814 billion aid package Wednesday to cushion the economy from the direct impact of the coronavirus outbreak.
 
In order to fund the emergency measures, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government is planning to take on more than $168 billion in new debt for the first time since 2013.
 
The package was presented by Finance Minister Olaf Scholz while Merkel is at home after a doctor who treated her tested positive for the coronavirus.As a precaution, members of Parliament were spaced widely apart during the debate in Berlin’s Reichstag building for the session.
 
Among other measures, the plan provides funding for the suffering tourism and service industries, support for small businesses, and unemployment benefits for freelance work and contract workers.
 
The measures passed easily in the lower house and now will move on to the upper house of Parliament, where a vote into law is expected Friday.
  
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Neighbors on British street this week pulled together to help an eight-year-old girl celebrate her birthday after coronavirus lockdown regulations left her stuck in her house. The entire street in a Southhampton neighborhood Wednesday sang “Happy Birthday” out their windows for the girl — named “Sophia” — who stood outside her home in tears as she listened. Cell phone video of the serenade was shared heavily on social media in Britain. The British government Monday banned gatherings of more than two people — unless they’re from the same household — and told everyone apart from essential workers to leave home only to buy food and medicines or to exercise.     
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The Vatican daily L’Osservatore Romano, which Pope Francis has jokingly called “the party newspaper,” suspended printing for only the third time in nearly 160 years on Wednesday due to the coronavirus. The paper, which was founded in 1861, will continue publishing online and most of its staff of about 60, including 20 journalists, will work from home, editor Andrea Monda said. “A newspaper and the paper on which it is printed are inextricably intertwined so it sad that this is happening but the reality is that we are all facing a crisis,” Monda told Reuters. Wednesday evening’s edition will be the last for the time being. The newspaper’ print run of about 5,000 is disproportionate to its wider influence in reflecting Vatican opinion on international affairs and Church matters. It is followed by many ambassadors. “We will try to make the best of the moment to boost our online readership until we are able to print again,” Monda said. Ten copies will continue to be printed. They are for Pope Francis, former Pope Benedict, a few top officials and several to be archived for the historical record. “We had to stop primarily because both the printers and the distributors could not guarantee their services in safe conditions because of the lockdown in Italy and the Vatican,” Monda said. Pope Francis told reporters last year he reads only two newspapers – the Osservatore and Rome’s Il Messaggero. It is very rare for the paper not to be published. Even the Nazi occupation of Rome during World War Two did not halt printing. However, the paper was not published on Sept. 20, 1870, when forces fighting for Italian unification conquered Rome and ended the Church’s temporal power over a large swathe of Italy known as the Papal States. Publication was also suspended for a period in 1919 due to labor unrest and other difficulties in Italy after World War I, Monda said.  
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A provincial official in Italy says a soccer game and a missed opportunity to detect one early coronavirus case might have contributed to the rapid spread of the disease in his hard-hit country. The mayor of Bergamo, Giorgio Gori, says his province, like many others in Italy, were not prepared for the coronavirus outbreak. Bergamo did not go into lockdown initially like 10 other towns in Lombardy and one in Veneto.  A case of pneumonia at a hospital in Bergamo province in late February was not recognized as coronavirus at the time. Gori believes that patient infected others, including doctors and nurses.Gori says another event is also believed responsible for the rapid spread of the virus in his province: a Champions League soccer game played February 19.Gori says 40,000 fans from the Bergamo area watched the match played at Milan’s San Siro stadium between Atalanta and Valencia.Many others watched the game at home in large groups, Gori added, and no doubt all those gatherings caused an escalation of the virus to nearly 7,000 cases.A moment of a funeral service without relatives in the cemetery of Zogno, near Bergamo, Northern Italy, March 21, 2020.Hospitals in the province of Bergamo have since been overwhelmed with patients. The death toll has not stopped rising and the province had nowhere to take bodies.Gori says the government was forced to request help from funeral services of other Italian regions and the army helped to take many of the bodies to crematoriums in other cities.For the past three days the number of confirmed cases in Italy has dropped and there is cautious optimism it is the start of a downward trend. But the head of the government’s coronavirus relief effort, Domenico Arcuri, implored Italians to continue to respect the stringent measures imposed on them because it will be the only way out of this crisis.Arcuri says that, “in a very short time we were harshly attacked by a strong, invisible and unknown enemy, adding that in the midst of “thousands of difficulties we reacted immediately and before many other countries in the world.The commissioner said Italy is facing an emergency without precedent and everyone must do their utmost to ensure that “this emergency does not spread to those regions where so far it has been contained.”  
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Britain’s Prince Charles has tested positive for the coronavirus.  A statement Wednesday said he “has been displaying mild symptoms” but is otherwise in good health.  His wife, Camilla, tested negative for the virus.  The couple is in self-isolation at a home in Scotland. 
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Turkey’s main city – Istanbul – is at the center of the country’s efforts to control the spread of the coronavirus.  Almost 40 people have died in Turkey and the virus has infected more than 1,500 people. Authorities are now ramping up restrictions, closing schools, shuttering entertainment venues and even halting prayers at mosques. As Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul, the city is learning to adapt to a new way of life.
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The Vatican is inviting Christians around the world to join Pope Francis in prayer against the coronavirus pandemic as some workers in Vatican City complain they are being discouraged from working from home. A church tweet says Francis will conduct his prayer service Wednesday at 1100 UTC.  Vatican officials have confirmed at least four coronavirus cases so far.  Although the church has said it is encouraging people TO work from what it calls “remote locations,” the Associated Press reports that workers in three different Vatican offices complain they have been told to show up in person from two to five days a week.  The offices include one that is said to handle sensitive church matters from which officials fear documents could disappear if the office is short-staffed. Another office, the so-called Propaganda Office, oversees the church’s work in developing countries.  “The whole of Italy closes down but not so the Vatican, at least not Propaganda Fide,” one commuter’s wife posted on Facebook. “It is dangerous, moving between cities, trains, metro and buses. I cannot believe that this is actually happening!” While church officials have yet to respond to such grievances, they again said that while Vatican offices will stay open, department heads should make sure “essential services”  are carried out with minimal staff while “incentivizing as much as possible remote working.” Pope Francis says he feels like he’s living in a “cage,” avoiding contact with the faithful and conducting video services instead of greeting pilgrims at St. Peter’s Square.  Some Catholic churches around the world still remain open despite the risks posed by congregations gathering in close contact during the coronavirus pandemic. 
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Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city, is at the center of the country’s efforts to control the spread of COVID-19. Authorities are ramping up restrictions, as the number of infections increase. On Tuesday, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced the pandemic’s latest figures — seven new deaths, bringing the death toll to 44, with a total of 1,872 infections. With a population of more than 16 million people, Istanbul accounts for a fifth of Turkey’s population. It is seen as an indicator for the entire country’s ability to win or lose in its battle against COVID-19. Every night across Istanbul, like in other Turkish towns and cities, people cheer and whistle from their balconies or windows in support of the country’s medical workers.  The city is learning to live behind closed doors, including its children, who woke up Monday morning with their schools shuttered in the latest effort by Ankara to contain the coronavirus. Schools closed for two weeks, but many believe that remains an optimistic target, given that the epidemic remains in its infancy.  COVID-19 came late to Turkey. The first official infection was reported two weeks ago. Among the first steps taken by Ankara to contain the virus was to close cinemas, theaters and restaurants until further notice. With its culture of street restaurants, Istanbul is a city that loves to live outside. Now, the streets are silent and empty, devoid of bustling tables of customers enjoying the city’s famed culinary pleasures. Istanbul’s Kadikoy district a hub for the city’s famed restaurants is now empty and silent as all the country’s restaurants are closed as part of the battle to contain the epidemic. (VOA/Dorian Jones)Even prayers at mosques are suspended, possibly a first in the city’s long history.  Despite the severe measures, there is a growing awareness among Istanbul’s residents about the dangers of the virus. “Definitely there is a big danger, both for our country and the world,” said Muhammet, a student. “Immediately, precautions should be taken. We have no doubt scientists and health workers are doing their best.” But others are more critical of the government’s response. “They hid the virus. My nephew works at a hospital. There are six or seven virus victims at a time, when they kept saying that there is no virus. Who are they kidding?” said a retired woman who declined to give her name. “How come there isn’t? Why did they deny this? Why didn’t they take precautions, like stopping the planes coming to Istanbul?”  Ankara denies such criticism, insisting it is reacting with speed and transparency.  Private hospitals on the front line Istanbul’s numerous and well-equipped private hospitals are being put on the front line to fight the virus. “The government has declared all private hospitals “pandemic hospitals,” which gives it the authority to force them to accept corona patients and to set aside the facilities to treat them,” said analyst Atilla Yesilada of Global Source Partners.  “Medical residents have been drafted into active duty,” he added. “The administration is trying to soothe public concerns about a health crisis by assurances that staff, facilities, medicine and test kits are adequate for even dire scenarios.” Yesilada pointed out, however, that anecdotal evidence suggests there is growing criticism about exhaustion, poor safety standards, a lack of masks, gloves, and other vital equipment for hospital staff. On Sunday, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu announced that authorities had raided depots belonging to medical suppliers suspected of hoarding vital equipment, including face masks. The Turkish Medical Association warned Sunday that inadequate regulations meant that all health care professionals are in danger of being infected. It also added that Turkey must immediately install new intensive care units. The Health Ministry rejected such criticisms as unfounded. The Interior Ministry introduced a nationwide measure controlling the number of people using food shops to ensure against overcrowding.  Earlier, people over 65 were banned from leaving home.  Istanbul municipal authorities have even started removing benches to discourage people from sitting and chatting. Police cars are touring Istanbul’s popular seafront areas telling people to go home. For now, Ankara has refrained from introducing compulsory lockdown measures for most of the population. But in Istanbul, much of the population is already heeding government calls to stay home and only work if essential. The use of the city’s public transportation has collapsed in two weeks. According to figures released by Istanbul’s Municipal Authority on Sunday, 800,000 people used the transport network, down from 4.8 million users two weeks prior — a 68% drop. Istanbul’s mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu of the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), is calling on the city to stay strong. “Together, we will get through. Our country, our city, can be an example for the world on how to keep the coronavirus cases and fatalities low,” he said Imamoglu at a recent press conference. “My fellow citizens of Istanbul, we do have difficult days ahead of us, but everything will be beautiful. Don’t lose hope.”  In its 3,000-year history Istanbul has faced plagues and invasions. It is now bracing itself for this latest challenge. 
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