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From: MeNeedIt

Russia plans to spend an extra 4.13 trillion rubles ($66.7 billion) by 2024 to meet social development targets set by President Vladimir Putin, but it will not affect macroeconomic stability, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Wednesday.

Describing the demographic situation in Russia as “very difficult,” Putin set out plans this month to boost the birth rate, including by offering payments for low-income families with small children and allowances for first-time mothers.

Siluanov said 3.77 trillion rubles of the additional spending by 2024 would come from the federal budget, with the remainder being spent from regional budget funds.

“An unprecedented volume of funds will be allocated to the implementation of the pledge to provide citizens with social support,” Siluanov said. “These decisions will not affect budget and macroeconomic stability.”

Siluanov said his ministry would present budget amendments to the government by Feb. 11 in an attempt to provide funds for people as quickly as possible.

The new spending is on top of 25.7 trillion rubles that Putin ordered in 2018 to be spent on 13 “National Projects” — policy areas encompassing social and infrastructure spending, one of which is demography.

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From: MeNeedIt

American officials have recovered the bodies of two U.S. pilots from the site of Monday’s military plane crash in Ghazni province, Afghanistan. It is still unclear why the plane went down in the Taliban-controlled district, but U.S. officials maintain it was not shot down, contrary to Taliban claims. VOA’s Asef Hussaini in Ghazni spoke with the province’s chief of police as well as local officials and filed this report narrated by Bezhan Hamdard.
 

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From: MeNeedIt

South African officials say they’re ready for the possible spread of coronavirus to African shores.  

The pneumonia-like virus, which has sickened more than 4,500 people in China since it was identified in the city of Wuhan on Dec. 31, has African governments on alert.

Professor Cheryl Cohen of South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases says the nation is taking precautions at the continent’s busiest airport, in Johannesburg.

“We have noted the four cases of novel coronavirus that have recently been confirmed in Australia,” she said. “These were anticipated due to the proximity of Australia to Asia. We would like to assure South Africans that South Africa is prepared for any eventuality of an outbreak. We have put in place systems to rapidly identify, detect and respond to any imported cases that may reach our borders.”

Some 21 million travelers came through Johannesburg’s O.R. Tambo International Airport in 2018. It is the only airport in South Africa with direct flights to and from China.

The airport has previously implemented temperature testing and health screening during previous outbreaks of Ebola, Zika and other viruses.

While no cases of the virus have been reported in Africa, China is South Africa’s biggest trading partner, and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange slumped as news of the outbreak spread. That is normal, says economist Lara Hodes of Investec Bank, pointing to one study showing that the 2002 SARS epidemic cost global markets as much as $40 billion.

“So it’s definitely had an effect, a mild effect,” she said. “The JSE has been down. It will generally affect financial markets and, in turn, impact commodity prices and the exchange rate. But it’s very early days and there’s a lot of hype around it because of … SARS a few years ago, they’re worried about the extent it will spread.”

Hodes called the situation a “wait and see,” both in terms of the economy and the virus.
 

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From: MeNeedIt

Next week’s Iowa caucuses are coming to Tbilisi, the capital of the country of Georgia.

For the first time, Iowa’s Democratic Party designated Tbilisi as well as Paris, France and Glasgow, Scotland as international satellite caucus sites, along with 96 new voting locations in the state and across the U.S. where Iowa Democrats can register who they want as their party’s presidential nominee.

Expanding these voting sites will “make these caucuses the most accessible” in the party’s history, said Troy Price, the Iowa Democratic Party Chairman.

The Iowa caucuses, to be held on Feb. 3, will kick off the 2020 U.S. presidential primary season, to be followed within days by the New Hampshire primary. Democratic candidates are competing to become the party’s standard-bearer and face off against the Republican Party’s presumed presidential nominee, President Donald Trump, in November.

Unlike a presidential primary where voters merely cast a ballot for the candidate of their choice, the more time consuming caucus process requires voters to cluster together in support of candidate. Participants may try to persuade wavering voters to join their side — or even attempt to convince voters to switch allegiance.

“What makes a caucus distinctive, of course, is that people are literally voting with their feet,” said Karen Kedrowski, director of The Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics at the Iowa State University.

Why Tbilisi?

The Tbilisi site will be hosted by Joshua Kucera, a freelance journalist living in Georgia. Kucera, who is from Des Moines, told the New York Times, “there’s no specific reasons for an Iowan to be here.” So far, he said, only two other Iowa expats have registered for the Tbilisi caucus. As to why Kucera wants to host a caucus, he said “I’m a proud Iowan, nostalgic for Iowa and I like doing Iowan things.”

Kucera told VOA in an email he plans to write about his experiencing hosting the caucus in Tbilisi for another news organization.

The other international sites will be held at a university in Paris and at the home of a graduate student studying in Glasgow.

The 99 Iowa caucuses satellite locations were designated by the Democratic Party following an extensive application process. Organizations and individuals interested in hosting a caucus had to estimate the potential number of Iowa participants in these areas.

Symbolic impact

While the Democratic Party has expanded access, it has limited the potential impact of the satellite caucuses, ruling that no more than 10%  of delegates will be selected based on the outcomes from these sites.

But political analysts will be looking to see if the expanded caucus sites significantly increase participation among more diverse populations and what new voter patterns may emerge.

“I’m going to definitely be watching to see if these folks who are participating in the satellite caucuses had a different outcome than those who went to the traditional caucuses,” said Kedrowski, with Iowa State University’s Catt Center for Women and Politics.

The Republican party of Iowa will also be holding caucuses on the same night but will not participate in the expanded satellite locations. President Donald Trump, who is running for second term of office, is overwhelmingly favored over two other register Republican candidates, former U.S. Congressman Joe Walsh and former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld.

Virtual option

The Iowa Democratic Party considered but ultimately rejected a virtual caucus option, for voters to participate over the phone or on an online platform, due to cybersecurity concerns.  

This year’s expanded caucus sites and schedules, the Democratic Party hopes, will facilitate greater participation among busy parents with children, people working night shifts, students away from home and Iowans living abroad.

In the past, the downside of the time-consuming caucus process has been lower voter turnout. In the 2016 Iowa caucuses only 15.7%  of the voting population participated. In contrast, over 50%  of New Hampshire voters cast ballots in the 2016 primary.  

Iowa Democrats also rejected proposals to allow early voting or mailing in ballots that would blur the distinction between caucus and primary.

New Hampshire state law requires that its primary election be the first one held in the nation. By holding caucuses rather than a traditional election, Iowa’s contest technically does not conflict with New Hampshire’s traditional first primary position.  

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From: MeNeedIt

More than 60 Afghan students are among foreigners stranded in Wuhan, China. Their families in Afghanistan say these students are hurting psychologically since the city has been on lockdown. Food and supplies are running out, and they are losing hope of leaving the city. Today, the Afghan government asked China to keep the students in Wuhan and not send them back to Afghanistan. Their desperate families are asking the Afghan and Chinese governments to help these students. Sayed Hasib Mawdoodi in Kabul met with families, and students who returned from Wuhan 10 days ago.  

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From: MeNeedIt

Nations around the world are evacuating their students and other citizens from coronavirus-stricken China, while other countries are choosing to leave their citizens in Wuhan, the university city where the virus reportedly started.

Around 500 Bangladeshi students are among the stranded in Wuhan. They have called for help on social media, while the Chinese and Bangladesh governments negotiate a strategy. 

“Through the social [media] site WeChat, students got informed of the mystery infectious virus that was spreading fast,” Mazharul Islam, a freshman in the School of Electrical Engineering at Wuhan University, told VOA. “However, we were told that there is nothing to get worried about and the virus is under control. Later through WeChat we were advised to use masks when stepping out of the dormitory.”

Islam said there were 30 Bangladeshi students on his campus. Through Chinese social media WeChat, he said, he and others learned there were 500 Bangladeshi students in Wuhan. He said the Bangladesh Embassy in Beijing “would notify us if there were any emergency evacuation taking place.” He said they have been provided with masks and preventive medicines from the university.

Masudur Rahman, the deputy chief of mission at the Bangladesh Embassy in Beijing, said of the 3,000 Bangladeshis in China, most are students and teachers. 

“We, from the Bangladesh Embassy in Beijing, are in contact with the Chinese authorities and are trying to find a possible solution in the present situation,” Rahman said. Evacuation would “have to take place through a bilateral arrangement.”    

Meanwhile, other countries are arranging flights out of China for their citizens. France – where three cases of the coronavirus have been reported — said it will operate several direct flights under the supervision of medical experts out of China midweek for French citizens who want to leave, AFP reported. The number could “range from a few dozen to a few hundred” of its 800 citizens in China, said Health Minister Agnes Buzyn.

Evacuees will “stay in a holding area for 14 days,” the duration it takes for the virus to incubate, when they land in France, AFP reported.

Morocco ordered the repatriation of 100 Moroccan nationals – mostly students – from the Wuhan area on Monday, according to Reuters. Other countries arranging to have their citizens and students flow out include Japan, Spain, Britain and Netherlands. Canada, which has about 167 nationals in the Wuhan area, has not planned evacuations but has not ruled them out, Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said Monday. Each consular request would be evaluated on a “case by case basis,” he told Reuters.

The epidemic, which originated in Wuhan city, has claimed 81 lives in China and infected more than 2,800 people globally, most of them in China.

CORONAVIRUS UPDATE

DEATHS

China 81

CONFIRMED CASES

China 2700
US 5
Australia 5
France 3
Nepal 1
Japan 4
Singapore 4
South Korea 4
Taiwan 5
Thailand 8
Vietnam 2
Malaysia 4
Cambodia 1

(Source: VOA/ AFP)

— The Voice of America (@VOANews) January 27, 2020

The Chinese government has locked down Wuhan and neighboring cities to keep the virus from spreading. Tens of millions of people, including foreigners and students, are among them. Many students left the Wuhan area for Lunar New Year’s holiday and winter break, but others stayed behind.

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Students from Wuhan Traveling Globally for Holidays

Hundreds of students recently left for countries around the world for winter break

More than 60 Afghan students are among foreigners stranded in Wuhan. The Afghan government has asked China to keep the students in Wuhan and not send them back to Afghanistan, much to the disappointment of their families in Afghanistan.

“Universities are locked-down, and students are stranded at their rooms and are not allowed to leave their campuses,” said Ahmad Jawed Beheshti, an Afghan student at Sichuan University in China. “Just yesterday, they closed off our university.”

Javed Ahmad Qaem, Afghan ambassador to China, told VOA the students have not been forgotten.

“They are nervous, but Chinese authorities are acting responsibly,” he said. “They have a focal point for each embassy. If and when relocation is allowed inside China or outside China, we will also be at the forefront. So far relocation is not allowed. They are isolated and we are monitoring the situation closely.”

The president of the Indonesian Student Association (PPI) of Chinape, Nur Musyafak, in Wuhan said Indonesian citizens — including students — want to get out of the city. Foreign Ministry data show there are 428 Indonesian citizens studying in Wuhan. Most of those students returned to Indonesia for winter break.

But those remaining in China need a recommendation letter from the Indonesian Republic Embassy if they want to leave.

“We’re gathering all the passport numbers of these 98” Indonesians who remain in Wuhan. “Once we have the data, we will request a letter from the Indonesian Embassy,” Nur told VOA.

The dorm is 20 kilometers from the Huanan Seafood Market, where the coronavirus is suspected of emanating. Campuses in Wuhan have distributed masks, liquid soap, and free thermometers to students, Nur said. The universities have instructed students not to leave their room too often.

Authorities in Myanmar said they had cancelled a planned evacuation of 60 students from Mandalay who were studying in Wuhan. Kyaw Yin Myint, a spokesman for the Mandalay municipal government, told Reuters that a “final decision” had been made to send them back after 14 days, once the virus’ incubation period had passed.

In Russia, direct flights from Wuhan to Moscow were suspended last week. At least 140 Russians, 75 of them students, are known to be in Wuhan and Hubei, the Russian embassy in China said on Monday, Reuters reported from the TASS news agency.

The United States said it would evacuate personnel and citizens in China, several news outlets reported. The U.S. State Department said it will evacuate personnel from its Wuhan consulate to the United States and offer a limited number of seats to private U.S. citizens on a flight. Some private citizens will be able to board the “single flight” leaving Wuhan on Jan. 28 for San Francisco, it said.

Sayed Hasib Mawdoodi of VOA’s Afghan Service in Kabul, Sanjana Feroz and KabirUddin Sarkar of the Bangla Service in Washington, and Rio Tuasikal of the Indonesian Service in Bandung, Indonesia, contributed to this report.

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From: MeNeedIt

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang visited the city of Wuhan on Monday to meet with health officials and examine the response to the outbreak of a coronavirus that has killed 80 people.

Wuhan is the center of the outbreak and people there and in several other cities face strict restrictions on movement as the government tries to prevent the virus from spreading.

Officials took an extra step Sunday to extend the Lunar New Year holiday three extra days to cut down on group gatherings.

The latest figures reported by Chinese health officials include more than 2,700 cases of people being sickened by the virus.

Cases have also been reported in Australia, Canada, France, Hong Kong, Japan, Macao, Malaysia, Nepal, Portugal, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam.  The World Health Organization says most of those are people who had a travel history in Wuhan, with several others having contact with someone who traveled there.

There have been no reported deaths linked to the virus outside of China.

The head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention respiratory disease office, Nancy Messonnier, said Sunday there were five confirmed cases in the United States, and that all five people had direct contact with others in Wuhan.

The patients are isolated in hospitals as doctors and health officials try to find out more about the virus. The CDC says it is investigating about 100 suspected cases in 26 states.

Chinese National Health Commission Minister Ma Xiaowei said Sunday little is known about the virus. But doctors do know it has an incubation period that can range from one to 14 days. Ma said the virus is infectious during the incubation period, when no signs or symptoms of the disease are present..

President Xi Jinping said China is facing a “grave situation” and experts and other resources would be concentrated at specific hospitals to treat severe cases of the illness.

The virus is believed to have emerged late last year in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, at a seafood market illegally selling wildlife. Chinese authorities have imposed a temporary ban on the selling of wildlife.  

The virus hit China just as it was beginning the celebrations of the Lunar New Year, resulting in the canceling or the scaling back of festivities for tens of millions of Chinese. 

Tourist destinations are closed and school closings have been extended, in an effort to stop the spread of the virus.  Public transportation has been severely restricted.

The WHO recommends several steps to help protect people against acute respiratory infections. They include avoiding close contact with those already infected, frequent hand-washing and avoiding unprotected contact with farm animals and wild animals.

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From: MeNeedIt

Hundreds of employees are openly criticizing Amazon’s record on climate change despite what they say is a company policy that puts their jobs at risk for speaking out.

On Sunday, more than 300 employees of the online retail giant signed their names and job titles to statements on blog post on Medium. The online protest was organized by a group called Amazon Employees For Climate Justice, an advocacy group founded by Amazon workers that earlier this month said the company had sent letters to its members threatening to fire them if they continued to speak to the press.   

“It’s our moral responsibility to speak up, and the changes to the communications policy are censoring us from exercising that responsibility,” said Sarah Tracy, a software development engineer at Amazon, in a statement.   

Amazon said that its policy on external communications is not new and is in keeping with other large companies. It said the policy applies to all Amazon employees and is not directed at any specific group.

“While all employees are welcome to engage constructively with any of the many teams inside Amazon that work on sustainability and other topics, we do enforce our external communications policy and will not allow employees to publicly disparage or misrepresent the company or the hard work of their colleagues who are developing solutions to these hard problems,” according to an Amazon spokesperson.   

Amazon, which relies on fossil fuels to power the planes, trucks and vans that ship packages all over the world, has an enormous carbon footprint. And its workers have been vocal in criticizing some of the company’s practices.

Last year, more than 8,000 staffers signed an open letter to CEO and founder Jeff Bezos demanding that Amazon cut its carbon emissions, end its use of fossil fuels and stop its work with oil companies that use Amazon’s technology to locate fossil fuel deposits.

Amazon said in a statement that it is passionate about climate change issues and has already pledged to become net zero carbon by 2040 and use 100% renewable energy by 2030. 

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From: MeNeedIt

Ruling party CNDD-FDD has announced that Secretary-General Evariste Ndayishimiye will be its candidate for the presidential election slated for May.

Ndayishimiye was chosen Sunday after a- three-day party congress that took place in the political capital Gitega.

News of his choice has galvanized members of the ruling party who say that he is the right candidate to take the helm after President Pierre Nkurunziza leaves office. But his pick has disappointed government opponents who say that if elected, Ndayishimiye would be a continuation of what they call “failed policies” by Nkurunziza.

Ambassador Isidore Mbayahaga, an Uprona party member who is close to the ruling party, said that Burundians should rejoice at the pick of Ndayishimiye. He said Ndayishimiye has all it takes to carry on his predecessor’s legacy of uniting Burundians and fostering the country’s interest:“ All Burundians, irrespective of their party affiliations should be happy that the election of Nkurunziza’s potential replacement has been carried out peacefully and this cannot be taken for granted in a country that has been characterized by internal political feuds and killings,” he said.

However law expert and former head of the Burundi Bar Association, Isidore Rufyikiri, sees no bright future for the country. He said that if elected president, Ndayishimiye would not be capable of bringing about profound changes that are necessary to reverse the situation in Burundi.

“Although Burundians should celebrate that President Nkurunziza is no longer going to seek another term, they cannot be optimistic about the future of the country, for nothing guaranties elections are going to be fair and transparent,” he said. 

 “First of all, the elections will take place while President Nkurunziza will still be at the helm of the country and second, they will be overseen by an election commission that was appointed by President Nkurunziza,” he said.

Rufyikiri also said that the country would likely continue to experience human rights abuses because Ndayishimiye “will not be able to dismantle the youth ruling party Imbonerakure” whom he alleged are “creating mayhem across the country.”

Political analyst Innocent Bano said Burundians have to stop demonizing each other in order to build a country that fosters unity, tolerance and development.

“The term Imbonerakure has been used as a political tool to smear a group of youth of the ruling party, and politicians should get rid of that divisive rhetoric. What really matters for Burundians is for them to come together and support democratic changes initiated by the ruling party,” he said.

Bano also said the increasing number of presidential candidates for elections slated for 2020 is a vivid testimony that democratic institutions are getting stronger and stronger.

If General Ndayishimiye is elected come this May, it will be the first time in Burundian history that an outgoing president has picked his successor peacefully.

President Nkurunziza and Ndayishimiye are close allies who are among the founders of the ruling party CNDD-FDD. They are both former rebel leaders who signed a peace agreement with then Burundi President Pierre Buyoya in 2003.

Ndayishimiye has held other important posts including Interior and Security minister, director of the Military Cabinet to President Nkurunziza and is currently Secretary-General of the ruling party CNDD-FDD.

He was picked over several other prominent CNDD-FDD political leaders including second Vice President Joseph Butore, current chairperson of Burundi parliament, Pascal Nyabenda and Gabriel Nizigama, executive director in the office of President Nkurunziza

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From: MeNeedIt

The World Food Program reports it is scaling up its operation to provide emergency food to tens of thousands of homeless, hungry people in Syria’s war-torn province of Idlib. 

Humanitarian officials say conditions for some three million civilians in Idlib have become intolerable since Syria and its Russian allies launched a major offensive in mid-December to seize this last rebel stronghold.

Since then, the United Nations reports more than 300,000 people, 80 percent of them women and children, have fled their homes in a desperate bid to protect themselves from heavy bombing and shelling.   

Last year, the World Food Program nearly doubled its food assistance from 550,000 beneficiaries to one million in northwest Syria.  Given the increasing conflict and displacement, WFP spokeswoman Elizabeth Byrs says her agency is scaling up its operation to provide emergency food aid to more than 126,000 displaced.

“WFP and its partners are now pre-positioning life-saving food for more than one million people in northwest Syria for six weeks.  It is — I can just say it is vital we continue to be able to reach these desperately vulnerable people whose lives are being torn apart by fighting.”  

Idlib is under siege, so WFP only can bring food into the territory from Turkey.  Byrs says this cross-border operation from Turkey has made it possible for WFP to feed hundreds of thousands of destitute people in Idlib last year and will continue to do so this year.  

The United Nations reports more than eight years of brutal civil conflict has pushed millions of Syrians into hunger and poverty.  It reports the war has displaced more than six million people within the country and created a food crisis for more than seven million who suffer from chronic food shortages.

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From: MeNeedIt

Heather Murdock contributed to this report.

Iraqi security forces, seeking to disperse protesters, used live bullets Sunday, wounding demonstrators in the capital, Baghdad, and the southern city of Nassiriya.

Prominent cleric Muqafa al-Sadr withdrew his support Saturday for the four-month-long sit-ins and rallies in Iraq that have threatened the status quo.  Within hours of dropping his support, Sadr’s followers, who were some of the staunchest supporters of the protesters, packed their tents and left the camps.  

Protesters have called for  new leadership, jobs, healthcare, security and an end to widespread corruption and extreme poverty.

Without Sadr’s support, protesters had predicted Iraq’s many militias and divisions of security forces would attack the demonstrators.

It is estimated at least 600 people have been killed and 20,000 people have been wounded in the protests across Iraq since October.

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From: MeNeedIt