csmonitor--2020-03-24--Volunteer DIYers meet face mask shortage with needle and thread

Bill Purdue waterproofs basements for a living , but he has spent the past few days in his buddy 's Washington , Indiana , auto trim and upholstery shop cutting rectangles of cotton fabric that his friend sews into face masks .
Fashion designer Briana Danyele left Italy last month to return to her mother 's Greer , South Carolina , home , where she has turned the living room into a mini sewing factory , making masks that she embroiders with the words , `` We Got This ! ''
They 're among scores of people answering pleas from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ desperate for personal protective equipment amid the viral pandemic that they 've turned to the public , saying do-it-yourself face masks are better than nothing .
And for those sitting at home worrying as the virus strains hospitals and the economy teeters , sewing masks makes them feel less helpless .
`` Whatever it takes to get the job done , that 's what I want to do , '' said Mr. Purdue , whose daughter works at the women 's hospital in Evansville , Indiana .
He and his friend Mike Rice @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from Deaconess Health System in Evansville asking the public for help .
The efforts mirror those in other countries , including Spain , where mask-making volunteers include a group of nuns and members of the Spanish Air Force .
Around 500 masks a day are coming off sewing machines at the Paratroop School in Murcia , in the country ’ s southeast , according to the Air Force ’ s Twitter account .
In Belgium , what began as a one-woman operation about a week ago grew to a small army of home-sewing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Hight said the hospital system realized it could face a shortage if local infections skyrocket like they have elsewhere .
So officials produced and posted a how-to video that has being shared across the country .
`` We had people who wanted to ship them to us from all over the United States and we started saying , 'Please , please use them in your communities , ' '' she said .
`` It makes your heart warm ; people are so good . ''
She said Deaconess expects to collect thousands of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and sanitize them before distributing them to nurses and doctors or sending them to local nursing homes and homeless shelters .
In a similar effort , Providence St. Joseph ’ s Health in the hard-hit Seattle area is putting together kits using special material and distributing them to people willing to sew them together as part of a 100-million mask challenge .
Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center , New Hampshire ’ s largest hospital , is preparing kits with fabric and elastic and encouraging volunteers to sew face masks for patients , visitors , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ conserved for front-line health care workers .
Federal officials had previously advised hospital workers to use surgical masks when treating patients who might be infected with coronavirus amid reports of dwindling supplies of fitted and more protective N95 respirator masks .
`` If nurses quit or become too fatigued or even become ill themselves , then we do n't have a front line anymore , '' said Wendy Byard of Lapeer , Michigan .
She began organizing friends to make masks after learning her daughter , a nurse at a suburban Detroit hospital @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mask all day .
Last week the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention quietly updated its guidance , saying hospitals that run low on surgical masks should consider ways to reuse them or to use them through an entire shift .
And if hospitals run out , the CDC said , scarfs or bandanas could be used `` as a last resort , '' though some health officials warned cloth masks might not work .
Mary Dale Peterson , president of the American Society of Anesthesiologists and chief operating officer at a Corpus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hospital , said she declined volunteers ’ offers to make masks .
She said construction and manufacturing industries instead should donate or sell the high-grade masks they have to hospitals .
`` It would be only an extremely , extremely last resort that I would have my staff '' wear homemade masks , she said .
`` I really hope it doesn ’ t get to that point in the U.S. '' At the Missouri Quilt Museum in Hamilton , Missouri , board members asked local hospitals if masks were needed and `` @ @ @ @ @ @ @ director Dakota Redford .
Soon other health care providers , including ambulance crews and nursing homes , were requesting masks .
`` This has been a true grassroots effort that has exploded across the country in the quilting world , '' she said .
Businesses also are stepping up .
Crafts chain Joann Stores is making all of its 800-plus stores available for up to 10 people at each location to sew masks and hospital gowns , offering sewing machines and supplies , spokeswoman Amanda Hayes said .
Ms. Hayes said the number @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to CDC guidelines , the sewing stations will be six feet apart , and staff will continuously sanitize the work areas and materials .
The company also has special kits for customers who want to make masks at home .
`` We ’ re enabling people to feel like they are contributing at a time when we do n't have control , '' Ms. Hayes said .
In Baltimore , almost 160 volunteers with 414 3D printers between them are making plastic face shields for Johns Hopkins and other area hospitals and dropping @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Open Works .
Executive Director Will Holman , who organized the effort , said he laid off 21 part-time employees last week because of the virus but has rehired some to assemble , sterilize , and package the shields .
Ms. Danyele , the South Carolina fashion designer , said she made about 200 masks bound for a local nursing home and hospitals in Florida , Georgia , Indiana , and Illinois .
`` If I 'm one person creating 200 masks , imagine what we all could do , '' said Ms. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that we ’ re at this point , but this is encouraging . ''
This story was reported by The Associated Press .
Dee-Ann Durbin reported from Detroit and Anne D'Innocenzio from New York .
AP writers Jeff McMillan and Michael Stobbe in New York ; Martha Bellisle in Seattle ; Fares Akram in Gaza City , Gaza Strip ; Barry Hatton in Lisbon ; and Virginia Mayo in Atwerp , Belgium , contributed to this report .
Editor ’ s note : As a public service , the Monitor has removed the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It ’ s free .

Bill Purdue waterproofs basements for a living, but he has spent the past few days in his buddy's Washington, Indiana, auto trim and upholstery shop cutting rectangles of cotton fabric that his friend sews into face masks.
Fashion designer Briana Danyele left Italy last month to return to her mother's Greer, South Carolina, home, where she has turned the living room into a mini sewing factory, making masks that she embroiders with the words, "We Got This!"
They're among scores of people answering pleas from hospitals, doctors, and nurses so desperate for personal protective equipment amid the viral pandemic that they've turned to the public, saying do-it-yourself face masks are better than nothing.
And for those sitting at home worrying as the virus strains hospitals and the economy teeters, sewing masks makes them feel less helpless.
"Whatever it takes to get the job done, that's what I want to do," said Mr. Purdue, whose daughter works at the women's hospital in Evansville, Indiana. He and his friend Mike Rice responded to a Facebook post last week from Deaconess Health System in Evansville asking the public for help.
The efforts mirror those in other countries, including Spain, where mask-making volunteers include a group of nuns and members of the Spanish Air Force. Around 500 masks a day are coming off sewing machines at the Paratroop School in Murcia, in the country’s southeast, according to the Air Force’s Twitter account.
In Belgium, what began as a one-woman operation about a week ago grew to a small army of home-sewing mask-makers within days.
Deaconess spokeswoman Pam Hight said the hospital system realized it could face a shortage if local infections skyrocket like they have elsewhere. So officials produced and posted a how-to video that has being shared across the country.
"We had people who wanted to ship them to us from all over the United States and we started saying, 'Please, please use them in your communities,'" she said. "It makes your heart warm; people are so good."
She said Deaconess expects to collect thousands of masks this week at an off-hospital site and sanitize them before distributing them to nurses and doctors or sending them to local nursing homes and homeless shelters.
In a similar effort, Providence St. Joseph’s Health in the hard-hit Seattle area is putting together kits using special material and distributing them to people willing to sew them together as part of a 100-million mask challenge.
Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, New Hampshire’s largest hospital, is preparing kits with fabric and elastic and encouraging volunteers to sew face masks for patients, visitors, and staff so medical-grade protective equipment can be conserved for front-line health care workers.
Federal officials had previously advised hospital workers to use surgical masks when treating patients who might be infected with coronavirus amid reports of dwindling supplies of fitted and more protective N95 respirator masks.
"If nurses quit or become too fatigued or even become ill themselves, then we don't have a front line anymore," said Wendy Byard of Lapeer, Michigan. She began organizing friends to make masks after learning her daughter, a nurse at a suburban Detroit hospital, was told to wear the same mask all day.
Last week the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention quietly updated its guidance, saying hospitals that run low on surgical masks should consider ways to reuse them or to use them through an entire shift. And if hospitals run out, the CDC said, scarfs or bandanas could be used "as a last resort," though some health officials warned cloth masks might not work.
Mary Dale Peterson, president of the American Society of Anesthesiologists and chief operating officer at a Corpus Christ, Texas, children’s hospital, said she declined volunteers’ offers to make masks. She said construction and manufacturing industries instead should donate or sell the high-grade masks they have to hospitals.
"It would be only an extremely, extremely last resort that I would have my staff" wear homemade masks, she said. "I really hope it doesn’t get to that point in the U.S."
At the Missouri Quilt Museum in Hamilton, Missouri, board members asked local hospitals if masks were needed and "they emphatically said yes," said director Dakota Redford. Soon other health care providers, including ambulance crews and nursing homes, were requesting masks.
"This has been a true grassroots effort that has exploded across the country in the quilting world," she said.
Businesses also are stepping up.
Crafts chain Joann Stores is making all of its 800-plus stores available for up to 10 people at each location to sew masks and hospital gowns, offering sewing machines and supplies, spokeswoman Amanda Hayes said.
Ms. Hayes said the number of people allowed in the stores adheres to CDC guidelines, the sewing stations will be six feet apart, and staff will continuously sanitize the work areas and materials. The company also has special kits for customers who want to make masks at home.
"We’re enabling people to feel like they are contributing at a time when we don't have control," Ms. Hayes said.
In Baltimore, almost 160 volunteers with 414 3D printers between them are making plastic face shields for Johns Hopkins and other area hospitals and dropping them off at a maker space called Open Works. Executive Director Will Holman, who organized the effort, said he laid off 21 part-time employees last week because of the virus but has rehired some to assemble, sterilize, and package the shields.
Ms. Danyele, the South Carolina fashion designer, said she made about 200 masks bound for a local nursing home and hospitals in Florida, Georgia, Indiana, and Illinois.
"If I'm one person creating 200 masks, imagine what we all could do," said Ms. Danyele. "It's super sad that we’re at this point, but this is encouraging."
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This story was reported by The Associated Press. Dee-Ann Durbin reported from Detroit and Anne D'Innocenzio from New York. AP writers Jeff McMillan and Michael Stobbe in New York; Martha Bellisle in Seattle; Fares Akram in Gaza City, Gaza Strip; Barry Hatton in Lisbon; and Virginia Mayo in Atwerp, Belgium, contributed to this report.
Editor’s note: As a public service, the Monitor has removed the paywall for all our coronavirus coverage. It’s free.


csmonitor--2020-03-27--‘Pharma’ paints a troubling picture of an unchecked industry

Gerald Posner ’ s “ Pharma : Greed , Lies , and the Poisoning of America ” could be seen as the 2020 equivalent of Upton Sinclair ’ s 1906 novel , “ The Jungle , ” which led to public outrage over the meat-packing industry .
His unsettling book , five years in the making and buttressed by a trove of documentation , is not only a careful history , it ’ s also a staggering indictment of pharmaceutical companies .
“ [ T ] he drug business has turned America into a medicated society , ” Posner writes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of so-called wonder drugs , some real and some hyped , have resulted in huge profits while also creating tens of millions of dependent patients waiting for the next pill to solve an ever-expanding range of illnesses and disorders.
” “ Pharma ” covers in very readable detail the exponential drugging of America , with demand for “ happy pill ” benzodiazepines surging in the late 1950s and early ’ 60s , as increasingly powerful drug companies pressure the medical establishment to “ medicalize ” more and more ailments .
Then those same @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” with a handful of families pulling most of the strings – and reaping huge profits .
Posner focuses on the Sackler family , the people behind Purdue Pharma , which launched the opioid painkiller OxyContin in 1996 and which has realized huge dividends from sales of the drug .
He ’ s pulled together original reporting on Arthur Sackler and his family , who , according to Posner , circumvented the law and spent millions to keep the Sackler name from becoming associated with the opioid crisis .
[ Purdue Pharma @ @ @ @ @ @ @ September 2019 .
A settlement is pending between Purdue Pharma and municipal and state governments , which filed more than 2,000 lawsuits against the company to recover costs associated with fighting the opioid crisis . ]
The book also delves into the “ largely anonymous and mostly unfathomable ” world of pharmacy benefit managers ( PBMs ) , “ the only segment of the drug distribution system that knows what everyone else is paying and getting paid.
” PBMs bill insurance companies for prescription claims made by patients – bills that are often @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to pharmacists .
As Posner notes , “ The PBMs pocket the difference.
” Not all of the stories are dark .
Posner looks at the hard-working health care providers who bravely treated AIDS patients in the 1980s while demanding research toward a cure for the disease .
He also notes that then-President Ronald Reagan had begun his tenure by cutting the budget for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in half .
Among the health care professionals was Anthony Fauci , then chief of the Laboratory of Immunoregulation , who is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s response to the COVID-19 virus .
On page after page , Posner describes incidents of drug companies lying to investigators , manipulating politicians and political systems , twisting regulations , and intentionally foisting unnecessary , dangerous , and overpriced products on some of the most vulnerable segments of society .
The penultimate chapter of Posner ’ s book , “ The Coming Pandemic , ” refers to the troubling side effect , according to Posner and others , of the pharmaceutical industry ’ s flooding of the market with antibiotic drugs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of bacteria .
The blame for that development , as well as for the opioid crisis , Posner lays squarely at the feet of Big Pharma .

Gerald Posner’s “Pharma: Greed, Lies, and the Poisoning of America” could be seen as the 2020 equivalent of Upton Sinclair’s 1906 novel, “The Jungle,” which led to public outrage over the meat-packing industry.
His unsettling book, five years in the making and buttressed by a trove of documentation, is not only a careful history, it’s also a staggering indictment of pharmaceutical companies.
“[T]he drug business has turned America into a medicated society,” Posner writes. “Successive waves over the decades of so-called wonder drugs, some real and some hyped, have resulted in huge profits while also creating tens of millions of dependent patients waiting for the next pill to solve an ever-expanding range of illnesses and disorders.”
“Pharma” covers in very readable detail the exponential drugging of America, with demand for “happy pill” benzodiazepines surging in the late 1950s and early ’60s, as increasingly powerful drug companies pressure the medical establishment to “medicalize” more and more ailments. Then those same companies patented and sold chemical “solutions,” with a handful of families pulling most of the strings – and reaping huge profits.
Posner focuses on the Sackler family, the people behind Purdue Pharma, which launched the opioid painkiller OxyContin in 1996 and which has realized huge dividends from sales of the drug. He’s pulled together original reporting on Arthur Sackler and his family, who, according to Posner, circumvented the law and spent millions to keep the Sackler name from becoming associated with the opioid crisis. [Purdue Pharma filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September 2019. A settlement is pending between Purdue Pharma and municipal and state governments, which filed more than 2,000 lawsuits against the company to recover costs associated with fighting the opioid crisis.]
The book also delves into the “largely anonymous and mostly unfathomable” world of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), “the only segment of the drug distribution system that knows what everyone else is paying and getting paid.” PBMs bill insurance companies for prescription claims made by patients – bills that are often in excess of what is actually reimbursed to pharmacists. As Posner notes, “The PBMs pocket the difference.”
Not all of the stories are dark. Posner looks at the hard-working health care providers who bravely treated AIDS patients in the 1980s while demanding research toward a cure for the disease. He also notes that then-President Ronald Reagan had begun his tenure by cutting the budget for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in half. Among the health care professionals was Anthony Fauci, then chief of the Laboratory of Immunoregulation, who is now coordinating and overseeing the Trump administration’s response to the COVID-19 virus.
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On page after page, Posner describes incidents of drug companies lying to investigators, manipulating politicians and political systems, twisting regulations, and intentionally foisting unnecessary, dangerous, and overpriced products on some of the most vulnerable segments of society.
The penultimate chapter of Posner’s book, “The Coming Pandemic,” refers to the troubling side effect, according to Posner and others, of the pharmaceutical industry’s flooding of the market with antibiotic drugs: the steady rise of drug-resistant strains of bacteria. The blame for that development, as well as for the opioid crisis, Posner lays squarely at the feet of Big Pharma.


Daily for May 12, 2020

On a December Thursday in a nondescript Cairo apartment building , a table is spread with plastic containers of Egyptian morning mainstays – fava beans , taamiya , scrambled eggs , and falafel .
And a box of Dunkin ' donuts .
Reporters at the online newspaper Mada Masr are gathering for a tradition observed in newsrooms across the world : the end-of-week staff breakfast .
As they break bread , laughter and gossip fill the air .
There are no obvious signs of the police raid a few weeks earlier that led to the brief detention of the paper @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that is , the bolted front door .
At Egypt ’ s last independent media outlet , which reports in a country that jails more journalists than almost any other , displaying normalcy is not just a coping mechanism , it ’ s a moral code .
“ We live and work like any other news organization .
We won ’ t let repression change us , ” says Sharif Abdel Kouddous , an editor .
That sort of stubborn determination is common to reporters and human rights defenders throughout the Middle East @ @ @ @ @ @ @ – a wave of repression .
As Europe , Latin America , and even the United States witness a steady erosion of democratic norms and institutions , Arab activists and journalists are embroiled in an all-out war in defense of those values , facing arrest , sham trials , even torture .
If today the world order is shaking , the Arab world , in tectonic terms , has been feeling the foreshocks for nearly a decade .
In much of the region , which less than 10 years ago experienced an awakening @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and the media , activism has become a matter of life or death .
For in the wake of the 2011 Arab Spring protests to end autocratic rule and foster democracy has come an anti-democratic counterrevolution that rages to this day .
In the belief that democracy in one Arab state is a threat to all , regimes flush with petrodollars have cracked down mercilessly on political activity and media .
One of the fiercest campaigns continues under President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Egypt , funded by Gulf allies , who has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ journalists , according to Human Rights Watch .
Western governments rarely talk about human rights in the Arab world these days .
Consumed by political divisions at home , and lately by the coronavirus pandemic , they are more likely to praise autocratic regimes than challenge them .
The silence has an impact .
In late November , Egyptian police raided a Cairo coffee shop and arrested three independent journalists : Solafa Magdy , Hossam al-Sayyad , and Mohamed Saleh .
Their detentions received no domestic or international media coverage .
Today they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ denied medical care , like hundreds of rights defenders and journalists across the region .
Meanwhile , America and Europe continue to enable Arab regimes ’ crackdowns with money , weapons , and technology .
Canadian and French firms have sold software to the United Arab Emirates , Saudi Arabia , and Egypt that those governments have used to block the websites of human rights organizations and media outlets , internet watchdogs say .
Former U.S. National Security Agency employees have been widely reported as saying they worked with the UAE to monitor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The technology has aided regimes ’ use of anti-terror laws that criminalize as “ terrorism ” Facebook posts that are merely critical of the government .
In the words of one veteran Arab activist , “ it is as if in the battle between David and Goliath , Goliath was given a rocket-launcher.
” “ These regimes have the support of the West , they have money , they have armies , and they have the latest technology .
What do we have ?
” asks Khalid Ibrahim , co-founder and director @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Rights .
“ We only have the word .
And it is our duty to get the message out any way we can.
” One person fighting to get the word out is Gamal Eid , among the last human rights defenders operating in Egypt .
His Cairo-based Arabic Network for Human Rights Information ( ANHRI ) , which once worked to reform police practices , is now consumed with defending the growing number of Egyptians jailed for “ terrorism.
” From 2013-17 , ANHRI dealt with around 300 cases a year , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ surpassed 500 a year .
Today few organizations or lawyers are willing to defend the increasingly varied range of Egyptians brought before the courts as “ terrorists.
” Many who dare to defend activists , such as human rights lawyer Mohamed el-Baqer , end up being arrested themselves .
Mr. Eid and his staff fear that if they shutter their doors , Egyptians being held in pretrial detention will go undefended , undocumented , and unseen .
“ If it wasn ’ t for us , these people would be lost to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lawyer who requested anonymity .
“ We are their last , and only , hope.
” ANHRI defends suspected members of the former Muslim Brotherhood , which backed the government that General Sisi overthrew in a 2013 coup .
It also defends a growing number of young liberal Egyptians who once supported Mr. Sisi but are now persecuted for failing to toe the regime ’ s line .
“ We can not turn our backs on each other because of ideological differences , ” says Mr. Eid .
“ That is how the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ANHRI has paid a heavy price .
Its lawyers have been arrested , and Mr. Eid says he has been attacked by suspected regime agents twice in recent months , leaving him with cracked ribs .
He now carries pepper spray , constantly glancing over his shoulder in public .
But , he says , looking out from his balcony onto the bustling Cairo street below , “ The people are with me , they thank me every day for our work .
That is my motivation and my protection.
” Activism endures @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Gulf , where citizens must maneuver under the iron grip of monarchs who repress political life and speech with more impunity and brutality than governments anywhere else in the region .
On paper , the Gulf Arab governments seem unstoppable , thanks to their enormous wealth and decades of shared military and economic interests with Western countries that do not dare risk the sheikhs ’ stability with any criticism , let alone action .
With rights organizations shuttered and traditional activists in jail , democracy and social justice have one last champion : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ now on the front lines for human right in Saudi Arabia , the UAE , Bahrain , and elsewhere , using social media to stand up for their communities and challenge official narratives .
They are being assisted by activists and exiles abroad providing organization , advocacy , and communications and cybersecurity knowhow .
“ Mobilization on social media has been key to raise awareness and lobby on certain issues , ” says Mr. Ibrahim of the Gulf Center for Human Rights in Beirut .
The end result : even with rights defenders @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the truth is getting out , sustaining international scrutiny of the image-conscious monarchies .
In Saudi Arabia , the death in prison last month of leading rights defender Abdullah al-Hamid , reportedly for lack of medical care , triggered international condemnation .
Last year , public pressure forced the reversal of a death sentence imposed on peaceful activist Israa al-Ghomgham .
And Western media repeatedly reference jailed Saudi women activists like Loujain Halhoul , tarnishing the image of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman .
Such is the work of Sayed Alwadaei .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Bahrain during the Arab Spring , Mr. Alwadaei was assaulted by government agents , tortured , and imprisoned for six months ; he still bears scars on his forehead .
In 2012 , he fled to the U.K. From London , Mr. Alwadaei founded the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy ( BIRD ) , a network of citizens and activists in his home country and abroad working to pressure Bahrain ’ s rulers to release activists , improve prisoner conditions , and challenge Western governments ’ unwavering support for Manama .
BIRD @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the international media and to the United Nations , sharing recordings of prisoner phone calls and firsthand testimonies of torture , abuse , and prison conditions .
It has swayed public opinion at home and in the U.K. , a key Bahrain supporter .
Mr. Alwadaei has changed the conversation , linking the monarchy to rights abuses , and inspiring people to question Western backing for the king .
During a 2018 U.K. parliamentary debate calling attention to “ continuing human rights abuses in Bahrain , ” MPs criticized London ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mr. Alwadaei for his “ bravery and tenacity.
” “ The moment they see their names mentioned in a report on torture or their image portrayed as torturers , they will think twice before they commit an abuse again , ” Mr. Alwadaei says from London .
The coronavirus pandemic has only highlighted the urgent need for independent voices in the Arab world .
As Arab regimes struggle to confront the virus and invoke emergency powers to suppress information contradicting their claims of “ victory , ” journalists and activists are seeking to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mada Masr is a lone dissenting voice challenging the pro-regime media chorus that at first downplayed the virus and now only praises the government ’ s response .
Its journalists have reported on the limited availability of tests , explored life under quarantine lockdown in rural villages , described how doctors and nurses are braving the front lines without protective gear , and chronicled an outbreak at the National Cancer Institute .
Meanwhile , Gulf activists have reported on the dangers Asian laborers face in crowded housing , and are mounting campaigns pressuring @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to release political prisoners amid concerns the virus will spread in crammed jails .
Despite lamenting Western indifference to their fate , Arab democrats and rights defenders say their struggle remains winnable .
In fact , they like their odds .
For if they can keep the flame of democracy and freedoms alive in the darkest of times , they say , the future bodes well .
“ You must never feel broken or powerless , because that is the entire aim of repression and intimidation ; to make you overlook your own @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” says Mr. Alwadaei .
“ Sometimes vulnerability means opportunity , and you can turn it to your favor.
” At Mada Masr , the young journalists say they have a simple strategy to survive a regime that bullies the press , blurs the lines between fact and fiction , denounces the media as “ enemies , ” and polarizes the nation using a with-us-or-against-us narrative : Stay above the fray .
The publication embodies classic journalistic principles : to analyze events and publish “ a record of life in Egypt at a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” without taking sides , says managing editor Mohammed Hamama .
“ We are not activists ; we are witnesses , ” he insists .
“ What we deem deserves to be witnessed , documented , and commented on for the Egyptian people and future generations – we report it.
” At the Mada Masr office , you would be hard-pressed to hear insults or complaints directed toward President Sisi or his government .
The newspaper ’ s reports carefully weigh what the government does and says , always willing to give credit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ same edition might carry praise for the regime ’ s “ ingenious ” universal health care plan and a report on a corruption scandal involving Mr. Sisi ’ s inner circle .
Mada Masr reporters say the need for solid journalism is more important than their own personal feelings , no matter how great their outrage .
Mr. Hamama and the Mada Masr staff were drawn to journalism during the heady days of the Arab Spring .
But while the turbulent post-revolutionary period and 2013 military coup led others to give up or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ convinced that Egypt needed independent journalism more than ever .
To survive amid widespread arrests of journalists and the nationalization of most private media , they adapt .
When the government blocked their site , they provided readers with work-arounds .
When authorities pressured advertisers to withdraw funding , they offered “ memberships ” to readers , inviting them to support the news while forging a community of concerned Egyptians .
Mada Masr journalists held to the belief that they were too small to be worth jailing .
But in late November , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with chief editor Lina Atallah , Mr. Hamama , and reporter Rana Mamdouh .
The three were convinced they would not see the light of day for a year , if ever .
Since 2014 , authorities have routinely subjected detainees to months or years of pretrial detentions .
And due to crowding and poor conditions , a prison term can be a death sentence in Egypt .
Mada ’ s readers alerted Western reporters in Cairo .
They called their embassies , and diplomats queried the Interior Ministry .
After 90 minutes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mr. Hamama ’ s word : The police car returned and dropped the reporters at the office .
They were released without charge .
Two days later , U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo condemned the raid in a rare public rebuke of the Sisi regime .
The cost-benefit for the government shifted ; arresting Mada ’ s reporters and subjecting them to years in prison is more trouble than it ’ s worth for now .
But what if the government ’ s thinking changes again ?
“ That is what we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ says , sitting on the iron balcony of Mada ’ s office .
“ We don ’ t know if or when the regime will change its calculations and we will be arrested for good.
” He shrugs .
“ So we might as well continue .
”

Facing down jail and wealthy foes, Arab rights defenders soldier on Collapse
On a December Thursday in a nondescript Cairo apartment building, a table is spread with plastic containers of Egyptian morning mainstays – fava beans, taamiya, scrambled eggs, and falafel. And a box of Dunkin' donuts.
Reporters at the online newspaper Mada Masr are gathering for a tradition observed in newsrooms across the world: the end-of-week staff breakfast.
As they break bread, laughter and gossip fill the air. There are no obvious signs of the police raid a few weeks earlier that led to the brief detention of the paper’s top editors – except, that is, the bolted front door.
At Egypt’s last independent media outlet, which reports in a country that jails more journalists than almost any other, displaying normalcy is not just a coping mechanism, it’s a moral code.
“We live and work like any other news organization. We won’t let repression change us,” says Sharif Abdel Kouddous, an editor.
That sort of stubborn determination is common to reporters and human rights defenders throughout the Middle East who are fighting – and sometimes defeating – a wave of repression.
As Europe, Latin America, and even the United States witness a steady erosion of democratic norms and institutions, Arab activists and journalists are embroiled in an all-out war in defense of those values, facing arrest, sham trials, even torture.
If today the world order is shaking, the Arab world, in tectonic terms, has been feeling the foreshocks for nearly a decade.
In much of the region, which less than 10 years ago experienced an awakening of political and personal freedoms, culture, and the media, activism has become a matter of life or death. For in the wake of the 2011 Arab Spring protests to end autocratic rule and foster democracy has come an anti-democratic counterrevolution that rages to this day.
In the belief that democracy in one Arab state is a threat to all, regimes flush with petrodollars have cracked down mercilessly on political activity and media. One of the fiercest campaigns continues under President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Egypt, funded by Gulf allies, who has jailed 60,000 political prisoners and dozens of journalists, according to Human Rights Watch.
SOURCE: Committee to Protect Journalists | Karen Norris/Staff
Goliath with a rocket launcher
Western governments rarely talk about human rights in the Arab world these days. Consumed by political divisions at home, and lately by the coronavirus pandemic, they are more likely to praise autocratic regimes than challenge them.
The silence has an impact.
In late November, Egyptian police raided a Cairo coffee shop and arrested three independent journalists: Solafa Magdy, Hossam al-Sayyad, and Mohamed Saleh. Their detentions received no domestic or international media coverage. Today they remain in prison in cramped conditions and denied medical care, like hundreds of rights defenders and journalists across the region.
Meanwhile, America and Europe continue to enable Arab regimes’ crackdowns with money, weapons, and technology. Canadian and French firms have sold software to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt that those governments have used to block the websites of human rights organizations and media outlets, internet watchdogs say. Former U.S. National Security Agency employees have been widely reported as saying they worked with the UAE to monitor and spy on journalists and rights defenders.
The technology has aided regimes’ use of anti-terror laws that criminalize as “terrorism” Facebook posts that are merely critical of the government.
Amr Nabil/AP/File View caption Hide caption Egyptian photojournalist Mahmoud Abu Zeid, known by his nickname Shawkan, gestures in a soundproof glass cage inside a makeshift courtroom in Tora prison in Cairo, July 28, 2018. He was arrested in August 2013 while taking photographs of the government's violent dispersal of a sit-in by supporters of ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi. Shawkan was released March 4, 2019.
In the words of one veteran Arab activist, “it is as if in the battle between David and Goliath, Goliath was given a rocket-launcher.”
“These regimes have the support of the West, they have money, they have armies, and they have the latest technology. What do we have?” asks Khalid Ibrahim, co-founder and director of the Beirut-based Gulf Center for Human Rights. “We only have the word. And it is our duty to get the message out any way we can.”
Activists as “terrorists”
One person fighting to get the word out is Gamal Eid, among the last human rights defenders operating in Egypt.
His Cairo-based Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), which once worked to reform police practices, is now consumed with defending the growing number of Egyptians jailed for “terrorism.”
From 2013-17, ANHRI dealt with around 300 cases a year, but in 2018 and 2019 its caseload surpassed 500 a year.
Today few organizations or lawyers are willing to defend the increasingly varied range of Egyptians brought before the courts as “terrorists.” Many who dare to defend activists, such as human rights lawyer Mohamed el-Baqer, end up being arrested themselves.
Mr. Eid and his staff fear that if they shutter their doors, Egyptians being held in pretrial detention will go undefended, undocumented, and unseen.
“If it wasn’t for us, these people would be lost to the system forever,” says an ANHRI lawyer who requested anonymity. “We are their last, and only, hope.”
ANHRI defends suspected members of the former Muslim Brotherhood, which backed the government that General Sisi overthrew in a 2013 coup. It also defends a growing number of young liberal Egyptians who once supported Mr. Sisi but are now persecuted for failing to toe the regime’s line.
“We cannot turn our backs on each other because of ideological differences,” says Mr. Eid. “That is how the regime wins,” he sighs.
Taylor Luck View caption Hide caption Gamal Eid, veteran Egyptian rights activist and director of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, on the balcony of his Cairo office, December 19, 2019.
ANHRI has paid a heavy price. Its lawyers have been arrested, and Mr. Eid says he has been attacked by suspected regime agents twice in recent months, leaving him with cracked ribs.
He now carries pepper spray, constantly glancing over his shoulder in public. But, he says, looking out from his balcony onto the bustling Cairo street below, “The people are with me, they thank me every day for our work. That is my motivation and my protection.”
Gulf citizens step up
Activism endures, too, even in the oil-rich Gulf, where citizens must maneuver under the iron grip of monarchs who repress political life and speech with more impunity and brutality than governments anywhere else in the region.
On paper, the Gulf Arab governments seem unstoppable, thanks to their enormous wealth and decades of shared military and economic interests with Western countries that do not dare risk the sheikhs’ stability with any criticism, let alone action.
With rights organizations shuttered and traditional activists in jail, democracy and social justice have one last champion: individual Gulf citizens.
Concerned citizens are now on the front lines for human right in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, and elsewhere, using social media to stand up for their communities and challenge official narratives.
They are being assisted by activists and exiles abroad providing organization, advocacy, and communications and cybersecurity knowhow.
“Mobilization on social media has been key to raise awareness and lobby on certain issues,” says Mr. Ibrahim of the Gulf Center for Human Rights in Beirut.
The end result: even with rights defenders in jail and the press muzzled, the truth is getting out, sustaining international scrutiny of the image-conscious monarchies.
SOURCE: Freedom House | Jacob Turcotte/Staff
In Saudi Arabia, the death in prison last month of leading rights defender Abdullah al-Hamid, reportedly for lack of medical care, triggered international condemnation.
Last year, public pressure forced the reversal of a death sentence imposed on peaceful activist Israa al-Ghomgham. And Western media repeatedly reference jailed Saudi women activists like Loujain Halhoul, tarnishing the image of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Such is the work of Sayed Alwadaei.
After taking part in pro-democracy protests in Bahrain during the Arab Spring, Mr. Alwadaei was assaulted by government agents, tortured, and imprisoned for six months; he still bears scars on his forehead. In 2012, he fled to the U.K.
From London, Mr. Alwadaei founded the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD), a network of citizens and activists in his home country and abroad working to pressure Bahrain’s rulers to release activists, improve prisoner conditions, and challenge Western governments’ unwavering support for Manama.
BIRD carries the voice of prisoners and survivors to the international media and to the United Nations, sharing recordings of prisoner phone calls and firsthand testimonies of torture, abuse, and prison conditions. It has swayed public opinion at home and in the U.K., a key Bahrain supporter.
Mr. Alwadaei has changed the conversation, linking the monarchy to rights abuses, and inspiring people to question Western backing for the king. During a 2018 U.K. parliamentary debate calling attention to “continuing human rights abuses in Bahrain,” MPs criticized London’s “failed” policies and singled out Mr. Alwadaei for his “bravery and tenacity.”
“The moment they see their names mentioned in a report on torture or their image portrayed as torturers, they will think twice before they commit an abuse again,” Mr. Alwadaei says from London.
Meli Petersson Ellafi /TT News Agency/Reuters/File View caption Hide caption Omar al-Qahtani (L) and Saudi human rights advocate Yahya Assiri hold up the Right Livelihood Awards for imprisoned Saudi human rights defenders Abdullah al-Hamid, Waleed Abu al-Khair, and Mohammad Fahad al-Qahtani at a ceremony at the Vasa Museum in Stockholm, November 23, 2018.
Covid-19 raises the stakes
The coronavirus pandemic has only highlighted the urgent need for independent voices in the Arab world.
As Arab regimes struggle to confront the virus and invoke emergency powers to suppress information contradicting their claims of “victory,” journalists and activists are seeking to provide dependable information.
In Cairo, Mada Masr is a lone dissenting voice challenging the pro-regime media chorus that at first downplayed the virus and now only praises the government’s response.
Its journalists have reported on the limited availability of tests, explored life under quarantine lockdown in rural villages, described how doctors and nurses are braving the front lines without protective gear, and chronicled an outbreak at the National Cancer Institute.
Meanwhile, Gulf activists have reported on the dangers Asian laborers face in crowded housing, and are mounting campaigns pressuring Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain to release political prisoners amid concerns the virus will spread in crammed jails.
Bearing witness
Despite lamenting Western indifference to their fate, Arab democrats and rights defenders say their struggle remains winnable. In fact, they like their odds. For if they can keep the flame of democracy and freedoms alive in the darkest of times, they say, the future bodes well.
“You must never feel broken or powerless, because that is the entire aim of repression and intimidation; to make you overlook your own power to hold people to account,” says Mr. Alwadaei. “Sometimes vulnerability means opportunity, and you can turn it to your favor.”
At Mada Masr, the young journalists say they have a simple strategy to survive a regime that bullies the press, blurs the lines between fact and fiction, denounces the media as “enemies,” and polarizes the nation using a with-us-or-against-us narrative: Stay above the fray.
The publication embodies classic journalistic principles: to analyze events and publish “a record of life in Egypt at a time of great social and political change” without taking sides, says managing editor Mohammed Hamama.
“We are not activists; we are witnesses,” he insists. “What we deem deserves to be witnessed, documented, and commented on for the Egyptian people and future generations – we report it.”
At the Mada Masr office, you would be hard-pressed to hear insults or complaints directed toward President Sisi or his government. The newspaper’s reports carefully weigh what the government does and says, always willing to give credit where it’s due.
The same edition might carry praise for the regime’s “ingenious” universal health care plan and a report on a corruption scandal involving Mr. Sisi’s inner circle.
Mada Masr reporters say the need for solid journalism is more important than their own personal feelings, no matter how great their outrage.
Mr. Hamama and the Mada Masr staff were drawn to journalism during the heady days of the Arab Spring. But while the turbulent post-revolutionary period and 2013 military coup led others to give up or emigrate, the Mada Masr staff became convinced that Egypt needed independent journalism more than ever.
To survive amid widespread arrests of journalists and the nationalization of most private media, they adapt.
When the government blocked their site, they provided readers with work-arounds. When authorities pressured advertisers to withdraw funding, they offered “memberships” to readers, inviting them to support the news while forging a community of concerned Egyptians.
Catch and release
Mada Masr journalists held to the belief that they were too small to be worth jailing. But in late November, police stormed the paper and drove off with chief editor Lina Atallah, Mr. Hamama, and reporter Rana Mamdouh.
The three were convinced they would not see the light of day for a year, if ever. Since 2014, authorities have routinely subjected detainees to months or years of pretrial detentions. And due to crowding and poor conditions, a prison term can be a death sentence in Egypt.
Mada’s readers alerted Western reporters in Cairo. They called their embassies, and diplomats queried the Interior Ministry. After 90 minutes, a “miracle,” in Mr. Hamama’s word: The police car returned and dropped the reporters at the office. They were released without charge.
Two days later, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo condemned the raid in a rare public rebuke of the Sisi regime.
The cost-benefit for the government shifted; arresting Mada’s reporters and subjecting them to years in prison is more trouble than it’s worth for now.
But what if the government’s thinking changes again?
“That is what we are all wondering,” Mr. Hamama says, sitting on the iron balcony of Mada’s office. “We don’t know if or when the regime will change its calculations and we will be arrested for good.”
He shrugs. “So we might as well continue.”


csmonitor--2020-05-13--With 400,000 mail-in ballots, Nebraska breaks voting record

Nebraska 's primary voters mostly steered clear of polling sites Tuesday while shattering the state record for absentee voting with nearly 400,000 mail-in ballots in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic .
Republican President Donald Trump and presumptive Democratic challenger Joe Biden sailed to easy victories in the election , the first in-person primary since a heavily criticized election in Wisconsin five weeks ago in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic .
So did Republican U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse , who faced a GOP primary challenge because of his previous criticism of Mr. Trump .
Mr. Sasse will face Chris @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cake-baking company , who won a nine-way Democratic primary Tuesday night .
In a closely watched Democratic primary for an Omaha-based congressional district , voters chose progressive Kara Eastman over a more conservative candidate .
Ms. Eastman will once again face Republican Rep. Don Bacon , as she did in 2018 .
In Nebraska 's Republican-dominated 3rd Congressional District , Rep. Adrian Smith easily won the GOP nomination for an eighth term .
Mr. Smith will face Democrat Mark Elworth Jr. , who was uncontested for his party 's nod .
Officials had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ though Republican Gov .
Pete Ricketts and Secretary of State Bob Evnen both pledged to forge ahead with an in-person primary even though many other states have rescheduled theirs or switched to all-mail voting .
Voters easily broke the previous mail-in voting record of around 70,000 in 2018 , which includes people who requested early ballots and voters in early rural counties who receive them automatically .
Polling sites in the Omaha suburb of Papillion reported lower in-person turnout than normal .
At First Lutheran Church , voters who walked into the basement @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cast their ballots .
Michael Rabe of Papillion said he wanted to vote in person because he does n't trust mail-in voting but believes he has a civic duty to cast a ballot .
Mr. Rabe wore a mask into the polling site , only to realize he was the only voter there at the time .
The self-described “ hardcore Republican ” said he was most interested in voting for Matt Innis , the long-shot primary challenger to Mr. Sasse .
“ I did n't like that when President Trump got into @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mr. Rabe said after voting .
“ I was not a Trump supporter when he was running , but now that he 's our president , I am.
” Douglas County Election Commissioner Brian Kruse , who oversees polling sites in Omaha , said in-person turnout was unusually low .
He said overall turnout was still strong because of the huge number of mail-in ballots received , but polls saw very few in-person voters .
A possible shortage of poll workers prompted Mr. Ricketts ordered members of the Nebraska National Guard to provide @ @ @ @ @ @ @ eight counties , including the Omaha and Lincoln areas .
He said Guard members would be dressed in civilian clothes , not their normal uniforms .
Mr. Ricketts also waived a state law that requires poll workers to live in the county where they serve , largely because of a poll worker shortage .
This year 's primary was fairly low-key but included a high-profile race among Democrats who want to unseat Mr. Bacon of Nebraska 's 2nd Congressional District .
The Omaha-area district is one of the few in Republican-led Nebraska where @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Omaha lawyer Ann Ashford and Omaha business owner Gladys Harrison to win the Democratic primary .
Ms. Eastman had positioned herself as a progressive , while Ms. Ashford pitched herself as a moderate .
Ms. Harrison touted herself as a unifying voice but has n't raised nearly as much money or gotten as much attention .
Randall Crutcher voted at Papillion Middle School Tuesday morning because he and his wife forgot to request early , mail-in ballots .
He wore a mask as he walked inside , only to find the polling site @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mr. Crutcher said he had been an independent for most of his adult life and holds conservative views on spending , but re-registered as a Democrat two years ago because of the GOP ’ s support of President Donald Trump .
He said he liked both Democratic candidates in the 2nd Congressional District race , but voted for Ms. Eastman because of her life story , including her struggles to care for her ailing mother .
“ She has built-in empathy , ” Mr. Crutcher said .
“ That ’ s something we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was reported by The Associated Press .
Editor ’ s note : As a public service , the Monitor has removed the paywall for all our coronavirus coverage .
It ’ s free .

Nebraska's primary voters mostly steered clear of polling sites Tuesday while shattering the state record for absentee voting with nearly 400,000 mail-in ballots in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
Republican President Donald Trump and presumptive Democratic challenger Joe Biden sailed to easy victories in the election, the first in-person primary since a heavily criticized election in Wisconsin five weeks ago in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic. So did Republican U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse, who faced a GOP primary challenge because of his previous criticism of Mr. Trump. Mr. Sasse will face Chris Janicek, the owner of an Omaha cake-baking company, who won a nine-way Democratic primary Tuesday night.
In a closely watched Democratic primary for an Omaha-based congressional district, voters chose progressive Kara Eastman over a more conservative candidate. Ms. Eastman will once again face Republican Rep. Don Bacon, as she did in 2018.
In Nebraska's Republican-dominated 3rd Congressional District, Rep. Adrian Smith easily won the GOP nomination for an eighth term. Mr. Smith will face Democrat Mark Elworth Jr., who was uncontested for his party's nod.
Officials had encouraged people to vote by mail, though Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts and Secretary of State Bob Evnen both pledged to forge ahead with an in-person primary even though many other states have rescheduled theirs or switched to all-mail voting. Voters easily broke the previous mail-in voting record of around 70,000 in 2018, which includes people who requested early ballots and voters in early rural counties who receive them automatically.
Polling sites in the Omaha suburb of Papillion reported lower in-person turnout than normal. At First Lutheran Church, voters who walked into the basement polling station had plenty of space to cast their ballots.
Michael Rabe of Papillion said he wanted to vote in person because he doesn't trust mail-in voting but believes he has a civic duty to cast a ballot. Mr. Rabe wore a mask into the polling site, only to realize he was the only voter there at the time. The self-described “hardcore Republican” said he was most interested in voting for Matt Innis, the long-shot primary challenger to Mr. Sasse.
“I didn't like that when President Trump got into office, Sasse opposed him,” Mr. Rabe said after voting. “I was not a Trump supporter when he was running, but now that he's our president, I am.”
Douglas County Election Commissioner Brian Kruse, who oversees polling sites in Omaha, said in-person turnout was unusually low. He said overall turnout was still strong because of the huge number of mail-in ballots received, but polls saw very few in-person voters.
A possible shortage of poll workers prompted Mr. Ricketts ordered members of the Nebraska National Guard to provide on-call help at short-staffed polling sites in eight counties, including the Omaha and Lincoln areas. He said Guard members would be dressed in civilian clothes, not their normal uniforms.
Mr. Ricketts also waived a state law that requires poll workers to live in the county where they serve, largely because of a poll worker shortage.
This year's primary was fairly low-key but included a high-profile race among Democrats who want to unseat Mr. Bacon of Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District. The Omaha-area district is one of the few in Republican-led Nebraska where Democrats are competitive.
Ms. Eastman defeated Omaha lawyer Ann Ashford and Omaha business owner Gladys Harrison to win the Democratic primary. Ms. Eastman had positioned herself as a progressive, while Ms. Ashford pitched herself as a moderate. Ms. Harrison touted herself as a unifying voice but hasn't raised nearly as much money or gotten as much attention.
Randall Crutcher voted at Papillion Middle School Tuesday morning because he and his wife forgot to request early, mail-in ballots. He wore a mask as he walked inside, only to find the polling site virtually empty except for poll workers.
Mr. Crutcher said he had been an independent for most of his adult life and holds conservative views on spending, but re-registered as a Democrat two years ago because of the GOP’s support of President Donald Trump.
He said he liked both Democratic candidates in the 2nd Congressional District race, but voted for Ms. Eastman because of her life story, including her struggles to care for her ailing mother.
“She has built-in empathy,” Mr. Crutcher said. “That’s something we all need right now.”
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This story was reported by The Associated Press.
Editor’s note: As a public service, the Monitor has removed the paywall for all our coronavirus coverage. It’s free.


csmonitor--2020-04-29--US economy shrinks 4.8%: Can it recover post-virus?

The U.S. economy shrank at a 4.8 % annual rate last quarter as the coronavirus pandemic shut down much of the country and began triggering a recession that will end the longest expansion on record .
The Commerce Department estimated Wednesday that the gross domestic product , the total output of goods and services , posted a quarterly drop for the first time in six years .
And it was the sharpest fall since the economy shrank at an 8.4 % annual rate in the fourth quarter of 2008 in the depths of the Great Recession .
The drop in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ precursor of a far grimmer GDP report to come on the current April-June period , with business shutdowns and layoffs striking with devastating force .
With much of the economy paralyzed , the Congressional Budget Office has estimated that GDP will plunge this quarter at a 40 % annual rate .
That would be , by a breathtaking margin , the bleakest quarter since such records were first compiled in 1947 .
It would be four times the size of the worst quarterly contraction on record set in 1958 .
In just a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have shut down and laid off tens of millions of workers .
Factories and stores are shuttered .
Home sales are falling .
Households are slashing spending .
Consumer confidence is sinking .
The GDP report showed that the weakness was led by plummeting consumer spending , which accounts for 70 % of economic activity .
Consumer spending tumbled at an annual rate of 7.6 % in the first quarter – its steepest decline since 1980. Business investment was also weak : It sank 2.6 % , with investment in equipment down a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ spot in the report was trade , which added 1.3 percentage points to GDP activity in the quarter .
Government spending was up 0.7 % in the first quarter , a figure that will likely accelerate with all of the support Congress has approved for rescue packages .
And housing showed a 21 % increase in the first quarter , boosted by lower mortgage rates .
But home sales , like much of the economy , have taken a nosedive since the virus-related shutdowns began in mid-March .
As the economy slides into @ @ @ @ @ @ @ some economists are holding out hope that a recovery will arrive quickly and robustly once the health crisis has been solved – what some call a V-shaped recovery .
Increasingly , though , analysts say they think the economy will struggle to regain its momentum even after the viral outbreak has subsided .
Many Americans , they suggest , could remain too fearful to travel , shop at stores , or visit restaurants or movie theaters anywhere near as much as they used to .
In addition , local and state officials may @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , how many people may congregate in such places at any one time , thereby making it difficult for many businesses to survive .
It 's why some economists say the damage from the downturn could persist far longer than some may assume .
There is also fear that the coronavirus could flare up again after the economy is re-opened , forcing reopened businesses to shut down again .
The Trump administration takes a rosier view .
President Donald Trump told reporters this week that he expects a `` big rise '' in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by an `` incredible fourth quarter , and you 're going to have an incredible next year . ''
The president is building his re-election campaign on the argument that he built a powerful economy over the past three years and can do so again after the health crisis has been resolved .
This story was reported by The Associated Press .
Editor ’ s note : As a public service , the Monitor has removed the paywall for all our coronavirus coverage .
It ’ s free .

The U.S. economy shrank at a 4.8% annual rate last quarter as the coronavirus pandemic shut down much of the country and began triggering a recession that will end the longest expansion on record.
The Commerce Department estimated Wednesday that the gross domestic product, the total output of goods and services, posted a quarterly drop for the first time in six years. And it was the sharpest fall since the economy shrank at an 8.4% annual rate in the fourth quarter of 2008 in the depths of the Great Recession.
The drop in the January-March quarter will be only a precursor of a far grimmer GDP report to come on the current April-June period, with business shutdowns and layoffs striking with devastating force. With much of the economy paralyzed, the Congressional Budget Office has estimated that GDP will plunge this quarter at a 40% annual rate.
That would be, by a breathtaking margin, the bleakest quarter since such records were first compiled in 1947. It would be four times the size of the worst quarterly contraction on record set in 1958.
In just a few weeks, businesses across the country have shut down and laid off tens of millions of workers. Factories and stores are shuttered. Home sales are falling. Households are slashing spending. Consumer confidence is sinking.
The GDP report showed that the weakness was led by plummeting consumer spending, which accounts for 70% of economic activity. Consumer spending tumbled at an annual rate of 7.6% in the first quarter – its steepest decline since 1980.
Business investment was also weak: It sank 2.6%, with investment in equipment down a sharp 15.2%.
A rare bright spot in the report was trade, which added 1.3 percentage points to GDP activity in the quarter. Government spending was up 0.7% in the first quarter, a figure that will likely accelerate with all of the support Congress has approved for rescue packages.
And housing showed a 21% increase in the first quarter, boosted by lower mortgage rates. But home sales, like much of the economy, have taken a nosedive since the virus-related shutdowns began in mid-March.
As the economy slides into what looks like a severe recession, some economists are holding out hope that a recovery will arrive quickly and robustly once the health crisis has been solved – what some call a V-shaped recovery. Increasingly, though, analysts say they think the economy will struggle to regain its momentum even after the viral outbreak has subsided.
Many Americans, they suggest, could remain too fearful to travel, shop at stores, or visit restaurants or movie theaters anywhere near as much as they used to. In addition, local and state officials may continue to limit, for health reasons, how many people may congregate in such places at any one time, thereby making it difficult for many businesses to survive. It's why some economists say the damage from the downturn could persist far longer than some may assume.
There is also fear that the coronavirus could flare up again after the economy is re-opened, forcing reopened businesses to shut down again.
The Trump administration takes a rosier view. President Donald Trump told reporters this week that he expects a "big rise" in GDP in the third quarter, followed by an "incredible fourth quarter, and you're going to have an incredible next year."
The president is building his re-election campaign on the argument that he built a powerful economy over the past three years and can do so again after the health crisis has been resolved.
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csmonitor--2020-04-21--This Ramadan, Muslims find new reasons for charity

For the world ’ s 1.8 billion Muslims , this year ’ s holy month of Ramadan , which starts Thursday , may seem like a retreat from tradition .
The pandemic has led Islamic leaders to close mosques .
They have asked the faithful to avoid large gatherings after each day of fasting .
Yet many Muslims have decided they can still put their beliefs into action – through acts of charity toward the most vulnerable .
In Iraq , thousands of people are tapping social media to gather food and deliver it to poor people in lockdown and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to a recent call from Iraq ’ s respected Shiite cleric , Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani , to help the people irrespective of their race or religion .
He also gave the faithful permission to skip the fasting this year .
In Calgary , Alberta , the city ’ s mosque has set up a food bank for 400 families of all faiths .
In India-controlled Kashmir , Muslim volunteers are dropping bags of food at the doorsteps of poor neighbors during the night so as not to shame them .
In Britain @ @ @ @ @ @ @ funerals for those killed by COVID-19 .
In Massachusetts , an Islamic society is holding an online “ walk for hunger ” to raise money for the needy .
In Australia , Muslims groups are dropping off meals to hospitals for health workers during Ramadan .
“ The prophet Muhammad said the most beloved people to God are those who benefit others most , ” Tarek El-Messidi , founding director of CelebrateMercy , told Religion News Service .
His nonprofit , along with similar Muslim groups in the United States , has raised @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hurt by the coronavirus crisis .
In many countries , government services have faltered in response to the pandemic .
“ Often the first people on the scene within communities most impacted by the outbreak are informal networks , groups of people connected by social ties , including community organizations , faith groups and clubs , ” states Mouchka Heller of the World Economic Forum .
In the U.S , the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises churches , synagogues , mosques , temples , and other houses of worship to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ homeless people and those in prison .
“ Consider how your organization is uniquely able to assist the local community , ” states the CDC website .
Many of the world ’ s faithful have decided that physical distancing does not mean spiritual distancing .
During this year ’ s Easter , Christians found fresh ways to express love toward the needy as did Jews during Passover .
For the coming month , Muslims will do the same .
It is a form of victory over a virus , making people who are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .

For the world’s 1.8 billion Muslims, this year’s holy month of Ramadan, which starts Thursday, may seem like a retreat from tradition. The pandemic has led Islamic leaders to close mosques. They have asked the faithful to avoid large gatherings after each day of fasting. Yet many Muslims have decided they can still put their beliefs into action – through acts of charity toward the most vulnerable.
In Iraq, thousands of people are tapping social media to gather food and deliver it to poor people in lockdown and out of work. They are responding to a recent call from Iraq’s respected Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, to help the people irrespective of their race or religion. He also gave the faithful permission to skip the fasting this year.
In Calgary, Alberta, the city’s mosque has set up a food bank for 400 families of all faiths. In India-controlled Kashmir, Muslim volunteers are dropping bags of food at the doorsteps of poor neighbors during the night so as not to shame them.
In Britain, Muslims are covering the cost of funerals for those killed by COVID-19. In Massachusetts, an Islamic society is holding an online “walk for hunger” to raise money for the needy. In Australia, Muslims groups are dropping off meals to hospitals for health workers during Ramadan.
“The prophet Muhammad said the most beloved people to God are those who benefit others most,” Tarek El-Messidi, founding director of CelebrateMercy, told Religion News Service. His nonprofit, along with similar Muslim groups in the United States, has raised more than $500,000 for low-income Americans hurt by the coronavirus crisis.
In many countries, government services have faltered in response to the pandemic. “Often the first people on the scene within communities most impacted by the outbreak are informal networks, groups of people connected by social ties, including community organizations, faith groups and clubs,” states Mouchka Heller of the World Economic Forum.
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In the U.S, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises churches, synagogues, mosques, temples, and other houses of worship to work with the underserved, such as homeless people and those in prison. “Consider how your organization is uniquely able to assist the local community,” states the CDC website.
Many of the world’s faithful have decided that physical distancing does not mean spiritual distancing. During this year’s Easter, Christians found fresh ways to express love toward the needy as did Jews during Passover. For the coming month, Muslims will do the same. It is a form of victory over a virus, making people who are suffering feel whole during the holy days.


csmonitor--2020-04-21--Meet the young climate activists undeterred by coronavirus

Jamie Margolin had not expected to be sitting in her bedroom right now .
The high school senior had prom and graduation coming up , and so much more : A multi-state bus campaign with fellow climate activists .
A tour for her new book .
Attendance at one of the massive marches that had been planned this week for the 50th anniversary of Earth Day .
Then the pandemic arrived in Seattle , her hometown , and her plans went out the window .
“ But still so much to do , ” Ms. Margolin said , perched in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ interview from that bedroom .
Like many other young activists who ’ ve helped galvanize what ’ s become a global climate movement , Ms. Margolin is not letting a spreading virus stop her .
They are organizing in place , from the United States to Ecuador , Uganda , India , and beyond .
And while some fear they ’ ve lost some momentum in the pandemic , they are determined to keep pushing – and for now , to use technology to their advantage .
Unable to gather en masse as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , these activists are planning livestreams and webinars to keep the issue of climate front and center on the world stage and in the U.S. presidential race .
One event , Earth Day Live , is being organized by a coalition of youth-led climate groups , including Zero Hour , of which Ms. Margolin is a leader ( her Twitter profile includes the tag # futurepotus ) .
As is the case with many other young climate activists , she got involved in the movement taking aim at the fossil fuel industry well @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a global household name .
Online organizing is not as easy in some countries .
In Uganda , activist Mulindwa Moses says only about a third of the population has Wi-Fi .
Also under lockdown , the graduate student is waiting for his chance to return to planting trees and speaking to his nation ’ s youth in person .
Like the original founders of Earth Day , he is among those who were first inspired by local issues – which they came to connect with global climate change .
While traveling in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ families who had lost their homes in mudslides caused by torrential rainfall .
“ I remember a girl I had a conversation with – she lost her parents and had to take care of her siblings .
She was suffering so much , ” he said .
So , last year , he began a campaign to encourage citizens to plant “ two trees a week ” and regrow their forests to combat deforestation and mudslides exacerbated by changing weather patterns .
In Ecuador , Helena Gualinga also has had to pause her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s indigenous Kichwa-speaking Sarayaku community – home to about 1,200 people in the Amazon – the teenager says she learned from the example of her parents and her elders how to speak up for the rights of her people .
Their fight has been against a government that they believe has given their land too freely to mining and oil companies .
“ The energy I remember from my elders growing up ” – at community meetings she attended with her parents when she was small – “ was that my community was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Now , she added , “ I know I have a voice.
” Mr. Moses plans to run for his country ’ s parliament next year .
“ I want to fight to change the system from the inside , ” he said .
So does Max Prestigiacomo , a freshman at the University of Wisconsin , who is set to take his seat on the city council of Madison , Wisconsin .
While fighting the coronavirus has used up much of local government ’ s bandwidth , he still plans this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he ran – for his city to become fully sustainable by 2030 .
It is a lofty and some would say unattainable goal , but he is looking for “ the impossible yes.
” “ Obviously , I wanted the alarm sounded decades ago before I was even born , ” he said .
“ But it ’ s too late for incremental change.
” Tia Nelson , daughter of the late Sen. Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin , founder of Earth Day , said her father would appreciate the determination of this generation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who made the first Earth Day in 1970 a great success .
Though the senator went to Washington in 1963 , and won support from President Kennedy , his daughter said it took several years to find backing for many of his environmental causes .
He came up with the idea of Earth Day , first envisioned as a nationwide “ teach-in , ” after reading a magazine article about college students ’ impact on U.S. involvement in Vietnam .
Later that same year , the Environmental Protection Agency was born .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a significant and important impact in doing exactly what my father had hoped on the first Earth Day – that he would get a public demonstration sufficiently robust to shake the political establishment out of their lethargy , ” Ms. Nelson said .
“ The youth movement 50 years ago did that .
The youth movement today around climate change is doing the same thing.
” Ms. Nelson , who is climate director at the Wisconsin-based Outrider Foundation , said she ’ s particularly excited at polls showing that many young Republicans care @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Democrats .
Peter Nicholson , who helps lead Foresight Prep , a summer environmental justice program at Chicago ’ s Loyola University , said the coronavirus crisis only highlights the message that “ we are all connected.
” “ Climate change is no less real , ” he said .
“ The feedback loop is just much longer.
” So for now , Ms. Margolin and her peers will use their devices to help foster those connections – something their predecessors could not do remotely .
“ Everyone is online anyway , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on Earth Day .
But then with online resources , you click one link that leads you to another , leads to another that leads you to contact info . ''
“ And then you just start getting involved.
” This story was reported by The Associated Press .
Editor ’ s note : As a public service , the Monitor has removed the paywall for all our coronavirus coverage .
It ’ s free .

Jamie Margolin had not expected to be sitting in her bedroom right now.
The high school senior had prom and graduation coming up, and so much more: A multi-state bus campaign with fellow climate activists. A tour for her new book. Attendance at one of the massive marches that had been planned this week for the 50th anniversary of Earth Day.
Then the pandemic arrived in Seattle, her hometown, and her plans went out the window.
“But still so much to do,” Ms. Margolin said, perched in front of her computer for a video interview from that bedroom.
Like many other young activists who’ve helped galvanize what’s become a global climate movement, Ms. Margolin is not letting a spreading virus stop her. They are organizing in place, from the United States to Ecuador, Uganda, India, and beyond.
And while some fear they’ve lost some momentum in the pandemic, they are determined to keep pushing – and for now, to use technology to their advantage.
Unable to gather en masse as they’d planned this Earth Day, these activists are planning livestreams and webinars to keep the issue of climate front and center on the world stage and in the U.S. presidential race.
One event, Earth Day Live, is being organized by a coalition of youth-led climate groups, including Zero Hour, of which Ms. Margolin is a leader (her Twitter profile includes the tag #futurepotus). As is the case with many other young climate activists, she got involved in the movement taking aim at the fossil fuel industry well before Sweden’s Greta Thunberg became a global household name.
Online organizing is not as easy in some countries. In Uganda, activist Mulindwa Moses says only about a third of the population has Wi-Fi. Also under lockdown, the graduate student is waiting for his chance to return to planting trees and speaking to his nation’s youth in person.
Like the original founders of Earth Day, he is among those who were first inspired by local issues – which they came to connect with global climate change.
While traveling in eastern Uganda, Mr. Moses met with families who had lost their homes in mudslides caused by torrential rainfall.
“I remember a girl I had a conversation with – she lost her parents and had to take care of her siblings. She was suffering so much,” he said.
So, last year, he began a campaign to encourage citizens to plant “two trees a week” and regrow their forests to combat deforestation and mudslides exacerbated by changing weather patterns.
In Ecuador, Helena Gualinga also has had to pause her world travels.
Born in Ecuador’s indigenous Kichwa-speaking Sarayaku community – home to about 1,200 people in the Amazon – the teenager says she learned from the example of her parents and her elders how to speak up for the rights of her people. Their fight has been against a government that they believe has given their land too freely to mining and oil companies.
“The energy I remember from my elders growing up” – at community meetings she attended with her parents when she was small – “was that my community was always very worried,” she said.
Now, she added, “I know I have a voice.”
Mr. Moses plans to run for his country’s parliament next year. “I want to fight to change the system from the inside,” he said.
So does Max Prestigiacomo, a freshman at the University of Wisconsin, who is set to take his seat on the city council of Madison, Wisconsin. While fighting the coronavirus has used up much of local government’s bandwidth, he still plans this fall to push the platform on which he ran – for his city to become fully sustainable by 2030. It is a lofty and some would say unattainable goal, but he is looking for “the impossible yes.”
“Obviously, I wanted the alarm sounded decades ago before I was even born,” he said. “But it’s too late for incremental change.”
Tia Nelson, daughter of the late Sen. Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin, founder of Earth Day, said her father would appreciate the determination of this generation, as he did the young people who made the first Earth Day in 1970 a great success.
Though the senator went to Washington in 1963, and won support from President Kennedy, his daughter said it took several years to find backing for many of his environmental causes. He came up with the idea of Earth Day, first envisioned as a nationwide “teach-in,” after reading a magazine article about college students’ impact on U.S. involvement in Vietnam.
Later that same year, the Environmental Protection Agency was born.
“The climate youth movement today is having a significant and important impact in doing exactly what my father had hoped on the first Earth Day – that he would get a public demonstration sufficiently robust to shake the political establishment out of their lethargy,” Ms. Nelson said. “The youth movement 50 years ago did that. The youth movement today around climate change is doing the same thing.”
Ms. Nelson, who is climate director at the Wisconsin-based Outrider Foundation, said she’s particularly excited at polls showing that many young Republicans care just as much about climate change as Democrats.
Peter Nicholson, who helps lead Foresight Prep, a summer environmental justice program at Chicago’s Loyola University, said the coronavirus crisis only highlights the message that “we are all connected.”
“Climate change is no less real,” he said. “The feedback loop is just much longer.”
So for now, Ms. Margolin and her peers will use their devices to help foster those connections – something their predecessors could not do remotely.
“Everyone is online anyway,” she said. “Maybe they start on Earth Day. But then with online resources, you click one link that leads you to another, leads to another that leads you to contact info."
“And then you just start getting involved.”
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This story was reported by The Associated Press.
Editor’s note: As a public service, the Monitor has removed the paywall for all our coronavirus coverage. It’s free.


csmonitor--2020-04-21--Did you hear the one about the Monitor?

Did you hear the one about the Monitor?

This week ’ s cover just might be the most Monitor story you ever read .
About a year ago , I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “ do things that don ’ t interest you ” : “ Many things that end up ” being meaningful , writes social scientist Joseph Grenny , “ have come from conference workshops , articles , or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight .
My work in Kenya , for example , was heavily @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier .
Sometimes , we call things ‘ boring ’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.
” If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor , that would probably be it .
We ’ re seen as being global , fair , insightful , and perhaps a bit too earnest .
We ’ re the bran muffin of journalism .
But you know what ?
We change lives .
And I ’ m @ @ @ @ @ @ @ precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in .
A cover story about female distance runners in Somaliland – an African country so obscure that the rest of the world denies its existence ?
If someone was coming up with a spoof cover of The Christian Science Monitor , that could very well be it .
What other American news publication would make that its cover story – especially in a time of COVID-19 ?
The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
We ’ re run by a church , but we ’ re not only for church members and we ’ re not about converting people .
We ’ re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper ’ s founding in 1908 .
And we give people stories about Somaliland even though no metrics on earth suggest people are clamoring for stories about Somaliland .
But flip those statements around .
We have a mission beyond circulation , we want to bridge @ @ @ @ @ @ @ believe news can and should expand a sense of identity and possibility beyond narrow conventional expectations .
We ’ re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying , “ You are bigger and more capable than you realize .
And we can prove it.
” And I defy anyone who reads Ryan Lenora Brown ’ s cover story to call it a chore .
It is a rapture of agency and strength – the kind of story that strips away language , skin color , and religious differences to show @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is the primal building block of progress – the reason our investments in one another bring dividends .
It is the reason we pause our world when others are struggling with sickness .
It is the reason democracy and free markets and human rights work .
And a news organization that sees that humanity everywhere – and sees the power of it – is bound to look a bit odd .
Every so often , it just might run a cover about distance runners in Somaliland .

This week’s cover just might be the most Monitor story you ever read.
About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:
“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”
If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.
But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.
A cover story about female distance runners in Somaliland – an African country so obscure that the rest of the world denies its existence? If someone was coming up with a spoof cover of The Christian Science Monitor, that could very well be it. What other American news publication would make that its cover story – especially in a time of COVID-19?
The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908. And we give people stories about Somaliland even though no metrics on earth suggest people are clamoring for stories about Somaliland.
But flip those statements around. We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides to reach everyone, and we believe news can and should expand a sense of identity and possibility beyond narrow conventional expectations. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”
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empower and uplift daily. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy Already a subscriber? Log in to hide ads.
And I defy anyone who reads Ryan Lenora Brown’s cover story to call it a chore. It is a rapture of agency and strength – the kind of story that strips away language, skin color, and religious differences to show the humanity we share.
This humanity is the primal building block of progress – the reason our investments in one another bring dividends. It is the reason we pause our world when others are struggling with sickness. It is the reason democracy and free markets and human rights work. And a news organization that sees that humanity everywhere – and sees the power of it – is bound to look a bit odd. Every so often, it just might run a cover about distance runners in Somaliland.


csmonitor--2020-03-26--Trading handguns for hand wipes

Trading handguns for hand wipes

In a plea last Monday , United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres asked armed groups around the world to call an immediate cease-fire in their hot conflicts .
“ The fury of the virus illustrates the folly of war , ” he said .
Indeed , the urgency of the COVID-19 pandemic does put a clarifying perspective on all human differences .
By Thursday , rebel forces in at least four countries – the Philippines , Syria , Yemen , and Libya – had heeded the call .
The coronavirus has reached most conflict zones in the world ’ s poorest @ @ @ @ @ @ @ playing field .
In effect , these militia groups decided to trade handguns for hand wipes and don humanitarian hats for military helmets .
Some also welcomed outside medical aid for both themselves and the noncombatants around them .
At a deeper level , the change of heart reflects what Mr. Guterres calls “ a clear conscience emerging.
” By continuing to fight , armed groups are aiding the spread of the virus .
The health emergency compels a “ lockdown ” on war , he said , so that everyone can “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our lives.
” U.N. humanitarian programs reach some 100 million people , many of them stuck in conflict areas and living in crowded camps .
Arranging local cease-fires is part of the job of international aid groups so they can deliver food , water , shelter , and health services .
The U.N. call for a global cease-fire in all conflicts may be a first .
It reflects both the widespread health threat and an international norm to protect innocent life in the midst of war .
Armed groups often must bend to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to represent .
A poll of Palestinians , for example , shows that two-thirds support cooperation between Israel and the Palestinians to prevent the spread of the coronavirus .
In Gaza , Hamas has released a video of its fighters using hoses to spray disinfectant .
Besides seeking a cease-fire , Mr. Guterres also asked wealthy countries to provide $ 2 billion to aid in fighting the virus .
In addition , the crisis has led a few countries to temporarily set aside their differences .
Colombia and Venezuela had the first official @ @ @ @ @ @ @ teleconference on a joint health response .
The United Arab Emirates has airlifted aid to hard-hit Iran .
President Donald Trump has offered aid to North Korea .
“ The scale of the outbreak creates room for humanitarian gestures between rivals , ” states a brief by the International Crisis Group .
Or as Mr. Guterres put it , a clear conscience is emerging among people bent on conflict .

In a plea last Monday, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres asked armed groups around the world to call an immediate cease-fire in their hot conflicts. “The fury of the virus illustrates the folly of war,” he said. Indeed, the urgency of the COVID-19 pandemic does put a clarifying perspective on all human differences.
By Thursday, rebel forces in at least four countries – the Philippines, Syria, Yemen, and Libya – had heeded the call. The coronavirus has reached most conflict zones in the world’s poorest countries, putting everyone on a level playing field.
In effect, these militia groups decided to trade handguns for hand wipes and don humanitarian hats for military helmets. Some also welcomed outside medical aid for both themselves and the noncombatants around them.
At a deeper level, the change of heart reflects what Mr. Guterres calls “a clear conscience emerging.” By continuing to fight, armed groups are aiding the spread of the virus. The health emergency compels a “lockdown” on war, he said, so that everyone can “focus together on the true fight of our lives.”
U.N. humanitarian programs reach some 100 million people, many of them stuck in conflict areas and living in crowded camps. Arranging local cease-fires is part of the job of international aid groups so they can deliver food, water, shelter, and health services. The U.N. call for a global cease-fire in all conflicts may be a first. It reflects both the widespread health threat and an international norm to protect innocent life in the midst of war.
Armed groups often must bend to the ideals of the people they claim to represent. A poll of Palestinians, for example, shows that two-thirds support cooperation between Israel and the Palestinians to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. In Gaza, Hamas has released a video of its fighters using hoses to spray disinfectant.
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empower and uplift daily. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy Already a subscriber? Log in to hide ads.
Besides seeking a cease-fire, Mr. Guterres also asked wealthy countries to provide $2 billion to aid in fighting the virus. In addition, the crisis has led a few countries to temporarily set aside their differences. Colombia and Venezuela had the first official contact in over a year during a teleconference on a joint health response. The United Arab Emirates has airlifted aid to hard-hit Iran. President Donald Trump has offered aid to North Korea.
“The scale of the outbreak creates room for humanitarian gestures between rivals,” states a brief by the International Crisis Group. Or as Mr. Guterres put it, a clear conscience is emerging among people bent on conflict.