Japan to lift Tokyo area state of emergency as planned on Sunday

TOKYO - The Japanese government's advisory panel on coronavirus measures approved on Thursday a plan to let the state of emergency expire in the Tokyo area as scheduled on March 21, while the capital's governor warned citizens not to let down their guard.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga had flagged the move on Wednesday, saying the availability of hospital beds had improved in Tokyo and its three neighboring prefectures, where restrictions have remained since early January.

"There was no objection to the plan," Economy Minister Yasuhisa Nishimura, who also heads Japan's coronavirus response, said after a meeting with the advisory panel.

He added, however, that experts noted that infections had been creeping up in recent days, and that a resurgence was bound to occur.

While under pressure to bring COVID-19 under control ahead of the Tokyo Olympics this summer, the government is eager to jumpstart economic activity in the Greater Tokyo area, whose 36 million residents account for 30 percent of Japan's population.

The number of new COVID-19 cases has plunged from a peak in early January, when the third and most deadly wave of the pandemic swept the country. 

But the daily tally for Tokyo remains far from Governor Yuriko Koike's target of reducing the seven-day average to 70 percent or lower than the preceding week.

On Wednesday, the capital reported 409 cases, compared with a peak of 2,520 on January 7, but the highest since mid-February.

"(The state of emergency will be lifted) on the 21st, but does that mean anything goes after that? No, it doesn't, and we have to see it as entering a new stage," Koike told reporters.

"The first drop of vaccines for (Tokyo's) 14 million has only just begun, and until we're done, we have to fight with our bare hands," she said.

While other parts of the country lifted the emergency status at the end of February, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Chiba and Saitama prefectures extended it, with officials saying they wanted to see a continued decline in infections and hospitalizations.

Under the curbs, restaurants and bars are asked to close by 8 p.m and for companies to allow more telecommuting.

After the lifting of the emergency, the four prefectures will ask eateries to close by 9 p.m., at least until the end of March, to reduce the chance of a resurgence in infections, Kanagawa Governor Yuji Kuroiwa said on Wednesday.

The government's task force will meet later on Thursday to finalize the plan, followed by a news conference by Prime Minister Suga at 7 p.m. (1000 GMT).

So far in Japan, roughly 449,000 people have tested positive and 8,715 have died from COVID-19 as of Wednesday. 

-reuters-

Hawaii declares state of emergency after rains cause floods

Hawaii Governor David Ige declared an emergency in the US state after heavy rains brought floods, landslides and fear of dam failures, prompting evacuations in at least 2 counties, while flood advisories stayed in effect for a second day.

The move came after a dam overflowed on the island of Maui, forcing evacuations and destroying homes, with the dam's "unsatisfactory" condition leading to it being scheduled for removal this year, the land department has said.

"The emergency proclamation makes state general funds available that can be used quickly and efficiently to help those impacted by the severe weather," Ige said on Tuesday.

Poor weather was expected to run until Friday, he added. There were no immediate reports of deaths or casualties.

The emergency declaration covers the counties of Hawai'i, Maui, Kalawao, O'ahu and Kaua'i, the governor's office said in a statement, while the disaster relief period runs until May 8.

In Maui, heavy rains damaged roads, leaving them impassable, with one bridge completely washed out and another displaced, the governor's office said, as higher water levels boosted the risk of erosion and seepage.

State emergency management officials had said the rains led to the cresting of the Kaupakalua dam in the northern region of Haiku, prompting authorities to open evacuation shelters and urge people not to return home.

Six homes were heavily damaged or destroyed, said Maui mayor Michael Victorino.

-reuters-

Italy extends coronavirus state of emergency

Italy’s parliament on Wednesday gave the go-ahead to extend the country’s state of emergency until October 15, allowing the government more flexibility to fight the lingering coronavirus pandemic.

The state of emergency serves primarily to cut red tape and accelerate decision-making for the government when faced with disasters such as earthquakes, floods and other catastrophes.


Italy was the first European country to be hit by the coronavirus crisis and a more than two-month lockdown dealt a severe blow the economy.

The decree had been set to expire on July 31.

Italy’s Senate on Tuesday night gave its approval to extend the state of emergency, followed by the chamber of deputies on Wednesday, which voted 286 to 221 for the measure, with five abstentions.

“Unfortunately, the pandemic today is not fully over, even though its effects are more contained and geographically limited,” Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said Wednesday, assuring MPs that the extension did not necessarily mean new lockdowns.


More than 35,000 people have died due to coronavirus in Italy, which has seen more than 246,000 infections.

Agence France-Presse 

Trump declares state of emergency, says 'likely' to get tested for COVID-19

President Donald Trump declared a national emergency Friday in what critics say was a long-delayed admission of the gravity of the coronavirus crisis paralyzing the United States and said he was likely to get tested for infection himself.

Speaking at a hastily organized press conference in the White House's Rose Garden, Trump said he would "unleash the full power of the federal government" against the spreading illness.

A national emergency frees up to $40 billion in federal funds to help local authorities. It also gives Trump another shot at restoring public confidence in his handling of coronavirus, which he has persistently downplayed.

The press conference came after a widely panned national address by Trump on Wednesday, in which he not only failed to calm growing nerves but delivered serious factual errors.

A massive stock market sell-off followed, whereas Friday's performance saw the Dow Jones rising sharply.

Flanked by top health officials and the heads of big medical companies, Trump bragged about the US response, but also went further than he had before in conceding the size of the threat.

"The next eight weeks are critical," he said. "We can learn and we will turn a corner on this virus."

The Rose Garden event came as Congress and the White House again failed to agree on measures to ease the financial pain caused by the pandemic's disruption to the economy. A deal had been expected Friday.

Trump blamed opposition Democrats for the impasse, which dashes hopes of reassuring Americans facing possible severe health costs and job turmoil resulting from the sudden slowdown in economic activity.

Trump surprised reporters by reversing his insistence on not needing to be tested for coronavirus, or even going into self-quarantine, following his contact with numerous politicians who since took the precautionary measure.

Last weekend, Trump hosted Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who said Friday he tested negative for the virus after it emerged that his press secretary had tested positive.

Trump had also met with the press secretary during dinner at his golf resort in Florida.

Trump to get tested

Trump once again told the press conference "I don't have any of the symptoms" and "we don't want people without symptoms to go and do the test."

But later, he claimed "I didn't say I wasn't going to be tested."

He would "most likely" be tested "fairly soon," he said.

Trump also faced a barrage of questions over what critics say has been a chaotic public health response, particularly regarding meager testing capacities.

US authorities have come under fire for lagging behind in deploying test kits, which leading health experts have said allowed the virus to spread beyond the country's ability to detect it.

The Trump administration announced earlier Friday it was providing almost $1.3 million in funding to two labs to develop tests that return results in about one hour -- DiaSorin Molecular of California and QIAGEN of Maryland.

The US Food and Drug Administration has already given emergency approval to Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche for a new and much faster coronavirus test.

As a result of the Roche approval, Trump said half a million additional tests were expected to be available "early next week," with details on test locations to be announced Sunday night.

He said he hoped another 1.4 million tests could be available next week, and five million within a month.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

As coronavirus cases rise, New York state declares emergency

The governor of New York on Saturday announced a state of emergency as the coronavirus continued to spread in the northeastern state, with 21 new cases. 

A total of 76 people have so far tested positive for the virus, Governor Andrew Cuomo told reporters in the state capital of Albany. Ten of those affected have been hospitalized. 

The state of emergency, he said, "allows expedited purchasing and expedited hiring, which are the things we need now."

Cuomo said the state would probably be spending $30 million a week to fight the Covid-19 disease.

The authorities are now "aggressively testing" 24 hours a day, he said. "We want to find positives... (then) we can put them in an isolated situation."

"That's the point of the exercise," Cuomo added. "You isolate them and you slow the spread."

Fifty-seven of those infected have links to the Orthodox Jewish community in New Rochelle, a city in Westchester County 20 miles (32 kilometers) northwest of New York City. 

"Westchester is an obvious problem," the governor said. "We talk about contagion in clusters; clusters tend to infect more and more people."

In an effort to slow the spread of the virus, retirement homes and nursing facilities in the New Rochelle area are banning visits by outsiders. 

"We are (being) hypercautious," Cuomo said. 

He said the quarantine period of 14 days for infected people might be extended. 

The governor also warned store owners against exploiting the situation by inflating their prices for virus-related products. 

"We have reports of stores selling hand sanitizer for $80 a bottle," he said. 

"It's not worth it to the store owner," added Cuomo, a former New York attorney general. "You can lose your license... It's illegal."

The United States has seen more than 200 cases of the novel coronavirus, including 19 deaths, according to official tallies compiled by AFP.

Sixteen of the deaths have been linked to a retirement home in Washington state, in the northwestern corner of the country. 

Agence France-Presse 

Bushfires ravage Australia

Sharnie Moren and her 18-month-old daughter Charlotte look on as thick smoke rises from bushfires near Nana Glen, near Coffs Harbour, Australia, on Tuesday. Queensland and New South Wales have recently declared a state of emergency as fires raged in Australia’s eastern region, killing three and destroying more than 150 homes. 

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Palm Sunday bombings of Egyptian Coptic churches kill 44

TANTA, Egypt/CAIRO - At least 44 people were killed in Egypt in bomb attacks at the cathedral of the Coptic Pope and another church on Palm Sunday, prompting anger and fear among Christians and leading to troop deployments and the declaration of a three-month state of emergency.

Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks, which also injured more than 100 people and occurred a week before Coptic Easter, with Pope Francis scheduled to visit Egypt later this month.

The assault is the latest on a religious minority increasingly targeted by Islamist militants, and a challenge to President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who has pledged to protect them as part of his campaign against extremism.

The first bombing, in Tanta, a Nile Delta city about 100 km (60 miles) north of Cairo, tore through the inside of St. George Church during its Palm Sunday service, killing at least 27 people and injuring at least 78, the Ministry of Health said.

The second, a few hours later in Alexandria, hit Saint Mark's Cathedral, the historic seat of the Coptic Pope, killing 17 people, including three police officers, and injuring 48, the ministry added.

Coptic Pope Tawadros had been leading the mass at Saint Mark's Cathedral at the time of the explosion but was not injured, the Interior Ministry said.

"These acts will not harm the unity and cohesion of the people," he was later quoted as saying by state media.

Islamic State said two of its fighters wearing suicide vests carried out the attacks, and it warned of more to come.

"Crusaders and their apostate allies should know the bill between us and them is very big and they will pay it with rivers of blood from their children, god willing. Wait for us, for we will wait for you," the group said in a statement.

In a televised speech addressing the nation, Sisi declared a three-month countrywide state of emergency, subject to parliamentary approval, and called for national unity and urged the media to refrain from coverage that could be harmful.

"Deal with the issue with credibility, and responsibility and awareness," he said of the media coverage. "It's not right what I'm seeing being repeated on all of our channels, and you know this hurts Egyptians."

Sisi also ordered troops be immediately deployed to assist police in securing vital facilities, a rare move for the general-turned-president, who as defense chief led the military's 2013 ouster of the Muslim Brotherhood's President Mohamed Mursi.

Deflecting Western criticism that he has suppressed political opposition and human rights activists since he was elected in 2014, Sisi has sought to present himself as an indispensable bulwark against terrorism in the Middle East.

"The attack...will only harden the determination (of the Egyptian people) to move forward on their trajectory to realise security, stability and comprehensive development," Sisi said in a statement.

President Trump, who hosted Sisi last week in his first official visit to the US, expressed support for a leader he has said he plans to work more closely with on fighting Islamist militants, who Sisi identifies as an existential threat.

"So sad to hear of the terrorist attack in Egypt. US strongly condemns. I have great confidence that President Al Sisi will handle situation properly," Trump wrote on his official Twitter account.

Hundreds gathered outside the Tanta church shortly after the blast, some weeping and wearing black while inside, blown apart pews sat atop tiles soaked with blood.

"There was blood all over the floor and body parts scattered," a woman who was inside the church at the time of the attack said.

"There was a huge explosion in the hall. Fire and smoke filled the room and the injuries were extremely severe," another woman, Vivian Fareeg, said.

"WE FEEL TARGETED"

Islamic State's branch in Egypt has stepped up attacks and threats against Christians, who comprise about 10 percent of Egypt's 90 million people and are the biggest Christian minority in the Middle East.

In February, scores of Christian families and students fled Egypt's North Sinai province after a spate of targeted killings.

Those attacks followed one of the deadliest on Egypt's Christian minority, when a suicide bomber hit its largest Coptic cathedral, killing at least 25 people. Islamic State later claimed responsibility for that attack.

Islamic State has waged a low-level war against soldiers and police in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula for years but is now targeting Christians and broadening its reach into Egypt's mainland. That is a potential turning point in a country trying to prevent a provincial insurgency spiraling into wider sectarian bloodshed.

Although Copts have faced attacks by Muslim neighbors, who have burnt their homes and churches in poor rural areas, in the past, the community has felt increasingly insecure since Islamic State spread through Iraq and Syria in 2014.

"Of course we feel targeted, there was a bomb here about a week ago but it was dismantled. There's no security," said another Christian woman in Tanta in reference to an attack earlier this month near a police training center..

Wahby Lamie, one of whose nephews was killed and another injured in the Tanta blast, expressed exasperation.

"How much longer are we going to be this divided? Anyone who's different from them now is an infidel, whether they're Muslim or Christian. They see them as infidels," he said.

"How much longer are these people going to exist? And how much longer will security be this incompetent?"

(Additional reporting by Ahmed Mohamed Hassan, Mahmoud Mourad, Mohammed Abdellah, Amina Ismail, Ahmed Aboulenein, and Mostafa Hashem; Writing by Eric Knecht; editing by Larry King and Alexander Smith)

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Obama declares state of emergency in Georgia

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama declared a state of emergency in Georgia on Thursday, adding it to the states of Florida and South Carolina as being eligible for federal hurricane relief.

He ordered federal aid to supplement state and local efforts, authorizing the Homeland Security Department and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate disaster relief as Hurricane Matthew bore down on the US coast.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Turkey pulls plug on 20 radio, TV channels in post-coup emergency decree

ISTANBUL - Turkey has ordered the closure of 20 television and radio stations, including one that airs children's programs, on charges they spread "terrorist propaganda", adding to fears that emergency rule is being used to stifle the media.

President Tayyip Erdogan has said he wants a three-month state of emergency, imposed after a failed coup attempt in July, to be prolonged past October so authorities can eradicate the threat posed by a religious movement blamed for the attempt, as well as Kurdish militants who have waged a 32-year insurgency.

The banned channels are owned or operated by Kurds or the Alevi religious minority, according to Hamza Aktan, news editor at IMC TV, a news broadcaster slated for closure. He cited a copy of the decision obtained by his channel, which was based on powers given the government in a decree issued in July.

"This has nothing to do with the coup. It is an effort to silence the last independent media covering the Kurdish issue and violations committed by the state," Aktan told Reuters.

IMC has aired reports looking at security forces' conduct during 14 months of military operations against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) that has killed thousands.

Among the 12 shuttered television channels are Govend TV, which plays folk music, and Zarok TV, which airs Kurdish-language children's cartoons. The decision also shut 11 radio stations for harming national security, Aktan said.

"Turkey is targeting a wide swath of cultural and political expression by shuttering minority broadcasters," Robert Mahoney of the Committee to Protect Journalists said. "When the government sees even children's programming as a threat to national security, it is clearly abusing its emergency powers."

RULE BY DECREE

An official at the Radio and Television Supreme Council, the state watchdog, confirmed 20 stations were being closed.

Erdogan argues the state of emergency is helping authorities swiftly root out supporters of the military uprising by bypassing parliament to enact laws and suspend rights.

Turkey blames US-based Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen for masterminding the coup in which 240 soldiers, police and civilians were killed trying to stop rogue troops who had commandeered fighter jets and tanks to bomb parliament and shoot protesters. Another 100 people behind the putsch were killed.

Some 100,000 state employees suspected of links with the Gulen movement have been purged, and 32,000 people are in jail for their alleged role in the coup. Gulen denies involvement.

Authorities have also targeted the media, arresting dozens of members of the press to make Turkey the world's biggest jailer of journalists and shutting down scores of media outlets.

Aktan and other IMC staff continued airing segments on Friday while waiting for police to arrive at their offices. Other stations on the closure list were raided and sealed off on Thursday, newspapers and CPJ said.

IMC, founded in 2011, has faced other punitive measures. In February, its satellite feed was cut while prosecutors investigate if it supports the PKK.

Aktan denied any links between IMC and the militants, citing the channel's principles of objectivity.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

US braces for record lows in big freeze

NEW YORK -- Authorities urged Americans to stay indoors and stock up on food after a fierce winter storm killed 11 people and forecasters said the Arctic blast could bring record low temperatures.

There was no sign of respite Saturday from the brutal chill that has struck since the start of 2014 in parts of the northeastern United States and Canada, prompting New York and New Jersey to declare a state of emergency.

Following heavy snowfall Thursday, one of the coldest Arctic outbreaks in the past two decades is set to plunge America's Midwest close to record cold conditions.

Chicago could on Monday see some of its most bracing weather ever, with temperatures hovering around minus 23 Celsius, weather analysts said.

Gusty winds could bring what forecasters at the National Weather Service called "very dangerous levels" of wind chill.

"Incredibly, it may feel as cold as -50 to -60 (Fahrenheit) on Sunday night over sections of the north-central states with the frigid air remaining in place into early next week," it said.

In such conditions, exposed skin would suffer frostbite in as little as five minutes, forecasters cautioned.

Authorities have urged people in the worst-hit areas to spend the first weekend of the new year at home for their own safety and to allow rescue and clean-up teams to get to work as quickly as possible.

"Chicagoans are a hearty bunch," said Matt Smith, spokesman for the Chicago Department of Family and Support Services.

"But when temperatures get as cold as they are predicted, you want to start thinking out things in advance," the Chicago Tribune quoted him as saying, adding that the department had advised people stay indoors and ensure they have medical supplies and food.

In Minnesota, Governor Mark Dayton has already announced schools will be closed Monday "to protect all our children from the dangerously cold temperatures."

The storm has been the first big test for New York City's new Mayor Bill de Blasio, who only took up his job Wednesday.

"If you want safe, clear streets, stay home," he said Friday.

In an unrelated incident, New Yorkers' attention was at least temporarily distracted from the weather when a private plane was forced to land on a highway in the city's Bronx borough due to engine trouble, injuring the pilot and two passengers.

Thousands of domestic and international flights have been canceled or delayed in several US cities including at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport and in Chicago, Boston and Philadelphia, while thousands of miles of roads were also snarled.

Added to the mix was a flood alert for much of the Atlantic coastline of Massachusetts.

Coldest NFL game ever?

On Friday, a worker was killed when he was crushed by a 30-meter pile of salt being prepared to treat roads in the Philadelphia area, media reports said.

A 71-year-old woman suffering from Alzheimer's disease froze to death after walking out into the cold and getting lost in northern New York state, according to authorities.

At least nine other deaths were blamed on the storm, nicknamed Hercules.

Eastern Canada has also been badly hit, and residents in many parts of Newfoundland lost power, local media reported.

Temperatures there had plunged to five degrees Fahrenheit, but the wind chill made it feel as cold as minus 31.

The bracing weather was also set to impact Sunday's crucial National Football League playoff between the Green Bay Packers and the San Francisco 49ers.

Some media outlets speculated that the eagerly anticipated clash at the open-air Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin, might be the coldest NFL game in history as freezing temperatures and blustery winds threatened a windchill factor as low as minus 35 degrees Fahrenheit.

The Packers say they will help fans battle the big freeze at the open-air stadium by handing out free coffee and hot chocolate.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com