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Myanmar: Five protesters explain why they will not give up
Myanmar: Five protesters explain why they will not give up
Hundreds of people have been killed in Myanmar amid an increasingly violent response to continuing protests calling on the military to step down and restore democracy.
The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, an advocacy group tracking deaths and detentions, says 510 people have been killed in the violence with Saturday marking the bloodiest day since the military seized power in a coup on February 1.
Analysts doubt the brutality of the crackdown by the military, also known as the Tatmadaw, will deter the protesters.
“Incredibly, although the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) comprises unarmed protesters with their flimsy homemade tin shields and hats, they have been able to deny the ‘mighty’ Tatmadaw the things they most crave: control over the country and economic stability,” said Gwen Robinson, a senior fellow at Chulalongkorn University’s Institute of Security and International Studies in Bangkok, and editor-at-large at the Nikkei Asian Review.
“By sheer force of their spirit and bravery they have foiled the generals, and to me that is a significant victory.”
Myanmar has a population of 54 million with about a third from ethnic minorities.
The military has begun bombing in eastern Karen state, which has sent thousands fleeing into neighbouring Thailand. On Tuesday, three ethnic armed groups including Rakhine State’s Arakan Army released a statement demanding the military stop the killings of civilians.
Robinson believes the coup has helped unite the country against the military.
“You have got big business, civil society, ethnic groups, different religious people all against the coup – that is an extraordinary thing,” she said.
With Robinson warning that Myanmar could end up a failed state with a brutal dictatorship holding onto power through sheer force, Al Jazeera spoke to five protesters about why they have taken to the streets and what might happen next.
The front-line protester
20-year-old ‘Fox’ has been on the front line of the protests and is currently in hiding
“Fox” said he and his group demonstrated peacefully until the military started killing their friends: “That’s when we decided we would fight back”. The 20-year-old is part of a group of front-line protesters, with the youngest only at 15.
“I’m making all the decisions, it’s a lot of responsibility, especially when I have these kids, but they’re good kids, we’re a good team and doing good so far.”
The group has experienced a lot in the last few weeks of protest and was forced to run for their lives from military bullets, after soldiers shot directly at them.
One of Fox’s roles was to help build sandbag barricades but the security forces used brutal tactics to get rid of them.
“They took hostages,” he said. “They pointed guns at people who are walking around these defence lines and took them hostage. And because they have these hostages, people in the neighbourhood don’t attack the military any more because they don’t want to harm innocent people.”
Now the group is in hiding – after a fellow protester was arrested and his phone seized. Fox and his group’s names were in it, along with many others.
“They got his phone, and they tracked other front liners with the information they have from that, and that guy that got arrested died in custody. They killed him in custody, they tortured him.”
This is how Myanmar protestors bravely defend themselves with firework sticks, slingshots from inhumane terrorists with live ammunitions.
Location – Ahlone township
– Myanmar labour news#WhatsHappeningInMyanmar#Mar18Coup pic.twitter.com/3ohfmB4iBY
— pyaezone (@pyaezone) March 18, 2021
Al Jazeera was not able to independently verify the death, but Fox sees the protester’s murder as a warning from the military that, “this is what is going to happen to you if you keep doing this”.
Last week, as the military hunted the group, they escaped Yangon by bus. The vehicle was stopped by the police eight times during the trip to a safe house but none of the group was identified.
“Everyone is scared of being hurt or being killed, but at the same time it’s scarier to think about what the military would do if they win this, and that’s what the older generation don’t get at the moment,” he said.
“They keep saying: ‘No don’t go out now it’s dangerous’, but if we don’t go out now and fight for this, it’s going to be dangerous for the rest of our lives.”
The organiser
Thet is an online activist who has built up a network of safe houses to protect protesters who are being sought by the military
Thet says she supports the CDM with online activism, her popular Instagram account and spying on the military.
“I collect, condense and share information. I have a bike and I go scouting early in the morning to identify what the military’s movement patterns are and what townships will be hit hardest.”
Thet also assigned herself the task of keeping count of those killed by the military, known in Myanmar as Tatmadaw, and their personal details, but the rising toll has come at a cost.
“For me, the deaths blur together because the circumstances are the same. I feel quite empty, very hollow. I feel like there are bees in my head buzzing all the time. I don’t know what life was like before the buzzing started. Maybe it started when they killed those people way back in February in Mandalay.”
She says she has also been searching for protesters who have disappeared.
“Staff in local jails – at risk to their lives – sometimes pass on information about arrested protesters,” she told Al Jazeera.
The activist, who is in her 20s, says she has built a network of connections to find safe houses for protest leaders forced into hiding.
“The ones I have worked with have not been caught, and I hope it stays that way.”
Thet says she admires protesters’ creativity and the humour of the civil disobedience movement: “I have an immense love and respect for our citizens, there are some ways in which I think our country is full of loveable comedians who are trying to bring life into everything they are doing.
“We have a popular banner which is very Burmese: ‘We will win, maybe not immediately, but definitely we will win’.”
Thet goes out on her bike each morning to get a sense of what the security forces are doing. More than 500 people have been killed since the February 1 coup
Amid the escalating violence, protesters have been writing “death letters” to their family and the public to encourage people to continue resisting the generals, according to Thet.
Traditionally, mourners offer food to the Buddha and monks when someone dies so their spirit can be at peace but the anti-coup protesters want things done differently if they are killed.
“They write: ‘Don’t do that, even in death I will still be by your side until you win. Please do not donate food, I still want to stay and fight. I will not move on until we’ve won’.”
Thet also has written her own letter and told those she trusts where they can find it.
“A lot of my letter is a request to protect my body,” she said. “I want to donate my organs to someone who needs them, not for them to fall into the hands of the military who will just sell them for their selfish reasons.”
The pastor
U Man took part in the 1988 Uprising, which was brutally suppressed by the military. He says their tactics remain the same
U Man, a pastor leading a congregation in Yangon, says that as well as providing spiritual support to protesters he has driven them to demonstrations, given money to their families and raised funds to buy protective equipment such as gas masks and helmets.
As a teenager, U Man took part in the 1988 uprising, before the military crushed all dissent, leaving thousands of people dead.
The pastor, who is in his 50s, does not believe the military’s strategy has changed since then.
Both then and now, he says the military inserts a “dalan”, an infiltrator, into the crowd to provoke the Tatmadaw and set up a conflict.
He has advised his son, who has also joined the protests, and others, not to engage with the security forces and to identify the infiltrator through a simple three part instruction that he hopes will save lives: “Don’t engage with the military. Find out who the dalan is. Don’t let the dalan control the narrative.”
“Being a minister of the Christian faith, I don’t want to recommend anyone using violence,” he said. “I know people who have been beaten. It’s very difficult for me because I have all these feelings of anger and anguish, and if I had a weapon, I would use it against them. That makes me feel shame because I am a pastor,” he said.
U Man says he prays with his children and protesters before they go out into the streets.
“I teach protesters and my congregation about the Bible and those people in it who experienced challenges, the mindset they had to overcome them, and how God is able to save them,” he said.
The teacher
Teacher Aung Myo Zaw says he feels both scared and hopeful
“I have been tear-gassed. A lot of my friends were shot by rubber bullets,” Aung Myo Zaw told Al Jazeera.
The 32-year-old teacher says he is afraid of getting shot while protesting, but people were coming up with different tactics to keep the spirit of resistance alive, creating “protest posters and strategies where we protest for one hour and then disappear quickly”.
“I was inspired by the bravery of the people and the spirit of defiance, that gave me courage. It is a strange feeling to be scared and hopeful at the same time.”
“With 80 percent of staff out doing CDM and only 20 percent still working, the military cannot run the country any more. The system is not functioning,” Aung Myo Zaw said.
The doctor
Doctors have joined the civil disobedience movement and those providing emergency medical assistance to protesters have also come under fire
On February 2, the day after the coup, medical workers and civil servants founded the CDM.
Thiha Tun, who is in his 30s, joined the same day.
“I became part of a medical cover team providing first aid to protesters,” Thiha Tun told Al Jazeera. “There were many kinds of injuries, from bruises, cuts and lacerations through to penetrating wounds. These injuries were caused by batons, rubber bullets and live ammunition.”
“They shot and beat the medics and ambulances, shot at the private hospitals, occupied the public hospitals, raided the charity clinics and detained the medics in the field.”
Now it has become too dangerous.
“Most of us are on the run these days,” he said. “They were searching for the leaders and activists. The junta’s forces traced the addresses using photos of the doctors. So, we can’t stay at our permanent addresses.”
Thiha Tun, who did not share a photograph of himself for fear of reprisals, says the situation will only get worse.
“A civil war is coming soon,” he predicted. “A federal army will be formed with the ethnic armed forces first and will be joined by the citizens later.
“The doctors and nurses will take care of the wounded as we’re now learning trauma care techniques online.
“I really don’t want my beautiful country destroyed by war, but I don’t think we can avoid it as the junta didn’t give us a choice. They won’t back off to release the power and we won’t give up till the legitimate government returns to form a federal, democratic country.”
Follow Laura Bootham on Twitter at @LauraBootham
Protesters in South Dagon township in Yangon shown hiding behind a barricade and then running away as it explodes during a demonstration on Monday
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Airport reopening linked to case rate
PROSPECTS FOR GRADUAL RETURN TO NORMAL IN JULY
KUWAIT CITY, April 1: Director of the Air Transportation Department at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) Abdullah Al-Rajhi revealed details of the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic on passenger traffic at Kuwait International Airport during the past year, reports Al-Rai daily. He said, “The reopening of the airport will depend on the decrease in the rate of COVID-19 infections and their stability at a low rate. Even if the Ministry of Health increases the number of passengers permitted to enter, it will not do so directly, but gradually, especially since the number of passengers allowed to be transported is related to the bed capacity of the institutional quarantine centers.”
During an interview, he indicated that a total of 3.875 million passengers used the airport in 2020, which is less by 11.57 million compared to the total of 15.448 million passengers in 2019, adding that the number of flights also decreased by more than 74,000. Al-Rajhi said, “We were informed by 18 travel and tourism companies to stop activity due to the disruption of air traffic and travel as a result of the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and its continuation for a long period of time. The number of companies operating at Kuwait International Airport has decreased from 52 to 47 during the summer of 2020, with the suspension of five companies operating at the airport on an occasional basis.”
He stressed that the airport cannot be accused of causing an increase in the COVID- 19 infections, as it is subject to strict precautionary health measures, adding that the infection indicators among the cases coming to the country are very low. Al-Rajhi explained that statistics revealed that the discovered cases were only about five out of 3,000 domestic workers who came to the country. They were quarantined until it was confirmed that they were cured and did not carry the virus. The authorities at the airport do not lax in implementing the health requirements.
Despite the recent spike in the number of deaths and infections with coronavirus in the country, a government official said things will start to return to normal in July, reports Al-Qabas daily. The official revealed that the country has been assured it will receive large quantities of approved vaccines, which means the companies producing anticorona vaccines will further increase supplies of their vaccines to accelerate the pace of vaccination and achieve community immunity soon. He said that vaccine supplies will be better at the end of the second quarter of this year; while the implementation of health regulations including social distancing and wearing masks will continue until the end of 2022.
Transmission
Regarding the opening of Kuwait International Airport, the official confirmed that the airport will open once the vaccination of citizens is completed as this will protect them from transmission of the virus. This coincides with the recent announcement of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) that a digital travel permit showing results of Covid- 19 tests and vaccination certificates will be launched on the Apple platform in mid-April. This digital travel permit, which is currently in the testing phase, was expected to be launched at the end of March. Kuwait’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Sheikh Hamad Jaber Al-Ali affirmed that the partial ban will continue during the next stage until the numbers of cases decrease, especially with the entry of the blessed month of Ramadan, reports Al Qabas.
Al-Ali responded to Al-Qabas’s question, saying: “One of the reasons for the increase in Coronavirus infections are gatherings, and in Ramadan gatherings will increase, and our recommendations to the Council of Ministers are to maintain the partial ban, while modifying and reducing the hours of the ban. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has meanwhile approved the list of laboratories accredited within the MUNA program – a mechanism linking external laboratories – for the verification of PCR test certificates issued to arriving passengers from five countries as follows: Spain, France, America, the United Kingdom and Jordan, reports Al-Qabas daily quoting a reliable source from Kuwait International Airport. According to the source, the accreditation of laboratories is aimed at preventing fraud or tampering results of PCR tests for travelers from the above mentioned countries; affirming that Kuwait Mosafer platform gives travelers information on the accredited laboratories and location according to cities.
Decrease
Ministry of Health (MoH) Spokesperson Dr Abdullah Al-Sanad on Wednesday announced a noticeable decrease of coronavirus infections among kuwaitis compared with previous months. Speaking at a news conference, Al- Sanad said the ratio of COVID-19 infection among kuwaitis is less than 55 percent compared with 68 percent at some times over the last few months, warning against an increase in infections among residents. Field medical swabs still indicate to a rise in the infection rate, he showed, calling for taking utmost measures of caution. Getting out of this crisis requires a common responsibility, receiving vaccination and continue abiding by preventive measures, he stressed.
Despite all challenges facing those who deal with the pandemic, there are still hopes for a better future to get out of this crisis, he affirmed. On occasion of National Doctors’ Day; on March 30, Al-Sanad expressed gratitude to all doctors and medical staff as well as all frontline workers for their efforts in facing the pandemic. He noted that the global indicators are still growing as figures have increased from 127.8 million cases to 128.8 million in two days. Earlier, Al-Sanad announced five deaths and 1,282 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, taking death toll to 1,313 and total infections to 232,103 in kuwait.
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Bolsonaro, under pressure over COVID crisis, reshuffles cabinet
Bolsonaro, under pressure over COVID crisis, reshuffles cabinet
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has replaced six ministers in a sweeping cabinet reshuffle that comes as the far-right leader faces mounting pressure to account for his government’s handling of a surging COVID-19 pandemic.
Among the changes, Carlos Alberto Franco França was named as new foreign minister and Walter Souza Braga Netto was confirmed as new defence minister, Bolsonaro’s press office said in a statement on Monday evening.
They replace Ernesto Araújo and Fernando Azevedo e Silva, respectively.
The announcement was made after earlier reports that Araújo, a loyal ally of Bolsonaro, and Azevedo e Silva had stepped down.
Bolsonaro, a COVID-19 sceptic who has rejected the need for public health measures to mitigate the spread of the virus, has been widely criticised amid a second wave of COVID-19 infections that has pushed hospitals to the brink.
More than 312,000 people have died in Brazil from COVID-19, according to a Johns Hopkins University tally, while the country has reported more than 12.5 million infections – second only to the United States.
Brazil’s health ministry said on Monday 1,660 coronavirus-related deaths and 38,927 new cases had been reported in the past 24 hours, as experts warned this week that younger Brazilians were being particularly hard-hit.
Al Jazeera’s Monica Yanakiew, reporting from Rio de Janeiro, said Bolsonaro has not publicly spoken about the cabinet changes yet.
“There’s increasing pressure on the president because of the mishandling of the pandemic,” she said.
The departure of Azevedo e Silva was a surprise, given there were no rumours of his exit or rumblings of discontent.
The president has placed current and former military officials throughout all levels of his government.
“During this time, I preserved the Armed Forces as institutions of state,” Azevedo e Silva wrote in a ministry statement. “I leave in the certainty of a mission accomplished.”
More than 312,000 people have died due to the coronavirus in Brazil
Bolsonaro on Monday also named army General Luiz Eduardo Ramos as his new chief of staff and police commander Anderson Torres as justice minister, and appointed a new attorney general and government secretary.
Earlier this month, the president replaced Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello, an active-duty general who had overseen most of the coronavirus response. He was widely blamed for a slow and patchy vaccine programme.
Brazil’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Reuters news agency about Araújo’s departure.
The former minister had irked senior lawmakers, who had become increasingly vocal in calling for him to be replaced and were angered by Araújo’s longstanding criticism of China.
His support for former US President Donald Trump was also seen as an obstacle in persuading the Biden administration to help Brazil secure much-needed coronavirus vaccines.
Also on Monday, Brazilian Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga said he would meet US Ambassador Todd Chapman on Tuesday to try to secure the faster delivery of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines.
The country has a deal to receive 100 million doses this year, but the first delivery of two million jabs is only expected in May.
“We are very committed to getting an earlier delivery, an exchange, because the Americans are not going to release vaccines until they have vaccinated their entire population, but they are willing to make an exchange,” Queiroga said.
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‘Replace words like servant, maid’ – Ads harming dignity banned
KUWAIT CITY, April 1: The Ministry of Commerce has banned job advertisements containing any word or phrase which negatively affects the dignity of expatriate workers, domestic workers and others with similar status, reports Al-Jarida daily. The ministry stressed the need to avoid using such words in job advertisements, adding that the following phrases: ‘to sell’, ‘to buy’ and ‘to assign’, should be replaced with the phrase ‘transfer of services,’ while the words ‘servant’ and ‘maid’ should be replaced with the word ‘workers’.
Meanwhile, Acting Assistant Undersecretary for Customer Service Affairs at the Ministry of Communications Muhammad Al-Hais has confirmed the completion of more than 90 percent of the optical fiber network project linking the Ministry of Education (MoE) schools with five divisions to cover all parts of the country.
Disclosed
In a statement to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) recently, Al-Hais disclosed the project provides the MoE schools with highspeed Internet service and symmetric solutions for private networks with a high level of security; thereby, leading to digital transformation. In a related development, Al-Qabas daily quoted Al-Hais as saying that the concerned employees completed a week-long training course on optical fiber through the Internet to familiarize themselves on the types of fiber cables and methods of installing these cables. In addition, a special online visit was conducted to the main laboratories in China for the employees to learn about the latest devices and technologies in the field of communication and information technology.
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Curfew timings reduced during Ramadan from 7 pm to 5 am; Walking time from 7 pm to 10 pm
KUWAIT CITY, Apr 1: The Council of Minister discussed in today meeting to reduce curfew timings and approved timing from 7 pm to 5 am. Walking allowed from 7 pm to 10 pm. Restaurant delivery timing extended until 3 am. This timings will be implemented from April 8th to April 22nd
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US official warns of ‘impending doom’ amid rise in COVID cases
US official warns of ‘impending doom’ amid rise in COVID cases
A top health official in the United States has warned of “impending doom” amid rising cases of COVID-19, even as the country continues to outpace expectations on vaccine distribution.
During a news conference on Monday, Dr Rochelle Walensky, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said she was “going to reflect on the recurring feeling I have of impending doom”.
“We have so much to look forward to, so much promise and potential of where we are, and so much reason for hope, but right now, I’m scared,” she told reporters.
The US is averaging 63,000 new cases a day as of March 29, according to data from Johns Hopkins University – a rise that comes after a recent plateau in new infections.
Meanwhile, an average of 2.7 million vaccine jabs have been administered across the country per day during the last week, CNBC reported.
The CDC says more than 145.8 million vaccine doses have been administered as of Monday since the country’s vaccination drive began late last year, while 73 percent of seniors have received their first dose, according to the White House.
People wearing face protective masks walk on Hollywood Boulevard during the COVID-19 outbreak in Los Angeles, California
President Joe Biden said on Monday that 90 percent of all US adults will be eligible for the vaccine by April 19.
“For the vast, vast majority of adults, you won’t have to wait until May 1. You’ll be eligible for your shot on April 19,” Biden said during a news conference on Monday.
Andy Slavitt, acting administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said the announcement was “good news”, but warned that Americans need to continue to follow public health guidelines.
“We’re headed in the right direction. But we can’t slow down. Millions remain unvaccinated and at risk,” Slavitt said.
Some officials have criticised scaled-back mitigation measures as contributing to the increase in new cases.
Some states, such as Texas and Mississippi, have lifted restrictions and mask mandates in spite of CDC recommendations. Businesses are still able to enforce the restrictions.
White House Chief Medical Adviser Dr Anthony Fauci told CBS on Sunday that the rise in cases could be attributed to “things like spring break and pulling back on the mitigation methods”.
Meanwhile, some have weighed the possibility of the US government issuing “vaccination passports” to allow those fully vaccinated to work and travel freely.
But White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Monday the Biden administration would not issue a federal mandate for vaccine passports. “We believe it will be driven by the private sector,” Psaki said.
The US has reported more than 30.2 million COVID-19 cases and more than 549,000 coronavirus-related deaths as of Monday, according to the Johns Hopkins University tally.
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Glitch disrupts e-payment system
KUWAIT CITY, April 1: Electronic services were disrupted due to a technical defect as a result of which government transactions could not be completed because payment via the KNET could not be done, reports Al-Qabas daily. Reliable sources told the daily, the disruption of the payment system led to the disruption of services, especially in the Hawalli and Ahmadi governorates, and the concerned authority with the technical department followed up the performance of the system, which did not find any technical defect in the government system other than the suspension of the service as a result of the disruption of payment service from the source.
The sources added, the Public Authority for Manpower (PAM) is still working on updating its automated systems and adding services for renewing and updating work permits for residents, cancelling work permits, assessment needs, monitoring processes, automatic inspections and others. In addition, the authority is flooded with the electronic inquiries on the social media with inquiries about the services that have been disrupted since yesterday, while an announcement has been made that the services will be stopped due to a breakdown in the systems, and told the visitors to follow the announcements which PAM will make from time to time in this regard.
Among the most prominent disruption was the inquiry service and the ineffectiveness of the link between the authority and the ministries of Interior and Commerce, as the new or updated licenses do not appear in the new system, and as a result the work permits cannot be renewed.
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Could vaccinating an entire resort town revive Zimbabwe tourism?
Could vaccinating an entire resort town revive Zimbabwe tourism?
Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe – With every passing minute, 500 million cubic metres of roaring water rush over the edge, falling into a gorge more than 100 metres below. The sound is thundering, the sight spectacular.
Once again, the Victoria Falls – locally known as Mosi-oa-Tunya, which means “the smoke that thunders” – is at its peak, but only a few can witness this magnificent cascading waterfall straddling Zimbabwe and Zambia.
Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, more than 350,000 people each year trekked to the Zimbabwean side of the waterfall to see one of the world’s natural wonders. But since then, there have been hardly any visitors.
Now, hopes are high that a vaccine rollout could bring back much-needed tourism in the resort town – but for some holiday businesses, it might take more than just a COVID-19 shot to recoup the losses in a country that has been in the throes of a severe economic crisis.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa receives the COVID-19 vaccine in Victoria Falls
Zimbabwe recorded its first coronavirus case a year ago, a resident of Victoria Falls. Although patient zero recovered, the country has registered more than 1,500 COVID-19-related deaths and nearly 37,000 infections since last March.
With a strict national lockdown enforced, tourist activities in the resort town, as in many other places across the country, were shut down for months on end. However, the advent of the country’s vaccination drive using Chinese jabs means that restrictions have since eased.
Inoculation campaigns
Launched on February 18, the first phase of the campaign targeted some 60,000 healthcare and other front-line workers. Of them, however, only 44,000 have been inoculated so far.
Last week, President Emmerson Mnangagwa took his first shot of the Sinovac vaccine to launch the second phase of the vaccination programme that is intended for the elderly, teachers, religious leaders, people with critical illnesses – and all adult residents of Victoria Falls, a city of some 110,000 people.
In a symbolic move aimed at promoting tourism recovery, Mnangagwa travelled to Victoria Falls to get his shot on Wednesday.
Since then, residents of the tourism-dependent town have been forming snaking queues outside public hospitals and clinics, waiting for their turn to get their first dose of the vaccine.
Moreblessing Khumalo waits outside a hospital in Victoria Falls to get inoculated
Moreblessing Khumalo, a travel consultant for a company that offers cruises and rafting adventures on the Zambezi River, said although she was afraid of any unknown side effects, inoculation was necessary for life to go on.
“I’m scared, but there’s no other way we can do this,” the 31-year-old told Al Jazeera. “In this town, people need to go back to work; others need to reopen their businesses and even for me, as time goes on, it will become impossible to serve my clients if I don’t get vaccinated,” she said.
“Once I get back to work I’ll start to meet people from all over the world so I need to take the vaccine to protect myself and my family.”
Vaccination is voluntary, but for some people, it is a requirement to return to work.
With the programme seemingly moving forward at full speed and international flights slowly resuming, Victoria Falls is preparing to welcome foreign visitors again – even as the land borders to Botswana and Zambia remain closed to public transport.
Elated, Lazarus Jamu, 48, a caretaker at a local hotel, said he felt freer after receiving his first injection.
“I’m happy; I got vaccinated so that I can be free in everything I do,” he told Al Jazeera. “I will be free to move around and to do my work because I’ll be fit, I won’t have that fear of getting corona any more.”
More than just a shot is needed
However, some have said Zimbabwe’s tourism and hospitality industry needs more than a vaccination drive to get back on track.
Earlier this month, the government announced a $5.8m scheme that will see the government provide a 50 percent loan guarantee for businesses in the tourism sector. The move met criticism by opposition figures, who described it as risky and cautioned that struggling taxpayers could be forced to foot the bill if the companies defaulted.
Others, however, said the loan facility should be extended to cover all businesses in hospitality.
“More players need to be able to access such facilities after one year of varied operations ranging from full closure to curfew and occupancy constrained trading,” said Bongai Zamchiya, head of the Restaurant Operators Association of Zimbabwe, stressing that many operators are in critical need of financial backing.
“As an industry, the support we seek is the same that has been seen around the world: from stimulus that increases aggregate demand, furlough that protects jobs and concessionary funding or tax breaks that will ensure business sustainability.”
During government consultations last year, tourism operators called for a financial relief package to help them offset the impact of the pandemic, but little aid was given to private enterprises.
According to the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA), tourism contributed 7.2 percent and 6.5 percent of the country’s gross domestic product in 2018 and 2019, respectively. But with business slowing down last year, Zimbabwe’s tourism sector is estimated to have lost at least $1bn in potential revenue, the ZTA said.
Meanwhile, the pandemic has added another dimension to Zimbabwe’s economic crisis which has seen its local currency rapidly devaluing and the US dollar and South African rand operating as de facto currencies.
Intermittent shortages of cash and other basic commodities such as fuel have been constant indicators of a crippled economy whose dire state has been exacerbated by COVID-19, inflation and drought.
After the economy contracted by more than 7 percent in 2020, it is expected to rebound by 2.9 percent due to improved rainfall and falling inflation, according to the World Bank.
The government hopes to inoculate 60 percent of the country’s 14.8 million people in order to achieve herd immunity by the end of the year.
Back in Victoria Falls, Clive Chinwada, president of the Hospitality Association of Zimbabwe, said the resort town had been deeply scarred by the pandemic and the slump in global travel. He warned it would take time to see a significant change in foreign tourist arrivals and an increase in hotel occupancy rates.
“The situation is quite bad and will likely be so for quite some time as recovery is now likely to only start in 2022 for international travel,” he said.
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Granting Article 19 residency for expats
KUWAIT CITY, March 31: The Ministry of Interior is about to initiate procedures for renewing residency for expats holding Article 19 through the General Administration of Residency Affairs. Article 19 residency permits an expat to hold residence as an investor or foreign partner in a commercial or industrial activity provided the share of the expat partner in the company is not less than 100,000 dinars according to the conditions laid by the Ministry of Commerce.
This procedure comes in the time when services of expats who are above 60 yrs of age and who hold high school diploma and below their residence are not being renewed and have to leave for their homelands except those who will be shifting their residence to family residence or self sponsorship.
The sources stated that transfer of residence Article 18 or 17 to Article 22 is subject to scrutiny by the residence department. On other hand Kuwaitis and expats praised the smooth and easy work flow at Mubarak Al Kabeer residence affairs, reports Al Anba. Only those who had prior appointments were allowed on the premises to process their transactions in a disciplined manner which takes only a few minutes to complete any transaction for companies or individuals.
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Faye Toogood is the designer behind a new Birkenstock bed Written by Fiona Sinclair Scott, CNNWhile most childhood aspirations don't often play out in adult life, Faye Toogood realized her early dreams of becoming a sculptor and then some. Today her multidisciplinary practice, which she runs out of a studio in London, spans sculpture, interior design, product design and fashion. Toogood was first inspired by one of Britain's most treasured modernist sculptors, the late Barbara Hepworth, during a family trip to a museum dedicated to her in St. Ives in the southwest of England. But in a classic tale of near-misses, a teacher at school told her it wasn't a good idea to become a sculptor and that she should broaden her scope. So instead, Toogood earned her degree in art history and started her career as an editor for World of Interiors magazine, stepping stones that would eventually lead her back to that early desire to sculpt. Artist Barbara Hepworth posing through her own work "Pierced Form 1963,"' at the Tate Gallery, London. Credit: Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty ImagesWith a renewed desire to work in 3D, she launched Studio Toogood in 2008, designing interiors for homes and retail spaces first and then adding what she refers to simply as "objects," to her repertoire. The fashion came in 2013, when she launched a clothing collection with her sister Erica, a pattern cutter, who continues to work with her today. Their debut line was a series of eight canvas coats all named after different working trades including the doorman, the chemist, the oil rigger and the photographer -- a theme she continues to play with now. On her website today, you can purchase a pair of trousers seemingly fashioned for a baker or a dress designed with an astrologer in mind. There's also a hat named after a tinker, a label she sometimes uses to describe herself. A pair of canvas coats designed by the Toogood sisters for their debut collection in 2013. Credit: Marius Hansen/Courtesy of TOOGOOD"It's been an amazing story really," she said via video call, reflecting back on the 15 collections of clothing she's created since the start, "a journey of two sisters coming together -- one a sculptor and bit of a tinker, the other a tailor, to make something." Making things was a big part of the Toogood upbringing. "I think that when you're a child you accept your childhood as the norm. But now, in hindsight, I realized that it was more alternative," she said. "My mother made everything -- from all the clothes that we wore to the muesli that we ate, (to) the bread that she baked. She made the curtains, she painted everything herself."Her father was an ornithologist (an expert in birds) and as Toogood remembers it, they spent most of their time outdoors in nature. "I think that harbored a high imagination, a strong imagination, for both me and my sister."Today, a little bit of that youthful spirit is woven into the Toogood practice. Her team of some 20 employees -- including architects, fashion designers, graphic designers and sculptors, who she fondly refers to as a "band of outsiders," or a "series of misfits" -- approach design in a holistic way, often beginning with constructing shapes out of basic materials in lieu of sketching or creating digital designs. Before the pandemic hit Europe last year, Toogood was commissioned by Birkenstock to design what has since become a large capsule collection of shoes, clothing and even a bed. Toogood's Birkenstock bed, loosely modelled on the sandal's footbed. Credit: Tom Johnson/Courtesy of TOOGOODShe remembers visiting the Birkenstock headquarters in Germany early on in the collaboration to present some initial designs, with a box of paper, cardboard and fabric shoes (all handmade and hand-stitched) in tow. "We did a series of sculptures and paintings, all as background (for concepts)," she said. "We don't tend to draw in our studio, we go straight to making, and as innocent or as childlike as it is I find it works the best when talking to manufacturers. They get the idea, they get the narrative, they immediately get the concept ... so (Birkenstock) loved it!" The capsule, which is out now, comprises three different sandals recut, from some of the brand's signature styles, like the Arizona, as well as casual clothing in muted, elemental shades. The bed is a large sculptural design inspired by the classic Birkenstock footbed, the base of the sandal, with its puffed layers of canvas and leather upholstery sitting on a cork foundation. Recut sandal designs from the Toogood x Birkenstock capsule. Credit: Tom Johnson/Courtesy of TOOGOODFor those that don't know Toogood's work, the collection reflects her wider ethos and aesthetic. Her designs, be they furniture or fashion, are rooted in fairly rudimentary ideas -- materials and shapes are simple, fuss-free but always striking. It's the type of design you want to run your hand over for all its alluring rounds. Much like a Hepworth sculpture. Similarly soothing is the studio's new "Dough" ceramics range -- a mug, a pitcher, a wide bowl and a platter -- defined by curved edges that seem to mimic a gently rising ball of kneaded flour and water. They express simplicity, comfort and perhaps a kind of calm or wholesomeness that we've all been looking for in our homes during the pandemic. Dough-like designs from Toogood's new homeware collection Credit: Matthew Donaldson/Courtesy of TOOGOOD"Our relationship to our home couldn't be more poignant," she said. "It's no wonder that the home business and the home world is having a huge renaissance right now."Toogood appreciates that her products aren't affordable for everyone. It's "couture design" for the most part -- and her role, as she sees it, is to push boundaries and come up with concepts that will be emulated, eventually ending up on everyday tables at home, although she notes that collaborations with partners like Birkenstock do make some of her products more accessible and that she is working on other ways to lower the pricing on some of her designs. When asked to name the most affordable design trick to transform any home, she was quick to respond: paint. "It sounds really obvious but (buying) pots of paint is the most transformative thing you can do in your home right now...and be courageous with it!"But, regardless of budget, she believes in the fundamental power of design, as a way to improve a home's environment. "Having grown up in a make-do-and-mend household I'm a great believer that you can make things beautiful. "You have to have the imagination and you have to put in a bit more time... but you can create a unique space." Read full article: https://expatimes.com/?p=19735&feed_id=40376
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117 discarded vehicles lifted, 8 stores ‘shut’
KUWAIT CITY, April 1: The General Cleaning and Road Works Department of the Kuwait Municipality, Capital Governorate branch carried out 4 field trips, with security support, in the Al-Rai and Shuwaikh industrial areas to lift everything that obstructs the road and distorts the general view of the governorate including neglected cars and scrap materials from public squares and open areas, says Al-Seyassah.
The director of the department Misha’al Al-Azmi explained the aim of the intensive field tours is to keep in check violators and take all legal measures against them. In the Farwaniya governorate the team administratively closed eight stores for not complying with closure times during the curfew period. He pointed out the supervisory team at the department pays great attention to raising the level of cleanliness in areas under its responsibility as well as lifting everything that distorts the aesthetic view in all regions through the periodic field tours.
Al-Azmi added during the periodic tours the Municipality teams places the sign X on the abandoned vehicles and boats on government land and after the expiry period lifts these abandoned cars and all kinds of scrap and take it to the Municipality’s garage. The department said the Municipality lifted 117 abandoned cars and scrap and issued 15 citations and placed 525 stickers on discarded cars.
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US stocks hover near record highs as bank losses temper gains
US stocks hover near record highs as bank losses temper gains
United States stocks stabilised in afternoon trading Monday and hovered near the record highs they set last week, but losses for big banks tempered gains.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 98.49 points, or 0.3 percent, to land at 33,171. The broader S&P 500 index – a proxy for the health of retirement and college savings accounts – lost 0.09 percent while the Nasdaq Composite Index ended the trading day 0.6 percent lower.
Financial stocks dropped to some of the market’s sharpest losses amid worries about how much pain big banks will take following soured trades made by a major US hedge fund. Stocks of energy producers were also weak after the price of crude oil edged lower.
Technology stocks also fell broadly as China announced more tax breaks to bolster its own chip sector. Gains for Facebook and other market heavyweights helped to limit the S&P 500’s losses.
Most stocks across Wall Street were falling, while Treasury yields rose. A widely followed measure of nervousness in the stock market climbed 10 percent, but the VIX Index, which shows how much volatility traders are bracing for from the S&P 500, remains close to its lowest level since the coronavirus pandemic rocked markets a year ago.
“It’s high, which indicates people are nervous, but it’s not panicky,” said Tom Martin, senior portfolio manager with Globalt Investments.
The movements mark the latest ebb for Wall Street, which has been mostly climbing in a series of stops and starts. Supporting the market have been rising expectations that a supercharged economic recovery is on the way thanks to COVID-19 vaccinations, immense spending by the US government and continued low rates from the Federal Reserve. Weighing on stocks at the same time, though, are worries about a coming rise in inflation and possibly too-ebullient prices across the market.
Several key reports on the economy are scheduled for this week, which could help show whether stocks deserve the lofty prices they’ve reached. Among the headliners is Friday’s jobs report, where economists expect to see a big acceleration in hiring.
On Wednesday, President Joe Biden will also give details about his proposal to rebuild roads, bridges and other infrastructure. Shares of raw-material producers have rallied recently on rising expectations for infrastructure spending by Washington, even though many past presidential administrations have failed to make that happen.
On Monday, though, the market’s spotlight was squarely on financial companies after Japanese bank Nomura Holdings and Swiss bank Credit Suisse said they’re facing potentially significant losses because of their dealings with a major client, though the exact magnitude is still unclear.
Nomura estimated the claim against its client could be about $2bn.
Credit Suisse said that it “and a number of other banks” are exiting trades they made with a significant US-based hedge fund, which defaulted on a “margin call” last week. A margin call happens when a broker tells a client to put up cash after it borrowed money to make trades. Neither Credit Suisse nor Nomura named the client, but news reports identified it as New York-based Archegos Capital Management.
Shares of Credit Suisse and Nomura each fell at least 16 percent in their home countries, and US banks got caught in the downdraft as investors question whether the soured trades will stay isolated or have a more widespread effect through the system.
“This is sort of an example of the leverage you don’t see,” Martin said. “We all know there’s a fair amount of debt out there, but what we don’t know is how much of this is out there.”
Morgan Stanley fell 2.5 percent, and financial stocks across the S&P 500 lost 1 percent for one of the sharpest losses among the 11 sectors that make up the index.
Energy stocks in the S&P 500 fell 1.4 percent while the price of US crude made small gains of 0.8 percent to $61.43 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 0.7 percent to $64.89 per barrel.
On the winning side was Boeing, which rose 1.8 percent after Southwest Airlines said it will order 100 737 MAX aeroplanes. Regulators in the US and other countries have cleared the plane model to resume flying after it was grounded worldwide in 2019 after two crashes that killed 346 people.
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#Aviation#Bank#Banks#BusinessandEconomy#Coronaviruspandemic#Economy#Energy#FinancialMarkets#gains#highs#hover#losses#News#OilandGas#record#stocks#temper#UnitedStates#USCanada
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1,282 more infected with coronavirus; 1,330 recover
KUWAIT CITY, March 31: Kuwaiti Ministry of Health announced the registration of 1,282 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number to 232,103, while 5 deaths were recorded, putting the total at 1,313. The Ministry spokesperson, Dr. Abdullah Al-Sanad, told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) that the number of people receiving treatment in intensive care has reached 241 cases. There are 14,210 cases receiving necessary treatment. Al-Sanad added that the number of swabs that were performed in the past 24 hours reached 9,175, raising the total to 2,056,468 tests. He renewed the call for citizens and residents to continue adopting all preventive measures, to avoid contact with others, and to ensure the implementation of the social distancing, and to visit the official accounts of the Ministry of Health and official authorities. (KUNA)
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Smuggling attempt of 324,000 banned substance bags coming from India foiled
KUWAIT CITY, Mar 31: Based on a tip, the Kuwait Customs department at southern port were able to foil a smuggling attempt of a large quantity of shipment coming from India containing 324,000 bags of tobacco.
The shipment contained blankets and garbage bags and substance was placed between the goods to ward off suspicion, reports AlRai. The customs department turned out smarter then the smugglers to notice the banned drugs.
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Parents demanding ‘opening’ of private schools for integrated mode of teaching
KUWAIT CITY, March 31: Several parents recently met with acting Director of the Special Education Department at the Ministry of Education (MoE) Dr Salman Al-Lafi; during which they handed over an official letter demanding the opening of private schools for the integrated mode of teaching (online and in the classroom), provided these schools are willing and able to implement the health regulations aimed at curbing the spread of coronavirus, reports Al-Qabas daily. During the meeting, the parents expressed fear about the losses incurred in the previous year.
They said the mental health of students should be taken into consideration; asserting that integrated education will prepare the students psychologically for the return to schools in September. They added that they have asked the Ministry of Education to deal with the private sector differently and not to link it with the possibility of private school students going to government schools, just as it did with schools for people with special needs. They called for flexibility in the ministry’s policy towards private education. They also emphasized the need to grant parents the right to choose the most appropriate education system for their children — whether remotely or the integrated system.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education is currently coordinating with its health counterpart regarding the implementation of precautionary health measures during the second semester exams of secondary stage students, reports Al-Anba daily. The Ministry of Health will provide medical supplies, including masks, sterilizers and thermal devices, to apply the health regulations and guarantee the safety of students. Also, the daily obtained a copy of the Ministry of Education’s recent statistical report; stating that the number of students expected to take the second semester exams in the scientific and literary majors, religious institute and home education reached 51,827.
The report revealed that the number of committees in schools reached 300; indicating that the number of workers in the control divisions of the scientific and literary majors as well as the religious institute reached 1,800 while the number of technical and administrative supervisors and teachers who will be present during the exams totaled 101,761. On the other hand, the Ministry of Education has formed joint committees with the Ministry of Health in all educational districts to oversee the implementation of health regulations for the gradual return of students to the schools.
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France heightens pressure on Lebanon to form government
France heightens pressure on Lebanon to form government
France’s foreign minister has cranked up pressure on Lebanese leaders to form a government, urging them in personal phone calls for an immediate halt to what he called “deliberate obstruction” that is driving the country towards collapse.
Jean-Yves Le Drian called Lebanese President Michel Aoun, acting Prime Minister Saad Hariri, and parliament speaker Nabih Berri and deplored the seven months of political deadlock that is worsening Lebanon’s economic crisis, according to a statement from the foreign minister’s office on Monday.
“The deliberate obstruction of any prospect of an exit from the crisis … by demands that are unreasonable and out-of-date must immediately halt,” it said.
“The time has come to strengthen pressure” to end the blockage, it added.
Last week, talks between Aoun and Hariri on the formation of a new cabinet broke down.
Le Drian is also asking European counterparts to join the push for action. Last year French President Emmanuel Macron proposed a road map to break the political impasse in the former French protectorate.
Worst economic crisis
Macron has been pressing Lebanese politicians to form a cabinet made up of non-partisan specialists who can work on urgent reforms to extract Lebanon from a financial crisis worsened by the August 4 explosion that devastated Beirut.
Those efforts have led to nowhere as Lebanon’s politicians continue to bicker about the shape and size of a new cabinet while the country is mired in the worst economic crisis in its modern history – a situation exacerbated by pandemic restrictions.
The Lebanese economy is in free fall with parliament approving on Monday an emergency funding package simply to keep the lights on after one of the country’s largest power plants ran out of fuel.
More than half the population lives in poverty, according to the United Nations.
Over the past month, protests swept across Lebanese towns and cities as the value of the Lebanese pound continues to spiral.
The currency’s value dropped to 10,000 against the dollar in early March. Less than a week later, it hit an astonishing record low of 15,000, effectively losing about 90 percent of its value since late 2019.
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#BusinessandEconomy#Economy#Europe#form#France#Government#heightens#Humanitariancrises#Lebanon#MiddleEast#News#pressure
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Court acquits Kuwaiti man in ‘price manipulation’
Market dealers, competitors harmed
KUWAIT CITY, March 31: The Misdemeanor Court acquitted a Kuwaiti citizen who was accused of inciting commercial office owners to manipulate prices. The case was filed by the Competition Protection Agency. According to the case file, the citizen incited the owners of commercial offices to manipulate the prices. By asking the Director of Legal Affairs in the agency, he reported that the citizen’s voice message went viral in which he could be heard urging the owners of offices to fix the labor prices at not less than KD 1,000.
This led to an increase in the labor prices and the lack of their quality which harmed the competitors and dealers in the market. When the citizen was questioned during the investigations, he denied the accusation against him, but he admitted that the audio recording belongs to him and that it was sent in a group of the owners of commercial offices. He insisted that sending the audio message was not intended to harm them, as they were discussing prices, given that there is no sponsorship from outside.
During the trial session, the defendant was represented by Lawyer Abdullah Al-Alanda, who submitted a defense memorandum, at the end of which he requested the acquittal of the accused from all charges leveled against him. The court said in the merits of its judgment that it doubts the validity of attribution of this crime to the defendant, because the investigation failed to establish the accusation, let alone the fact that he denied the charges leveled against him.
By Jaber Al-Hamoud Al-Seyassah Staff
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