Archives for February 2021

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis and Italy’s president on Saturday marked a newly established annual day to honor doctors, nurses and other health care workers, exactly one year after the nation’s first known native case of COVID-19 emerged.

In a message to honor those caring for COVID-19 patients, Frances hailed the “generous involvement, at times heroic, of the profession lived as mission.”

On the evening of Feb. 20, 2020, a hospital in Codogno, northern Italy confirmed that a 38-year-old Italian man was infected with the coronavirus. The man had no links to anyone who had been in China, where the COVID-19 outbreak first erupted.

A year on, Italy has so far seen more than 95,000 known dead, the second-high coronavirus toll in Europe after Britain.

Expressing gratitude to doctors, nurses and other health care workers, Francis likened their dedication to “a vaccine against individualism and selfishness.” He said that such dedication ”demonstrates the most authentic desire that dwells in the heart of man — be near to those who have the most need and give of oneself for them.”

President Sergio Mattarella marked the first National Day of Health Care Personnel by mourning the many medical workers who contracted COVID-19 and died.

According to professional associations in the sector, at least 326 doctors and 81 nurses have died of COVID-19.

Mattarella said the professionalism and self-denial shown by the medical workers contributed to efforts “to avoid the epidemic’s precipitating into an irreversible catastrophe.”

The Italian leader said despite its many shortcomings, the national health care system has proven to be an institution “to preserve and to invest in, in order to protect” Italians collectively.

Some of the 209 billion euros ($250 billion) in European Union funding to help Italy rebuild from the economic and other devastation of the pandemic will be earmarked to shore up and improve Italy’s public health care system.

More COVID-19 anniversary commemorations are scheduled for Sunday in Italy, especially in the hard-hit north, where the outbreak first pummeled the nation.

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BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s prime minister survived a no-confidence vote in parliament on Saturday amid allegations that his government mismanaged the economy, bungled the provision of COVID-19 vaccines, abused human rights and fostered corruption. Nine other ministers also survived the vote.

It marked the second no-confidence test that Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha’s government has faced since taking office in July 2019, following a contested election after Prayuth seized power in a 2014 coup as the army chief. In February last year, he and five Cabinet ministers easily defeated a no-confidence vote in the lower house.

In the latest motion, Prayuth’s government was also criticized for misusing its power to promote police officials and for establishing a cyber unit to attack government critics on social media, among other complaints.

But a more serious allegation was that Prayuth has deepened divisions in society by using the monarchy as a shield against criticism of his government.

A student-led protest movement has campaigned since last year for Prayuth and his government to step down. They want the constitution to be amended to make it more democratic, and for the monarchy to be reformed to make it more accountable.

“The biggest fault of Prayuth is that he does not understand the principles of the constitutional monarchy,” said Pita Limjaroenrat, leader of the opposition Move Forward Party.

“He used the monarchy to protect himself whenever he was criticized or opposed. This is an evil action, making him no longer qualified to be prime minister,” he said.

His accusation refers to the enforcement of Article 112 of the criminal code, also known as the lese majeste law. Prayuth said in June last year that King Maha Vajiralongkorn had expressed his wish for the government not to use the law against defaming the monarchy to prosecute pro-democracy protesters.

Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, a popular politician who was forced out of parliament last year, was charged last month with lese majeste for alleging that the government’s procurement of COVID-19 vaccines was late and inadequate, and that there was possible favoritism in the awarding of the main contract.

The criticism relates to the monarchy because most of the vaccines that Thailand has ordered are to be produced by Siam Bioscience, a private Thai company owned by the king.

The monarchy is widely considered an untouchable bedrock of Thai nationalism.

The lese majeste law allows anyone to file a complaint with the police, with convictions carrying jail terms of up to 15 years per offense. According to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, at least 59 people, including several minors, were summoned under the law between November and February.

Four well-known protesters — including human rights lawyer Arnon Nampa, student leader Parit Chiwarak, and political activists Somyos Prueksakasemsuk and Patiwat Saraiyaem — were prosecuted under the law and on sedition charges earlier this month. Their lawyer requested bail, but the court denied it.

Prayuth said the debate in parliament was “a good opportunity for both sides to do something together for our country and people. And I am ready to clarify every allegation.”

Of the 487 lawmakers, 277 are part of the ruling coalition and 210 are with the opposition. The censure motion would have required a simple majority, or 244 votes, to pass. Prayuth received 272 votes, with 206 voting no-confidence and three remaining silent.

On Saturday evening, around 1,000 protesters staged a rally outside the gate of the parliament building, where speakers took turns denouncing the vote results, saying they were hosting their own version of the censure debate. Some attendees held signs criticizing the government and the monarchy.

“We knew what the result of the vote would be, but we are not upset because at least the opposition parties had a chance to expose the government’s wrongdoings so that the whole country would know the truth,” said Jaruwan Bungasaree, a 68-year-old protester.

“They spoke out against the corruption and did a good job,” she added.

Police said earlier that they would deploy more than 10,000 officers in Bangkok over the weekend to control the crowds and maintain law and order. Police vehicles, including water cannon trucks, were dispatched near the parliament building.

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Associated Press writer Bill Bredesen contributed to this report.

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BERLIN (AP) — Collective sighs of relief could be heard from many European capitals Saturday after U.S. President Joe Biden made clear in his first major foreign policy address since taking office that he rejected the “America First” and transactional approach of his predecessor and urged cooperation among Western allies.

At the same time, politicians and observers cautioned that some of the sources of tension from Donald Trump’s presidency remained and that the allies have serious work ahead of them, once Biden’s honeymoon is over.

“Biden gave exactly the speech that many Europeans wanted to hear – an America that pats you on the shoulders, that doesn’t criticize or demand,” wrote Germany’s influential Der Spiegel magazine after Biden on Friday became the first American president to appear at the Munich Security Conference, albeit in virtual form.

“Will it stay that way? For the moment, it was certainly the right message: It was primarily intended to patch up the injuries of the Trump years,” the magazine said in an analysis.

The annual Munich Security Conference has long been heralded as a gathering where world leaders are able to share and debate ideas in an informal setting.

Biden’s speech highlighted the condensed agenda for this year’s conference, which was held online due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In his keynote address, Biden assured other participants, including French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, that the United States was “determined to reengage with Europe, to consult with you, to earn back our position of trusted leadership.”

Over the last four years, the NATO alliance was shaken by Trump’s questioning of its relevance and his suggestion that the United States might not come to the aid of members who failed to meet pledges to commit 2% of gross domestic product to defense spending.

But Biden made no mention of Washington’s opposition to the Germany-Russia joint Nord Stream 2 pipeline project and steered away from criticizing Germany and others for failing to meet NATO defense spending goals. Instead, he emphasized Washington’s commitment to Article 5 of the NATO founding treaty, which states that an attack on one alliance member is considered an attack on all.

It is now important for Germany and the rest of Europe to seize upon the renewed U.S. willingness to engage in dialogue and work hard toward resolving areas of disagreement, said Juergen Hardt, the foreign policy spokesman for Merkel’s parliamentary group.

“With his speech, Joe Biden reached out to Europe,” Hardt said. “

The coming months must be used intensively to resolve numerous open issues, such as punitive tariffs, extra-territorial sanctions on Nord Stream 2, or digital tax,” he said.

Merkel told reporters Friday after Biden’s speech that it is up to Europe to take an example from his first days in office, and follow words with actions.

She cited the United States’ return to the Paris climate agreement, its decision to stay in the World Health Organization and to engage with the U.N. Human Rights Council, to extend the New START treaty and to try to revive the Iran nuclear agreement as “important steps toward more multilateral cooperation.”

“I can only support (the idea) that it is up to democratic countries not just to talk about freedom and values, but to produce results,” Merkel said.

In a nod toward Biden’s call for cooperation in addressing economic and national security challenges posed both by Russia and China, several leaders suggested more could be done.

The leader of the European Union’s executive branch, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, noted at the conference that “a more and more assertive China” showed robust economic growth in 2020 despite the pandemic and “a more and more defiant Russia continues to breach international rules at home and abroad.”

“It is up to us, the United States and Europe, to strengthen our cooperation again as proven and trusted partners, as indispensable allies, shoulder to shoulder,” von der Leyen said. “Because if we lead the way, this is not only about joining forces, this is a signal to the world.”

European Council President Charles Michel underlined the need for a common approach to “defend the rules-based international order from the attacks of autocratic regimes, whether from Russia, China or Iran,” saying “a strong partnership needs strong partners.”

“That’s why we, in Europe, are growing stronger, to increase our strategic ability to act,” Michel said.

France’s Macron, who has pushed since his own presidency began in 2017 for Europe to do more for its own defense, suggested that by doing so, it would be strengthening the U.S. ability to focus more on the Pacific region.

“I think it is time for us to take much more of the burden of our own protection,” he said.

Merkel, meanwhile, stressed that “it is very important that we develop a common trans-Atlantic Russia agenda, which on the one hand makes cooperative offers, but on the other hand very clearly names the differences.”

“The second and perhaps more complicated thing is for us to develop a common agenda toward China,” she said, noting that the country is both a systemic competitor and needs to tackle issues such as climate change.

“There is a great deal to do,” Merkel said. “Germany stands ready for a new chapter of the trans-Atlantic partnership.”

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Angela Charlton and Sylvie Corbet in Paris, and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this story.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Add Mother Nature to the pile of crises on President Joe Biden’s plate.

A month into the job and focused on the coronavirus, Biden is seeing his disaster management skills tested after winter storms plunged Texas, Oklahoma and neighboring states into an unusual deep freeze that left millions shivering in homes that lost heat and power, and in many homes, water.

At least 69 deaths across the U.S. have been blamed on the blast of unseasonable weather.

The White House announced on Saturday that the president had declared a major disaster in Texas, and he has asked federal agencies to identify additional resources to address the suffering.

Biden came into office Jan. 20 promising to tackle a series of brewing crises, starting with the coronavirus pandemic and its ripple effects on the economy. He tacked on systemic racism and climate change as top priorities. And now he’s contending with storms that have not only imperiled Americans but also delayed the shipment and administration of millions of doses of coronavirus vaccines.

Biden said Friday that he hopes to travel to Texas next week but doesn’t want his presence and the accompanying presidential entourage to distract from the recovery.

“They’re working like the devil to take care of their folks,” Biden said of Texas officials. He said he’d make a decision early next week about travel.

Biden, who offered himself during the campaign as the experienced and empathetic candidate the nation needed at this moment in time, is working on several fronts to address the situation — and to avoid repeating the mistakes of predecessors who got tripped up by inadequate or insensitive responses in times of disaster.

Part of the job of being president is responding to the destruction left behind by earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes and other natural disasters, or events like deadly mass shootings, or even acts of terrorism.

Some have handled such situations better than others.

George W. Bush earned praise for his leadership after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks but stumbled during his administration’s halting response to the humanitarian disaster that unfolded in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast four years later.

Barack Obama said he should have anticipated the blowback he got for going to the golf course right after he condemned the beheading of a kidnapped American journalist by Islamist militants in 2014. Obama was vacationing on Martha’s Vineyard at the time.

Donald Trump was criticized for tossing rolls of paper towels into a crowd of people in Puerto Rico who had endured Hurricane Maria’s pummeling of the island in 2017. He defended tossing the towels, saying the people were “having fun.”

Bill Clinton, who famously claimed during the 1992 presidential campaign that “I feel your pain,” was a natural at connecting with disaster victims.

Just this week, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas showed how quickly one bad move during a crisis can become a public relations disaster for a politician.

Cruz came under attack for traveling to Mexico while his constituents suffered without power, heat and running water. His explanation — that his daughters pushed for the getaway because they were out of school — was particularly panned. Cruz later said the trip was a mistake.

Biden has tweeted about Texas and the other affected states, while the White House has issued numerous statements aimed at demonstrating that the federal government is in command of the situation. The president is getting regular updates from his staff and already declared states of emergency in Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana — adding the disaster designation announced Saturday for Texas.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has shipped dozens of generators and supplies, including fuel, water, blankets and ready-to-eat meals, to the affected areas.

Biden has spoken to the governors of the seven states most affected by the winter weather. He tweeted a photo of himself on the phone with Republican Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas.

Oklahoma’s Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt, a staunch supporter of Trump’s, was quick to praise Biden for swift action on a disaster declaration.

After speaking with Biden by telephone earlier this week, Stitt specifically thanked the president for “taking the time to reach out this afternoon and offer the federal government’s help for Oklahomans. We had a very productive call and I look forward to working together to find solutions as we recover from this historic storm.”

Barbara Perry, director of presidential studies at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center, said Biden is “well-suited” to deal with the disaster because of his decades of service in the U.S. Senate and as a former vice president and because of “his genuine concern for people.”

“He’s got to show empathy right off the bat,” Perry said in an interview. “It’s important for a president to go to a place that’s been battered, but be careful about the footprint. He doesn’t want to make things worse.”

Biden, should he decide to visit Texas next week, could also use the trip to press his point that climate change is real and must not go unaddressed, and that the state could do things like winterize its power plants to be better prepared for future storms, Perry said.

But he should take care to not do so in a scolding kind of way.

“We know he cares about climate change, and this is a way to convince people,” Perry said.

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Associated Press writer Sean Murphy in Oklahoma City contributed to this report.

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