Archives for March 2021

Republic of Congo polls open; candidate sick with COVID-19

BRAZZAVILLE, Republic of Congo (AP) — Republic of Congo pressed ahead Sunday with an election in which President Denis Sassou N’Guesso is widely expected to extend his 36 years in power, while the leading opposition candidate was flown to France after suffering COVID-19 complications.

The watchdog group NetBlocks reported an internet blackout that began in the Central African country around midnight on election day.

After casting his ballot, Sassou N’Guesso said the government was aware of opposition candidate Guy Brice Parfait Kolelas’ illness and had taken the steps necessary for him to be transferred to France for further treatment.

Aides confirmed the medical evacuation flight bringing Kolelas to a French hospital took off from Brazzaville on Sunday afternoon.

Elira Dokekias, who heads Republic of Congo’s pandemic response, said Kolelas had been in serious condition on Saturday evening but that the candidate’s condition was stable ahead departure.

Kolelas, 61, had skipped his final campaign event on Friday after telling some reporters a day earlier that he feared he had malaria. A video circulating on social media Saturday showed Kolelas wearing an oxygen mask and with a blood pressure cuff on his arm as he lay in a hospital bed.

“My dear compatriots, I am in trouble. I am fighting death,” the candidate says in a weak-sounding voice after removing his oxygen mask. “However, I ask you to stand up and vote for change. I would not have fought for nothing.”

Kolelas placed second to Sassou N’Guesso in the country’s 2016 presidential election with about 15% of the vote. The opposition figure has been particularly critical of the incumbent leader in recent days, declaring that Republic of Congo had become “a police state.”

Sassou N’Guesso is the third-longest serving president in Africa, ruling from 1979-1992 and then again since 1997 in this nation often overshadowed by its vast neighbor Congo.

Republic of Congo has had fewer than 10,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began, with 134 confirmed deaths.

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Associated Press writer Krista Larson in Dakar, Senegal, contributed to this report.

German trip exemption allows Bellingham to play for England

LONDON (AP) — Borussia Dortmund teenager Jude Bellingham has been cleared to join up with the England squad for the start of World Cup qualifying.

The 17-year-old midfielder will be granted a sporting exemption from Germany’s coronavirus regulations, meaning he will not be required to go into quarantine when returning to the country.

Germany’s strict travel regulations had led to Champions League matches being moved to neutral venues in recent weeks.

England plays San Marino at Wembley on Thursday and travels to Albania before hosting Poland on March 31.

Bellingham made his England debut in November, appearing as a second-half substitute in the 3-0 friendly win over Ireland, becoming England’s third youngest full international in the process.

On Saturday, Bellingham highlighted how he had been the target of racist abuse on social media, with both Dortmund and the FA issuing statements in support of the player.

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More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Sikh leaders celebrate upcoming holiday with vaccine clinic

LONDON (AP) — Sikh leader Balwinder Singh Basra rolled up his sleeve to get a COVID-19 vaccine Sunday at the Guru Nanak Gurdwara in Luton, north of London. And he wanted everyone to know about it.

Unlike most of the 756,873 people who received injections Sunday in the U.K., Basra, the gurdwara’s president, invited reporters and TV news to watch his shot to make sure the community would take notice.

“I say to everyone. ‘I took the vaccine this morning and everyone should take the vaccine and save the (National Health Service),’” said Basra, who wore a vibrant saffron turban for the occasion.

While politicians such as Prime Minister Boris Johnson have shown up for camera-ready coronavirus jabs, local efforts are far more important in combatting the hesitancy of some people in minority ethnic communities to get vaccinated, according to Gurch Randhawa, a professor of diversity in public health at the University of Bedfordshire.

In Luton, the Sikh community decided the best way to celebrate the upcoming holy festival of Vaisakhi was with a vaccination clinic, which embodies the faith’s principles of equality, justice and service. The festival is normally marked with prayers and large processions, but those celebrations will be curtailed by COVID-19 restrictions.

Forty people got shots on Sunday, and another 40 are scheduled for next week.

“Vaisakhi is all about Sikhs carrying out selfless service, and what better selfless service than opening up a pop-up clinic that reaches out to anybody of any religion,’’ said Randhawa, who helped organize the event. “So today, we have got people from the Muslim faith, the Christian faith, Sikhs, all coming in to be vaccinated.”

Britain has engineered one of the world’s most successful coronavirus vaccination programs, delivering at least one dose to more than half of the adult population so far. But inoculations have lagged in minority groups and deprived communities.

A recent survey commissioned by the Department of Health and Social Care found that 72.5% of Black people in England had either received or would accept the vaccine, compared with 87.6% for Asian residents and 92.6% for whites.

“There is a lot of misinformation out there on the internet, and that information is too widely available,” Dr. Manraj Barhey, a local general practitioner, said. “So while (take-up among Sikhs) is not as poor as other communities, it could still be better.”

The hesitancy to get vaccinated is the product of a variety of issues, ranging from concerns about vaccine safety to past discrimination in Britain’s health care system. Community leaders are working to combat those fears with education programs, local vaccine clinics and even a few well-placed photo opportunities.

And with efforts like the one at the Sikh house of worship on Sunday, it is a matter of show – and tell.

Overlooked Pac-12 teams making noise in NCAA Tournament

After living on the fringes of the rankings during the regular season, Pac-12 teams are making a statement in the NCAA Tournament.

All five Pac-12 schools in the bracket advanced to the round of 32, including UCLA winning two games already. The 11th-seeded Bruins knocked off Michigan State in the First Four and then upset sixth-seeded BYU in the first round. It’s only the third time in conference history the Pac-12 has advanced five teams to the round of 32.

UCLA coach Mick Cronin said it’s about time the conference gets its due.

“You’re finding out that the Pac-12 not being ranked all year was an absolute joke,” Cronin said. “And some people ought to be ashamed of themselves. Now, maybe people (in the East) can’t stay up late, and I don’t blame them because I can’t either. So maybe people can’t stay up for our games.”

Oregon State, the Pac-12 Tournament champion, came in as a 12 seed and earned its first NCAA Tournament win in nearly four decades with a rout of fifth-seeded Tennessee. The Beavers followed that up by ousting fourth-seeded Oklahoma State on Sunday night to reach the Sweet 16.

Fifth-seeded Colorado had no trouble with No. 12 Georgetown, and sixth-seeded USC took care of No. 11 Drake. Seventh-seeded Oregon advanced after positive COVID-19 tests forced VCU out of the tournament.

The stacked Big 12 went 5-1 and would have run the table in the first round if third-seeded Texas hadn’t been upended by No. 14 Abilene Christian on Saturday night. The Big Ten went 6-2 but took some lumps. Second-seeded Ohio State was sent home by 15 Oral Roberts in the biggest upset of the opening round, and fourth-seeded Purdue fell to 13th-seeded North Texas.

The Big Ten misery continued when Illinois, the top seed in the Midwest, was beaten by eighth-seeded Loyola Chicago in the second round and Rutgers was beaten by Houston. It was worse for the Big 12, which saw West Virginia and Texas Tech sent home along with the Cowboys.

THE OTHER OHIO

Ohio coach Jeff Boals says there’s plenty of room on the Bobcats bandwagon for everyone, including Buckeyes fans.

“We’ll take every Buckeye fan that wants to keep cheering,” Boals said a day after the West Region’s 13th-seeded Bobcats’ first-round upset of fourth-seeded Virginia left them the last Ohio-based school in the tournament.

“I think somewhere scarlet can turn into green,” he added, referring to Ohio State’s and Ohio’s colors.

Boals means that as no slight to Ohio State. The second-seeded Buckeyes lost 75-72 to 15th seed Oral Roberts on Friday.

Boals maintains a soft spot for the in-state rival after spending seven seasons as an assistant on Thad Matta’s staff at Ohio State from 2009-16.

Matta attended the Bobcats’ win.

“It meant the world to me. I saw him before the game introduction and gave him a little fist bump,” Boals said. “I would not be here without him.”

BATTLE FOR LA

Southern California coach Andy Enfield avoided mentioning UCLA when asked how a 72-56 win over Drake in the first round had the potential of increasing the Trojans’ presence back home.

Enfield said his team deserves the attention.

“We have 45 wins the last two years, which is third in the country behind Baylor and Kansas,” said Enfield, who was the Pac-12 coach of the year this season, the first USC coach to be so honored since George Raveling in 1992.

“So after a two-year break, this meant a lot to our program,” he added, noting the Trojans would likely have secured a berth last year with a 22-9 record had the tournament not been canceled because of the pandemic.

USC will face third-seeded Kansas on Monday.

GAINING TRACTION

First, a meeting with NCAA President Mark Emmert. Down the road, maybe an audience with President Joe Biden.

Those are among the hopes of Iowa guard Jordan Bohannon. He’s among the players leading the way in a social media effort to raise awareness about inequities in college sports.

Bohannon, Isaiah Livers of Michigan and Geo Baker of Rutgers helped start a movement that calls for rules changes. The hashtag #NotNCAAProperty was trending on social media.

Bohannon promised other ideas moving forward. He said the players involved in the campaign are hoping to meet with Emmert within the next few weeks.

“It’s really important what we did, to continue to create awareness,” Bohannon said. “You saw from the women’s standpoint, a couple days ago, the women speaking out about the weight room being different. If you look at that, that was just absolutely ridiculous. Look at Mark Emmert, he was nowhere to be found to answer any questions. … At the end of the day, a leader’s got to step up and lead and he wasn’t there again to state his reasoning behind it all.”

Emmert is open to the conversation.

An NCAA spokesperson said in a statement Sunday that the NCAA chief “would be happy to connect either virtually or in person when appropriate with any student-athletes who want to engage.”

THE BIG STAGE

The underdogs from Oregon State got into the spirit of playing at historic Hinkle Fieldhouse.

Hours before facing Oklahoma State on Sunday night, the Beavers posted a video on Twitter of 7-foot-1 center Roman Silva carrying 6-3 guard Gianni Hunt over to the basket to measure the rim’s height. Coach Wayne Tinkle also helped with the measuring.

It was an homage to a scene in the movie “Hoosiers” that was shot at Hinkle. And of course, in the movie tiny Hickory High won the state title. The Beavers followed up their rim measuring with an 80-70 win over Cade Cunningham and the Cowboys.

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AP sports writers Pat Graham, John Wawrow and Noah Trister contributed.

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More AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/College-basketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

France’s limited lockdown beset by glitches as cases rise

PARIS (AP) — Residents of Paris and several other regions of France spent their first weekend under a limited monthlong lockdown. While the French government insisted the rules would be less strict than in the past, the measures have been criticized as messy.

A travel authorization certificate posted online was so ridiculed by French media for its unnecessary complexity that the Interior Ministry scrapped it within hours. For now, simple proof of residence is required to stroll within a 10-kilometer (6.2-mile) radius.

The form the French government still obliges citizens to fill out to travel greater distances – up to 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) also was not accessible online because of a technical glitch. A website Sunday simply said, “Available soon.”

Under the new restrictions, nonessential shops were closed but people are not required to spend most of the day confined at home. The government announced the measures on Thursday as the coronavirus picked up speed again in some parts of France.

The country reported 35,327 new confirmed cases on Saturday, when the number of COVID-19 patients in French intensive care units rose to 4,353, the most so far this year, the Health Ministry reported.

“When you look at the numbers, they’re unsustainable, and it is going to become ever-harder as the virus continues to circulate,” Anaelle Aeschliman, a nurse at the Ambroise Pare clinic in the western Paris suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine, told The Associated Press. “I admit I was a bit disappointed that we aren’t being locked down nationwide.”

The French government has tried hard to avoid imposing a third nationwide lockdown. President Emmanuel Macron said Friday that “lockdown” was not the appropriate term to describe the new regional restrictions.

Archives for March 2021

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