Our Reporter

 

IRAN’S deputy health minister and an MP have both tested positive for the new coronavirus disease, as it struggles to contain an outbreak that has killed 16, increasing its international isolation.

The senior health official, Iraj Harirchi, said in a video that he was self-isolating and starting medication.

He was seen mopping his brow repeatedly at a news conference on Monday, when he denied the authorities were lying about the scale of the Covid-19 outbreak.

They have reported 95 cases, but the actual number is thought to be higher.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo yesterday said the U.S. was deeply concerned that Iran may have covered up details about the spread of coronavirus. He called on all nations to tell the truth about the epidemic.

“The United States is deeply concerned by information indicating the Iranian regime may have suppressed vital details about the outbreak in that country,” he said.

Pompeo told reporters, that he criticised Beijing for what he characterised as the censorship of media and medical professionals.

A new coronavirus case was confirmed yesterday in Palermo, Sicily, pointing to the spread of the virus to southern Italy, hours before a meeting of European health ministers was due to take place.

A woman from Bergamo, a town in the coronavirus-infected region of Lombardy, tested positive for the virus, Sicilian President Nello Musumeci wrote on Facebook, the woman was part of a tour group visiting Palermo.

Italian media were also reporting a new case in Florence, Tuscany, The Region of Tuscany said it would issue information shortly.

On Monday evening, there were a total of 229 cases of infection in Italy, mostly in Lombardy, which includes Italy’s business and fashion capital of Milan, and in Veneto, the region around Venice.

In Rome, talks were scheduled between the Italian foreign and health ministers, and health ministers from Austria, France, Slovenia, Switzerland, Germany and Croatia.

The EU ministers are hoping to coordinate a response to the crisis, amid talk of reintroducing controls on Italy’s borders, suspending Europe’s free-travel Schengen rules, to limit the contagion.

“The coronavirus epidemic has arrived as an epidemic in Europe,” German Health Minister Jens Spahn said on Monday in Berlin. “Therefore, we must accept that it could spread to Germany as well.”

However, there was no indication that Germany was planning to close any borders.

The director general of the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said the sudden increase in cases in the country is “deeply concerning”.

More people have died in Iran from the virus than anywhere else outside China.

It is one of three global hot-spots causing great concern among health experts that the virus could be developing into a pandemic. The others are South Korea and northern Italy, where cases have surged in recent days.

Yesterday, an MP from the Iranian capital Tehran, Mahmoud Sadeghi, also said he had tested positive for the virus.

“I don’t have a lot of hope of continuing life in this world,” the 57-year-old tweeted.

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More than 80,000 cases of the Covid-19 respiratory disease have been reported worldwide since it emerged last year. About 2,700 patients have died – the vast majority in China.

But the situation in Iran – home to holy sites that attract millions every year and in a region where several countries have weak health systems – has caused great concern about a mass outbreak in the Middle East.

Dozens of countries from South Korea to Italy accelerated emergency measures to curb the epidemic’s global spread.

Believed to come from wildlife in Wuhan city late last year, the flu-like disease has infected 80,000 people and killed 2,663 in China. But the World Health Organisation (WHO) said the epidemic there has peaked and has been declining since Feb. 2.

Beyond mainland China, however, it has jumped to about 29 countries and territories, with some three dozen deaths, according to a Reuters tally.

“We are close to a pandemic but there is still hope,” said Raina MacIntyre, head of a biosecurity programme at the University of New South Wales, using the term for a widespread global epidemic.

Global stocks sank to their lowest levels in over two months yesterday in anxiety over the coronavirus’ spread and its damage to the world economy.

Iran’s outbreak, amid mounting U.S. sanctions pressure, threatens to leave it further cut off. Several countries suspended flights due to cases in travellers from Iran to Canada, Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates and Iraq.

Some neighbours also closed borders, while Oman’s Khasab port halted imports and exports with Iran.

“It is an uninvited and inauspicious visitor. God willing we will get through … this virus,” Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said in a televised speech.

Iran canceled concerts and soccer matches nationwide, and schools and universities closed in many provinces. Many Iranians took to social media to accuse authorities of concealing facts.

Authorities say U.S. sanctions are hampering its response to the coronavirus by preventing imports of masks and medicines.

Our Reporter

 

UNITED Nations General Assembly (UNGA) President Prof. Tijjani Muhammad-Bande has drawn the attention of member states and other stakeholders to the need to focus attention on all human rights issues.

Muhammad-Bande gave the charge at the ongoing 43rd Human Rights Council (HRC) holding in Geneva.

He said people all over the world deserved to live in dignity regardless of their beliefs, political dispositions and economic conditions.

“There are many people around the world whose survival depends on how well the United Nations system is able to coordinate and align the three main pillars of peace and security, human rights and development.

“Some of these people live in relatively peaceful societies, while many are trapped in conflict zones and face difficulties.

“We cannot continue to turn a blind eye to the human rights situation in these conflict zones, as well as to the hardship faced by many who escaped conflict and are seeking security in other places,” Muhammad-Bande stressed.

The UN chief also underscored the need for a strong sustainable action on educational, humanitarian, and climate induced vulnerabilities that threaten the rights of children.

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“We must, therefore, compel action to put an end to child exploitation in all its forms, protect children in conflict situation, and ensure that they have access to health facilities, nutrition, protection, and quality education,” he said.

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the council opened in Geneva on Monday with a call to respect the dignity of all people and the commitment to fight for equity and against discrimination.

Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs Minister Geoffrey Onyeama and his counterparts from member nations as well as UN representatives are attending the council.

The council holds three regular sessions a year, for a total of at least ten weeks.

They take place in March (four weeks), June (three weeks), and September (three weeks).

If one third of the member states requests so, the HRC can decide at any time to hold a special session to address human rights violations and emergencies.

The 43rd Regular Session of the HRC which began on Feb. 24 will end on March 20.

Our Reporter

A Japanese man recognised as the world’s oldest living man earlier this month has died, local media reported yesterday.

Chitetsu Watanabe (112-year-old), a resident of the central Japanese city of Joetsu, died on Sunday, Kyodo News reported.

Born on March 5, 1907, Watanabe, lived in a nursing home.

He received an official certificate as the world’s oldest living man from Guinness World Records on Feb. 12.

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After graduating from agricultural school, Watanabe moved to Taiwan to work at a Japanese sugar production company there.

Following an 18-year stint there, he served in the Japanese military during World War II.

Watanabe returned to Niigata, his hometown, after the war and worked as a civil servant until his retirement.

He had five children, 12 grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild, according to Kyodo.

The world’s oldest living person, Kane Tanaka, also lives in Japan. She celebrated her 117-year-old birthday in January.

Our Reporter

Lawyers for Lesotho’s Prime Minister Thomas Thabane have told a court that he cannot be charged over the murder of his estranged wife because his position makes him immune from prosecution.

Thabane’s then-wife, Lipolelo Thabane, was shot dead in 2017.

The case has now been referred to the High Court. His current wife has already been charged with the murder.

Thabane would be the first African leader to be charged with domestic murder while in office.

The case has shocked many in the small landlocked kingdom, which is entirely surrounded by South Africa.

At Monday’s hearing, defence lawyer Qhalehang Letsika said: “My client cannot be prosecuted while in office but he is not above the law.”

The magistrate referred the case to the High Court, which will be sitting as the Constitutional Court, when it hears the case with a panel of at least three judges.

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Thabane, 80, missed a court appearance last week because he went to South Africa for medical treatment.

He rejected reports that he had fled the country. In January, his wife also went to South Africa after police issued a warrant of arrest against her.

Thabane has said he would step down in July, resisting pressure from his own party to leave office immediately.

Lesotho is a constitutional monarchy and while the constitution is explicit that the king cannot be charged with a crime, it is unclear on the fate of the prime minister.

It has been reported that Thabane wants to seek immunity for himself and his current wife, who has already been charged with Lipolelo Thabane’s murder but it is not clear what that would mean for the murder case.

Prosecutors argue that everyone is equal before the law and Thabane should be no exception.

The country’s top legal minds – a full bench of judges in the High Court – will need to decipher what the law allows. What is not in doubt is that this case will test Lesotho’s laws and the independence of the judiciary.