China’s National Health Commission said Saturday that 143 more people had died from the new coronavirus, bringing the death toll to more than 1,500. The commission also confirmed another 2,641 new virus cases, but that represented a drop from higher numbers in recent days. The previous day, China reported 5,090 new infections. China’s government recently changed its methodology for diagnosing and counting new cases, causing a spike in the number of reported cases. Under the new method, doctors can use lung imaging and other analysis to diagnose a patient instead of relying on laboratory testing. China’s health commission said Saturday that most of the new deaths were in Hubei’s provincial capital of Wuhan, which is where the coronavirus outbreak is believed to have begun. The total number of confirmed cases in the country stood at 66,492 as of Friday night, with the death toll at 1,523, according the commission. On Friday, the commission’s vice minister, Zeng Yixin, said 1,716 health workers had also been infected by the coronavirus and six had died. FILE – WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus attends a news conference on the novel coronavirus in Geneva, Switzerland, Feb. 11, 2020.Probe setA joint mission with China led by the World Health Organization will launch an investigation this weekend into the coronavirus. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters Friday in Geneva that he expected a team to arrive in China this weekend and that “particular attention will be paid to understanding transmission of the virus, the severity of the disease and the impact of ongoing measures.” Chinese President Xi Jinping called for stronger public health legislation Friday as the country grapples with the outbreak. Xi “stressed the need to strengthen areas of weakness and close loopholes exposed by the current epidemic,” according to China Global Television Network. In Beijing, city officials were requiring all people returning to the capital to self-quarantine for 14 days. The state-run Beijing Daily newspaper reported Friday that those who refused to seclude themselves or who violated other containment rules “will be held accountable under the law.” Passengers wave towels as they are about to leave MS Westerdam, a cruise ship that spent two weeks at sea after being turned away by five countries over fears about the coronavirus, as it docks in Sihanoukville, Cambodia Feb. 14, 2020.Hundreds of passengers aboard the cruise ship Westerdam who were turned away by several Asian countries finally disembarked in Cambodia on Friday after Prime Minister Hun Sen welcomed them. The authoritarian leader, a staunch ally of China’s Xi, handed flowers to them as they cheered and walked to buses while waving to other passengers who remained aboard the ship.  Hun Sen said all the nearly 1,500 passengers would be allowed to disembark after no cases were found aboard. The outbreak has led to the firing of Jiang Chaoliang as the ruling Communist Party chief in Hubei, days after the province’s top two health officials were removed from their posts. The official Xinhua news agency said former Shanghai Mayor Ying Yong would replace Jiang, who had been criticized by the public for his handling of the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus. The virus is believed to have emerged late last year at a seafood market in Wuhan that was illegally selling wildlife. Wuhan is the capital of Hubei. A Vietnamese health worker stands guard at a disease checkpoint of Son Loi commune in Vinh Phuc province, Vietnam, Feb 12, 2020.Lockdown in VietnamThe Vietnamese government ordered the lockdown of a village of 10,000 people Thursday, official media reported, making it the first country other than China to impose a mass quarantine. Checkpoints were established in Son Loi, northwest of the capital, Hanoi. An increase in cases has been reported in Son Loi. In Japan, officials said an 80-year-old woman who died in a hospital on the outskirts of Tokyo was the nation’s first coronavirus fatality. She was the third person to die of the virus outside China, with the other fatalities occurring in the Philippines and Hong Kong. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Thursday that a 15th case of the coronavirus had been confirmed in the United States. The person, along with other evacuated U.S. citizens, arrived at an Air Force base in San Antonio, Texas, February 7 aboard a State Department-chartered flight from China. The person was being treated at an area hospital. “There will likely be additional cases in the coming days and weeks, including among other people recently returned from Wuhan,” the CDC said in a statement. The death toll from the coronavirus is more than twice that of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2002-03, which is believed to have killed 774 people and sickened nearly 8,100 in China and Hong Kong. 
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Parents of the victims of the Peshawar Army Public School terror attack in 2014 claimed by Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan demand to know the whereabouts of Ehsanullah Ehsan, the former spokesperson of the terror group who allegedly escaped from a prison in Pakistan this week. 
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The World Health Organization is expressing concern about the increasing number of health workers getting infected with the deadly coronavirus, known as COVID-19. The WHO says the number of cases in China now tops 63,000, more than one-quarter in Hubei province, the epicenter of the disease. The number of deaths is 1,381, including 100 newly reported cases. While cases and deaths continue to mount inside China, the disease, for now, seems to have stabilized globally. The last count finds 505 cases in 24 countries, including two deaths, one each in the Philippines and Japan.Director-General of the WHO Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, speaks during the news conference on the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in Geneva, Switzerland Feb. 11, 2020. Data released by China finds more than 1,700 health workers have been infected with the disease and six have died.  WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus calls this a critical piece of information. “Health workers are the glue that holds the health system and outbreak response together,” said Tedros.  “But we need to know more about this figure, including the time period and circumstances in which the health workers became sick.”  Executive Director of WHO Heath Emergencies Michael Ryan says it is not unusual for health workers to become infected during disease outbreaks. He says the WHO and China are exploring the time period in which the infections have occurred.Michael J. Ryan, Executive Director of WHO Health Emergencies attends the news conference on the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in Geneva, Feb. 11, 2020.“Our understanding is that the cases amongst health workers peaked in the third and fourth week of January and there has been a rapid falloff in the number of cases that have occurred in health workers in the last two weeks,” Ryan said. “This may reflect increased levels of training, increased levels of protection and also increased levels of awareness. Remember, this outbreak has come, expanded very quickly in an unsuspecting health system.”  The WHO says a joint mission with China on COVID-19 is moving forward. It says 12 international and WHO experts will arrive in China in the next few days.  They and an equal number of Chinese scientists will hold brainstorming sessions to understand the origins and evolution of the mysterious disease. WHO officials say particular attention will be paid to understanding the transmission of the virus and the severity of the disease.
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The annual Munich Security Conference got underway Friday, with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier issuing a warning that Russia, China and the United States were endangering global security. “Russia … has made military force and the violent shifting of borders on the European continent the means of politics once again,” Steinmeier told the audience of leaders, military chiefs and diplomats at the Bayerischer Hof Hotel in the southern German city.He added that China “accepts international law only selectively where it does not run counter to its own interests.” “And our closest ally, the United States of America, under the present administration itself, rejects the idea of an international community. We fall back into the classical security dilemma: more mistrust, more armament and then less security. These are the inevitable consequences.”List of problemsWorld leaders have descended on Munich with a long list of global flashpoints to resolve, from regional conflicts in the Middle East to rising competition between the U.S. and China. Longtime observers of the conference sense a change of tone. “This enhanced sense of danger seems to be pulling the Americans and the Europeans a bit closer together,” said James Davis, a professor of international politics at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland.U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo shakes hands with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani as U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper watches during the 56th Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, Feb. 14, 2020.U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, who is attending the three-day conference along with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, hailed the 82-member coalition that had come together to defeat the Islamic State terror group in Iraq and Syria. “But our work is not finished,” Esper told a news conference Friday. “Coalition members are in unanimous agreement on the need to remain vigilant against a weak and yet still dangerous adversary.”Instability in the Middle East tops the Munich agenda. NATO has stepped forward to take over the training mission in Iraq from the United States, for Iraqi forces battling Islamic State.U.S.-Taliban cease-fireMeanwhile, a possible cease-fire between the U.S. and the Taliban was cautiously welcomed by NATO’s secretary-general, Jens Stoltenberg. “NATO currently has around 16,000 troops in Afghanistan and we are ready to adjust that force level if the Taliban is able to demonstrate the will and real ability to reduce violence and we see a path to peace,” Stoltenberg said.On the sidelines in Munich, beyond the big speeches, there is diplomatic progress. Serbia and Kosovo will reopen rail and highway links after a 20-year break, in a deal brokered by the United States.The biggest clash of the conference is likely to come Saturday when U.S. and Iranian representatives take to the stage, just weeks after the U.S. targeted killing of top Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani. FILE – Women walk past a banner of Iranian military commaner Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in Iraq in a U.S. drone attack, in Tajrish square in northern Tehran, Iran, Jan. 9, 2020.“I think the Iranians have understood that this [U.S.] president is willing to push to the edge,” said analyst James Davis. “The killing of Soleimani must have been a wake-up call for them. And he is willing to challenge them in the region. And so I think both sides recognize that the potential for conflict is there. And maybe that’s what you need to restart something of a diplomatic process.”The speeches will be watched closely for any sign of shifting positions.NervousnessThere is an inescapable climate of unease at this year’s Munich Security Conference, with fears over the breakdown of the Western liberal order and the alliances that have maintained it, along with the threat of a new global arms race and an erosion of the controls that have averted major conflict.Optimists say it may be a dangerous world, but at least dialogue is still taking place between global rivals. China, Russia, Iran, India and Japan have all sent senior ministers to the Munich conference. French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are also attending the summit for the first time.
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Державне бюро розслідувань повідомило про відозру колишньому директору одного з департаментів «НАК «Нафтогаз України» у зловживанні владою, що завдало державі 284 млн грн збитків . Імені підозрюваного у відомтві не називають.

«Слідством встановлено, що у 2013 році керівництво ПАТ «НАК «Нафтогаз України» уклало з товариством договір на послуги з проведення сейсморозвідувальних досліджень вартістю 407 мільйонів гривень. Знаючи, що товариство не зможе виконати частину досліджень, підозрюваний склав та передав на підпис керівництву перелік робіт, а згодом погодив акти їх виконання. Ці дії стали підставою для часткової оплати послуг згідно з договором, що завдало державі 284 мільйони гривень збитків», – зазначається у повідомленні на сайті ДБР.

Як зазначається, підозрюваному загрожує покарання у вигляді позбавлення волі від 3 до 6 років з позбавленням права обіймати певні посади чи займатися певною діяльністю до 3 років, зі штрафом від 500 до 1000 неоподатковуваних мінімумів доходів громадян. Наразі суд вирішує питання, коли провести засідання щодо обрання йому запобіжного заходу.
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New York prosecutors told jurors that Harvey Weinstein abused his power and lacked empathy in a closing argument on Friday at the former movie producer’s weeks-long rape trial, a milestone of the #MeToo movement. Setting the stage for the jury to begin deliberating next week, Assistant District Attorney Joan Illuzzi said Weinstein, 67, had counted on his victims never coming forward.“The defendant not only ran roughshod over the dignity and the very lives of these witnesses, but he also underestimated them,” she said.Weinstein has pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting former production assistant Mimi Haleyi in 2006 and raping Jessica Mann, a onetime aspiring actress, in 2013.Since 2017, more than 80 women have accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct. Through the #MeToo movement, women have accused powerful men in business, entertainment, media and politics of sexual misconduct.The former producer, who was behind films including “The English Patient” and “Shakespeare in Love,” has denied any nonconsensual sex.On Thursday, Donna Rotunno, one of Weinstein’s lawyers, assailed Weinstein’s accusers as unreliable and said an “overzealous” prosecution was trying to portray consensual sex
as assault.”They are creating a universe in which they are stripping adult women of common sense, autonomy and responsibility,” she said during a nearly five-hour closing argument.Haleyi testified during the trial that Weinstein forced oral sex on her in his home in 2006. Mann testified that Weinstein raped her in a Manhattan hotel room early in what she called an “extremely degrading” relationship with him.Jurors heard from four other women, including actress Annabella Sciorra, who testified that Weinstein came into her apartment one winter night in 1993 or 1994 and raped her. The accusation is too old to be charged as a separate crime, but it could act as an aggravating factor to support the most serious charge in the case, predatory sexual assault, which carries a possible life sentence.The prosecutors called the remaining three women to bolster their evidence of Weinstein’s intent, but did not charge him with any crimes related to them.Justice James Burke was expected to give the jury legal instructions on Tuesday morning, after which they will begin deliberating.
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Kenyan police killed 107 people last year, according to a report released Friday from a coalition of Kenyan human rights groups.Most of those killed were young men from slum areas, also called informal settlements.”Sixty-nine percent of those who were killed were youth between ages of 18 and 35,” said Renee Ngamau of Amnesty International. “Twenty percent were below the age of 18 years, that is to say, children. Eighty percent of those who were killed in 2019 are below the age of 35. We are criminalizing youth. We are criminalizing poor youth.”Wanja, who asked to be identified by her first name only, told VOA that police killed her only son late last year in Mathare, an informal settlement in Nairobi. She said she discovered her son and another boy in the street minutes after they were shot, but when she approached the bodies, police cocked a gun at her.Javan Ofula, a human rights activist, said researchers could not find good cause for many of the shootings.”These people who have been killed, from the documentation that has been done in the different spaces, some of them have been killed in circumstances that are not holding water.  They were not resisting arrest,” Ofula said.Anne Makori, chairperson of the Independent Policing Oversight Authority, Kenya’s police accountability institution, said of 160 cases of police killings referred to the IPOA in 2019, investigations have been concluded in nine cases. Six have been forwarded to the office of public prosecutions.Demands from rights groupsThe rights groups are demanding reparations for victims and families of extrajudicial killings, and want the inspector general of police to admit extrajudicial killings are a problem that must be stopped.The groups also want implementation of the National Coroners and the Prevention of Torture Acts, passed in 2017. Makori said the IPOA would like to see this, too.”About the coroners act, it is an issue of concern even to us as IPOA, because we know the act is in existence but a coroner has not been appointed, so it becomes difficult to operationalize the act, and same with the Prevention of Torture Act,” she said. “Those are areas we have not only discussed with civil society, but we have also raised concerns within the government structures.”Kenyan police declined to comment.In 2018, then-police spokesman Eric Kiraithe said, “It is a fact that suspects have died while in contact with the police.” But, he said, each killing should be dealt with individually, and the outcome of each case should be determined “on its own merit.”
 
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Долар втратив чотири копійки, свідчать дані на сайті Національного банку України.

Довідковий курс долара встановлений на рівні 24 гривень 44 копійок.

Свого пікового значення у 2020 році долар досяг 4 лютого, коли він коштував 25 гривень 8 копійок.
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На сайті Мюнхенської конференції з питань безпеки 14 лютого з’явилася заява «Дванадцять кроків до більшої безпеки в Україні та євроатлантичному регіоні». Серед підписантів – голова Мюнхенської конференції з безпеки Вольфганг Ішингер та колишній очільник МЗС Росії Ігор Іванов, а від України – дипломати Василь Філіпчук, Олександр Чалий та Василь Семеній. 

Там, зокрема, йдеться про таке:

Відновити Спільний центр контролю і координації (СЦКК), з якого у 2017-му вийшли представники Росії;
Включити тему бойових дій до переговорів у «нормандському форматі» і розширити повноваження переговорників;
 Забезпечити доступ місії ОБСЄ до всієї територіїї України, докласти зусиль для того, аби КПВВ на Донбасі були зручними і безпечними для цивільних;
Розшукувати зниклих безвісти за участі правозахисних організацій та родин таких людей та за фасилітації Міжнародним комітетом Червоного Хреста та Міжнародної комісії з питань зниклих безвісти;
Спланувати і реалізувати гуманітарні ініціативи, зокрема, щодо розмінування на Донбасі;
Забезпечити масштабну відбудову Донбасу (умови мають бути обговорені у на Дельфійському економічному форумі у Греції, а серед інвесторів може бути Росія);
Дослідити можливості щодо створення на Донбасі зони вільної торгівлі з ЄСі Росією;
Підтримувати плану дій щодо санкцій (виконання Мінських угод має відображатися на зменшенні санкцій щодо Росії);
Усунути радіоактивні загрози (за цими даними, на Донбасі понад 1200 радіоактивних джерел, які раніше використовувались у промисловості, медицині і науці, але вичерпали терміни придатності – Тристоронній контактній групі та «нормандській четвірці» радять скласти план, що з цим робити);
 Почати новий діалог між євроатлантичними структурами щодо взаємної безпеки на базі Групи лідерів з питань євроатлантичної безпеки (куди входить і Росія);
 Визначити «сфери взаємодії» між ЄС і Росією;
 Запровадити «новий інклюзивний діалог щодо національної ідентичності», у якому мають бути враховані погляди сусідніх з Україною Польші, Угорщини і Росії на історію та національну пам’ять, мову та досвід меншин.

МЗС України поки що це не коментувало.

14 лютого відкривається триденна Мюнхенська конфенеція з безпеки за участі 35 очільників держав та урядів. 

 
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Australia has extended its ban on travelers from mainland China for at least another week because of the coronavirus outbreak.  The country’s chief medical officer has also condemned xenophobia towards Chinese Australians as the number of deaths from COVID-19  continues to grow. Foreign nationals traveling from China are not allowed to come to Australia until at least February 22.  The ban, originally for two weeks, has been extended by seven days and is preventing thousands of Chinese students attending Australian universities and colleges.  The restrictions also bar Chinese visitors from Australia during the usually busy summer vacation period.The tourism industry here believes the financial impact of the coronavirus will be worse than the damage caused by the bushfire crisis.Chinese-Australians say they have faced an increase in hostility both online and in-person since the outbreak began.  Some have said on social media that they fear for their safety.  A young boy was reportedly bullied at school by pupils demanding he be tested for the virus.  Australia’s chief medical officer Brendan Murphy says the discrimination is unacceptable.“We are very concerned about xenophobia and and any sort of racial profiling which is completely abhorrent,” Murphy said. “There is no community transmission of this virus in Australia.  There is no reason for people to be wearing masks, there is no reason for people to avoid anybody.”The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Australia remains at 15.  Six patients have recovered.  Two planeloads of Australians flown out of the virus epicenter at Wuhan in China’s Hubei Province continue to be held in quarantine on Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean and at an abandoned mining camp near the city of Darwin.No cases of the disease have been diagnosed among those in isolation.
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A prominent human rights watchdog has called for an investigation into possible war crimes against Nigeria’s military in its fight against jihadists, which has resulted in the burning of entire villages and the displacement of residents.     Osai Ojigho, director of Amnesty International Nigeria, has called for the probe.  “These brazen acts of razing entire villages, deliberately destroying civilian homes and forcibly displacing their inhabitants with no imperative military grounds, should be investigated as possible war crimes,” Ojigho said. “They represent a longstanding pattern of the Nigerian military’s brutal tactics against the civilian population. Forces allegedly responsible for such violations must be suspended immediately and brought to justice.”The rights groups said it interviewed a dozen women and men who were forced from their homes in the restive northeast early last month. Their accounts were backed up by data from remote satellite sensing, Amnesty said, which indicated that the villages of Bukarti, Ngariri, and Matiri were burned and razed. The investigation also revealed burning in nearby communities, according to the rights group.The Nigerian military has repeatedly denied similar allegations of possible war crimes.
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