Wednesday, April 08, 2020

Virus crisis cuts off billions sent to poor around the world

In this April 3, 2020 photo, a woman carrying a child walks past a closed courier business featuring a U.S. flag and the Spanish phrase: "Send to U.S.A" in the largely indigenous town of Joyabaj, Guatemala, where half of the residents depend on remittances, almost all from the U.S. The devastation wrought by COVID-19 across the developed world is cutting into the financial lifelines for people across Latin America, Africa and Asia. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
MIAMI (AP) — Until a month ago, Diana Leticia Hernández sold face cream door to door in Miami. Her husband painted houses. The money fed their family and at least six relatives in Honduras.

Hernández has sold nothing since last month due to fear and social-distancing restrictions in South Florida. Her husband hasn’t worked either. This month, for the first time since shortly after their arrival in the United States 16 years ago, they weren’t able to send home about $300 to help their families with food, rent, medicine and school bills.

In the Honduran town of Villa Nueva Cortez, Hernández’s mother Teonila Murillo is running out of money to buy insulin for her diabetes, and Hernández’s brother doesn’t know if he’ll be able to make his $60 rent next month.

“I’m doing really badly,” Murillo told The Associated Press. “There’s no money, and no work. If you get sick here, you die.”

The devastation wrought by COVID-19 across the developed world in cutting into the financial lifelines for people across Latin America, Africa and Asia.

The World Bank estimates that a record $529 billion was transferred to developing countries through official channels in 2018, the latest year for which figures are available. Billions more moved unrecorded in cash. Many of those remittances are sent home by people who work in service jobs or occupations, like day labor, that have no monthly paycheck and are worst affected by the global downtown. Some also comes from migrants who have entered countries without legal status and are ineligible for part of the massive aid packages uncorked by advanced economies.

With coronavirus shutting down industries, many earners in Miami, Las Vegas, London, and other economic centers can no longer afford to send their monthly $50, $100 or $200 to Honduras, Somalia or India. The shock waves are pushing their relatives to desperation.

“I’m in anguish,” said Hernández, 45. “They’re counting on me. I’m trying to get anything I can send, $30, $50, whatever.”

In this April 3, 2020 photo, men look out on to an empty plaza outside the closed Santa Maria Catholic church in the largely indigenous town of Joyabaj, Guatemala, where half of the residents depend on remittances, almost all from the U.S. The devastation wrought by COVID-19 across the developed world is cutting into the financial lifelines for people across Latin America, Africa and Asia. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

Across Africa, where remittances have grown to surpass foreign aid and direct foreign investment and some $82 billion flowed in during 2018 alone, untold millions of people are already feeling the pinch. One money-transfer company in Europe sending funds to Africa saw an 80 percent drop in volume in a single week, the Washington-based Center for Financial Inclusion said last month.

In Somalia Abdalla Sabdow, a former security guard and a father of six, made his way through Mogadishu last week to check on the $200 he receives monthly from his cousin Yusuf Ahmed, a taxi driver in the U.S. But the money was late. His cousin, like many in the U.S., had been confined to his home for almost three weeks, unable to work.

“I came back empty-handed,” an anxious-looking Sabdow said, after peering under the partition as workers, one wearing a face mask and gloves, fanned through stacks of crisp $100 bills. “I asked the counter to double-check my name, but nothing has been forthcoming. Time is running out ... It is very distressing.”

With three of his small children piled onto his lap at home, he worried about falling behind in rent, no small thing in a city where camps of hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people are a constant reminder of the fragility of circumstances.

“This month we had a big problem,” his cousin, Ahmed, later explained by phone. He hoped to send the money the following week.

Remittances make up more than 5% of GDP in at least 13 African nations, sometimes far more, the Brookings Institution said last month. Kenya’s remittances are now its largest source of foreign exchange, its president said in December. More than a third of all remittances to Africa come from the European Union, and other significant sources are North America, Gulf nations and other African countries. Informal remittances, though not tracked in World Bank and other data, are estimated to be the source of billions of dollars more.

“We’re going to begin to see a contraction in the economy,” said Olayinka David-West, a professor at the Lagos Business School in Nigeria, said in a recent seminar held by the Center for Financial Inclusion. Africa’s top oil producer is also the biggest recipient of remittances in sub-Saharan Africa, with the money exceeding its revenues from petroleum.
In this April 3, 2020 photo, women wearing protective face masks stand at a safe distance to help curb the spread of the new coronavirus, as they wait for food assigned to their children outside a school in the largely indigenous Xesuj village, Guatemala, where many residents depend on remittances, almost all from the U.S. The devastation wrought by COVID-19 across the developed world is cutting into the financial lifelines for people across Latin America, Africa and Asia. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)


Central America, a region heavily dependent on remittances from the United States, could see a 20 percent drop, from $23.9 billion last year to $19.12 billion this year, said Jonathan Menkos, director of the Central American Institute of Fiscal Studies.

Across all of Latin American and the Caribbean, remittances from the U.S. could drop between 7% and 18% this year, from last year’s $75 billion total, according to the Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue.

”’It is a wide range, and the largest drop may be more accurate unfortunately,″ said Dr. Manuel Orozco, director of migration, remittances and development at the think tank.

In the largely indigenous Guatemalan town of Joyabaj, half of the 100,000 residents depend on remittances, almost all from the U.S.

Rosa López, 18, left a money-transfer office last week holding her 2-year-old son and $100 sent by her sister, who works at a dairy in Texas. The dairy has cut working hours in half, forcing the sister to cut back the money she sends.

The money that came last week will allow López and seven other relatives to buy rice, beans and other basics, but they may have to stop paying the light and water bills, she said.

“We need to figure out a way not to die of hunger,” López said. “She’s the only one who’s helping the entire family.”

One of the most remittance-dependent countries in the world is Haiti, where $3 billion in money sent from abroad makes up about 30 percent of the gross domestic product.

Juliette Andre, a 25-year-old nursing student in Port-au-Prince, used to receive $150 monthly from her aunt who cares for elderly people in Brooklyn, New York. In March, Andre received a total of $50.

“That doesn’t represent anything in Haiti because the cost of living quadrupled,” she said last week. “We are going to be struggling for a while.

In this April 3, 2020 photo, Mayor Florencio Carrascoza Gámez, wearing a protective mask, poses for photos at his office in the largely indigenous town of Joyabaj, Guatemala, where half of the residents depend on remittances, almost all from the U.S. The 52-year-old mayor knows the importance of remittances: he was a migrant twice in his twenties to send some money back to his family. The devastation wrought by COVID-19 across the developed world is cutting into the financial lifelines for people across Latin America, Africa and Asia. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

Asia is the top recipient of remittances in the world, with India getting the largest amount in the world in 2018 at $79 billion, followed by China at $67 billion, according to the World Bank. The Philippines is also in the top five recipients of remittances.

In India, the southern state of Kerala accounts for almost 19% of the total remittances to the country. Tens of thousands from the state work in various Gulf countries and send money home. The tourism-reliant local economy has been badly hurt by the 21-day lock-down across India and the families who depend on remittance money are growing concerned.

In the last month, Sajeela Mol, a 36-year-old homemaker in Kerala’s Mallapuram district, hasn’t received any money from her husband Shabeer Ali, who works at a fast-food restaurant in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Mol lives with her four school-age children and an ailing mother-in-law. The family is dependent on the $150 her husband sends every month.

With the restaurant shut due to the lockdown, Mol said her husband is unsure if he will receive his salary.

“If my husband has no money, I don’t know what will he send home for his family,” said Mol.

______

Pérez reported from Guatemala City and Weissenstein from Havana. Evens Sanon in Port-au-Prince, Mohamed Sheikh Nor in Mogadishu, Somalia, and Subramoney Iyer in New Delhi contributed to this report.
Scientists in Japan develop decomposable plastic


Scientists in Osaka, Japan, say they have developed a 
new plastic that disintegrates at sea.
 File Photo by Keizo Mori/UPI | License Photo

April 7 (UPI) -- Japanese scientists say they have developed plastic that can disintegrate at sea within 30 days.

The Asahi Shimbun reported the plastic contains cassava, a raw material used to make tapioca, and cellulose found in wood pulp, originating from tropical climates.

The new material is the result of collaboration between an Osaka University-led engineering team and Japan Food Research Laboratories, according to the report.

The plant material is not expensive to make, scientists say. The starch and cellulose were dissolved in water, rolled out into a thin layer, and then turned into a transparent sheet after applying heat.

"We would first like to use it as food packaging materials, which are very familiar to people and are often contained in the waste in the sea," said Hiroshi Uyama, a professor of engineering at Osaka University. "I hope that this will be a part of the solution to the issue and raise the interest of people."

Japanese scientists also said the sheet, which measures about 100 micrometers in thickness, has twice the strength of plastics composed of polyethylene.

Marine microorganisms are key to decomposing the new plastic. When placed in seawater filled with microorganisms, the sheet had been torn apart in 30 days; the sheet was not destroyed in water with fewer microorganisms, however.

Regular plastic bags take about 20 years to decompose after being discarded into the ocean, and plastic bottles take as much as 450 years. About 8 million tons of plastic waste is thrown into the sea annually. The World Economic Forum has said micro-plastics would outweigh fish in oceans across the globe by 2050.

Japan is the second-biggest emitter of plastic waste per capita after the United States, according to The Guardian.

The country used to send 1.5 million tons of plastic waste to China annually, until Beijing banned waste imports in 2017.
A NEW WORLD IS POSSIBLE
More than 95% of Americans made lifestyle changes for COVID-19



Shoppers and workers at the Hollywood farmer's market comply with Mayor Eric Garcetti's orders to the extent that they can in Los Angeles on Sunday. Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo


April 7 (UPI) -- Since the coronavirus outbreak exploded in early March, more than 95 percent of people in the United States have made changes to their lifestyle, including stockpiling food and practicing social distancing, researchers from Stanford University and Baylor University report.

More than two-thirds of Americans are "very or extremely concerned" about the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the results of a new survey published Tuesday by JAMA Internal Medicine.

The survey was conducted between March 14 and 16 on social media, with more than 9,000 adults participating -- about one-third of whom reported experiencing "cold- and flu-like illness" in the four weeks before the survey.

"In early March, I noticed people in my own community had different reactions to the pandemic -- some were worried, preparing, stocking up on food, and starting to isolate, while others went on with their lives as normal," study co-author Dr. Eleni Linos, professor of dermatology and epidemiology at Stanford University, told UPI

"The goal was to really understand how people were feeling about this crisis, how they were reacting to it, and what impact it had on their lives. We were lucky that we started the survey early, before 'shelter in place' announcements were made, and we were able to get a sense of how people were feeling before these policies," Linos said.

On March 14, the authors of the report posted an online survey on three social media platforms -- Twitter, Facebook and Nextdoor. The 21 questions were designed to collect data on symptoms, concerns and individual actions taken in response to the pandemic. The Twitter and Facebook survey posts were shareable to "facilitate snowball sampling."

As of March 16, 844 of 3,233, or roughly 26 percent, of all U.S. counties were represented by at least one survey respondent.

Overall, nearly 95.7 percent of respondents reported making lifestyle changes in response to COVID-19, with 93 percent increasing hand-washing, 89 percent avoiding social gatherings and nearly 74.7 percent stockpiling food and supplies.

In addition, just over 19 percent of respondents said they were self-isolating all of the time. Slightly less than half -- 49.8 percent -- were self-isolating "most of the time," leaving the house only to buy food and essentials.

The survey revealed that adults between 40 and 75 years old were most concerned about the pandemic, while those between 18 and 24 years old were less so

In all, 70 percent of respondents said their biggest concern was getting sick with COVID-19, and 46 percent said they were worried about not having access to healthcare if they did become infected.

At the time of the survey, in mid-March, 14.7 percent of respondents said their wages or hours at work were reduced since the start of the pandemic, and 1.5 percent of respondents indicated that they had lost their jobs because of it.

Additionally, 80 percent of respondents reported difficulties obtaining hand sanitizer, and 32 percent and 14 percent had difficulty acquiring food and childcare because of social distancing measures implemented in many areas of the country in early March.

"I was surprised that how concerned people felt was quite different depending on their age," Linos said. "Younger people and older people seem to be affected by this crisis in different ways.



Cherry trees absorb carbon emissions, South Korea scientists say

Scientists in South Korea say cherry blossoms can offset
 greenhouse gas emissions, like these blooming April 5 at
 Osaka Castle Nishinomaru Garden in Japan. 
 Photo by Keizo Mori/UPI | License Photo
By Elizabeth Shim

April 7 (UPI) -- Cherry trees can offset greenhouse gas emissions and a single cherry tree can absorb as much as 20 pounds of carbon emissions annually, South Korean scientists say.

The Korea Forest Service's Korea Forest Research Institute said Tuesday cherry trees could be helpful in reducing greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change, Yonhap reported.

Hypothetically, 250 cherry trees, each 25 years old, can absorb 2.4 tons of carbon emissions, which is about the average amount of pollution one passenger vehicle emits annually, according to the report.

South Korea is home to 1.5 million cherry trees, according to forestry statistics dating back to 2018. Annually the trees are capable of absorbing carbon emissions from 6,000 cars annually.

RELATED Arctic climate change: Recent carbon emissions worse than ancient methane

The country is in the midst of cherry blossom viewing season, but outdoor activities have been curtailed due to the global coronavirus pandemic.

Local television network KBS reported Sunday the government extended social distancing guidelines for an additional two weeks. Crowding is being discouraged until April 19, according to the report.

South Korean parks have taken pre-emptive measures to prevent crowds from forming during this critical time.

At Gwangju's Uncheon Reservoir, a popular viewing location, park authorities blocked the entrance to a bridge in the middle of the reservoir.

People who did come out to see the blossoms wore masks and said they were "frustrated" with the restrictions that have come with the coronavirus outbreak. The country was one of the first to witness a major outbreak of the infectious disease outside China.Hypothetically, 250 cherry trees, each 25 years old, can absorb 2.4 tons of carbon emissions, which is about the average amount of pollution one passenger vehicle emits annually, according to the report.

South Korea is home to 1.5 million cherry trees, according to forestry statistics dating back to 2018. Annually the trees are capable of absorbing carbon emissions from 6,000 cars annually.

RELATED Arctic climate change: Recent carbon emissions worse than ancient methane

The country is in the midst of cherry blossom viewing season, but outdoor activities have been curtailed due to the global coronavirus pandemic.

Local television network KBS reported Sunday the government extended social distancing guidelines for an additional two weeks. Crowding is being discouraged until April 19, according to the report.

Throngs of South Koreans typically gather in parks and cities like Gwangju to view the blossoms, but people appeared in public in fewer numbers over the weekend, the report says.

RELATED Drylands to become more abundant, less productive due to climate change

South Korean parks have taken pre-emptive measures to prevent crowds from forming during this critical time.

At Gwangju's Uncheon Reservoir, a popular viewing location, park authorities blocked the entrance to a bridge in the middle of the reservoir.

People who did come out to see the blossoms wore masks and said they were "frustrated" with the restrictions that have come with the coronavirus outbreak. The country was one of the first to witness a major outbreak of the infectious disease outside China.
Farmers destroy crops grown for restaurants, hotels 
CAPITALIST CRISIS; OVERPRODUCTION, WASTE
By Paul Brinkmann


Tomatoes are left on the vine to rot in fields south of Miami

 in March because the restaurants and hotels for which they
 they were grown had closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
 Photo courtesy of Tony DiMare/DiMare Fresh

ORLANDO, Fla., April 6 (UPI) -- U.S. farmers have destroyed millions of pounds of perishable food like tomatoes, lettuce and green beans because growers lost a vast number of customers after the coronavirus pandemic struck.

"It's a catastrophe, it really is," said Tony DiMare, a long-time tomato grower based in Palm Beach County, Fla.

DiMare said he let 10 million pounds of tomatoes rot on the farm in a region south of Miami because no market existed for them.

"It's been a disaster at every
 level -- lost crops, lost sales, lost packing inventory," DiMare said.

RELATED Egg suppliers scramble to restock stores after panic buying reduced supplie

The closure of food-service establishments in many parts of the country in March meant that farmers who grow produce for those customers suddenly had a large surplus in storage and in the fields.

Growers said efforts to find retailers or food banks failed, forcing them to plow under their crops. Without immediate aid from government stimulus funding, they said they will have to destroy more food.

Growers impacted early

RELATED Coronavirus pandemic crashes commodity prices

Growers felt the pandemic impact early in tourism-dominated Florida, where many farms sold directly to the local hospitality industry. South Florida is a major producer of winter vegetables, which are harvested when much of the rest of the country isn't growing produce.

"It will be hard to continue as we have been unless we can get relief from the [federal] stimulus package or business interruption insurance," DiMare said.

The largest trade group for produce growers, the United Fresh Produce Association, is trying to persuade the U.S. Department of Agriculture to distribute aid to its members quickly, said Mary Coppola, the association's vice president of marketing and communications.

RELATED With March Madness canceled, food industry is overloaded with chicken wings

"We're trying to open channels where we can with national retailers, in case one of their distribution centers can take produce," Coppola said. "We're talking to schools and food banks, even if we're only giving away food."

A USDA representative said via email, "We are swiftly evaluating the authorities granted under [the stimulus package] and will leverage our programs to alleviate disruption as necessary."

DiMare and other produce farmers -- already dealing with rising foreign competition -- now face a disastrous year and loss of income.

"Farmers are very resilient. But this is new territory," said Toby Basore, one of the largest lettuce growers in the eastern United States, also based in Palm Beach County. "If the crews start getting sick, who is going to harvest the crops."

Produce grower Paul Allen, who oversees 8,000 acres of farms in Palm Beach County, said he plowed under a million pounds of green beans there in March. Allen said food banks in the region already were overwhelmed with produce donated by the state's shuttered tourism and food-service industries.

'Nowhere for it to go'


"When the restaurants are shut down, there's just nowhere for it to go," said Allen, who also is chairman of the Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association.

Allen said he donates regularly to food pantries and that he hates to destroy crops, but he couldn't face the expense of harvest with nowhere to send the crop. That's partly because green beans are highly perishable, and about half the crop in Florida normally goes to hotels and restaurants that are, for the most part, closed or doing little business.

On the West Coast, demand for fresh vegetables also plummeted in the rich cropland near the San Francisco metropolitan area, said Chris Valadez, president of the Grower-Shipper Association of Central California.

"Demand from restaurants or food service is way down," said Valadez, who represents about 300 farms and processing companies. "We are trying to shift strategy away from food service and to retail outlets, but it doesn't happen overnight."

He said many retail businesses saw a surge in buying as people stocked up to isolate at home, but even that has dropped off.

The major harvest season for the Salinas Valley begins in a few weeks, he said.

Cost to donate


"Some of the harvest can be donated, but the costs involved in harvest would be tremendous for that volume," Valadez said. "The only thing that can help is government funding through the stimulus packages that were recently approved. Hopefully, we will see that soon."

He would rather see direct payments to farmers to make up for economic losses, but he said some government money might go to schools and institutions that would buy the fresh produce.

By contrast, farmers in the colder northern regions of the United States don't have the same immediate trouble. Some have started donating stored, surplus grain to processors who wrote checks to food banks, according to the Illinois Farm Bureau.

"I saw that food banks were getting pinched by a lack of donations and higher demand. It was clear that the situation would only get worse as time goes on," said Nik Jakobs, whose family's farm is about 120 miles west of Chicago.

Demand at those food banks is growing, but unpredictable, said Steve Ericson, executive director of Feeding Illinois, a statewide network of food banks. He said some local greenhouses donated produce, but food banks in his area still could use more.

"Our food banks are seeing 20 percent increases in demand, generally," Ericson said. "When we set up drive-throughs, we are getting 50 percent more people than expected."


SEE
https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/04/u_3.html 
U.S. dairy farmers dump milk as pandemic upends food markets

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/03/is-factory-farming-to-blame-for.html
Is factory farming to blame for the coronavirus outbreak


https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/03/how-coronavirus-is-impacting-us-farmers.html

CRIMINAL CAPITALISM PRO SPORTS: FIFA

Federal Prosecutors Said Russia And Qatar Paid Bribes To Host World Cups

Former executives at 21st Century Fox also paid millions in bribes for soccer tournament rights, according to a new indictment in the long-running FIFA case.

Ken Bensinger BuzzFeed News Reporter Posted on April 6, 2020

Mohamed Abd El Ghany / Reuters
The 2022 World Cup African Qualifiers Draw in Cairo on Jan. 21.

Russia and Qatar paid bribes in order to win hosting rights to the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, according to a sweeping new indictment in the federal government’s long-running soccer corruption case unsealed Monday.

The new charges lay out a complex series of bribery and money laundering schemes related to the buying and selling of rights to international soccer tournaments and implicate multiple new defendants, including two former high-ranking Latin American executives of 21st Century Fox, the former media conglomerate that has since been acquired by Disney.

But the boldest allegations relate to the World Cup, soccer’s most esteemed and lucrative tournament, held every four years. Although there has long been public suspicion about corruption during the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 events, the new charges mark the first time the US government has formally put those suspicions into a charging document.

According to the prosecutors, Russia in 2010 paid $5 million to Trinidad’s Jack Warner, then a FIFA vice president, in exchange for his vote to host the event in 2018; it also offered — though never paid — an additional $1 million to Rafael Salguero, a Guatemalan official who, as a member of FIFA’s executive committee, also had a vote.

In addition, the indictment claims, Qatar paid bribes to three South American soccer officials, including Brazilian Ricardo Teixeira and Paraguayan Nicolás Leoz, for their votes for it to host the 2022 tournament. The third official is not named in the document, but is widely acknowledged to be Julio Grondona, also a former FIFA vice president. The size of those alleged bribes was not enumerated in the court filing. According to trial testimony from 2017, however, Qatar paid at least $1 million and as much as $15 million to those three officials for their votes

Both Russia and Qatar ultimately won their bids in a secret vote in December 2010, beating out rival bids from England, the US, Australia, and several other countries.

Russia held the tournament in 2018, and the day after it concluded, President Trump held a press conference with Vladimir Putin, congratulating him “for having done such an excellent job in hosting the World Cup. It was really one of the best ever, he said. “It was a great job.”

Yuri Kadobnov / Getty Images
Russian President Vladimir Putin offers a 2018 World Cup 
ball to US President Donald Trump during a joint press 
conference after a meeting at the Presidential Palace
 in Helsinki on July 16, 2018.

Qatar is slated to host the tournament in late 2022, although the new allegations cast fresh doubts over an event that has been dogged by a series of controversies and accusations of corruption since the vote results were announced. Because of the extremely hot summer weather in Qatar, the tournament was moved to December for the first time in its history and human rights groups have accused the country’s leaders of using forced labor to build the stadiums required to host the tournament.

The US investigation of international soccer corruption dominated headlines in 2015 when the first round of indictments were released, and again in late 2017 when three defendants went on trial in Brooklyn. But it has been relatively quiet for some time. The indictment, handed down by a grand jury on March 18 and unsealed Monday, marks the first new charges in nearly two years and suggests that the sprawling case is far from over.

“The charges unsealed today reflect this Office’s ongoing commitment to rooting out corruption at the highest levels of international soccer and at the businesses engaged in promoting and broadcasting the sport,” said Richard P. Donoghue, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, in a statement.

FIFA, which like other sporting institutions has been forced by the coronavirus pandemic to shut down all tournaments and other competitions, has cooperated with the US criminal investigation, as well as probes in other countries. It did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the new allegations.

Warner, Salguero, Teixeira, and Leoz were all indicted in 2015, although Salguero is the only person in that group to have faced justice in the case, pleading guilty in Brooklyn federal court in 2016. Leoz died in 2019; Teixeira is in Brazil, which does not have an extradition treaty with the United States; and Warner, a former member of parliament in Trinidad and Tobago, has been fighting his extradition. Julio Grondona was never indicted and died in 2014.

Separately, the new indictment charges Hernán Lopez and Carlos Martinez, the former CEO and president, respectively, of Fox International Channels, Latin America, of conspiring with an Argentine sports marketing firm to pay bribes to South American soccer officials in exchange for television rights to the continent’s most popular professional soccer tournament, the Copa Libertadores.

Those allegations build on testimony given during the 2017 trial of three South Americans charged in the case. Multiple witnesses described a complicated bribery scheme involving the Fox units and shell companies in the Caribbean and Europe, and prosecutors showed the jury what were described as fraudulent documents signed by Fox executives that they alleged were used to cover up millions of dollars in bribes and make them look like legitimate business deals.

According to the new charges, Lopez and Martinez used the bribery scheme to “advance the business interests of Fox beyond” the tournament by acquiring “confidential information” that helped the network win rights to the 2018 and 2022 World Cups in the United States.

A spokesperson for Fox Sports, which still holds the rights to the 2022 tournament, did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the indictment or on allegations that the rights might have been illicitly obtained.

Lopez left Fox in early 2016 and went on to found Wondery, a podcast network that produced three of the top five most downloaded podcasts last year, including The Shrink Next Door.

His attorney, Matthew Umber, denied the charges, saying it is “shocking that the government would bring such a thin case,” and adding that “Mr. Lopez can’t wait to defend himself at trial.”

Martinez departed Fox last May.

“We are certain a jury will swiftly exonerate Carlos,” said his attorney, Steven McCool. “These charges are nothing more than stale fiction.”


Jacques Demarthon / Getty Images


Ken Bensinger is an investigative reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based in Los Angeles. He is the author of "Red Card," on the FIFA scandal. His DMs are open.

Qatar, Russia deny buying World Cup rights
 
AFP/File / Fabrice COFFRINI
An indictment unsealed in New York on Monday detailed
 corruption allegations around the 2010 vote for 2018 and
 2022 World Cups

Qatar and Russia hit back at allegations of bribery on Tuesday after US prosecutors accused them of paying millions in bribes for the rights to host the 2018 and 2022 tournaments.

According to US Justice Department documents released Monday, FIFA officials received bribes to vote in favour of awarding the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 tournament to Qatar.

Doha said it "strongly denies the allegations contained within the court papers" while the Kremlin said it "absolutely legally got the right" to host the 2018 global football spectacle.

The US legal action is linked to a wide-ranging 2015 corruption scandal that left world governing body FIFA in turmoil and led to the downfall of then-president Sepp Blatter.

In the ensuing years, the US government has accused a total of 45 people and various sports companies of more than 90 crimes and of paying or accepting more than $200 million in bribes.

"Russia absolutely legally got the right to organise the World Cup," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Qatar's Supreme Committee for Delivery said in a statement the allegations "are part of a long-standing case, the subject of which is not the 2018/2022 FIFA World Cup bidding process."

The timings of the competition, due to be held in November and December of 2022, remain unchanged by the coronavirus pandemic which has already forced the postponement of the European football championships and the Tokyo Olympics. Both will now take place in 2021.

The latest US legal action centres on two former executives of US media giant Fox who were charged with corruption, bank fraud and money-laundering on Monday.

But Federal prosecutors have also shed fresh light on the scandal-tainted bidding war for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

- 'A gentlemen's agreement' -

 
AFP/File / Mohamed el-Shahed
The World Cup trophy was on display during the African
 qualifying draw in Cairo in January


An unsealed superseding indictment released on Monday detailed corruption surrounding the 2010 vote in Zurich which saw FIFA award the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 World Cup to Qatar.

Blatter told AFP that "there was a gentlemen's agreement at the heart of FIFA's executive committee" to award the 2018 tournament to Russia and the 2022 edition to Qatar.

"That's all," added Blatter who presided over both bidding processes and is currently banned from football.

The indictment said former Brazilian FIFA member Ricardo Teixeira and late Paraguayan official Nicolas Leoz, both members of the FIFA committee which voted on the 2018 and 2022 tournaments, received payment of bribes in exchange for voting for Qatar's bid.

In addition, Trinidad's long-serving FIFA official Jack Warner "was promised and received" bribe payments totalling $5 million to vote for Russia while Guatemala's Rafael Salguero was promised a $1 million bribe to vote for Russia.

Salguero pleaded guilty to multiple corruption charges in 2016 and was banned from FIFA while Warner, who faces charges in the United States, is currently battling extradition to the US from his native Trinidad.

In a statement FIFA said it "supports all investigations into alleged acts of criminal wrong-doing regarding either domestic or international football competitions".

"(FIFA) will continue to provide full cooperation to law enforcement officials investigating such matters," it said.

"FIFA has itself been accorded victim status in the US criminal proceedings and senior FIFA officials are in regular contact with the US Department of Justice."

burs-gw/mw

Virus may spark 'devastating' global condom shortage

AFP / Mohd RASFANSupplies of contraceptives will be hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic
A global condom shortage is looming as the coronavirus pandemic shutters factories and disrupts supply chains, the world's top maker of the contraceptives said, with the United Nations warning of "devastating" consequences.
Over half of humanity has been confined to their homes as the highly contagious virus marches round the planet, while governments worldwide have ordered the closure of businesses deemed non-essential.
Malaysia -- one of the world's top rubber producers and a major source of condoms -- imposed a nationwide lockdown last month as infections surged to the highest level in Southeast Asia.
But restrictions on the operations of Malaysian contraceptive giant Karex, which makes one in every five condoms globally, mean the firm expects to produce 200 million fewer condoms than usual from mid-March to mid-April.
With other producers around the world likely facing disruption and difficulties in getting condoms to market due to transport problems, supplies of contraceptives will be hit hard, warned Karex chief executive Goh Miah Kiat.
"The world will definitely see a condom shortage," Goh told AFP.
"It's challenging, but we are trying our best right now to do whatever we can. It is definitely a major concern -- condom is an essential medical device.
"While we are fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, there are also other serious issues that we need to look at," he said, adding he was particularly worried about supplies of condoms to developing countries.
- UN sounds alarm -
Karex, which supplies condoms to many companies as well as governments and for distribution by aid programmes, had to close its three Malaysian factories for a period at the start of the country's lockdown, which is due to last until April 14.
AFP / Mohd RASFANKarex supplies condoms to many companies as well as governments and for distribution by aid programmes
The company has since been allowed to resume operations but with only 50 percent of its usual workforce, and Goh wants permission to ramp up production.
The UN is also sounding the alarm, with its sexual and reproductive health agency warning it can currently only get about 50-60 percent of its usual condom supplies due to virus-related disruptions.
"Border closings and other restrictive measures are affecting transportation and production in a number of countries and regions," said a UN Population Fund spokesperson, adding they were taking steps such as adding extra suppliers to support urgent needs.
The agency, which works with governments worldwide to support family planning, said a key concern was being able to ship condoms to where they were needed quickly enough -- and warned the poorest and most vulnerable would be hit hardest if stocks run low.
AFP / Cristobal BOURONCLE, CRIS BOURONCLEThere could be an increase in unsafe abortions and an increased risk of sexually transmitted infections and HIV, the UN says
"A shortage of condoms, or any contraceptive, could lead to an increase in unintended pregnancies, with potentially devastating health and social consequences for adolescent girls, women and their partners and families," said the spokesperson.
There could also be an rise in unsafe abortions and an increased risk of sexually transmitted infections and HIV, the agency said.
Even as factory shutdowns and border closures throw the condom industry into chaos, demand appears to be increasing.
Goh said Karex had seen growing demand as people worldwide are confined to their homes, while Indian media reported that condom sales had jumped 25-35 percent in the week after the country of 1.3 billion people announced a lockdown.
- China to the rescue? -
Despite the warnings about a potential shortage, there are positive signs from condom makers in China, where the virus first emerged last year but which has largely managed to bring its outbreak under control.
Major producers there have resumed operations as authorities eased tough restrictions to halt the virus, which has claimed more than 80,000 victims worldwide.
AFP / Mohd RASFANOver half of humanity has been confined to their homes as the highly contagious virus marches round the planet
HBM Protections, which makes more than one billion condoms a year, said production is back to normal levels and it is pushing ahead with earlier plans to triple its number of manufacturing lines by the end of the year.
And Shanghai Mingbang Rubber Products said it was ready to ramp up condom exports, which currently make up only about 10 percent of its output, if there is a global shortfall.
"If the international market runs into such problems... we will be willing to export more," chief executive Cai Qijie told AFP.
burs-sr/kaf
LET'S MAKE A DEAL
Taliban end 'fruitless' meetings with Afghan govt over prisoner swap

AFP / WAKIL KOHSAR
The Taliban's political spokesman has blamed the administration
 of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani for delaying the prisoner release

The Taliban said Tuesday they were pulling negotiators out of "fruitless" discussions with the Afghan government over a prisoner swap that had formed a key part of an accord with the United States.

The Taliban's political spokesman Suhail Shaheen accused the administration of President Ashraf Ghani of "intentionally postponing the release and breaching the deal".

He wrote on Twitter that the Taliban were recalling the technical team that had been sent to Kabul for negotiations.

He earlier said that the team "will not participate in fruitless meetings".

The two foes have been holding talks in Kabul since last week to try to finalise the prisoner swap that was originally supposed to have happened by March 10 and pave the way for "intra-Afghan" peace talks between Kabul and the Taliban.

POOL/AFP / LEAH MILLISUS
 Secretary of State Mike Pompeo addresses a news conference
 at the State Department


The United States signed a deal with the Taliban in late February that required the Afghan government -- which was not a signatory to the accord -- to free 5,000 Taliban prisoners, and for the insurgents to release 1,000 pro-government captives in return.

In the accord, Washington promised the withdrawal of US and foreign troops from Afghanistan by July next year, provided the Taliban start talks with Kabul and adhere to other guarantees.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who met last month with leaders in Kabul as well as the Taliban, said he had still seen progress overall and accused Afghan stakeholders of "posturing in the media".

"I'm confident in the days ahead we'll have things that look like steps backward. But I'm also hopeful that all the parties are sincere in wanting what's good for the Afghan people," Pompeo told reporters in Washington.

- 'Killers of our people' -

Matin Bek, a member of the government's negotiating team, said the release had been delayed because the Taliban are demanding the release of 15 "top commanders".

"We cannot release the killers of our people," Bek told reporters on Monday.

"We don't want them to go back to the battlefield and capture a whole province."

Bek added that the government was ready to release up to 400 low-threat Taliban prisoners as a goodwill gesture in return for a "considerable" reduction in violence, but the Taliban rejected that offer.

Javid Faisal, spokesman for Afghanistan's Office of the National Security Council, said on Twitter that the prisoner swap talks had "entered an important phase ahead of release".

AFP/File / Banaras KHAN
Activists in Quetta, Pakistan of the Jamiat Ulema-e Islam
 Nazryate party celebrate the signing of a US-Taliban deal
 on March 1, 2020

"Withdrawing from talks at such time indicates a lack of seriousness about peace," Faisal wrote, adding that the government remained "committed to pursuing peace".

Many observers see the Taliban as receiving a better deal than Afghanistan's internationally recognized government, from which the United States is withdrawing at least $1 billion in aid due to an unresolved feud between Ghani and his nemesis Abdullah Abdullah.

On Sunday, the Taliban released a statement accusing the Afghan government of violating the "peace agreement" between the US and the insurgents, even though the Taliban have killed scores of security forces since the deal was signed.

The insurgents issued a new statement Tuesday, accusing the US of killing civilians in continued bombing operations and night raids.

"These acts if continued will seriously dent the peace process and it will prompt strong response from the (Taliban)," the group wrote on their website.


INTERNET SNAKE OIL

Internet overseers seek crackdown on coronavirus website scams

AFP/File / Mark RALSTONThe internet's online address manager ICANN is calling for stronger efforts to stop the proliferation of fake websites using the coronavirus pandemic to scam consumers
The agency that oversees online addresses on Tuesday called for those issuing website address to vigilantly thwart cyber scams exploiting coronavirus fears.
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers took the unusual step of firing off a letter to "registrars" entrusted with the business of issuing website names around the world.
"As you're also aware, ICANN cannot, under our bylaw and practically speaking, involve itself in issues related to website content,"
ICANN chief executive Goran Marby said the global agency does not have authority to manage website content but added: "That does not mean we are unconcerned or unaware of how certain domain names are being misused in fraudulent activities during this global pandemic."
The deadly coronavirus and dramatic steps taken to combat its spread have led to "an explosion of cybercrime" with criminals preying on people desperate for ways to protect themselves and those they love, according to recent report prepared for ICANN.
Online criminals typically use deceptively named websites for phishing, spam or malware campaigns, the report concluded.
In March, at least 100,000 new website names were registered using terms such as "covid," "corona," and "virus," according to the report.
Thousands of such websites unleash floods of spam ads for coronavirus-themed scams, according to the report.
"COVID-19 is unique in that it is truly global; and the cyber bad guys haven't drifted toward it, they have rushed toward it like a barrel off Niagra Falls," ICANN security chief John Crain told AFP.
"This is a new low, preying on people at a time like this."
The latest warning was issued to the hundreds of internet registrars around the world accredited by ICANN to issue new website domain names.
"We are trying to remind them that this is not about business as usual," Crain said, noting tha ICANN is not a regulator in the typical sense so has no outright enforcement authority.
US navy chief out over handling of ship virus outbreak
GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File / CHIP SOMODEVILLA
Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly sparked outrage after 
he flew from Washington to Guam, where the warship is docked,
 to defend his actions to the crew

US Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly resigned Tuesday over his mishandling of an outbreak of the coronavirus on the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier, Defense Secretary Mark Esper announced.

Modly stepped down five days after removing the Roosevelt's captain, Brett Crozier, for writing a letter -- that was leaked to the media -- describing the virus-struck vessel's dire situation and alleging the Pentagon was not paying adequate attention to it.

The removal of Crozier, respected in the military and popular with his crew, was seen as heavy-handed and decided too quickly, before an investigation was carried out.

Modly sparked outrage Monday after he flew from Washington to Guam, where the warship is docked, to defend his actions to the crew.

In a forceful, profanity-laced speech, he accused Crozier of "betrayal," called him "too naive or too stupid" and suggested the sailors' love for him was misplaced.

Hours later, back in Washington, Modly issued an apology, but President Donald Trump publicly questioned Crozier's treatment and said he would get directly involved.

Modly "resigned of his own accord, putting the Navy and the sailors above self so that the USS Theodore Roosevelt, and the Navy as an institution, can move forward," Esper said in a statement.

Esper said Modly's replacement as acting Navy secretary will be current Army Undersecretary Jim McPherson, a retired admiral.

- Ship captain's letter sparked 'panic' -

  
Navy Office of Information/AFP / Nicholas V. HUYNH
The USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier is in dock in Guam
 after an outbreak of Covid-19

Modly was the second navy chief to depart in just over four months.

In November, Esper fired Navy secretary Richard Spencer after he pushed back against Trump's protection of Navy SEAL Edward Gallagher, who had been charged with war crimes and convicted of lesser charges.

Gallagher was demoted and was to lose his identity as a member of the elite SEAL corps until Trump stepped in, drawing accusations that he was undermining the authority of the military leadership by condoning Gallagher's behavior.

But that case, according to some analysts, put pressure on Trump to also give some support to Crozier, whose career was spotless.

The navy veteran had written a letter to his superiors in late March complaining of an uncontrolled COVID-19 outbreak among the Roosevelt's 4,800 crew, and called on the Pentagon to allow him to vacate the nuclear-powered ship and sterilize it.

"The spread of the disease is ongoing and accelerating," Crozier wrote. "We are not at war. Sailors do not need to die."

The letter was published by the San Francisco Chronicle, a leak Esper and Modly insinuated was deliberate and violated the Pentagon's chain of command.

Crozier "demonstrated extremely poor judgment in the middle of a crisis" in his handling of the letter, Modly said.

"It misrepresented the facts of what was going on the ship" and created "a little bit of panic" that was unnecessary, he said.

Still, the Roosevelt has been docked for 11 days in Guam so the crew, with well over 100 confirmed coronavirus cases, can be tested and the vessel cleaned.

Trump said Tuesday that he was not involved in Modly's departure, but said Crozier was wrong for writing the letter and that Modly "probably shouldn't have said quite what he said."

"I didn't speak to him but he did that, I think, just to end that problem," he said of Modly's resignation


Modly resigns after ripping sailors, ousted captain on open microphone

By Christen McCurdy UPI

Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas B. Modly, shown here
 at the April 2 press briefing where he announced his decision
 to remove Capt. Brett Crozier from his role, resigned on
 Tuesday. Photo by Lisa Ferdinando/Department of Defense

April 7 (UPI) -- Defense secretary Mark Esper confirmed Tuesday that he had accepted the resignation of Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas B. Modly after Modly called the aircraft carrier captain he fired last week " stupid" in an address to the ship's crew, multiple sources reported Tuesday.

Esper's statement also confirmed that Army Undersecretary James McPherson has been appointed to replace Modly.

"Secretary Modly served the nation for many years," Esper wrote in a statement on Modly's resignation, which had already been reported by CNN, Politico and the Wall Street Journal. "I have the deepest respect for anyone who serves our country, and who places the greater good above all else. Secretary Modly did that today, and I wish him all the best."

Ranking Democrats on the House and Senate Armed Services Committees both released statements supporting Modly's resignation.

Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., wrote on Twitter that Modly "mishandled the situation" and that he supported Esper's decision to accept his resignation.

"Acting Secretary Modly submitting his formal resignation to Secretary Esper was the right thing to do," wrote Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., who had called for Modly's resignation Monday. "After mismanaging the COVID-19 outbreak on the U.S.S. Theodore Roosevelt, it became obvious that Acting Secretary Modly had forfeited his ability to lead the Navy. His actions had become a distraction at a time when we need the Navy to be focused on preserving the safety of our Sailors and maintaining the readiness of our fleet."

Modly's comments in the address were first reported by Task and Purpose, and he initially he said he "stood by every word," but later he apologized for the comments.

Modly announced Thursday that he had relieved Capt. Brett Crozier of his role as leader of the USS Theodore Roosevelt after Crozier wrote a letter pleading with the Navy for more resources to isolate sailors amid an outbreak of the novel coronavirus on the ship, which is docked in Guam to test personnel.

RELATED Sailors cheer USS Theodore Roosevelt captain who was relieved of command

The decision drew criticism from lawmakers, and videos that surfaced Friday -- showing hundreds of sailors chanting Crozier's name as he deboarded the carrier -- suggest Modly's call was not popular with sailors.

Modly was appointed in November following the resignation of Richard V. Spencer due to a conflict over the administration's handling of a Navy SEAL who was photographed with a dead prisoner of war.