A growing number of world leaders and politicians -- most recently French President Emmanuel Macron and Slovak Prime Minister Igor Matovic -- have been infected by Covid-19, not least Donald Trump.
Here is a roundup.

Matovic said Friday he had tested positive for Covid-19, a week after he attended an EU summit in Brussels.
Macron on Thursday also announced he was positive for coronavirus after having attended the same summit. 
The French leader is working in isolation for the next week in an official residence outside Paris, officials said. He said he was "doing well" though he admitted his activity had slowed down because of the symptoms.
Before him, US President Trump said he had come down with it on October 2, as had his wife Melania. After a stay in a military hospital, he went back on the campaign trial, saying he was now "immune" and therefore in no pressing need of a vaccine.
On July 7, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro -- who had dismissed the virus as a "little flu" -- said he had tested positive.
Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson, 56, spent a week in hospital in April -- including three days in intensive care -- after falling ill. After two weeks' convalescence, he went back to work.

In early September the former Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi tested positive after returning from a holiday at his luxury villa in Sardinia.
Russia's Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin was diagnosed with coronavirus in late April, returning to his duties three weeks later.
Britain's Prince Charles, the heir to the throne, and Prince Albert II of Monaco, both tested positive in March with mild symptoms.

Few top-rank politicians died of the virus until this month, with former French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing dying on December 2 aged 94.
Then on Sunday, Ambrose Dlamini, 52, the prime minister of the southern African kingdom of Eswatini -- previously called Swaziland -- became the first sitting leader to die.
He was followed on Wednesday by ex-Swiss president Flavio Cotti, 81, and Burundi's former head of state Pierre Buyoya on Friday.
The 71-year-old had resigning only weeks ago as the African Union's special envoy to strife-torn Mali and the Sahel.

A growing number of world leaders and politicians have been infected by Covid-19

U.S. President Donald Trump and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, shown at the White House in Washington, D.C., last year, are now among the world leaders who have tested positive for the coronavirus

World leaders who got the virus

The European Union has called on the authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina to take measures to alleviate the economic shock due to the coronavirus crisis, „Dnevni Avaz“ has learned. Namely, in the document that our paper received from Brussels, the Union pointed out six key economic recommendations on the basis of the annual economic dialogue with the countries of the Western Balkans and Turkey.

The Union appeals to B&amp;H authorities to respond urgently and to keep accurate statistics on the consequences and to transmit them to the Union institutions.
- Take the necessary fiscal measures to mitigate the economic shock of the crisis caused by COVID infection, especially by protecting the most vulnerable groups. To accelerate economic recovery, increase public investment that stimulates growth as a share of GDP, based on a comprehensive investment strategy. Improve the precision of social transfers by increasing the share of benefits checked in total social spending - the recommendations state.
Also, during this year's dialogue, it was stated that the plans submitted earlier had to adapt to the global crisis.
- Carefully monitor the challenges to financial stability arising from the coronavirus pandemic and take appropriate action if necessary. Protect the integrity of the currency board and the independence of the Central Bank - it was pointed out.
However, Brussels also gives precise instructions that a plan to help companies must be implemented during the corona crisis, especially since a recovery in B&amp;H cannot be expected before 2022, according to CBBH estimates.

- Establish an effective, coordinated and transparent mechanism to support companies affected by the crisis, especially small and medium-sized enterprises and self-employment. Expand social protection coverage and provide incentives to firms. Simplify operations with the aim of a quick recovery after the COVID-19 crisis and take measures to preserve employment - it is stated, among other things.

<h2>Centralized procurement of medicines and equipment</h2>

It is also recommended to ensure adequate and sustainable funding to strengthen the health sector with the aim of improving access to quality public health care for all citizens.
It would be good to determine the scope and apply centralized procurement of medicines and medical equipment, especially for expensive costs and large quantities of drugs, it was said in the EU recommendations addressed to the B&amp;H authorities.

"Avaz" reveals: EU document alarms B&H authorities due to the pandemic

Facsimile of EU document: Precise statistics must be kept and submitted to the Union

The economy is in shock, take action!

Yesterday, the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of B&amp;H Zoran Tegeltija, when asked to comment on the quarrel between the state and federal levels of government due to lack of funds for the procurement of vaccines against COVID-19 infection, briefly told Dnevni Avaz that he did not know how the FB&amp;H Government makes decisions and that this is an issue for the Bi&amp; Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Bh. citizens were alarmed by the information that our state could be left without the vaccines that everyone is eagerly awaiting due to the fact that the Federal Government has not paid its share of the funds.
The FB&amp;H Government announced yesterday that "they have secured the necessary funds for the procurement of coronavirus vaccines."
- Procedural possibilities are currently being considered within the legal solutions, because from the state level, even through the relevant ministry, the FB&amp;H Government was not informed in time that the full amount of funds should be paid by December 15th, 2020. for the procurement of vaccines through COVAX mechanism - it is stated.
Due to the late notification, they say, they could not plan or pay the full amount earlier. Also, in the signed agreement, for which the Federal Minister of Health Vjekoslav Mandic is authorized, the deadlines for payment of reserved doses of vaccine, as well as delivery, are not specified, so funds could not be planned in this year's FB&amp;H budget.

They emphasized that the ministries of health and finance are working on resolving this issue, and told the citizens not to worry and that the vaccine will be available within the deadlines as planned.
We remind you that the Council of Ministers warned the Government of FB&amp;H that non-payment of the amount of 11.5 million KM endangers the procurement of vaccines.

Assistant of Federal Minister of Health Goran Čerkez said that the FB&amp;H Government was asked to pay more than 11 million KM by December 15th, which could not be procedurally complied with.
- It is not a problem in financial means, it is up to the procedures. The Council of Ministers of B&amp;H has signed a contract with GAVI and it says who should sign the guarantee and for what period. The state was supposed to provide a guarantee. Relations within the state are regulated by another contract, by which time the advance should be paid, and the FB&amp;H Government paid it on time - said Čerkez and said that he would try to solve the problem in every possible way.

After the warning that the FB&H Government did not pay the money

B&H could end up without vaccines due to unpaid money

Continued quarrel over vaccines

French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday said he was doing well after testing positive for Covid-19 but acknowledged that he had to slow down his activities due to ongoing symptoms.
"I am doing well. I have the same symptoms as yesterday: tiredness, headaches, dry everywhere. Like hundreds of thousands of others of you," Macron said in a video message posted on his Twitter account that he appeared to have recorded himself with a phone.
-My activity is a little slowed down due to the virus. But I am continuing to take care of the priority issues like the epidemic or, for example, Brexit,- he said.

He had to slow down his activities due to ongoing symptoms

Macron: I am doing well. I have the same symptoms as yesterday: tiredness, headaches, dry everywhere.

Macron says 'doing well' after virus infection

Slovenian Health Minister Tomaz Gantar resigned Friday over tensions within the ruling coalition prompted by Prime Minister Janez Jansa's handling of the health crisis and attacks on the media.
Gantar's resignation came a day after his party DESUS, which represents the country's pensioners, quit the four-party coalition led by Jansa.
The party accuses Jansa of using the coronavirus pandemic to attack critical media and strengthen his control over state institutions in the mould of his ally, nationalist Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
Even while in coalition, DESUS had joined the opposition in its criticism of Jansa's actions, including the suspension of funding for public news agency STA earlier this month.
Jansa's coalition still controls 47 out of 90 seats in parliament, but Slovenian media have been speculating that several MPs from another junior coalition partner, the Modern Centre Party (SCM), could also join the opposition in the following days.
Karl Erjavec, the head of DESUS, explained the party's decision on Thursday by saying: -We don't want the 'Orbanisation' of the state or the introduction of an autocratic system.- 
He added the party would support an opposition plan to hold a parliamentary vote of no confidence in Jansa's government.
Jansa has announced he would temporarily take over the post of health minister.
Gantar's resignation comes as Slovenia, which was spared the worst of the first wave of the pandemic, battles a harsh second wave.
The Alpine state of two million has suffered 2,270 deaths and has one of the highest coronavirus death rates in the European Union.
Earlier this month, Gantar and Jansa had been at loggerheads over virus policy, with Gantar proposing a total two-week shut-down of the country to stem infections. 
Jansa rejected this, saying a halt to industry would be devastating for Slovenia's export-oriented economy.
Despite health experts' warning against easing virus restrictions, earlier this week the government allowed a temporary re-opening of some shops and businesses until Christmas.

Gantar's resignation came a day after his party DESUS quit the four-party coalition led by Jansa

Gantar's resignation comes as Slovenia battles a harsh second wave

Slovenian health minister resigns as coalition wobbles

The World Health Organization and partners said Friday that the Covax facility, created to ensure equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines worldwide, expected to begin delivering jabs early next year.
The UN health agency, the Gavi vaccine alliance, and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) announced they had now secured nearly two billion doses of various vaccine candidates still under development on behalf of the 190 countries taking part in Covax.
-The arrangements announced today will enable all participating economies to have access to doses in the first half of 2021, with first deliveries anticipated to begin in the first quarter of 2021- the statement said.
They stressed though that the deliveries remained "contingent upon regulatory approvals and countries' readiness for delivery."
The vaccine developers that have so far committed hundreds of millions of doses each are: AstraZeneca, Johnson &amp; Johnson, Novovax and Sanofi/GSK. None of these have so far received authorisation for use.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus hailed the news, telling a virtual press conference that "the light at the end of the tunnel has grown a little bit brighter." 
CEPI chief Richard Hatchett agreed, saying massive research and development efforts were paying off.
-We now have safe and effective vaccines that can protect against Covid-19 and a clear pathway to securing two billion doses for the populations at greatest risk all around the world- he said.
Gavi chief Seth Berkley meanwhile celebrated the "unprecedented speed and scale" of the project.
-Securing access to doses of a new vaccine for both higher-income and lower-income countries, at roughly the same time and during a pandemic, is a feat the world has never achieved before- he said.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus: The light at the end of the tunnel has grown a little bit brighter

The arrangements announced today will enable all participating economies to have access to doses in the first half of 2021, with first deliveries anticipated to begin in the first quarter of 2021

Covid-19 vaccine delivery to poor countries to start in early 2021

As a friend of BiH, I'd like to share a message with the people of Mostar as they prepare to cast their votes in a few days. 
For a decade, political infighting prevented Mostar's citizens from exercising their constitutional right to vote. On December 20, the wait is over. Thanks to the important agreement that paved the way for the necessary changes to the election law, Mostar's citizens will finally be able to elect their local government.
I encourage every citizen in Mostar to participate in the upcoming elections. You have had to wait too long for this precious right, which is the fundamental basis of a democracy. Exercise that right to empower yourselves and make your voices heard. In my own country’s elections last month, a global pandemic did not deter citizens from embracing their right to vote and turning out in record numbers across the United States.
To the young people in Mostar, I especially hope you embrace the power you have to influence what happens next in your beautiful and historic city. For many young voters in Mostar, this is very likely your first time ever participating in a local election. Know that every vote counts and casting a vote is your way to take charge of the future.
Citizens, each of you deserve leaders ready to work for you, not leaders working for self-enrichment or the narrow benefit of their party. That's why it is so important for you to take an active role in choosing who will represent you. At stake are local issues that directly matter to you and your family.
Exercise your right to vote. As you do so, the United States will continue to support efforts to make the election process fairer and more transparent.

Nelson: I encourage every citizen in Mostar to participate in the upcoming elections

Nelson: United States will continue to support efforts to make the election process fairer and more transparent

Ambassador Nelson's message to the citizens of Mostar

A motorbike loaded with explosives blew up in east Afghanistan on Friday, killing at least 11 people at a religious ceremony, officials said.
-The explosives detonated at a gathering in Gilan district of Ghazni province- said provincial governor's spokesman Waheedullah Jumazada, adding that at least 11 people were killed and 20 wounded.
He said the wounded included children.
Interior ministry spokesman Tariq Arian confirmed the blast at a house where a Quran recitation was being held, but said 15 people were killed. 
No group immediately claimed the attack.&nbsp;Taliban and Afghan government forces have regularly clashed in Ghazni.
Thirty security personnel were killed last month when a suicide car bomber struck an army base near Ghazni city, the provincial capital.
The Taliban have primarily targeted government forces in rural areas since signing a deal with Washington in February that paved the way for the withdrawal of foreign forces by May 2021. 
The latest violence comes as peace talks in the Qatari capital between the Taliban and Afghan government to end the country's grinding war are on pause until January. 
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has called for the next round of peace negotiations to be held in Kabul, saying it was inappropriate to meet in "luxurious hotels".
Taliban negotiators have flown to Pakistan where they met Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday, who called on both sides to reduce violence and agree to a ceasefire.&nbsp;

The explosives detonated at a gathering in Gilan district of Ghazni province

At least 11 killed in east Afghanistan bomb blast

The announcement comes a day after European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen announced the EU would begin inoculations against Covid-19 with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine between December 27 and 29, saying it was "Europe's moment" in the battle against the virus.
The European Medicines Agency is expected to decide whether or not to approve the Pfizer vaccine on December 21 -- a week earlier than initially expected.
-This is the beginning of the end of the pandemic, not the end, so we must continue to keep our guard up- Illa told a news conference.
Spain plans to vaccinate elderly residents and staff in nursing homes first, then health workers and other vulnerable people such as the elderly and people with underlying health conditions.
The government expects to have around 15-20 million people out of its population of 47 million vaccinated against the virus by June.
The health minister called on Spaniards to be very careful over the Christmas holidays, warning there had been a "very worrying" change in infection trends, with a rise in cases after several weeks of declines.
-We must adopt adequate measures to change this trend- he added.
Several regional governments, which are responsible for health care, have in recent days announced tighter virus restrictions for the holidays to try to curb the rise in infections.
Spain has been one of Europe's worst-hit countries, with the virus infecting more than 1.7 million people and causing nearly 49,000 deaths.&nbsp;

Illa: This is the beginning of the end of the pandemic

Spain plans to vaccinate elderly residents and staff in nursing homes first

Spain to start virus vaccinations Dec 27

In the past 24 hours, 33 people died in Bosnia and Herzegovina, while 784 are newly infected.
In the past 24 hours, 2,349 samples were reported to the Institute of Public Health of the Federation of B&amp;H, of which 548 were positive for coronavirus.
New cases have been registered in all cantons in the Federation of B&amp;H
.A total of 317,459 samples have been tested so far, and coronavirus has been confirmed in 67,649 individuals.

As of today, 48,467 patients have been cured in the Federation of B&amp;H, and in the past 24 hours, 567 patients have recovered. Currently, 17,232 coronavirus-positive cases are active.
In the past 24 hours, 19 new deaths were reported to the Public Health Institute of the Federation of B&amp;H.
As of today, the total number of deaths in the Federation of B&amp;H is 1,950.
Since the last report on the epidemiological situation in Republic of Srpska, in the last 24 hours, at the Institute of Public Health of Republika Srpska, the University Clinical Center of Republika Srpska, the University Hospital in Foča and the hospitals of Sv. Vračevi in Bijeljina and Sv. Apostle Luke in Doboj, 861 laboratory samples were tested, and the new corona virus was confirmed in 208 cases.
From newly infected, there are 114 males and 94 females, of which 28 are younger, 123 are middle-aged and 57 are older.
According to the place of residence, 62 people are from Banja Luka, 30 from Bijeljina, 16 from Trebinje, 14 from Doboj, 13 each from Zvornik and Prijedor, six each from Derventa and Bosanski Šamac, five from Višegrad, four each from Modriča, Prnjavor, Srbac and Ugljevik, three each from Bosanska Dubica, Teslić and Foča, two each from Bratunac, Ljubinje, Ribnik and Čelinac and one person each from Gacko, Donji Žabar, East Ilidža, Kotor Varoš, Laktaši, Mrkonjić Grad, Novi Grad, Stanari, Šeković and Šipovo.
In the last 24 hours, the Republic of Srpska Institute of Public Health has reported 14 deaths in which the presence of coronavirus has been confirmed. Two people are from Banja Luka, Šipovo, Modriča and one person each from Prnjavor, East New Sarajevo, Bosanska Dubica, Prijedor, Bijeljina, Nevesinje, Doboj and Teslić.
So far, 34,804 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in Republic of Srpska, and a total of 1,518 people which tested positive, died.

<h2>Subsequently reported fatal outcome</h2>

On December 17th, one death was subsequently reported that occurred in the previous few days (a person from Trebinje).
In Republic of Srpska, a total of 20,535 people have recovered from the new coronavirus so far, and a total of 152,695 people have been tested. The total number of hospitalized in Republic of Srpska is 1,041, in the University Clinical Center of Republika Srpska 378, and in general hospitals 663.
In Republic of Srpska, 11,986 people are currently under health supervision, and 108,189 people have completed their supervision.
In the Brčko District of B&amp;H, 28 new cases of coronavirus infection were registered, out of 86 tested samples. There were no fatalities in the last 24 hours.
20 people recovered. There are 1,066 active cases of infection.

New cases have been registered in all cantons in the Federation of B&H

A total of 317,459 samples have been tested so far

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, 33 people died,while 784 are newly infected

The head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Epiphanius, commented on the scandal in Sarajevo, when Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was presented with an ancient Ukrainian icon from occupied Lugansk.
Let us remind you, the icon was gifted to him on December 14th, during his visit to our country, by a member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Milorad Dodik.
- This is a political gesture towards the Russian Federation because this icon is from the territory that is now, unfortunately, under occupation. And it doesn’t depend on us as a church. It is really good that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of B&amp;H reacted to this event, because such things should not happen at all. Every nation must respect other nations and not do such things - said the Metropolitan of Ukraine Epiphanius in an interview for the Ukrainian service of RSE.
It is suspected that the icon was taken out of Lugansk, a city in eastern Ukraine, which is located on the territory that has been under the control of pro-Russian forces since 2014.
The Embassy of Ukraine in Bosnia and Herzegovina sent a note to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of B&amp;H asking for detailed information why the 300-year-old Ukrainian icon was given to Lavrov.

This is a political gesture towards the Russian Federation, because this icon is from the territory that is now, unfortunately, under occupation. And it doesn’t depend on us as a church

Metropolitan Epiphanius commented on the whole situation

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church about the icon that Dodik gave to Lavrov

Friends and families kept apart by COVID this Christmas and New Year will not find their virtual gatherings over Zoom cut short by the usual 40-minute limit for free subscribers.
Zoom Video Communications Inc, whose technology has become a feature of household get togethers in 2020’s socially distanced world, said it was removing the time limit for its free accounts on all meetings globally for the holiday season.
This covers the Christian celebrations of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, the end of Hannukah for Jews and Kwanzaa marked by African-Americans, as well as New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. All of them fall in late December or early January.
The coronavirus pandemic has roared to new highs around the world during a second wave, forcing many people to stay home and plan gatherings with friends and family over the Internet instead.
-Whether coming together on the final day of Hanukkah, celebrating Christmas, ringing in the New Year, or marking the last days of Kwanzaa, those connecting with friends and family won’t get cut short- a Zoom spokesman said.
Alphabet’s Google Meet has already said free users would not have to limit conversations to 60 minutes till March.
Microsoft Teams and Cisco’s Webex, who have usage grow during the pandemic, have so far not announced any relaxation in meeting length caps.

Many people are forced to stay home and plan gatherings with friends and family over the Internet

Whether coming together on the final day of Hanukkah, celebrating Christmas, ringing in the New Year, or marking the last days of Kwanzaa, those connecting with friends and family won’t get cut short

Zoom's Christmas gift: no cap on call lengths over the holidays

Dozens of schoolboys who were rescued from kidnappers in northwest Nigeria arrived back home on Friday, many of them barefoot and clutching blankets.&nbsp;Television pictures showed the boys dressed in dusty clothes and light green uniforms, looking weary but otherwise well, getting off buses in the city of Katsina and walking to a government building.
One of them, with flecks of dried mud on his face, told Channels TV the captors had fed them bread and cassava.
-It was cold- he told the reporter. Asked how he had felt when the bus arrived in Katsina, he said: -I was really happy- and broke into a smile.
A week earlier, gunmen on motorbikes raided the boys’ boarding school in the nearby town of Kankara and marched hundreds of them into the vast Rugu forest. Authorities said security services rescued them on Thursday, although it was not clear if all of them had been recovered.
The abduction gripped a country already incensed by widespread insecurity, and evoked memories of Islamist militant group Boko Haram’s 2014 kidnapping of more than 270 schoolgirls in the northeastern town of Chibok.
Six years on, only about half the girls have been found or freed. Others were married off to fighters, while some are assumed to be dead.

Hours before the rescue of the boys was announced, a video started circulating online purportedly showing Boko Haram militants with some of the boys. Reuters was unable to verify the authenticity of the footage or who released it.
On Friday, the boys walked from the bus in single file, flanked by soldiers and armed police officers. A group of their parents waited to be reunited with them in another part of town.
-I couldn’t believe what I heard until neighbours came to inform me that it’s true- Hafsat Funtua, mother of 16-year-old Hamza Naziru, said earlier in a phone interview.
Describing the moment she heard the news, she said she ran out of her house with joy “not knowing where to go” before returning home to pray.
Another parent, Husseini Ahmed, whose 14-year-old Mohammed Husseini was also among those abducted, expressed happiness and relief that he would soon be reunited with his son.
-We are happy and anxiously expecting their return- he said.Last week’s mass kidnapping piled pressure on the government to deal with militants in the north of the country.
It was particularly embarrassing for President Muhammadu Buhari, who comes from Katsina and has repeatedly said that Boko Haram has been “technically defeated”.
Boko Haram has a history of turning captives into jihadist fighters. If its claims are true, its involvement in northwestern Nigeria marks a geographical expansion in its activities. But it could have purchased the boys from local criminal gangs with which it has been building ties.
Armed gangs that rob and kidnap for ransom, widely referred to as “bandits”, carry out attacks on communities across the northwest, making it hard for locals to farm, travel or tap rich mineral assets in some states such as gold.

Television pictures showed the boys dressed in dusty clothes and light green uniforms

Freed Nigerian schoolboys walk after they were rescued by security forces in Katsina, Nigeria, December 18, 2020.

Tired but smiling, freed Nigerian schoolboys arrive back home

A citizen journalist detained in China after reporting from the Covid-19 ground zero of Wuhan will face trial later this month, her lawyer said Friday, as fears grow for her health.
The coronavirus first emerged in central China late last year, and Beijing has faced accusations that it covered up the initial outbreak and silenced early whistleblowers.
Zhang Zhan, a former lawyer, travelled to Wuhan in February and livestreamed her experiences on social media. She also wrote essays critical of the government's response -- including the strict lockdown of millions of people.
Zhang was detained in May and is accused of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble", according to a court notice seen by AFP -- a charge routinely used to suppress dissidents, with a maximum prison sentence of five years. 
The 37-year-old's lawyers received notice earlier this week that the hearing will take place in a Shanghai court on December 28. 
Zhang began a hunger strike in June, her lawyers said, and has been force-fed via a nasal tube.
Her lawyer Zhang Keke wrote in a note circulated on social media that her health was extremely poor and she suffered from headaches, dizziness and stomach pain.
-Restrained 24 hours a day, she needs assistance going to the bathroom- he wrote.
-She feels psychologically exhausted, like every day is a torment... she said her current physical state is too hard to bear.- 
The lawyer said that she has vowed not to stop her hunger strike, despite the repeated pleas of her family, friends and lawyers.
Zhang was critical of the early response in Wuhan, writing in a February essay that the government "didn't give people enough information, then simply locked down the city".
-This is a great violation of human rights- she wrote.
Zhang is the first to face trial of four citizen journalists detained by authorities earlier this year after reporting from Wuhan. 
Previous attempts by AFP to contact the other three -- Chen Qiushi, Fang Bin and Li Zehua -- were unsuccessful.

Zhang Zhan, a former lawyer, travelled to Wuhan in February and livestreamed her experiences on social media

Zhang Zhan is among numerous journalists who have been arrested after travelling to Wuhan to report on the coronavirus outbreak and response

Chinese citizen journalist to face trial after Wuhan virus reporting

As Balkan governments scramble to secure coronavirus vaccines, another foe lurks: an anti-vaccination movement that has been gaining ground and is now trying to grab the spotlight.
With vaccine sceptics ranging from renegade doctors to politicians and Serb tennis champion Novak Djokovic, misinformation about the pandemic has been spreading across social media as fast as the virus itself.
-Of course Serbs will reject that evil deadly thing- a Facebook user wrote about the new Covid-19 jab on the page of a prominent vaccine critic.
-Why do healthy people need a vaccine?- another asked.&nbsp;Among Europe's poorest nations, the Balkans will already struggle to purchase enough doses to cover their populations.
But countering widespread suspicions will be an additional challenge, as the Western Balkans have become a fertile breeding ground for the international anti-vax movement.
As North Macedonia's President Stevo Pendarovski summed up: -We must not allow... semi-literate charlatans and quack doctors to dominate the biggest names and institutions in science, who have saved millions of lives since the first vaccines appeared.-
His concern is well-founded. In October, a regional survey found that more than half of those questioned in most countries did not plan to get vaccinated, according to the Balkans in Europe Policy Advisory Group (BiEPAG).
For comparison, an Ipsos poll from the same month found that more than 60 percent of people intended to in countries such as Spain, Germany and the US.
Though some may simply be wary of the record-fast development of the Covid-19 shots, the Balkans are also home to a "strikingly" high belief in coronavirus conspiracy theories, BiEPAG found.
For instance, half of the respondents believed the virus was engineered by the Chinese government in a lab, and that the pharmaceutical industry helped its spread.
Around a third believed there is some truth to theories of a link to 5G networks, US military development of bio-weapons, and Bill Gates' intention to chip the world population.

Spanning social and geographical divides, conspiracy beliefs are "deeply embedded in all layers of society" in the Western Balkans, BiEPAG said in its report on a region that includes Serbia, Bosnia, Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro and North Macedonia.
The Balkans has long been a hotbed of misinformation, fuelled by low levels of trust in government and other institutions tainted by corruption and a lack of transparency. 
In Serbia, fake news can be found on the front pages of tabloids, which frequently declare the country to be on the brink of a war that never materialises.
Theories about the plots of enemies near and far also run rampant in countries where politicians are eager to shift blame for social and economic ills that have haunted the region since its 1990s wars.
The link to vaccination is worrying because studies show conspiracy theorists are also less likely to get a shot.
Anti-vaccination views "develop easily where people's trust towards authority is low," explained Zoran Radovanovic, a retired professor of epidemiology at the University of Belgrade.
-In the Balkans, after 30 years of deterioration, people don't trust authorities, including medical ones.-
There was scant resistance to vaccines while the region was part of communist Yugoslavia, which crushed Europe's last smallpox outbreak with a mass inoculation effort in the 1970s.
Scepticism has grown over the past five years, initially in response to MMR (measles, rumps and rubella) vaccines, which were falsely linked to autism.
Between 2015 and 2019, Serbia was one of six countries to report a "significant increase" in respondents who believed vaccines are unsafe, according to a study by The Lancet.
In 2018, Serbia reported a major increase in measles cases and deaths, which UNICEF attributed to pockets of non-vaccinated elders and "children under five years of age who were not vaccinated mainly due to parents' hesitancy".&nbsp;

Across the region, suspicions are fanned by a handful of rogue doctors, some of whom have garnered tens of thousands of followers on social media.
Their posts range from pseudoscience -- such as the benefits of walking barefoot for 15 minutes a day -- to articles about alleged dangers of the new Covid-19 vaccines.
In Serbia, the Twitter page of right-wing politician and psychiatrist Jovana Stojkovic was shut down owing to misleading information about vaccines alongside polemics against migrants and the LGBTQ community. 
-Doctors either don't know much, don't educate themselves enough or deliberately keep silent about the negative sides of vaccination- she told AFP, rejecting the "anti-vaxxer" label and saying she was for "freedom of choice".
In 2017, a group of doctors pressed charges against Stojkovic for "causing panic" with misinformation about vaccines and other falsehoods, such as a warning that non-vaccinated kids would be "taken from their parents."
Some young scientists are now trying to counter misinformation online.
In a popular Facebook post, a Serbian biomedicine student who is studying in the US broke the Pfizer jab down into its basic building blocks: the mRNA instructions on how to make a coronavirus spike protein, plus fat, salt, sugar and water.
-This vaccine is so natural and organic you can make Grandma's cake out of it- she wrote. 
But some mainstream medical professionals are also muddying the waters.
In Croatia, public healthcare doctor Lidija Gajski argued on TV that the technology behind some Covid-19 vaccines had not been convincingly tested, and that the "ratio between benefit and harm is unclear".
And a pulmonologist who previously sat on Serbia's government-appointed crisis team speculated about the shot's "effect on fertility", though there is no data to support such fears. 
-You give it to people, without testing it on mice first... that causes unease- Branimir Nestorovic said.
For many in the Balkans, online echo chambers have created a wide divide.
Amna Popovac, 50, "believes in modern science" and is eager to get vaccinated in the Bosnian city of Mostar.
But her 80-year-old mother won't, Popovac says. 
-She reads information on Facebook that I consider false, whereas she thinks I'm the one who reads false information.-

Misinformation about the pandemic has been spreading across social media as fast as the virus itself

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Sweden, which has controversially relied on mostly non-coercive measures, struggled to contain an unexpectedly strong second coronavirus wave as the country's monarch on Thursday criticised the nation's failure to save lives.
-I believe we have failed- Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf told broadcaster SVT in a preview for a programme summing up the year released Thursday.
Analysts noted the unusually sharp tone of the message from the king, whose power is ceremonial and who typically refrains from commenting on political matters, with some calling it a rebuke of the Swedish strategy.
But questioned by AFP the Swedish Royal Court stressed that the comment was "unpolitical" and referred to the whole of Swedish society.
The capital Stockholm is once again at the epicentre of the epidemic and Lars Falk, a doctor at an intensive care unit at the Karolinska Hospital in Stockholm, told AFP the second wave had hit much harder than they expected.
-We got three different scenarios from the Public Health Agency this summer. We prepared for the worst, and it turned out twice as bad- Falk told AFP.
Others regions are also seeing resources stretched thin.
On Thursday, Sweden's National Board of Health and Welfare said the number of people receving hospital care for Covid-19 was now over 2,500, topping the previous peak in late April.
However, the number of people in intensive care is still only about half the level seen in April.

The total number of deaths associated with Covid-19 in the country of some 10.3 million reached 7,802 on Wednesday, with more than 500 people in the last week and over 1,800 since the beginning of November.
With few coercive measures and no face mask rule, Sweden has stood apart from most countries by relying on citizens' sense of "responsibility" and issuing mostly recommendations -- with no sanctions if they are ignored.
As cases have risen, authorities have urged people to limit social interactions to those in their household or a very small circle of friends.
However, some measures are binding, and on November 24 a ban on public gatherings of over eight people came into force, lowering the number from 50.
Contrary to media reports, the Scandinavian nation never targeted so-called herd immunity as part of its official strategy.
But health officials did argue that the high level of spread in the spring should weaken any second wave.
-I think we will have a relatively low even spread during the autumn, with clusters in different places- state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell told broadcaster TV4 in August.
That seemed to be borne out for a while, as the second wave hit later and deaths remained low in October until numbers started rising again.

Asked about the king's comment during a Thursday news conference, Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said they only affirmed what the government had already conceded.
-Of course the fact that so many have died, can't be considered as anything other than a failure- Lofven told reporters.
But for the strategy as a whole Lofven said that "it's when we are through the pandemic that the real conclusions can be drawn", adding that they had already acknowledged shortcomings in elderly care.
Over 90 percent of coronavirus deaths in Sweden have been among those aged 70 and up, and nearly half of all deaths have been in retirement homes.
The response has also been constrained in part by legislation, including a guarantee on freedom of movement enshrined in the constitution.
The government is preparing a temporary, one-year "pandemic law" it aims to have in place by March 2021, which will empower ministers to limit the number of people in public places and regulate businesses and services by restricting opening hours or even shutting them down.
Among Swedes, support for the strategy and confidence in authorities has generally remained strong throughout the pandemic.
But while a majority still has confidence in the Public Health Agency, a poll published by daily Dagens Nyheter on Thursday showed how the number of people with "high confidence" in the agency had dropped to 52 percent from 68 percent in October.

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News

World leaders who got the virus

The economy is in shock, take action!

Continued quarrel over vaccines

Macron says 'doing well' after virus infection

Slovenian health minister resigns as coalition wobbles

Covid-19 vaccine delivery to poor countries to start in early 2021

Ambassador Nelson's message to the citizens of Mostar

At least 11 killed in east Afghanistan bomb blast

Spain to start virus vaccinations Dec 27

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, 33 people died,while 784 are newly infected

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church about the icon that Dodik gave to Lavrov

Zoom's Christmas gift: no cap on call lengths over the holidays

Tired but smiling, freed Nigerian schoolboys arrive back home

Chinese citizen journalist to face trial after Wuhan virus reporting

As the Balkans ready for vaccination, sceptics make a stand

Second virus wave pressures Sweden