| US offers $10mn cash for information on Hezbollah boss Posted: 10 Apr 2020 03:07 PM PDT  The United States announced on Friday a 10 million-dollar reward for "any information on the activities, networks and associates" of Muhammad Kawtharani, a Lebanese Hezbollah commander accused of playing a key role in coordinating pro-Iran groups in Iraq. Kawtharani is a senior official of the Lebanese Shiite movement in Iraq, "and has taken over some of the political coordination of Iran-aligned paramilitary groups formerly organized by Qassim Suleimani," the US State Department said in a statement. Suleimani, a powerful leader of the Revolutionary Guard, the ideological army of Tehran, was killed in early January in an American strike targeting him in Baghdad.
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| Trump escalates battle with World Health Organization over coronavirus response Posted: 10 Apr 2020 02:38 PM PDT  Reprising the skeptical tone he has applied to the United Nations and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, President Trump accused the World Health Organization of helping China to conceal the number of its citizens that have been infected by the coronavirus.
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| NOT REAL NEWS: A week of false news around the coronavirus Posted: 10 Apr 2020 02:34 PM PDT  None of these are legit, even though they were shared widely on social media. CLAIM: Tonic water or quinine supplements can be used to prevent or treat coronavirus symptoms. Posts circulating on Facebook and Twitter suggest that drinking tonic water from Schweppes or Fever-Tree will work to treat the new coronavirus because the drinks contain quinine.
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| US officials: Missile defense systems now operating in Iraq Posted: 10 Apr 2020 01:29 PM PDT  New air defense systems are now protecting American and allied forces at military bases in Iraq where troops have been attacked by Iranian-backed insurgents in recent months, according to U.S. officials. Patriot missile launchers and two other short-range systems are now in place at al-Asad Air Base, where Iran carried out a massive ballistic missile attack against U.S. and coalition troops in January, and at the military base in Irbil, said officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive weapons movement. The military has been gradually moving the defensive systems into Iraq over the last few months to provide more protection for troops that have seen a series of rocket and missile attacks.
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| White House points to hopeful signs as deaths keep rising Posted: 10 Apr 2020 01:26 PM PDT  At the end of a week officials had warned would be this generation's Pearl Harbor, White House officials pointed to hopeful signs Friday that the spread of the coronavirus could be slowing, even as President Donald Trump insisted he would not move to reopen the country until it is safe. At the same time, Trump said he would be announcing the launch of what he dubbed the "Opening our Country" task force next Tuesday to work toward that goal. With the economy reeling and job losses soaring, Trump has been itching to reopen the country, drawing alarm from health experts who warn that doing so too quickly could spark a deadly resurgence that could undermine current distancing efforts.
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| Tracking NYC's coronavirus fight, from 911 call to ER door Posted: 10 Apr 2020 01:20 PM PDT  There are multitudes of cardiac arrests and respiratory failures and others who call needing reassurance that a mere sneeze isn't a sign they've been infected. As the city staggered through its deadliest week of the pandemic, its emergency response system and army of operators, dispatchers and ambulance crews is being pushed to the brink. The fire department said it has averaged more than 5,500 ambulance requests each day — about 40% higher than usual, eclipsing the total call volume on Sept. 11, 2001.
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| As Britain battles a pandemic, a volunteer spirit stirs Posted: 10 Apr 2020 12:49 PM PDT |
| After months in space, astronauts returning to changed world Posted: 10 Apr 2020 11:02 AM PDT  Two NASA astronauts said Friday they expect it will be tough returning to such a drastically changed world next week, after more than half a year at the International Space Station. "It is quite surreal for us to see this whole situation unfolding on the planet below," said Jessica Meir, who took part in the first all-female spacewalk last fall. As an emergency physician in the Army, Morgan said he feels a little guilty coming back midway through the medical crisis.
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| Doctors, nurses in Good Friday procession at Vatican Posted: 10 Apr 2020 10:48 AM PDT  A pair of white-coated doctors who care for coronavirus patients participated in a torch-lit Good Friday procession, watched over by Pope Francis and held in a hauntingly nearly empty St. Peter's Square instead of at Rome's Colosseum because of the safety measures aimed at containing the virus' spread. Francis presided over the late-night ceremony from the steps outside St. Peter's Basilica as the procession circled 10 times around the square's central obelisk, slowly following a path marked by candles set on the square's cobblestones. The Way of the Cross procession, also known by its Latin name, Via Crucis, evokes Jesus suffering on his way to be crucified.
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| Schumer: Trump administration OKs talks on virus aid bill Posted: 10 Apr 2020 09:55 AM PDT  Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer says the Trump administration has agreed to pursue bipartisan House-Senate talks on an interim bill to replenish a $350 billion "paycheck protection" program for businesses that Treasury fears is being rapidly depleted. The New York Democrat said he spoke with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin Friday and hopes for a deal early next week. Schumer is pressing to add funding for health care providers such as hospitals, as well as further funding for cash-poor state and local governments.
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| Trump feels no need for crisis counsel from predecessors Posted: 10 Apr 2020 09:12 AM PDT  President George W. Bush turned to one of the world's most exclusive clubs for help raising money after an Indian Ocean tsunami killed more than 200,000 people in 2004. It worked so well that he signed the duo up again after Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans less than a year later. President Barack Obama followed the same playbook and sent Clinton and the younger Bush off on a fundraising effort for Haiti after a devastating earthquake in 2010.
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| Analysis: Virus shows benefit of learning from other nations Posted: 10 Apr 2020 09:01 AM PDT  In 1910, when a contagious pneumonic plague was ravaging northeastern China, a physician there concluded that the disease traveled through the air. A French physician working with Wu, however, rejected putting on a mask. More than a century later, now that the new coronavirus has spread across the United States and claimed more than 16,000 lives, some scholars and health system experts are shaking their heads that lessons from other countries were not learned in time to help Americans reduce the toll of the pandemic within their borders.
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| Next potential shortage: Drugs needed to run ventilators Posted: 10 Apr 2020 09:00 AM PDT  As hospitals scour the country for scarce ventilators to treat critically ill patients stricken by the new coronavirus, pharmacists are beginning to sound an alarm that could become just as urgent: Drugs that go hand in hand with ventilators are running low even as demand is surging. Michael Ganio, of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, said demand for the drugs at greater New York hospitals has spiked as much as 600% over the last month, even though hospitals have stopped using them for elective surgery. "These ventilators will be rendered useless without an adequate supply of the medications," Society CEO Paul Abramowitz said in an April 1 letter to Vice President Mike Pence, who is leading President Donald Trump's coronavirus task force.
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| Groups used to serving desperately poor nations now help US Posted: 10 Apr 2020 07:00 AM PDT  In Santa Barbara, forklifts chug through the warehouse of Direct Relief, hustling pallets of much-needed medical supplies into waiting FedEx trucks. Direct Relief is just one of several U.S. charities that traditionally operate in countries stricken by war and natural disaster that are now sending humanitarian aid to some of the wealthiest communities in America to help manage the coronavirus pandemic.
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| Xenophobic Trump 2020 ad wrongly implies governor is Chinese and blames Biden for supplies sent to China by his own administration Posted: 10 Apr 2020 06:59 AM PDT  The Trump re-election campaign's latest 2020 election attack ad against Vice President Joe Biden portrays him as soft on China, and falsely suggests that an Asian-American former governor is Chinese.In a montage that begins with the presumptive Democratic nominee for president raising a toast with Chinese premier Xi Jinping, an image flashes up of Mr Biden sharing a stage with Gary Locke, former governor of Washington, President Barack Obama's commerce secretary, and former Ambassador to China.
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| Stampede in Kenya as slum residents surge for food aid Posted: 10 Apr 2020 06:55 AM PDT  Residents of Nairobi's Kibera slum, spotting a food distribution, tried to force their way through a gate outside a district office for their chance at supplies to keep their families fed for another day. The scene in Kenya's largest slum reflected the fears of millions across Africa as nearly 20 countries have imposed full lockdowns and others have shut down cities or imposed curfews. Already, Rwanda and South Africa have extended their lockdowns by two weeks.
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| Putin Plans $14 Billion Stimulus as Pressure Mounts for Spending Posted: 10 Apr 2020 06:15 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin's government plans to dramatically ramp up stimulus measures to prop up an economy that is lurching toward recession.The government will roll out about 1 trillion rubles ($13.5 billion) of new spending, according to two people familiar with the plans, who asked not to be named because discussions are ongoing. Some of the money will go toward subsidizing salaries of workers idled by isolation measures to fight the coronavirus, the people said.The stimulus will be funded by increased borrowing, not Russia's $165 billion rainy-day fund, one of the people said. The government's return to the ruble bond market after a five-week hiatus met with weak demand Wednesday.A spokesperson for the government didn't respond to a request for comment.The plan is the clearest sign yet that Putin is willing to join other world leaders in ramping up spending to stave off a deep recession. Concern that oil prices will stay low for a long time after a nearly 50% drop this year have so far made the Kremlin cautious about releasing funds, despite growing pressure from businesses and economists.Firms have been lobbying the government for weeks to increase support measures, which so far haven't included direct handouts. Lobby groups warned that insufficient stimulus could lead to mass unemployment, bankruptcies and a deep economic slump.Previous spending plans only accounted for about 2% of gross domestic product, though officials and economists have called for as much as 10% to be made available.The central bank estimated that a government order for most Russians to work from home for the whole of April could knock 1.5% to 2% off growth this year, while the budget is being re-written to prepare for oil prices at $20 a barrel.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Nurses weigh their principles vs safety in virus fight Posted: 10 Apr 2020 06:11 AM PDT  Paramedics rushed another critical COVID-19 patient into the emergency room, and Chicago nurse Cynthia Riemer felt her adrenaline kick in. The masks are typically thrown away after a single use, but nurses and doctors are now being instructed to clean and recycle their masks, with some using a single mask for a whole week.
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| VIRUS DIARY: Isolation and patience on a quiet Gaza farm Posted: 10 Apr 2020 05:59 AM PDT  I haven't spent more than a single night at my family's farm on the northern edge of Gaza since an Israeli airstrike killed my father there more than a decade ago. During the three wars and countless skirmishes fought between Israel and Hamas since the militant group seized power from rival Palestinian forces in 2007, the borderlands were the front line. Israel would carry out airstrikes, shelling and sometimes full-scale incursions, usually in response to Palestinian rocket fire.
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| One-of-three Puch 500 GE headed to RM Sotheby's Essen auction Posted: 10 Apr 2020 05:50 AM PDT  In 1971, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, shah of Iran and major Mercedes stockholder, suggested Mercedes build a truck that could be sold to the military and civilians. After feasibility studies, civilian-focused Daimler-Benz hooked up with Austrian military vehicle and weapons maker Steyr-Daimler-Puch to develop a commercial vehicle. Once the Geländefahrzeug-Gesellschaft mbH joint venture prepared a number of Geländewagen prototypes in the mid-1970s, the Shah placed an order for 20,000 trucks, compelling the joint venture to see the project through.
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| Summer camps facing rocky start, uncertain future Posted: 10 Apr 2020 05:34 AM PDT  For 17-year-old Morgan Carney, missing her seventh summer at overnight camp in the Ozarks would be worse than what she's feeling now in isolation without her school friends and usual slate of activities. "She says she can't even think about not going to camp this summer or she'll be depressed," said her mother, Amy Carney. "Right now it's such a dynamic situation," said Tom Rosenberg, president and CEO of the American Camp Association.
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| Colombia hopes for 'humanitarian' ceasefire during coronavirus as violence resurges Posted: 10 Apr 2020 05:15 AM PDT  Colombia's 2016 peace accord was meant to end a half century of conflict with the Marxist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. Yet some areas previously dominated by the FARC guerrillas are seeing unintended consequences of that agreement, including a turf war between other armed groups. Colombian paramilitaries, drug traffickers and rebel groups are now fighting for control over what was once FARC territory. One result of renewed violence in Colombia is that humanitarian aid groups are less able to reach conflict-affected communities that have long depended on their services, according to my research on the Colombian peace process. Such international assistance is more critical than ever as coronavirus spreads across the South American country. Unintended consequences of 'peace'Colombia's 2016 peace deal with the FARC was far-reaching. To meet the guerrillas' demands, the government promised land reform, economic development and political inclusion of the rural areas controlled by the FARC. Three years later, implementation of these ambitious agreements remains slow, underfunded and incomplete. Repeating a situation documented in other post-conflict zones, the government's lack of presence and control in previously FARC-dominated regions has left a power vacuum for other armed groups to contest the territory.Violence is particularly high in Colombia's Pacific coast area, which is predominantly black and indigenous, and is among Colombia's most socially and economically marginalized regions. But it is rich in resources like gold and coca, the traditional Andean crop used to make cocaine – both lucrative income sources which help fund the illegal activities of armed groups.Poverty rates reach 59% in some areas of the Colombian Pacific, compared to a 27% national average. The most recent census shows that up to 70% of people in parts the Pacific have insufficient access to potable water, food and housing. As a result, many households, businesses, farms and community projects in Colombia's Pacific region rely on humanitarian assistance and development aid. This year Colombia is slated to receive US$448 million in total aid from United States. The European Union and Catholic Church also provide substantial humanitarian aid to the country. But the recent proliferation of criminal groups is making it very difficult for humanitarian groups to do their work. 'We don't know who's in charge'Before the 2016 peace deal, "we knew who to negotiate with," a representative of an aid group based in the city of Cali, told me. The aid worker, who like all participants in my research must remain anonymous for safety and ethics reasons, said his staff used to negotiate with the local FARC or paramilitary bloc commander to ensure safe passage for their aid supplies."Now we can't do that," he said, "because we don't know who's in charge." There was a brief honeymoon period of reduced violence following the 2016 peace accord, an aid worker from a different humanitarian group told me. Now, he said, while aid is still getting to some high-need urban communities in Colombia's Pacific region, remote areas are increasingly hard to access."Armed groups often check the cars or boats that pass through their territory," he said. "So, if you have aid materials with you, it can be complicated, depending on who's in charge that day." Sometimes, he told me, their deliveries of supplies like textbooks, medical supplies, seeds and fertilizer are let through without problem. Other times, local paramilitaries or rebel groups seize the supplies and threaten the humanitarian workers. COVID-19 and human rightsViolence is also complicating Colombia's response to the global coronavirus pandemic.Colombia, which passed the 1,000 COVID-19 case mark in early April, has been proactive in its efforts to contain the virus. The country is under a nationally mandated quarantine until at least April 13.That hasn't kept Colombia's armed groups at home. As the country prepared for quarantine the week of March 23, three community leaders were killed. The murders are part of a wave of violence against Colombian community organizers who have led protests and strikes by indigenous and peasant communities to demand the social and economic justice initiatives promised in the peace deal. An estimated 600 to 900 activists have been murdered in Colombia since 2016. An uncertain future for peaceFollowing the United Nations' appeal on March 24 for a global ceasefire while the coronavirus crisis lasts, the ELN – Colombia's largest active guerrilla group – declared a monthlong ceasefire as a "humanitarian gesture." So far, other armed groups have not heeded the call.Humanitarian workers worry that aid to the country may start to dry up with supplies from the U.S. and Europe being redirected to their domestic coronavirus response. "As different countries around the world close their borders and brace themselves for COVID-19, we expect to see a huge decrease in the level of international aid we'll receive," a Colombian government member who works in international cooperation and humanitarian projects told me. In the meantime, the violence indirectly caused by the 2016 peace accords continues in Colombia, complicated by the arrival of COVID-19. [You need to understand the coronavirus pandemic, and we can help. Read The Conversation's newsletter.]This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts.Read more: * Colombia's murder rate is at an all-time low but its activists keep getting killed * Violence climbs in Colombia as president chips away at landmark peace deal with FARC guerrillasShauna N Gillooly receives funding from the Fulbright Hays Program, which is funded by the US Department of Education.
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| EU Finance Chiefs Dodge Coronabonds in $590 Billion Rescue Posted: 10 Apr 2020 05:07 AM PDT |
| 'He needs to let his experts speak': Haley offers Trump messaging advice amid pandemic Posted: 10 Apr 2020 05:07 AM PDT |
| Libya War Escalation Is Straining ‘Decimated’ Health System Posted: 10 Apr 2020 04:41 AM PDT |
| Coronavirus in South Africa: Lockdown extension condemned Posted: 10 Apr 2020 03:51 AM PDT  Extending restrictions until the end of April will create an economic disaster, the opposition says.
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| Still scarred, Notre Dame lives anew in coronavirus crisis Posted: 10 Apr 2020 02:35 AM PDT  Still damaged and scarred by fire, Notre Dame Cathedral came back to life — if only for a fleeting instant — as a center for prayer on Friday in a Paris locked down against the coronavirus. Just days before the first anniversary of the April 15, 2019, inferno that ravaged the beloved Paris landmark, the French capital's archbishop led Good Friday celebrations unlike any that have gone before inside the centuries-old jewel of Gothic architecture. Archbishop Michel Aupetit and three clergymen who accompanied him wore hard hats as they entered the damaged cathedral that is closed to the public and which he described as "half collapsed."
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| New, larger wave of locusts threatens millions in Africa Posted: 10 Apr 2020 12:58 AM PDT  Weeks before the coronavirus spread through much of the world, parts of Africa were already threatened by another kind of plague, the biggest locust outbreak some countries had seen in 70 years. It is the locusts that "everyone is talking about," said Yoweri Aboket, a farmer in Uganda. Such worries in the village of some 600 people are reflected across a large part of East Africa, including Kenya, Ethiopia and South Sudan.
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| Mosques, streets quiet as Indonesia's capital tightens rules Posted: 10 Apr 2020 12:08 AM PDT  Mosques usually filled for Friday prayers and streets normally clogged with cars and motorcycles were empty as authorities in Indonesia's capital enforced stricter measures to halt the spread of the new coronavirus after deaths spiked in the past week. Under the new measures that went into effect Friday, Jakarta's mosques have been closed, as have shopping malls, restaurants and parks. "There are no buses now," said Siti Maharani, who lost her job at a now closed Jakarta mall and was trying to return to her home town.
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| AP PHOTOS: Spain's elderly suffer as virus tears safety nets Posted: 09 Apr 2020 11:56 PM PDT  The elderly of Barcelona's working-class Poble Sec neighborhood, the generation who survived widespread hunger after the Spanish Civil War, started out vulnerable. Drawn to Spain's industrial heartland a generation ago, they relied in retirement on free lunches from neighborhood social centers. Many received medical care from the local clinic, where doctors and nurses made house calls.
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| Israelis looking out for overworked healthcare professionals Posted: 09 Apr 2020 11:42 PM PDT  While hunkering down at home and keeping three young children entertained in coronavirus isolation, Adi Karmon Scope had a thought: How much harder was it for those on the front lines of the pandemic? In Israel, more than 10,000 people have contracted the coronavirus and 92 have died.
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| Rising from sick beds, COVID medics head back to front lines Posted: 09 Apr 2020 11:34 PM PDT  PARIS (AP) — "Be strong, mum, we really love you," is what Dr. Aurelie Gouel's kids tell the ICU physician when she sets off for long hospital shifts trying to save critically ill coronavirus patients. Although aged just 4 and 6, Gouel's children are acutely aware of how dangerous the disease can be not only because their mother has briefed them but also because she is among the more than 1.6 million people worldwide who have fallen sick. Tell-tale symptoms — fever, cough, intense fatigue, difficulty breathing — floored Gouel in March.
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| Yemen has 1st confirmed virus case, more than 10k in Israel Posted: 09 Apr 2020 11:23 PM PDT  Yemen's internationally recognized government announced Friday the first confirmed case of the new coronavirus in the war-torn country, stoking fears that an outbreak could devastate its already crippled health care system. The case is a 73-year-old Yemeni national who works at the port of al-Shahr in Hadramawt province, Yemen's Minister of Health Nasser Baoum told The Associated Press. Yemen is a uniquely dangerous place for the coronavirus to spread.
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| In a test of faith, Christians mark Good Friday in isolation Posted: 09 Apr 2020 10:53 PM PDT  St. Peter's Square was almost deserted. Inside Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the chanting of a small group of clerics echoed faintly through the heavy wooden doors, as a few people kneeled outside to pray. In St. Peter's Square, Pope Francis presided over a candle-lit procession, with nurses and doctors among those holding a torch.
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| The howling: Americans let it out from depths of pandemic Posted: 09 Apr 2020 10:01 PM PDT  From California to Colorado to Georgia and upstate New York, Americans are taking a moment each night at 8 p.m. to howl in a quickly spreading ritual that has become a wrenching response of a society cut off from one another by the coronavirus pandemic. In Colorado, Gov. Jared Polis has encouraged residents to participate. The nightly howl is a primal affirmation that provides a moment's bright spot each evening by declaring, collectively: We shall prevail, said Dr. Scott Cypers, director of Stress and Anxiety programs at the Helen and Arthur E. Johnson Depression Center at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.
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| Lives Lost: At 97, World War II vet takes a final road Posted: 09 Apr 2020 10:00 PM PDT  In his final months, Bill Chambers couldn't walk, but he found peace in motion. Three times a week, his oldest daughter, Patty Cooper, would meet him at the adult family home where he lived with four other World War II veterans. The caretakers would load him into her Volvo SUV, and she would drive him through the forests, farmlands and suburbs east of Seattle.
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| Wuhan Rent Protest Shows Unrest Brewing in China After Lockdown Posted: 09 Apr 2020 09:52 PM PDT |
| Joe Biden's next big decision: Choosing a running mate Posted: 09 Apr 2020 09:46 PM PDT  Joe Biden faces the most important decision of his five-decade political career: choosing a vice president. The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee expects to name a committee to vet potential running mates next week, according to three Democrats with knowledge of the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal plans. Biden, a former vice president himself, has committed to picking a woman and told donors this week that his team has discussed naming a choice well ahead of the Democratic convention in August.
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| For McConnell, virus carries echo of his boyhood polio Posted: 09 Apr 2020 09:17 PM PDT  Mitch McConnell's earliest childhood memory is the day he left the polio treatment center at Warm Springs, Georgia, for the last time. Two long years later, after shuttling young McConnell to and from the center where then-President Franklin Roosevelt received polio care, his mother was told that day that her young son would be able walk into his life without a leg brace. More than 70 years later, Senate Majority Leader McConnell walked into the U.S. Senate to pass a sweeping coronavirus rescue package — and shutter the chamber for the forseeable future — as another dangerous flu-like virus fills the nation with anxiety, quarantines and unimaginable disruptions to American life.
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| As Trump rails against mail voting, some allies embrace it Posted: 09 Apr 2020 09:06 PM PDT  President Donald Trump is claiming without evidence that expanding mail-in voting will increase voter fraud. While Trump has complained that voting by mail is "ripe for fraud," Republican state officials in Iowa, Ohio and West Virginia have all taken steps to ease access to mail-in ballots, following health officials' warnings that voting in person can risk transmission of the deadly virus. The Nebraska's Republican governor urged voters to apply for absentee ballots.
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| A conundrum for New Yorkers: Social distancing in the subway Posted: 09 Apr 2020 09:03 PM PDT  They let trains that look too crowded pass by. Then they size up fellow passengers before picking the safest spot they can find to sit or stand for commutes sometimes lasting an hour or more. This quiet calculus is being performed daily by people who must keep working during the coronavirus pandemic and say the social distancing required is nearly impossible to practice in the enclosed spaces of New York City's public transit system.
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| Schools struggle to safely get free meals to needy students Posted: 09 Apr 2020 08:54 PM PDT  Among the biggest school districts to suspend its federally assisted meal program was in Houston, the nation's fourth-largest city, after a worker was exposed to the coronavirus. "We said, 'Oh, my God, we have to close down because we don't know what's happening,'" said Betti Wiggins, nutrition services officer for the Houston Independent School District. When the program reopened this week, it had a new way of packaging and handing out food.
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