| UN releases $2.5 million to help cyclone-ravaged Vanuatu Posted: 13 Apr 2020 05:07 PM PDT |
| The audacious plan that could save a species Posted: 13 Apr 2020 04:17 PM PDT  With only two northern white rhinos left in the world - both female - extinction seems a certainty.
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| 10 Reasons to Doubt the Covid-19 Data Posted: 13 Apr 2020 03:15 PM PDT  (Bloomberg Opinion) -- If you're like me, you've been watching the daily data on the coronavirus pandemic, seeking glimmers of hope in the trajectories: the infected, the hospitalized, the intubated, the dead. If only there were more understanding to be had. The more I look at the numbers, the more I see their flaws. Here are my top 10.1. The number of infected is close to meaningless. Only people who get tested can be counted, and there still aren't enough tests — not even close, and not in any country save perhaps Iceland. The best we can do is estimate how many people are sick by guessing what percentage of the infected can obtain a test. In the U.S., for example, anecdotal evidence suggests that people need to be ill enough to be hospitalized. About 10% of cases merit hospitalization, so the actual number of infected might be about ten times larger than what's reported.2\. The tests aren't accurate and the inaccuracies aren't symmetric. In particular, they produce many more false negatives than false positives — meaning they tend to indicate that people are OK when they're actually sick. Some research suggests that the false negative rate could exceed 30%. This means that estimates of the true number of infections should be once again inflated.3\. The number of tests doesn't equal the number of people tested. Because the tests are so inaccurate, some people get tested twice to be more sure of the results. This means that the share of the population tested compared to the number of people found to be infected paints a rosier picture than reality, offering yet another reason to believe that the actual number of infected is higher.4\. The numbers aren't in sync. People sometimes die weeks after being hospitalized, and they get hospitalized a week or more after testing positive for the virus. So we shouldn't expect the "number of deaths" curve to flatten until pretty long after the "number of cases" curve does. The bright side of this lag is that, since it takes longer to recover than to die, the death rate will go down over time.5\. The meaning of hospitalization is changing. Officials have recently presented flattening hospital admissions as a positive sign. But it takes a lot more to get somebody to the hospital these days. Hotlines are jammed, ambulances are scarce, standards for who gets hospitalized have drastically changed, and people are avoiding overwhelmed emergency rooms. So fewer hospitalizations doesn't necessarily mean that the situation is getting better.6\. Deaths aren't reported immediately or consistently. Various operational issues, such as paper filing and notifying next of kin, determine when a death actually gets registered. This might help explain why the most deaths tend to get reported on Tuesdays. So don't get too excited about good news on a weekend — you might be disappointed by the beginning of the week.7\. Deaths outside hospitals aren't being reported. When people die at home or in nursing facilities, veteran homes, or prisons, they're not always counted. This is a biggie: When France started reporting fatalities in nursing homes, their death count increased by 40%. Belgium reports nursing home deaths pretty well, and they're finding 40% of deaths occur there.8\. The policy for attributing deaths isn't consistent. Once somebody is gone, why waste a valuable test? So doctors might not mention Covid-19 as a contributing cause. It's a judgment call, especially when someone was sick already. This might have a very large effect on the data in certain environments like rehab facilities and nursing homes.9\. Officials may have incentives to hide coronavirus cases. China, Indonesia and Iran have all come under scrutiny for their statistics. "Juking the stats" is not unknown in other contexts in the U.S., either. So don't assume that officials are above outright manipulation. 10\. What happens in one place, or on average, might not be applicable everywhere. Some small studies suggest that the Covid-19 mortality rate is about 1% of the infected population. But that doesn't mean it will be the same in the U.S., or in New York City. Specific areas could see much worse death rates, simply because their health care systems are not as comprehensive or their populations have more chronic diseases. The U.S. has plenty of polluted areas that seem to make people more vulnerable to infection and sicker once they get sick. As we've seen in recent days, such disparities are disproportionately affecting people of color.Appealing as it may be to keep count, the true numbers might not be knowable until much later. Testing needs to be done systematically, even on asymptomatic people. For deaths, precise numbers might never emerge. It's possible to estimate using the number of unexpected deaths compared to a year earlier. But even that's not ideal, because lockdowns might suppress other kinds of deaths — traffic accidents, for example — by forcing people to stay at home.Don't get me wrong: Watching the official data is not a complete waste of time and attention. The numbers can give some sense of what's happening — as long as we recognize their flaws.This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.Cathy O'Neil is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. She is a mathematician who has worked as a professor, hedge-fund analyst and data scientist. She founded ORCAA, an algorithmic auditing company, and is the author of "Weapons of Math Destruction."For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinionSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| 3rd environmental activist killed this year in Mexico Posted: 13 Apr 2020 02:11 PM PDT |
| Saudi deportations of Ethiopians could fuel COVID-19 spread: UN Posted: 13 Apr 2020 01:51 PM PDT  Saudi Arabia has deported nearly 3,000 Ethiopian migrants in recent days, despite concerns that such operations could hasten the spread of the coronavirus, the United Nations says. Since mid-March, the UN's International Organization for Migration (IOM) has registered 2,870 Ethiopian returnees, all but 100 of whom were sent back from Saudi Arabia, IOM spokesman Alemayehu Seifeselassie said. A humanitarian worker familiar with the deportations, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, said most of the returnees had arrived from Saudi Arabia in the past 10 days.
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| Officials want delay in nation's head count due to virus Posted: 13 Apr 2020 01:45 PM PDT  The U.S. Census Bureau wants to delay deadlines for the 2020 head count of all U.S. residents because of the coronavirus outbreak, a move that if approved by lawmakers would push back timetables for releasing data used to draw congressional and legislative districts, officials said Monday. The Census Bureau officials said they were postponing all field operations until June 1 and the deadline for wrapping up the nation's head count was being pushed back to Oct. 31. Field operations for the 2020 census have been suspended since mid-March and were set to resume this week.
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| Could old vaccines for other germs protect against COVID-19? Posted: 13 Apr 2020 01:32 PM PDT  Scientists are dusting off some decades-old vaccines against other germs to see if they could provide a little stopgap protection against COVID-19 until a more precise shot arrives. It may sound odd: Vaccines are designed to target a specific disease. There's no evidence yet that the approach would rev up the immune system enough to matter against the new coronavirus.
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| Libya unity government seizes strategic cities from rival Haftar Posted: 13 Apr 2020 12:26 PM PDT  Forces backing Libya's unity government captured two coastal cities west of Tripoli on Monday in a new blow to military commander Khalifa Haftar a year after he launched an offensive on the capital. "Our forces took control of Sorman and Sabratha and are pursuing(Haftar's forces)," said a statement by Mohammed Gnunu, spokesman for the forces of the United Nations-recognised Government of National Accord. An AFP video journalist saw pro-GNA forces in pick-up trucks mounted with machine guns celebrating in central Sabratha, around halfway between Tripoli and the Tunisian border.
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| Egypt opens Gaza border for returnees stranded by outbreak Posted: 13 Apr 2020 11:36 AM PDT  Egypt reopened its border crossing on Monday with the Gaza Strip after nearly three weeks, allowing hundreds of Palestinians stranded by the coronavirus pandemic to return home. Hamas, the militant group ruling Gaza, has coordinated the timing of Rafah crossing's one-way reopening with Egypt to coincide with the completion of 1,000 rooms to place the returnees into mandatory quarantine.
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| Spokesman: Western Libyan forces take key town from rivals Posted: 13 Apr 2020 11:26 AM PDT |
| Sanders backs Biden as ex-rivals join forces to beat Trump Posted: 13 Apr 2020 11:20 AM PDT  Bernie Sanders endorsed Joe Biden's presidential campaign on Monday, encouraging his progressive supporters to rally behind the presumptive Democratic nominee in an urgent bid to defeat President Donald Trump. "I am asking all Americans, I'm asking every Democrat, I'm asking every independent, I'm asking a lot of Republicans, to come together in this campaign to support your candidacy, which I endorse," the Vermont senator said in a virtual event with Biden. The backing came less than a week after Sanders ended his presidential campaign, which was centered around progressive policies such as universal health care.
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| British PM's praise for health service could boost its cause Posted: 13 Apr 2020 11:16 AM PDT  Jenny McGee from New Zealand and Luis Pitarma from Portugal, he said, embodied the caring and sacrifice of National Health Service staff on the front lines of the pandemic, which has already killed 11,329 people in Britain. Johnson's statement could mean the NHS has a powerful new advocate as it seeks to reverse a decade of austerity that has left Britain's doctors and nurses struggling to treat the flood of coronavirus patients with inadequate supplies of protective gear.
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| VIRUS DIARY: Connecting to the world from a balcony in Rome Posted: 13 Apr 2020 11:03 AM PDT  Balconies are a kind of extension of a window on the world. During Month One of lockdown in Italy, stepping out onto mine kept me connected to a drastically shrunken daily universe. Like millions of others these weeks in Italy, I am working from home, part of nationwide efforts to contain coronavirus' spread.
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| Moscow’s Lockdown-Pass Portal Crashes as Virus Cases Worsen Posted: 13 Apr 2020 10:28 AM PDT |
| Netanyahu, rival report 'meaningful progress' in unity talks Posted: 13 Apr 2020 10:13 AM PDT  Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his chief rival said early Tuesday they had made "meaningful progress" in their efforts to form a joint government to confront the coronavirus crisis, agreeing to continue talks this week after a midnight deadline expired. The late-night announcement provided a glimmer of hope that the sides could end the country's prolonged political paralysis and avoid a fourth election in just over a year. In a joint statement, Netanyahu's Likud party and challenger Benny Gantz's Blue and White said they had asked the country's figurehead president for more time "with the aim of completing negotiations to form a national emergency government."
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| Sudan signs deal with World Food Programme to import wheat Posted: 13 Apr 2020 09:27 AM PDT  Sudan inked a deal on Monday with the United Nations World Food Programme to import wheat, state media reported, more than a year after the country was rocked by protests sparked by bread price hikes. "The finance ministry signed today (Monday) a deal with the World Food Programme (WFP) to buy and import 200,000 tonnes of wheat," official news agency SUNA reported. Since August last year a transitional government has taken over the reins of power, but Sudan's economy remains in deep crisis.
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| WHO chief says confident U.S. funding will continue in COVID fight Posted: 13 Apr 2020 09:15 AM PDT  The head of the World Health Organization voiced confidence on Monday that the United States would continue funding his U.N. agency which is leading the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic, despite criticism by President Donald Trump. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, also said that countries in Europe that are considering lifting restrictions must be guided by the need to protect human health, adding: "Control measures must be lifted slowly and with control." Tedros, asked by a U.S.-based journalist about reports that Trump might "cut off" funding this week, said he had spoken with him two weeks ago.
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| Virus forces home delivery of Sikh holiday fare and prayers Posted: 13 Apr 2020 08:39 AM PDT  This year the temple gathering, and the pizza that highlights the children's menu at the Guru Nanak Mission's Vaisakhi celebration will be home delivery. Vaisakhi, set for April 14, marks the day in 1699 when Sikhism took its current form. In Oakland, New Jersey, for example, the Guru Nanak Mission service normally includes prayer and worship, but also arts, crafts and special foods.
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| Abortion clinics: Pandemic boosts demand, heightens stress Posted: 13 Apr 2020 08:06 AM PDT  The coronavirus outbreak has fueled attempts to ban abortions in some states, but providers where the procedure remains available report increased demand, often from women distraught over economic stress and health concerns linked to the pandemic. Dr. Allison Cowett of Family Planning Associates in Chicago said one recent patient was a teen who drove from Texas with her mother. In Atlanta, Dr. Marissa Lapedis said her clinic accommodated a woman who received her initial abortion consultation in Texas but flew to Georgia when the Texas ban postponed a second visit to receive the abortion pill.
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| Locust invasion creates food crisis for 1 million Ethiopians: UN Posted: 13 Apr 2020 07:16 AM PDT  Swarms of locusts in Ethiopia have damaged 200,000 hectares (half a million acres) of cropland and driven around a million people to require emergency food aid, the United Nations said Monday. The findings from the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), which recently concluded a joint assessment with the Ethiopian government, come as the region is bracing for new swarms that could be even more destructive. Billions of desert locusts, some in swarms the size of Moscow, have already chomped their way through much of East Africa, including Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, Djibouti, Eritrea, Tanzania, Sudan, South Sudan and Uganda.
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| Dying alone: Coronavirus keeps family from loved ones at end Posted: 13 Apr 2020 07:06 AM PDT  Don Pijanowski was not surrounded by loved ones when he died. Instead, the 87-year-old father of four, the blue-collar guy from Buffalo, New York, died in a hospital with only a nurse who stood near him and passed on his sons' final message. "We asked that the nurse who was going to be by his side whisper into his ears that his boys loved him," said his son, John Pijanowski.
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| Navy reports first coronavirus death from Roosevelt crew Posted: 13 Apr 2020 06:50 AM PDT  A member of the crew of the coronavirus-infected USS Theodore Roosevelt died Monday of complications related to the disease, 11 days after the aircraft carrier's captain was fired for pressing his concern that the Navy had done too little to safeguard his crew. The sailor was the first active-duty military member to die of COVID-19. The Navy also announced that an aircraft carrier strike group led by the USS Harry S. Truman, which had been heading home to Norfolk, Virginia from a monthslong deployment in the Middle East, will instead be kept in the Atlantic for now as a way to protect the ship's crew from coronavirus.
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| AMLO Scores Win After Mexico Resists Demands from Oil Titans Posted: 13 Apr 2020 06:33 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador scored a political victory on Sunday by convincing oil nations to let him cut production far less than other OPEC+ members, reinforcing his nationalist project to revive state-owned producer Pemex.Mexico will only cut 100,000 barrels -- just a quarter of its pro-rated share of the 9.7 million barrels a day reduction agreed by the oil-producing nations forming OPEC+. After three days of resistance by the Latin American country, the group abandoned the initial proposal of cutting 10 million barrels per day as the most seasoned oil countries including Saudi Arabia couldn't convince Lopez Obrador to implement a deeper cut.The U.S., Brazil and Canada, the other larger oil producers in the Americas, will instead contribute with a combined 3.7 million barrels as their production declines.The outcome is a win for a president who showed once again that his domestic goals rise above all else, particularly when it comes to the energy industry. Reversing 15 years of oil production declines at state oil company Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, has been one of the main goals of the Lopez Obrador administration, which explains the president's reluctance to accept bigger voluntary reductions even if it meant angering other nations and risking the failure of a historic oil deal.The victory comes at a time when Mexico is facing a significant economic contraction and increasing discontent from the country's business elite over a lack of significant stimulus measures to combat the devastating impact of the fast-spreading coronavirus pandemic. It's a cautionary tale for companies and lobby groups calling for a strategy change by a leader who has stubbornly gone his own way, including an initial refusal to enact stringent actions to combat the disease."This confirms that even in an international negotiation, the president continues to be very focused on his agenda, his priorities, including Pemex," Eurasia Group analyst Carlos Petersen said by phone on Sunday. "His beliefs come before any other analysis or forecast of the economy, and room for change or adjustment in the near term seems very slim."Read More: The Unexpected Holdout to a Global Oil Production DealGovernment officials in Mexico City didn't wait to celebrate the outcome. In a tweet, Mexico's Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard congratulated Energy Minister Rocio Nahle for "defending the interests of Mexico" by refusing to accept a bigger oil production cut as part of the OPEC+ pact. "The strategy designed by Lopez Obrador worked. Good news!!!""It went very well for us, super well" AMLO said about the agreement at his daily press conference on Monday morning. "Mexico had special treatment. It was respected by the group of oil producing nations."Legendary ObstinacyAMLO, a grassroots populist who spent decades decrying Mexico's crony capitalism, has relied frequently on his reputation as a president who advocates for his people, especially poorer workers, and who says he came to power to fundamentally change government-business relations. He's yet to leave the country since his inauguration in December 2018, having missed all multilateral meetings including the United Nations General Assembly.His legendary obstinacy, as demonstrated during the exhausting OPEC+ negotiations, is likely to play well with voters who like his "Mexican people first" message in a country where displays of patriotism are frequent.Read More: Mexico's Low-Key Stimulus Plan Criticized by Business GroupsYet some analysts argue that AMLO's fierce defense of his nationalistic energy policy -- which is at the heart of his ambitions to upend Mexico's public life in the model of the country's revolutionary past-- came at a huge cost: by refusing to cut production, Pemex may continue operating unprofitable fields. And by holding out on a key global negotiation, Mexico could face reprimands from other nations in the months to come."There are no reasons to celebrate," Carlos Elizondo, a former Pemex independent board member, wrote in an opinion piece published by Reforma newspaper Sunday. "The cost of getting away with it in front of the international community will be high, particularly at this moment of crisis."Mexico's own future inside OPEC+ is uncertain now, as it's expected to decide over the next two months whether to leave the alliance, delegates said. A representative of Mexico's energy ministry did not respond to a request for comment.Pemex RiskAMLO already said he is aiming to export less crude, instead sending it to the country's refineries as part as his big plan to rid Mexico of dependence on foreign energy markets. His longer-term bid to revive production at Pemex, whose debt is the highest of any oil major at more than $100 billion, could result in even bigger losses.The company is building an $8 billion refinery in AMLO's home state of Tabasco to reduce fuel imports that have soared to account for as much as 65% of Mexico's demand. This, even as the country's six existing refineries are operating at less than 30% of their capacity and lose more money as they increase production because of a lack of investment in maintenance and refurbishments.Pemex will have a negative cash flow this year of $20 billion if Mexican oil trades at $30 a barrel, according to Anne Milne, a strategist at Bank of America.Investors fear that Moody's Investors Service could downgrade Pemex's bonds to junk after Fitch Ratings Inc. cut Pemex bonds even deeper into junk earlier this month. S&P Global cut its rating in March.At the same time, the government has canceled oil and gas auctions and joint-venture contracts with Pemex that enabled the state driller to share in the financial and technical burden of developing Mexico's vast, mostly unexplored deep-water oil territory.While AMLO prioritizes his energy strategy, some analysts say his refusal to follow the OPEC+ general agreement could come at a cost. AMLO "has put Mexico in an internationally awkward position with other players, said Eurasia's Petersen. "We don't know what the unintended consequences of this might be."(Updates with comment by AMLO in eighth paragraph.)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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| What you need to know today about the virus outbreak Posted: 13 Apr 2020 06:02 AM PDT  New York's coronavirus death toll topped 10,000 Monday even as the absence of fresh hot spots in the U.S. or elsewhere in the world yielded a ray of optimism in global efforts against the disease, though a return to normal was unlikely anytime soon. Officials around the world worried that halting the quarantine and social distancing behaviors could easily reverse hard-earned progress. France extended its strict lockdown until May 11, but President Emmanuel Macron noted "hopeful signs" the spread of the virus may be stabilizing.
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| Trump helped broker a large oil production cut with OPEC, Russia, Mexico Posted: 13 Apr 2020 05:34 AM PDT  The 13 nations in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) reached agreement with Russia, Mexico, the United States and seven other major oil producers Sunday to cut production by a combined 9.7 million barrels a day in May and June. President Trump resolved an impasse between Saudi Arabia and Mexico that threatened to sink the agreement, intended to raise oil prices as demand plummets amid the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. The cuts, if implemented, would reduce global oil supply by about 13 percent.Trump, who has long criticized OPEC for raising U.S. gas prices, tweeted Sunday that "the big oil deal with OPEC plus" will "save hundreds of thousands of energy jobs in the United States," and he thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi King Salman. As part of the deal, the U.S. agreed to cut 300,000 barrels a day, making up for Mexico's shortfall, The Wall Street Journal reports, though "it couldn't be determined whether that was in addition to other U.S. cuts, or how the U.S. cuts would be implemented." Analysts are also skeptical the cuts will be enough to shore up oil prices.Overall, the U.S., Brazil, Canada, and other non-OPEC countries will cut production by four million to five million barrels a day, OPEC said. Canada wasn't asked to cut production but would let market forces curtail its supply, Alberta's energy minister said. Oil prices plummeted 40 percent since early March amid a crash in demand and a price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia that now appears to be resolved.More stories from theweek.com Trump adviser Peter Navarro made a bad bet 60 Minutes didn't cover pandemic preparedness under Obama Trump might fire the one person in the White House who knows what he's doing Bats probably aren't more likely to spread viruses to humans than other animals, study suggests
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| A month after New York's 1st virus death, toll hits 10,000 Posted: 13 Apr 2020 05:27 AM PDT  New York's coronavirus death toll has now topped 10,000 only about a month after the state recorded its first fatality, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday. Cuomo said the count has been "basically flat at a horrific level of pain and grief and sorrow." More than half of New York's 10,056 deaths have come in the past week.
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| Party on! Why some young people are more concerned about their reputations than catching coronavirus Posted: 13 Apr 2020 05:16 AM PDT  "Are you going to Cooper's party tonight?" asked a young female voice behind me to a friend. It wasn't a conversation opener I had expected to hear during my grocery run, some 14 days into a crisis in which everyone is being urged to stay at home and avoid groups. But it continued along these lines:"I kind of don't want to go," came the reply. "I mean, with the whole social distancing thing, a kegger doesn't seem like the thing to do right now, right?""You have to go," implored her friend. "You have to be seen there."They agreed to go.The two decades that I have spent researching the nexus of sexuality, identity and risk for young people should have prepared me for what I was hearing. After all, if there is one thing that I have learned in interviewing hundreds of college-age people from Tehran to Dubai, Denver to Phoenix, it is that different age groups calculate risk differently. More specifically, many young people appear more concerned with the risk of being a social outcast or having their reputations ruined than they are with contracting a virus – which feels like a far-off possibility. Sexual riskIn my research on sexuality in both Iran and the U.S, one of the main findings is that when young people talk about risk reduction, they tend to be referring to reducing social or reputational risks.While conducting research with young people in Iran between 2000 and 2008, when I would ask interviewees how they engaged in risk management with regards to sex, their responses included "I have sex when my parents aren't home," or "I have sex with people who are not from my social group and don't tell them my name," or "I am planning to get hymenoplasty so no one finds out I'm not a virgin." When I asked them about reducing risk of HIV or STI transmission, many of them were less concerned. In the words of one 19-year-old college student at Tehran University: "That seems like a far-off possibility. And I guess if I get HIV, I get HIV. My more immediate concern is my reputation."Here in the U.S., reputational risks trump viral risks as well. One interview I had in March of this year with a 20-year-old college student in Arizona sums up the attitude. This young gay man had recently started dating a black man. In their first sexual encounter, the student, who is white, described wanting to ask his partner to wear a condom. "But I felt like I couldn't ask him to do that because if I did, I would come off as racist. And then he would tell all his friends I was racist, and it would be over for me," he said. The two have been having unprotected sex for the past three months. Sneaking outIn the wake of COVID-19, there have been numerous media stories highlighting young people who continue to gather despite social distancing guidelines. For example, several colleges have had to reprimand fraternities and sororities for continuing to throw large parties, well into mid-March. And this comes after photographs of young people lining the beaches of Florida and Mexico during spring break provoked widespread coverage and criticism.There have also been reports of teenagers sneaking out of the house – violating shelter-in-place and social distancing orders – to meet lovers and potential hookups.One obvious reason for this prioritization of risk is peer pressure. As others who study young people and their risk behavior have noted, the need to fit in socially cannot be underestimated. With the rise of social media, reputational shaming in the form of cyberbullying has become more threatening for young people.Young people in Iran felt that HIV was a far-off threat and one that was not likely to affect them. I think it is likely that some young people harbor similar beliefs about the risk of contracting COVID-19. A number of studies have linked the development of teen brains to riskier behavior. These studies also acknowledge that the risk calculus for teens is closely connected to the influence of peer pressure. Remote hookups?Just as peer influence has shifted to the virtual sphere, social media and video conferencing have also allowed young people to interact online.As more of our activities become remote, I wondered if some of the college students I had been interviewing would turn to "remote hooking up" like phone or Skype sex. So, I asked them if this was the case. Many were hesitant to respond at first. But when they did, three-quarters of the 30 people I spoke to confessed that they have been continuing to meet and have sex despite the fact that this violates social distancing guidelines. It's not surprising that people turn to intimacy in moments of uncertainty. But the fact that many continue to attend – or even host – parties, even while they feel a bit torn about being at risk for contracting COVID-19, is noteworthy.During the HIV crisis, we learned that a deep understanding of how people understand risk is crucial to stopping the spread of disease. Gathering a similar understanding around COVID-19 would allow the public health community to create messaging attuned to the needs of different groups. Some of our young people need to see breaking social distancing guidelines as not only virally risky but socially risky as well. A good start would be a public health campaigns directed at youth that would leverage peer pressure to keep kids home.[Get facts about coronavirus and the latest research. Sign up for The Conversation's newsletter.]This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts.Read more: * What is the SBA? An unheralded agency faces the unprecedented task of saving America's small businesses * Ancient texts encouraged hope and endurance when they spoke of end timesPardis Mahdavi does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
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| Virus doesn't care as students try to prepare for college Posted: 13 Apr 2020 05:09 AM PDT  Before the coronavirus slammed the gates on campus visits by prospective students, Serra Sowers had plans to visit seven colleges this spring to help make up her mind. Serra, a 17-year-old Florida resident, has had to rely on virtual tours, learning about schools in Zoom chats with college officials. Strange as those experiences have been, her mother, Ebru Ural, worries how the pandemic might affect her daughter's college experience itself in a few short months.
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| Coronavirus in South Africa: The lull before the surge? Posted: 13 Apr 2020 05:00 AM PDT  The country has seen an unexpected slow-down in the daily rate of infections.
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| Aquarium seals must be wondering: Who's that masked trainer? Posted: 13 Apr 2020 04:54 AM PDT  Humans can't always recognize each other in face masks, so imagine the confusion that wild animals in captivity must feel. At the New England Aquarium in Boston, workers who feed and train Atlantic harbor seals have been donning masks as a safeguard to avoid the unlikely scenario of unknowingly infecting the animals with the coronavirus. "Everyone who is working currently at New England Aquarium is wearing a face mask," said the aquarium's marine mammals supervisor, Patty Schilling.
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| China Says Hong Kong Lawmakers’ Stall Tactics Could Breach Oaths Posted: 13 Apr 2020 04:26 AM PDT |
| Storms tear through South amid pandemic; more than 30 dead Posted: 13 Apr 2020 04:10 AM PDT  Storms that killed more than 30 people in the Southeast, piling fresh misery atop a pandemic, spread across the eastern United States on Monday, leaving more than 1 million homes and businesses without power amid floods and mudslides. In Alabama, people seeking shelter from tornadoes huddled in community shelters, protective masks covering their faces to guard against the new coronavirus. A twister demolished a Mississippi home save for a concrete room where a married couple and their children survived unharmed, but 11 others died in the state.
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| Michelle Obama group backs expanding voting options for 2020 Posted: 13 Apr 2020 03:46 AM PDT  A voter initiative led by Michelle Obama announced support Monday for making it easier for people to register to vote and cast ballots during the coronavirus pandemic. When We All Vote, a nonpartisan voting initiative, says Americans should have greater access to voting by mail, early in-person voting and online voter registration. The announcement follows last week's primary election in Wisconsin, where thousands of people waited hours in line — without protective gear and in defiance of orders to stay home — after the state Supreme Court overturned the governor's order to postpone the vote as more than a dozen other states have done because of the pandemic.
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| Covid-19 Will Redefine What It Means to Feel Safe Posted: 13 Apr 2020 03:02 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- History has shown us that the world can look quite different when it comes out the other side of a crisis.Without a doubt, the challenge of combating the coronavirus will change us in many ways: Culturally, how we work, how we study, how we socialize. It'll alter our economies, the way governments behave and how they interact — with both their people and each other.There's a lot of talk by governments of the "war" on the virus, evoking leaders like Winston Churchill and talking of the need to shift to a "wartime" footing. Enormous sums are being deployed to tide over businesses and individuals, a fair bit of that money borrowed. There will be a long, painful period of recovery and reconstruction.Governments will have to face up to a fundamental examination of priorities as people rethink what it means to them to feel secure. There will be greater discussion around "personal security," with demands that governments spend more on health and welfare.The virus has ripped through decades of underfunding of national health systems, with shortages of medical workers and emergency equipment. Voters will want more money to go into medical and scientific research.As Alan Crawford writes today in this important story, we could see a shift from traditional budgetary priorities like military spending. Entire systems of economic governance could be upended.For all nations that will be difficult. For some it may be impossible. Iran, Venezuela and North Korea have crippled health services. But their leaders' hold on power is also anchored in a strong military. So how to choose?Global HeadlinesHistoric deal | The world's top oil producers pulled off an agreement to reduce global petroleum output by nearly a 10th, putting an end to the devastating price war that brought the energy industry to its knees. The focus now shifts to whether the cut can dent the massive glut that keeps growing as the virus shutters the global economy.Click here for how the deal forced Russia's Vladimir Putin into stinging concessions. Read how Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador scored a political win by convincing nations to let him cut output far less than other OPEC+ members.Staggered re-open? | Parts of the U.S. may be ready in May to ease emergency measures taken against the coronavirus pandemic, but there's no universal "light switch" to flip on, the federal government's top infectious diseases expert said. With Americans poised to start receiving stimulus payments this week, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari warned the economy could still face 18 months of rolling shutdowns.Click here for more on the intense pressure Congress is under to negotiate another interim rescue package this week.Sister returns | North Korean leader Kim Jong Un further solidified the standing of his younger sister by returning her to a position in the Politburo. Part emissary, part personal assistant, Kim Yo Jong splashed onto the world scene when she visited South Korea for the 2018 Winter Olympics and has taken on a more visible role in representing the reclusive state.Nearing deadline | Israel's president rejected Benny Gantz's request for more time to form a government, improving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's chances of retaining power. Netanyahu had made clear he and Gantz were not close to a power-sharing agreement. Unless they jointly request more time before Gantz's mandate expires at midnight, President Reuven Rivlin has said he'll give parliament three weeks to nominate someone else. That favors Netanyahu because nobody else has his level of support.Time to choose | Joe Biden is in the earliest stages of choosing a running mate who can help him defeat U.S. President Donald Trump in November. The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee is far behind the Republican incumbent in fund-raising and hamstrung by social distancing rules as he prepares to begin his vetting process, Jennifer Epstein and Tyler Pager report.What to Watch This WeekFrench President Emmanuel Macron addresses the nation tonight and may announce a lockdown extension until mid-May. U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is out of the hospital but won't return to work yet as he recovers from Covid-19. South Korea is the first major country to hold a general election in the throes of the pandemic, with early voting underway for 300 National Assembly seats. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan rejected the resignation of his interior minister over an abrupt weekend lockdown that saw people flock to stores for panic buying. China's ambassador to the U.S. says Beijing is still implementing the first phase of their trade deal. That's as the contraction in China's foreign trade is set to continue.Tell us how we're doing or what we're missing at balancepower@bloomberg.net.And finally ...With churches closed amid coronavirus lockdowns, millions of Christians reflected on the Easter message of resurrection at home in isolation. Religious services streamed online included Pope Francis celebrating Easter Mass to an empty St Peter's Basilica. Jews and Muslims marking Passover and Ramadan this month, too, face similar restrictions. Even the Easter bunny fell victim to the pandemic, as Swiss chocolate makers offered unprecedented price cuts, with stores shuttered and many consumers suddenly jobless. 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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| In coronavirus-gripped Washington, rhetoric rises but anti-China bills stall Posted: 13 Apr 2020 02:30 AM PDT  The 116th Congress will forever be best known for the impeachment of Donald Trump. But it will also go down as the most hawkish " and most prolific " Congress to date in its approach toward China.There has been "far and away" more China-related legislation introduced during the current congressional session than, for example, there was counterterrorism legislation introduced in the 107th session following 9/11, noted Anna Ashton, who closely tracks movements on Capitol Hill in her work heading government affairs at the US-China Business Council.But amid the coronavirus pandemic, as legislative priorities have pivoted abruptly to address the outbreak's public health and economic fallout, the fate of about 300 bills and resolutions challenging Beijing is now in limbo."For the time being, and probably for the foreseeable future, Covid-19 is going to totally dominate what people are doing on the Hill," said Ashton, a former China-focused intelligence officer at the Department of Defence.Just weeks ago, before the coronavirus took hold in the US, lawmakers hoped that at least some legislation would join the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act " a symbolically powerful bill whose passage in November tested the limits of an already bruised US-China relationship.After months of negotiations, legislation calling for stringent sanctioning of Chinese officials over alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang had won overwhelming approval in both the House of Representatives and Senate. Other bills, including one focused on Tibet, had passed in one of the two chambers.That progress could be undone come January, when the current 116th Congress ends and any bill not approved by both chambers and signed into law by the president is wiped off the docket.Stacking the odds further: Even if Congress is able to return to regular business in the coming months, attention from legislative matters will quickly be pulled away again " this time by election season. In the run-up to November 3, not only will President Trump be seeking re-election, but most members of the House and around a third of the Senate will also be absorbed in fights to stay in office."In an election year, really anything after July is not likely to happen," said Chris Lu, a former House oversight committee lawyer who later served as Barack Obama's White House cabinet secretary."This will be an incredibly short legislating year with the exception of, obviously, continuing to provide relief and possible stimulus [relating to the coronavirus outbreak]," said Lu, who also served as a commissioner on the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, an influential advisory panel on human rights issues in the country.Neither House Speaker Nancy Pelosi " one of Beijing's most vocal critics " or Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell responded to requests for comment on whether they anticipated scheduling floor time for any of the China-related bills that still await votes. One House aide on the Democratic side, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the chance of any non-coronavirus legislation moving ahead was "pretty, pretty limited".Yet despite the narrowing window for China-related legislation to reach Trump by January, many lawmakers are pressing ahead, both with intensifying rhetoric and several pieces of legislation about Beijing's handling of the outbreak."Not much of what gets proposed or introduced in the upcoming days [regarding China] will become policy, but everyone wants to message that they're on it," said a senior congressional staffer, who requested anonymity to discuss lawmakers' internal deliberations.Reporters practise social distancing while interviewing US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Photo: Reuters alt=Reporters practise social distancing while interviewing US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Photo: ReutersIn March alone, lawmakers introduced at least 20 China-related bills, ranging from demands that China pay for the US pandemic costs to calls for an international investigation of Beijing's coronavirus response.With criticism intensifying about the US government's own response, Republicans' complaints have become ever louder. On Friday, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina proclaimed on Twitter that the Chinese government was "responsible for 16,000 American deaths and 17 million Americans being unemployed".The first thing I want to do is get the United States Senate on the record where we, we don't blame Trump - we blame China.The Chinese government is responsible for 16,000 American deaths and 17 million Americans being unemployed. https://t.co/wpa9n9hFtx" Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) April 10, 2020Also this week, House Republicans introduced a resolution urging the Trump administration to cut off federal funding of the World Health Organisation (WHO) pending the resignation of its director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, and an investigation into its alleged pro-China bias.The legislation was in step with Trump, who has threatened repeatedly to put a hold on US funding of the United Nations agency, which he called "very China-centric".For many inside Washington, the pandemic has put the "exclamation mark" on a years-long erosion of trust in Beijing's governance, said Terry Haines, founder of the consulting firm Pangaea Policy."Washington's a whole lot more focused and a whole lot warier than it was a few months ago," the policy analyst said.Perceptions of China's coronavirus missteps have consolidated concerns on a number of threads, Haines said, including grievances over national security and technology, human rights, and "the whole panoply of trade issues".The pandemic has also amplified Washington concerns about the dependence of US pharmaceutical supply chains on China, which US Commissioner of Food and Drugs Stephen Hahn this week called a "critical risk factor".Hahn said that the US supply of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) had remained unscathed in the current crisis, but the pandemic is all but certain to provide grist to those in Congress and the administration who are pushing to disentangle US supply chains from China " particularly those that can be linked directly to the safety and security of Americans."Whatever decoupling actually looks like, both sides of the aisle will be looking to do something once Washington comes out of quarantine," the senior congressional staffer said.Legislation on China would "have to be driven by [congressional] leadership", said the senior staffer, who " along with the House aide " said it was more likely that pieces would be pushed through as amendments to must-pass bills, like the budget, or the National Defence Authorisation Act, rather than as stand-alone pieces.But whether the two parties can work together in a presidential election year, when "consensus may fall apart", remains to be seen, said the senior staffer.Even now, some seven months from the election, cracks have begun to form in the bipartisan alliance that has formed over several years around a more hawkish China policy.While Republican lawmakers and some in the Trump administration have sought to blame Beijing for the coronavirus' global spread, Democrats have largely focused on the domestic missteps by the federal government.No Democrat is among the 22 backers of Tuesday's resolution seeking an end to US funding of the WHO, for instance. And at the end of March, Seth Moulton, the only Democrat who initially supported a resolution calling on Chinese leaders to state there was no evidence the coronavirus "originated anywhere other than China" withdrew amid blowback from colleagues, who said the legislation would fuel anti-Asian racism in the US.When I signed onto H.Res.907, I did so because it is important to recognize and condemn the CCP's authoritarian tactics. Instead, it has been used to create division, as the president's xenophobia stokes racism across the country. For that reason, I am withdrawing my support. pic.twitter.com/3vT3qQvgc9" Seth Moulton (@sethmoulton) March 26, 2020Trump's presidential campaign has messaged along similar lines to congressional Republicans, portraying him as a wartime president defending the US from attack " "not just by an invisible virus," one campaign release said, "but by the Chinese".Through the elections, China issues were more likely to play out in such rhetoric than by any further legislative action, Lu, the former White House cabinet secretary, said."It's hard to imagine November not being a referendum on Trump's handling of this as well as more broadly " in terms of at the congressional level " whatever coattails or damage Trump faces on this," Lu, a Democratic National Committee superdelegate, said. "And I think the easiest point, or one possible deflection, that Republicans will use is to pivot and try to blame this all on China."That strategy would be amplified further in Midwestern farming states " a Trump political stronghold " should the pandemic's economic fallout cause China to wander from its purchasing commitments made under January's phase one trade deal, Lu added.Donald Trump's re-election prospects are likely to be determined by how he handles the Covid-19 pandemic. Photo: DPA alt=Donald Trump's re-election prospects are likely to be determined by how he handles the Covid-19 pandemic. Photo: DPASurveys suggest that targeting China will resonate with Republican voters, with one recent Morning Consult poll finding that over half of Republicans blamed Beijing for the contagion's spread to the US. Among Democrats, that figure was just 17 per cent.And in a study this week by Harris Poll, 78 per cent of Republicans " versus 40 per cent of Democrats " said the Chinese government was responsible for the spread of coronavirus in the US. Some 22 per cent of Republicans and 60 per cent of Democrats blamed the US government.While the election season and congressional preoccupation with the domestic coronavirus response may stay the bipartisan pressure campaign on Beijing, both observers and congressional insiders say that any such relief will be temporary. "Long term, we're still looking at the same sort of dynamic," said the House aide.In particular " and regardless of how the House, Senate and White House races pan out " Congress in its 117th session is likely to maintain "a significant focus on concerns surrounding China as a potential national security threat, as a strategic competitor", Ashton said. "The bilateral consensus is there and isn't going away."And just as in this session " bitterly divided on domestic matters like health care, immigration and oversight of the executive branch " a hawkish China policy may remain one of precious few areas of common ground."There will be, as today, a closely divided Congress [in terms of seats] and a president that will not have been elected in any sort of landslide," Haines said, looking ahead to January. "There will be a very divided government in many senses ... which underscores: Watch out when the views of both parties are united.""Areas where there is great consensus will lead to an awful lot of work being done," he said. "And China issues are 'Exhibit A'."Sign up now and get a 10% discount (original price US$400) off the China AI Report 2020 by SCMP Research. Learn about the AI ambitions of Alibaba, Baidu & JD.com through our in-depth case studies, and explore new applications of AI across industries. The report also includes exclusive access to webinars to interact with C-level executives from leading China AI companies (via live Q&A; sessions). Offer valid until 31 May 2020.This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2020 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Copyright (c) 2020. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
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| Iran's coronavirus death toll rises to 4,585 - health official Posted: 13 Apr 2020 02:22 AM PDT |
| Kenyan weddings, births and deaths in the age of Covid-19 Posted: 13 Apr 2020 01:29 AM PDT  Joseph Warungu looks at how the virus has changed the lives of Kenyans, from birth to death.
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| AP PHOTOS: Ghostly virus-era NYC, captured from a motorbike Posted: 13 Apr 2020 01:06 AM PDT  In its best days, in its highest moments, New York City is dizzying. Underneath it all, from Manhattan to the boroughs and back, industrial-strength subways carry industrial-strength people of all shapes and hues from home to work and back again. Then there are the worst days, the hardest moments.
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| As virus deaths rise, Sweden sticks to 'low-scale' lockdown Posted: 13 Apr 2020 12:37 AM PDT  The 63-year-old has become a household name in Sweden, appearing across the media and holding daily briefings outlining the progression of the outbreak with a precise, quiet demeanor. As countries across Europe have restricted the movement of their citizens, Sweden stands out for what Tegnell calls a "low-scale" approach that "is much more sustainable" over a longer period. President Donald Trump has suggested that a rising number of COVID-19 deaths indicate Sweden is paying a heavy price for embracing the idea of herd immunity — that is, letting many individuals get sick to build up immunity in the population.
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| Germany debates easing restrictions as new infections drop Posted: 13 Apr 2020 12:36 AM PDT |
| Child sex abuse in Pakistan's religious schools is endemic Posted: 12 Apr 2020 11:06 PM PDT  Muhimman proudly writes his name slowly, carefully, one letter at a time, grinning broadly as he finishes. Earlier this year, a cleric at the religious school he faithfully attended in the southern Punjab town of Pakpattan took him into a washroom and tried to rape him. Muhimman's aunt, Shazia, who wanted only her first name used, said she believes the abuse of young children is endemic in Pakistan's religious schools.
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| Backup coronavirus hospital in Memphis worries residents Posted: 12 Apr 2020 10:12 PM PDT  Faced with the threat of overburdened hospitals, states across the country are converting convention centers, sports facilities and performance spaces into backup treatment sites for coronavirus patients. Tennessee is no exception. What some Memphis residents don't get is why in their city, a shopping center in the middle of a predominantly black, low-income residential neighborhood has been singled out.
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| Analysis: Will voters want a president who feels their pain? Posted: 12 Apr 2020 10:10 PM PDT  In 1992, Americans ousted an incumbent president in the middle of an economic downturn because his challenger, Bill Clinton, seemed to better feel their pain. Twenty years later, when the nation was still climbing out of another recession, voters stuck with President Barack Obama rather than siding with challenger Mitt Romney, who was caught on tape dismissing half the population as people who "believe they are the victims."
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| Volunteers feed hungry animals at Nepal's revered shrine Posted: 12 Apr 2020 09:48 PM PDT  When COVID-19 came to Nepal, attention turned to an unlikely group of victims: hundreds of monkeys, cows and pigeons. Now, every morning and evening, a few guards, about a dozen staff and some volunteers come out to ensure that the animals survive.
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| Trump claims 'total' authority to reopen economy, over govs Posted: 12 Apr 2020 09:42 PM PDT  President Donald Trump claimed the "total" authority Monday to decide how and when to reopen the economy after weeks of tough social distancing guidelines aimed at fighting the new coronavirus. Democratic leaders in the Northeast and along the West Coast announced separate state compacts to coordinate their efforts to scale back stay-at-home orders or reopen businesses on their own timetables, even as Trump argued it was his call. "When somebody is president of the United States, the authority is total," Trump said at Monday's White House coronavirus briefing.
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| Biden, liberal court candidate win chaotic Wisconsin vote Posted: 12 Apr 2020 08:48 PM PDT  A liberal challenger on Monday ousted a conservative Wisconsin Supreme Court justice endorsed by President Donald Trump, overcoming a successful push by Republicans to forge ahead with last week's election even as numerous other states postponed theirs due to the coronavirus pandemic. Joe Biden also emerged victorious, as expected, in the state's Democratic presidential primary. The absentee-ballot-fueled victory by liberal Supreme Court candidate Jill Karofsky was a huge win for Democrats.
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| Despite pandemic disruptions, UN carries on -- by videoconference Posted: 12 Apr 2020 06:22 PM PDT  The usually buttoned-down world of the United Nations is having an unruly April as it copes with the global coronavirus pandemic in a city that is suffering terribly from it. The UN Security Council's president is stuck in the Caribbean. Closed-door meetings of ambassadors have been upheaved by news leaks.
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| Iran vows to protect people from virus economic impact Posted: 12 Apr 2020 05:46 PM PDT  Iran vowed Monday to protect its people from the economic impact of the novel coronavirus as the official death toll in the Middle East's worst-hit country passed 4,500. The government of President Hassan Rouhani has struggled to contain the outbreak since it announced the country's first COVID-19 cases nearly two months ago.
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