| Coronavirus: Why Africans should take part in vaccine trials Posted: 17 May 2020 04:51 PM PDT  Scientists in Africa explain that any trials would be properly regulated and so the scare stories should be ignored.
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| Canadian acrobatic jet crashes amid pandemic show; 1 dead Posted: 17 May 2020 02:08 PM PDT  A Canadian acrobatic jet crashed into a British Columbia neighborhood Sunday during a flyover intended to boost morale during the pandemic, killing one crew member, seriously injuring another and setting a house on fire. The crash left debris scattered across the neighborhood near the airport in the city of Kamloops, 260 miles (418 kilometers) northeast of Vancouver. The Snowbirds are Canada's equivalent of the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds or U.S. Navy's Blue Angels.
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| Pirates attack tanker off Yemen coast, causing minor damage Posted: 17 May 2020 12:59 PM PDT |
| Iran's Khamenei says US will be expelled from Iraq, Syria Posted: 17 May 2020 12:43 PM PDT  Iran's supreme leader said Sunday that the United States will be expelled from Iraq and Syria and alleged that even Washington's allies "abhor" it now. The US "will not be staying either in Iraq or Syria and must withdraw and will certainly be expelled", said Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to his official website. Both the US and Iran have weighed into Syria's conflict -- Tehran backing the Damascus regime, while Washington supported the Kurds against the Islamic State group -- and both have been major geopolitical players in Iraq since the toppling of dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003.
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| Cousin of Syria's Assad faces legal action over telecom debt Posted: 17 May 2020 12:40 PM PDT  Syria's telecommunications authority on Sunday said a deadline for a cellular company owned by the cousin of President Bashar Assad to pay back its debts to the state has ended, adding that legal measures will be taken against the company to recover the money. The announcement came hours after Assad's cousin, Rami Makhlouf, released a new video in which the businessman said he was asked to step down from the leadership of Syriatel, the biggest telecommunication company in the country. Syriatel has 11 million subscribers, with 50% of revenues going to the state.
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| 5 Iran tankers sailing to Venezuela amid US pressure tactics Posted: 17 May 2020 10:14 AM PDT  Five Iranian tankers likely carrying at least $45.5 million worth of gasoline and similar products are now sailing to Venezuela, part of a wider deal between the two U.S.-sanctioned nations amid heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington. The tankers' voyage came after Venezuela's socialist leader Nicolás Maduro already turned to Iran for help in flying in chemicals needed at an aging refinery amid a gasoline shortage, a symptom of the wider economic and political chaos gripping Latin America's one-time largest oil producer. For Iran, the tankers represent a way to bring money into its cash-starved Shiite theocracy and put its own pressure on the U.S., which under President Donald Trump has pursued maximalist campaigns against both nations.
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| Report: Airstrikes in east Syria kill Iran-backed fighters Posted: 17 May 2020 09:56 AM PDT |
| Coronavirus: Tanzania President Magufuli says hospital numbers reducing Posted: 17 May 2020 09:06 AM PDT  President Magufuli says patient numbers are falling despite US saying hospitals are "overwhelmed".
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| The Postal Service Is the Most American Thing We've Got Posted: 17 May 2020 08:52 AM PDT  TRUMP CALLS IT 'A JOKE.' WASHINGTON AND LINCOLN WOULD DISAGREE.It would be difficult to think of a time when we have depended more on the United States Postal Service. With tens of millions of Americans quarantined in their homes, the steady delivery of checks, letters, food and medical supplies is a lifeline.That goes especially for the elderly, the sick and the poor, the people most affected by the virus. They have limited access to laptops and phones, so Zoom is not an option for them. For these citizens, the sight of a blue uniform six days a week reminds them that their government is there for them.Strangely, that same government is trying to undermine one of its most effective instruments. President Trump has dismissed the Postal Service as "a joke," and last week named Louis DeJoy, a major Republican Party donor with no experience in the agency, as his next postmaster general, replacing a lifelong postal employee.The president has also demanded that the Postal Service quadruple its shipping prices, motivated in part, it seems, by the desire to hurt one of its big users, Amazon. Mr. Trump's drive to raise prices dovetails with the desire by many Republicans to either force the service to privatize or at least undercut it in favor of private shippers like FedEx.If prices are quadrupled, it will briefly inconvenience Amazon, which will simply pass on the expenses to its customers. But for the Americans most reliant on home delivery, this will come as a heavy new tax. At the same time, the service is in financial trouble; without major new funding, it will run out of money in September, well before the November election -- whose success may depend on a huge mail-in effort.The Postal Service was never supposed to be a moneymaking enterprise, or a political football. The founders understood that the reliable delivery of information was basic to democracy.In 1775, even before this country came into existence, the Continental Congress asked Benjamin Franklin to organize a postal system for the 13 colonies at war with a distant empire. George Washington deepened that commitment when he became president.In 1792, he and James Madison pushed an act through Congress establishing a national system of post offices and post roads. The legislation specifically set a low rate for newspapers, so that Americans could learn about the issues of the day. As Washington wrote in his annual message of 1791, a strong postal system was essential to democracy, and would help to spread "a knowledge of the laws and proceedings of the government."In the years that followed, Europeans marveled at the efficiency of the American system. Alexis de Tocqueville noted an "astonishing circulation of letters and newspapers" everywhere he went. In good times and bad, the mail went out, to all of the country's far-flung citizens. Even after the Civil War broke out, Lincoln insisted that the U.S. mail be delivered throughout the seceded states. So it was, for nearly two months, until the Confederacy established its own system, and broke off this last connection. Immodestly, Jefferson Davis created a stamp with his own image on it.______ Many of the earliest letter carriers were wounded Civil War veterans, grateful for a chance to work. ______In the winter of 1862, a Cleveland postal clerk named Joseph W. Briggs felt sorry for the women he saw waiting in long lines the cold for letters from the front, and proposed that letter carriers deliver the mail to people's homes. Before to that, Americans picked up their mail in person at the local post office.Briggs's idea was approved, and "free city delivery" spread across the North. To help, cities and towns named all of their streets and created numbered addresses for each domicile, including the most modest apartments. As Lincoln understood, the Union included all of these homes, each of which was contributing in its way. They deserved their mail.Thousands were needed to carry out free city delivery, and the postal work force boomed. Many of the earliest letter carriers were wounded veterans, grateful for a chance to work. By hiring those who had given so much for their country, the Lincoln administration signaled that veterans could expect their country to look out for them -- an important precedent for future veterans programs, as well as the New Deal.Letter carriers took a pledge to act with courtesy toward all Americans. Their blue uniforms, introduced in 1868, were a pro-American statement. So was the idea that any place in the Union could be reached by these hearty mail carriers, carrying sacks of up to 75 pounds.The Postal Service helped to heal the country by uniting North and South into one system again, and the introduction of rural free delivery in 1896 connected farm families to the wider world. The mail even facilitated immigration, allowing young migrants to let relatives know their whereabouts. In 1889, more than 87 million letters were sent between the United States and Europe. Letter carriers delivered the mail through the 1918 flu pandemic, and every other crisis of the 20th century.This rich tradition remains a source of pride for postal employees. The Postal Service has also strengthened democracy in a quieter way, through its commitment to diversity -- 39 percent of its employees are people of color, and 40 percent are women.Americans may be living apart, by necessity; but it does not necessarily follow that we must be so divided. Thanks to our letter carriers, we are not. They show up every day, binding Americans together, as Lincoln hoped they would. Every delivery is a small act of union.The slogan on the old Farley Post Office building in New York proclaims these words: "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds." They were added by one of the building's architects, William Mitchell Kendall, who found the lines in Herodotus. Awkwardly, they describe the efficiency of the Persian couriers, whose descendants now populate Iran -- an argument that may not win friends in the Trump administration.But if that inscription does not suit, there is another one close to the White House and the Capitol, easily read from the street, that reminds how much we get from our mail. The old Washington Post Office is now the Smithsonian's National Postal Museum, close to Union Station. The inscription over its west entrance asserts that a letter carrier is not only the "consoler of the lonely," but the "enlarger of the common life." Common life endures, even in a crisis, as Washington, Lincoln and other presidents instinctively understood. Despite the president's claims, the Postal Service is no joke.This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company
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| Germany's far-Right AfD party splinters as Chancellor Angela Merkel climbs in the polls Posted: 17 May 2020 08:09 AM PDT  Bitter divisions within Germany's far-Right AfD party spilled out into the open over the weekend, when the party's more moderate faction succeeded in ejecting a high-profile extremist from their ranks. The rift comes as Angela Merkel's popularity climbs due to what is seen as her calm and efficient handling of the response to the Covid-19 pandemic, and the AfD's popularity sinks. Andreas Kalbitz, AfD leader in Brandenburg, was stripped of his party membership on Friday after the national leadership voted narrowly to dispel him after discovering his previous association with an extremist movement. Mr Kalbitz was found to have concealed from the party that he once attended meetings of the Loyal German Youth, a movement considered by Berlin to be neo-Nazi. His ejection signalled victory for the moderates under party co-leader Jörg Meuthen who have been attempting to position the party as a conservative alternative to Mrs Merkel's centre-Right Christian Democrats.
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| Coronavirus blame game threatens to mar World Health Assembly Posted: 17 May 2020 07:57 AM PDT  The World Health Assembly is usually a sedate annual gathering of senior government health officials in Geneva attracting scant attention outside health care specialists. Not only has the coronavirus killed at least 300,000 people globally and brought a wrenching economic recession, but it has also triggered a drastic escalation in tension between the world's two largest economies, the United States and China. Embroiled in the dispute is the World Health Organization, the U.N. agency for which the assembly in Geneva acts as a decision-making body.
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| Germany's far-right AfD weakened by infighting, virus fears Posted: 17 May 2020 07:18 AM PDT  A long simmering row between the leaders of Germany's far-right AfD party and its radical fringe has boiled over, sapping their strength as Chancellor Angela Merkel climbs in the polls. As voters look for steady leadership amid the coronavirus outbreak, the Alternative for Germany party, which had capitalised on fears linked to the large 2015-16 refugee influx, has struggled to keep a lid on increasingly toxic infighting. A feud between populist ultra-conservatives and elements in the party with ties to the right-wing extremist scene came to a head over the weekend after the party board ousted one of its state leaders, Andreas Kalbitz.
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| In Detroit, NYC, kindness comes one slice of pizza at a time Posted: 17 May 2020 07:02 AM PDT  Before the pandemic, Shalinder Singh spent Sundays at his gurdwara, helping serve a community meal for 300 people or more at the Sikh place of worship in suburban Detroit. Singh and his family have paid for and delivered hundreds of pies to hospitals, police stations and fire departments since the gurdwara suspended in-person services.
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| Law enforcement ties, long delay complicate Arbery case Posted: 17 May 2020 06:56 AM PDT  There was an abundance of evidence when officers arrived at the scene on a February afternoon in coastal Georgia: A man, apparently unarmed, lying on the street, soaked in blood. Local prosecutors are now under investigation for their handling of the case. And a newly appointed investigative agency and prosecutor must untangle the criminal investigation, build a case and make up for lost time.
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| 7 Islamic State militants escape jail in NE Syria; 4 caught Posted: 17 May 2020 06:39 AM PDT |
| Independent Egyptian media outlet says top editor arrested Posted: 17 May 2020 06:36 AM PDT  A prominent investigative media outlet in Egypt said security forces detained its editor-in-chief Sunday, the latest arrest amid a wider crackdown on dissent and the media. Mada Masr, one of a shrinking number of independent news websites in Egypt, said Lina Attalah was arrested outside Cairo's Tora prison complex. The outlet said she was conducting an interview with Laila Soueif, the mother of jailed activist Alaa Abdel Fattah.
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| Virus heads upriver in Brazil Amazon, sickens native people Posted: 17 May 2020 06:29 AM PDT  In the remote Amazon community of Betania, Tikuna tribe members suspect the coronavirus arrived this month after some returned from a two-hour boat trip down the Solimoes River to pick up their government benefit payments. The Tikuna's plight illustrates the danger from the coronavirus as it spreads to rainforest areas where tribe members live in close quarters with limited medical services.
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| Israeli troops wound man who crossed frontier from Lebanon Posted: 17 May 2020 06:28 AM PDT |
| US military's mystery space plane rockets back into orbit Posted: 17 May 2020 06:15 AM PDT  The previous mission lasted a record two years, with a touchdown shrouded in darkness at NASA's Kennedy Space Center last year. The winged spacecraft resembles NASA's old shuttles, but is just one-quarter the size at 29 feet (9 meters) long. The Air Force has two of these reusable space planes.
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| Fear of the future: Class of 2020 enters a world in crisis Posted: 17 May 2020 06:07 AM PDT  Tyler Lyson watched his parents' financial collapse in the Great Recession, a decade ago. The 27-year-old won a full scholarship to the University of California-Berkeley and, on Monday, will become the first in his family to graduate from college. Instead, he feels powerless and panicked, with a political science degree that he fears may prove worthless.
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| Afghan president and rival announce power-sharing agreement Posted: 17 May 2020 05:17 AM PDT  Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and political rival Abdullah Abdullah signed a power-sharing agreement, two months after both declared themselves the winner of last September's presidential election, Ghani's spokesman said Sunday. The political deal would see Ghani remain president of the war-torn nation, tweeted his spokesman Sediq Sediqqi. The deal also calls for Abdullah to lead the country's National Reconciliation High Council, and he will be able to appoint half of Ghani's Cabinet and issue executive orders.
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| Biden's VP search puts spotlight on how long he'll serve Posted: 17 May 2020 04:48 AM PDT  Joe Biden has longed to win the White House for more than three decades. In an effort to ease concerns about his age, the 77-year-old presumptive Democratic nominee has said he wouldn't seek reelection if his mental or physical health declined. Biden is rarely known for sticking to a script, and the comments are evidence of his candid style.
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| Iran says virus deaths close to 7,000 Posted: 17 May 2020 04:42 AM PDT  Iran said Friday it had recorded nearly 7,000 deaths from the novel coronavirus, warning of infection clusters in new regions after it partially eased lockdown measures. Health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said the COVID-19 illness had claimed a further 51 lives over 24 hours into Sunday. The ministry raised the overall death toll to 6,988 since Iran announced its first fatalities in the Shiite pilgrimage city of Qom in February.
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| 'COVID toes,' other rashes latest possible rare virus signs Posted: 17 May 2020 04:21 AM PDT  Skin doctors suddenly are looking at a lot of toes — whether by emailed picture or video visit — as concern grows that for some people, a sign of COVID-19 may pop up in an unusual spot. Boston dermatologist Esther Freeman expected to see skin complaints as the pandemic unfolded — various kinds of rashes occur when people get very ill from other viruses. "But I was not anticipating those would be toes," said Freeman of Massachusetts General Hospital, who has viewed via telemedicine more toes in the last several weeks than in her entire career.
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| Felicien Kabuga captured: Africa's most wanted and the mastermind behind Rwandan genocide seized in Paris Posted: 17 May 2020 03:26 AM PDT  French police seized the man regarded as the intellectual and financial mastermind behind the Rwandan genocide on Saturday, ending a transcontinental 26-year manhunt for "the Eichmann of Africa". Félicien Kabuga, Africa's most wanted fugitive, was arrested in the northern outskirts of Paris after a dawn raid on his flat in the commune of Asnières-sur-Seine. Officers said the 84 year-old had been living there under an assumed identity. French authorities released few details about the operation, beyond hailing the capture of "one of the world's most wanted fugitives". It is believed that a series of simultaneous raids were carried out on addresses across France, some linked to Kabuga's children, to ensure that he did not escape. Those familiar with the investigation suggested that the operation, at least in terms of the painstaking intelligence work involved, had echoes of the Mossad mission to seize the Nazi war criminal Adolph Eichmann from Buenos Aires in 1960. The British security services played an "essential" role in the operation that led to Kabuga's capture, according to United Nations prosecutors. So, too, did investigators in the United States, which has long had a $5 million (£4.1m) bounty on his head, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Luxembourg and Switzerland. Kabuga will not be sedated and spirited away to Rwanda in the way Eichmann was smuggled into Israel, where he was tried and hanged for his role as a primary architect of the Final Solution. Instead he will eventually be handed over to a United Nations tribunal to answer longstanding charges of crimes against humanity.
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| Officials: Bombs kill 7 in shelter for displaced in Libya Posted: 17 May 2020 03:12 AM PDT |
| The coronavirus infodemic Posted: 17 May 2020 03:00 AM PDT  How the coronavirus sparked a tsunami of misinformation. Here's everything you need to know:What's being said? Social media has been awash in lies, rumors, and distortions about the coronavirus, its origins, and potential cures almost since the pandemic's start. NewsGuard, a private company that rates websites' reliability, has identified 203 websites throughout the world promoting COVID-19 misinformation. Among the most popular COVID-19 myths were "Garlic can cure COVID-19," "A group funded by Bill Gates patented the coronavirus," and "The COVID-19 virus is a man-made bioweapon." The World Health Organization is calling the deluge of misinformation "an infodemic," while Google, Facebook, and Twitter are instituting policies to help slow the spread of lies. CEO Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook fact-checkers have "taken down hundreds of thousands of pieces of misinformation," and slapped warnings on 40 million posts during March alone, the company says. Last week, YouTube removed a video titled "Plandemic" that had been viewed millions of times, featuring discredited microbiologist and anti-vaxxer Judy Mikovits. In the video and a book that reached No. 1 on Amazon, Mikovits contends the coronavirus was created and spread by a conspiracy of wealthy people and scientists such as Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, to bolster vaccine rates and make money. Mikovits has been claiming her career was destroyed by Fauci and other scientists since she falsely reported in a 2009 study, later retracted by the journal that published it, that a retrovirus caused chronic fatigue syndrome.What's the motive? For some, profit; for others, attention. Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and his InfoWars website have warned their audience that the coronavirus is a man-made tool to winnow the world's population. InfoWars was ordered by the FDA and FTC last month to stop peddling products such as "SuperSilver Whitening Toothpaste," and "Superblue Silver Immune Gargle" that Jones portrayed as coronavirus cures and prophylactics. He and many other websites popular on Facebook are hawking colloidal silver as a cure for coronavirus; taken in large doses, it turns your skin blue. The idea that there is a magical treatment has been promoted by President Trump, who suggested that UV light and disinfectant could be used to kill the virus inside the lungs "almost like a cleaning." He also spent weeks promoting an anti-malaria drug, hydroxychloroquine, as "one of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine." That led to a huge spike in sales of the drug, and to state governments stockpiling 30 million doses of it. Several studies have subsequently found that hydroxychloroquine has no benefit for COVID-19 patients and can cause life-threatening heart arrhythmias.Why so much disinformation? Stanford University Professor Robert N. Proctor says humanity has always been susceptible to misinformation during "a time of great fear ... from the burning of witches on up to hydroxychloroquine." Conspiracy theories, he says, make powerless people feel they have some inside knowledge and thus some control over frightening events. Misinformation also spread easily during prior health scares, including the Spanish flu outbreak of 1918, the AIDS epidemic, and SARS in 2003. The fact that so little is known about the coronavirus also fuels the lies and rumors. "It's frustrating when responsible media say, 'Look, we don't know the answers yet,'" said Carl T. Bergstrom, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Washington who studies misinformation.What are state actors doing? The State Department has warned that Iran, China, and Russia are using coronavirus propaganda to damage the U.S. and distract their own populations from their poor official response. A Russian state TV network, for example, falsely reported that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation created the coronavirus in conjunction with pharmaceutical companies to profit off therapies. Both Russian and Iranian state sources have claimed the virus is a U.S.-created bioweapon, and the state-run China Global Television Network says the pandemic was started by Americans who went to Wuhan, China, for a military athletic competition in October.What's the 5G theory? One of the most popular conspiracy theories holds that the pandemic was actually caused by radio waves from that new mobile technology, noting that it was deployed in Wuhan shortly before the outbreak. In Britain, arsonists torched at least 20 cellphone towers and engineers have been harassed. In one clip, viewed more than 2 million times, a British woman asks telecom engineers why they are laying what she believes to be 5G cables, saying the cables are going to "kill everyone." In her video, book, and tweets, Mikovits promotes even more bizarre ideas, including that sheltering in place, washing your hands, and wearing a mask can increase your likelihood of getting COVID-19. These protective measures, she says, are "literally killing people." In the scientific community, Mikovits is known as a quack who was fired from a research institute and arrested for stealing equipment. But in the social media era, said Renée DiResta, who studies disinformation at the Stanford Internet Observatory, what millions of people believe "is essentially determined by whoever runs the best marketing campaign."The myth of 'patient zero' Maatje Benassi has become a poster case for coronavirus conspiracy theories and the havoc that they can wreak. In October, the U.S. Army reservist and mother of two competed in the Military World Games, an Olympics-style event held in Wuhan, China. During the final lap of the cycling competition, Benassi fell and suffered a concussion, although she got up and finished the race. Over ensuing months, the Chinese government and Chinese social media promulgated the unfounded theory that Americans competing in the games had created the virus in a lab and smuggled it into the country through Benassi, calling her "patient zero." Benassi says she's never had COVID-19. The narrative was co-opted by American conspiracy theorist George Webb, who spread it across YouTube. Benassi has since been flooded with death threats and seen her home address published online. "It's like waking up from a bad dream going into a nightmare day after day," she said. "Every time you're going to Google my name, it will pop up as patient zero."This article was first published in the latest issue of The Week magazine. If you want to read more like it, you can try six risk-free issues of the magazine here.More stories from theweek.com The pre-election number Trump's team reportedly fears the most is the COVID-19 'body count' The conservative victimhood complex has made America impossible to govern Sanders is confident his supporters will back Biden 'at the end of the day'
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| Félicien Kabuga: Rwanda genocide survivors happy with arrest Posted: 17 May 2020 02:47 AM PDT  A widows' group says "everyone has been waiting" for his apprehension, 26 years after the slaughter.
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| As mosques reopen in West Africa, COVID-19 fears grow Posted: 17 May 2020 01:55 AM PDT  It's been a Ramadan unlike any other for Abdourahmane Sall, far from the mosque during the Muslim holy month as coronavirus cases mount. With only a little over a week left, he decided joining thousands of others in tradition was worth the risk after authorities allowed prayers to resume. Men formed orderly lines outside the Massalikul Jinaan mosque in Dakar as they waited to receive hand sanitizer before entering while uniformed police watched on nearby.
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| Michel Barnier 'losing the argument' in Brexit trade row, Britain's chief negotiator tells Boris Johnson Posted: 17 May 2020 01:47 AM PDT  David Frost, Britain's chief Brexit negotiator, has told Boris Johnson that Michel Barnier is "losing the argument" in UK-EU trade talks but negotiations could end in no deal. Mr Frost briefed the Prime Minister that the EU must change its approach if there is to be any chance of sealing a free trade agreement before the deadline of the end of the year. But he warned that Mr Barnier, the EU's chief negotiator, was straitjacketed by the EU's refusal to change his negotiating mandate, which forced him to make unreasonable demands over fishing and the level playing field guarantees. Officials believe Brussels is trying to force a halfway house compromise on British red lines such as a continued role for the European Court of Justice in British affairs, the creation of a Norway-style fishing agreement or the UK's right to regulate itself as it sees fit. British negotiators believe that no trade-offs on these fundamentals are possible, even if Mr Johnson was to intervene personally in the negotiations to try and break the deadlock. Relations plummeted to a new low as the last round of trade negotiations closed in mutual recrimination on Friday.
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| At least 6 countries reimposed lockdown measures as new coronavirus cases flared up again. Here's what they looked like. Posted: 17 May 2020 01:18 AM PDT  China, Germany, Iran, South Korea, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia all reimposed partial new measures after discovering a spike in infections.
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| Officials: Chinese ambassador to Israel found dead in home Posted: 17 May 2020 12:58 AM PDT  The Chinese ambassador to Israel was found dead in his home north of Tel Aviv on Sunday, Israel's Foreign Ministry said. Israeli Police Spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the ambassador's death was believed to be from natural causes. Israel enjoys good relations with China.
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| Israel finally swears in government after 3 elections Posted: 16 May 2020 11:58 PM PDT  After three deadlocked and divisive elections, a year and a half of political paralysis and another three-day delay because of political infighting in his Likud party, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu finally swore in his new government on Sunday. The Knesset, Israel's parliament, passed a vote of confidence in Netanyahu's new administration to end over 500 days of upheaval. Over the weekend, both Netanyahu and his rival-turned-partner Benny Gantz announced their appointments for the new government — the most bloated in Israeli history with an expected 36 Cabinet ministers and 16 deputies.
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| AP PHOTOS: Grand but empty, Italian hotels await tourists Posted: 16 May 2020 11:21 PM PDT  Associated Press photographers have captured the atmosphere inside prestigious establishments in Rome, Milan, Venice, on the shores of Lake Como and in Rimini, the Adriatic beach town that inspired native son Federico Fellini's cinematic vision. Many of these top-of-the-line, must-stay places for politicians, industrialists and movie stars are steeped in history.
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| Online English classes revive ties severed by war in Syria Posted: 16 May 2020 11:09 PM PDT  Through crackling internet lines and jumpy connections, a group of Syrian students recently reunited after nearly two years, recreating their English language classes and their small community online from pockets of opposition-held areas. In this corner of Syria, the move also brings together students separated by war, distance and technological hurdles. The students spent much of the first lessons catching up, at times extending their Zoom call twice.
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| Inside the rush to secure Rio de Janeiro's few COVID-19 beds Posted: 16 May 2020 09:06 PM PDT  Specialists stood over intubated patients in the intensive care unit, reviewing charts and jotting down notes. Two empty beds were in sight Saturday morning, but doctors at the Sao Jose hospital in a working class city just north of Rio de Janeiro said they would be occupied by afternoon. "People are coming from all over," José Carlos de Oliveira, health secretary for the city of Duque de Caxias, told The Associated Press in the hospital's parking lot.
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| 11 Los Angeles firefighters hurt while running from blast Posted: 16 May 2020 07:18 PM PDT  An explosion Saturday at a hash oil manufacturer in downtown Los Angeles injured 11 firefighters who had gone inside and on the roof to try to knock down a fire and then had to run for their lives when a ball of flames shot out the building and scorched a fire truck across the street. Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Erik Scott said "one significant explosion" shook the neighborhood around 6:30 p.m. Firefighters inside had to run through a wall of flames he estimated as 30 feet high and wide, and those on the roof scrambled down a ladder that was engulfed in fire. All 11 firefighters suffered burns ranging from minor to serious.
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