| Africa's week in pictures: 15 - 21 May 2020 Posted: 21 May 2020 04:58 PM PDT  A selection of the week's best photos from across the continent.
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| Trump to pull US out of third arms control deal Posted: 21 May 2020 03:33 PM PDT  The Open Skies Treaty allows Russia and western nations to conduct observation flightsThe US has declared its intention to leave the Open Skies Treaty, which is intended to reduce the risk of war by allowing Russia and western nations to conduct observation flights over each other's territory.Washington informed the other 33 parties to the treaty of its intention to deliver a formal six-month notice of withdrawal on Friday, accusing Russia of violations."I think we have a very good relationship with Russia, but Russia didn't adhere to the treaty, and so until they adhere to the treaty, we will pull out," Donald Trump told reporters. He added: "There's a very good chance we'll make a new agreement or do something to put that agreement back together."In a written statement, the secretary of state Mike Pompeo said the US could reconsider its withdrawal during the six month notice period "should Russia return to full compliance with the Treaty". Moscow denies being in violation of the agreement.By starting the six-month notice period now, the administration ensures that - even if Donald Trump loses the election in November – the US will have left the treaty before a Biden administration takes office."The timing of the Trump administration's decision to withdraw is clearly tied to the political calendar," said Bob Menendez, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "By rushing this abrupt withdrawal, it is clear the Trump Administration is attempting to bind a future administration from participation in this longstanding and valuable treaty for our nation."America's European allies are keen to keep the treaty going. They have benefited from the more than 1,500 overflights carried out under the OST, allowing them to observe Russian military movements, and see it as a remaining element of international cohesion and transparency."The writing has been on the wall for a long time," a European diplomat said, adding it was "still disappointing".The OST is the third arms control agreement Trump has left. He took the US out of the Iran nuclear deal in 2018, and the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces treaty in 2019. There are fears for the future of the last treaty limiting US and Russian strategic nuclear weapons, New Start, which is due to expire in February next year, and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, which the US has signed (observing a voluntary moratorium on nuclear tests) but not ratified.It is unclear how Russia will respond to US withdrawal. They will now be able to fly over US bases in Europe but the US will no longer be allowed to overfly Russia.Under the 2020 defence spending act, the administration is supposed to explain to Congress how leaving OST serves US security interests and give assurances that Washington has consulted its partners, 120 days before serving formal notice of withdrawal."Reckless deal wrecking and the collapse of US leadership continues," Kingston Rief, director for disarmament and threat reduction policy at the Arms Control Association said."The treaty benefits US and European security. Our allies value it and don't want us to leave. It has been an important tool for responding to Russia's aggression against Ukraine. This is a propaganda coup for Moscow."The US has complained about curbs that Moscow has imposed on overflights that have violated the accord. Russia limited the flight time of observation flights over the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad and set up an exclusion corridor along the border of the Russian-occupied regions of Georgia, South Ossetia and Abkhazia."Realize the Russians were cheating," Tim Morrison, who was briefly the top arms control official in the Trump White House, said on Twitter. "They were misusing the treaty against the US – as senior military and civilian leaders warned. Withdrawing denies Putin a collection tool – this is not a win for him."Russia's foreign ministry rejected allegations of infringements as "groundless" on Thursday and said Moscow had an "alternate plan" in the event of US withdrawal, but did not provide details.None of the other parties believed that the Russian infringements were enough to jeopardise the treaty.US partners were informed of the decision on Thursday with calls from the national security adviser, Robert O'Brien, the defence secretary, Mark Esper and the Pentagon's acting undersecretary for policy, James Anderson."This is insane," was the immediate tweeted reaction from Michael Hayden, a former CIA director.In a joint statement earlier this month, a group of 16 retired military commanders and defence ministers said: "Throughout its operation, the treaty has increased military transparency and predictability, helped build trust and confidence, and enhanced mutual understanding."On Thursday, German foreign minister Heiko Maas called on the US to "reconsider"."I deeply regret the announcement," Maas said, adding that "we will work with our partners to urge the US to consider its decision".He also said that Germany - along with France, Poland and Britain - had repeatedly explained to Washington that the difficulties on the Russian side in recent years "did not justify" pulling out.
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| Man who filmed Arbery shooting video charged in his slaying Posted: 21 May 2020 03:09 PM PDT  The Georgia man whose cellphone video of Ahmaud Arbery's fatal shooting helped reignite the case was charged with murder Thursday, making him the third person arrested more than two months after the slaying. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said 50-year-old William "Roddie" Bryan Jr. was arrested on charges of felony murder and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment. Arbery was slain Feb. 23 when a white father and son armed themselves and pursued him after spotting the 25-year-old black man running in their neighborhood.
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| Judgment on key aspect of Huawei CFO's extradition trial in Canada due next Wednesday Posted: 21 May 2020 02:32 PM PDT  Meng was arrested in December 2018 at Vancouver International Airport at the request of the United States on charges of bank fraud, and is accused of misleading HSBC about a Huawei Technologies Co Ltd-owned [HWT.UL]company's dealings with Iran. Meng, 48, has said she is innocent and is fighting extradition.
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| Judgment on key aspect of Huawei CFO's extradition trial in Canada due next Wednesday Posted: 21 May 2020 02:16 PM PDT |
| Trump Is Right to Close U.S. Skies to Russian Spies Posted: 21 May 2020 02:05 PM PDT |
| U.N. rejects U.S. claim it is using coronavirus to promote abortion Posted: 21 May 2020 11:43 AM PDT  The United Nations rejected on Thursday an accusation by the United States that the world body was using the coronavirus pandemic as an opportunity to promote access to abortion through its humanitarian response to the deadly global outbreak. The U.N. is seeking some $6.7 billion for its coronavirus response plan and has so far received $1 billion, of which $172.9 million was given by the United States. "Any suggestion that we are using the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity to promote abortion is not correct," U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
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| Trump counting on Supreme Court to block probes, lawsuits Posted: 21 May 2020 11:36 AM PDT  President Donald Trump won at least a temporary reprieve from the Supreme Court earlier this week in keeping secret grand jury materials from the Russia investigation away from Democratic lawmakers. The president and his administration are counting on the justices for more help to stymie other investigations and lawsuits. It will soon be asked by the administration to kill a lawsuit alleging that Trump is illegally profiting from his luxury hotel near the White House.
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| US seeking industry cooperation on future medical supplies Posted: 21 May 2020 11:26 AM PDT  U.S. officials are invoking a rarely used provision of American law that would shield companies from antitrust regulations to help the country from again running out of medical supplies in a pandemic. The government began formal discussions Thursday with private industry officials and representatives on a cooperative five-year agreement to ensure future supplies of protective materials, medical equipment, medicine and vaccines. The agreement would involve a provision of the Defense Production Act that has been used only twice before to enable competitive businesses and the government to discuss issues of price and supply without running afoul of antitrust regulations, said Joel Doolin, a senior official with the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
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| AP-NORC poll: State and U.S. government virus approval dips Posted: 21 May 2020 11:20 AM PDT  Views of how government at all levels is handling the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. have deteriorated somewhat over the past month, as a growing minority of Americans prefer that states lift restrictions on social and economic life. At the same time, the new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows ratings of President Donald Trump's overall performance remain remarkably steady, as they have for much of his presidency. — Only about a third of Americans approve of how the federal government is handling the pandemic, while more — roughly half — now disapprove.
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| Trump steps up anti-China rhetoric threatening 'very strong' response if Hong Kong law passes Posted: 21 May 2020 11:20 AM PDT  Donald Trump warned China that the US would respond "very strongly" if Beijing imposed tighter control over Hong Kong, as tensions rise between the two countries amid fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. China's government announced that national security legislation for Hong Kong will be proposed at its annual 'rubber stamp' parliamentary sessions, which opened yesterday, in the latest sign from Beijing plans to crack down on pro-democracy protests in the semi-autonomous territory. "If it happens, we'll address that very strongly," Mr Trump said as he took questions from the White House on Thursday. Mr Trump has stepped up his attacks on China over the coronavirus pandemic in recent days, appearing to directly blame Chinese president Xi Jinping for a campaign of "disinformation" that helped spread Covid-19 around the world. In a rare shot at his Chinese counterpart, the US president tweeted on Wednesday night: "It all comes from the top. They could have easily stopped the plague, but they didn't!" Mr Trump's comments came as a study suggested that around 36,000 fewer Americans would have died from the pandemic if the US had imposed social distancing measures just one week earlier than it did in mid-March.
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| AP-NORC poll: Trump approval remains steady during pandemic Posted: 21 May 2020 11:06 AM PDT  As the coronavirus pandemic stretches on, Americans' views of the federal and state government response to the crisis are starting to sour — yet President Donald Trump's personal approval rating has remained steady. A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that 41% of Americans approve of the president's job performance, while 58% disapprove. The survey highlights one of the remarkable features of Trump's tenure as president: Despite a steady drumbeat of controversies, an impeachment trial and now a historic public health crisis, few Americans have changed their views of him.
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| China Releases e-Yuan Cryptocurrency and Investors are Going All-In Posted: 21 May 2020 11:00 AM PDT |
| AP FACT CHECK: Trump's false 'Choice' on vets' health care Posted: 21 May 2020 10:48 AM PDT  President Donald Trump is putting forth a false "Choice" when he boasts about a program aimed at improving veterans' health care by steering more patients to the private sector. Heading toward the Memorial Day weekend, Trump bragged anew that he got the Veterans Choice program passed so veterans now can choose to go to private doctors immediately for care if they have to wait too long for appointments at government-run VA medical facilities. TRUMP: "We've done the greatest job maybe of anything in the VA, because I got VA Choice ... approved."
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| Coronavirus in South Africa: Two-day-old baby dies Posted: 21 May 2020 10:43 AM PDT  The prematurely born baby, who had trouble breathing, is among the youngest victims in the world.
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| Turkey sees drop in daily coronavirus infections Posted: 21 May 2020 10:25 AM PDT  Turkey on Thursday reported its lowest daily increase in confirmed coronavirus cases in the past two months, with 961 new infections in the past 24 hours. Health Minister Fahrettin Koca also reported 27 more deaths in the past 24 hours. The total number of infections in the country now stands at 153,548, with a total of 4,249 deaths.
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| Hundreds killed in new violence in South Sudan, ICRC says Posted: 21 May 2020 10:07 AM PDT |
| Forecasters predict busy 2020 Atlantic hurricane season Posted: 21 May 2020 09:50 AM PDT  With forecasters predicting another intense Atlantic hurricane season with as many as 13 to 19 named storms, disaster preparedness experts say it's critically important for people in evacuation zones to plan to stay with friends or family, rather than end up in shelters during the coronavirus pandemic. "Shelters are meant to keep you safe, not make you comfortable," said Carlos Castillo, acting deputy administrator for resilience at FEMA. "Social distancing and other CDC guidance to keep you safe from COVID-19 may impact the disaster preparedness plan you had in place, including what is in your go-kit, evacuation routes, shelters, and more," Castillo said.
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| Libyan official: Tripoli forces seize another key town Posted: 21 May 2020 09:02 AM PDT |
| South Sudan clashes 'kill 300' in Jonglei state Posted: 21 May 2020 09:00 AM PDT  Among those killed in the fighting are three aid workers, one from Médecins Sans Frontières.
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| AP Interview: Opposition leader says PM embarrassing Israel Posted: 21 May 2020 08:14 AM PDT  Israel's new opposition leader said Thursday that Benjamin Netanyahu's upcoming corruption trial is "embarrassing" the country and that he believes the only reason the long-time prime minister is still in office is because lawmakers never imagined a scenario in which an indicted premier would not have the decency to step down himself. In his first English-language interview since assuming the post, Yair Lapid said he was uncomfortable addressing Netanyahu's troubles before a foreign audience. "It's almost like I'm saying, I wish they would never notice this … this shouldn't happen," Lapid told The Associated Press.
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| Trump declares emergency for flooded Michigan communities Posted: 21 May 2020 07:58 AM PDT  Many Central Michigan residents remained cut off from their homes Thursday even as floodwaters receded, with senior citizens among the scores of displaced people staying in shelters after flooding overwhelmed two dams, submerged homes and washed out roads. President Donald Trump, who was in Michigan to visit a Ford production plant, signed an emergency declaration authorizing the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate disaster relief efforts.
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| ‘Very unprepared:’ DEA shakeup followed mounting criticism Posted: 21 May 2020 07:47 AM PDT  This week came more upheaval as Attorney General William Barr installed the DEA's fourth acting administrator in five years. Barr had been looking to provide a soft landing spot for Shea, a close aide whose stint as acting U.S. attorney was set to end in June, barring an unlikely extension by the district court in Washington.
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| Israeli military says Iran is slowly pulling out of Syria Posted: 21 May 2020 07:40 AM PDT  Iran is slowly pulling out of Syria in response to Israeli strikes, as well as growing domestic discontent linked to the economy and its handling of the coronavirus pandemic, the Israeli military said Thursday. Israel and Iran have for years been engaged in a shadow war that has recently been playing out in Syria, where Israel says Iran has been boosting its military presence along the frontier. Amid the chaos of the Syrian civil war, Israel has carried out repeated strikes aimed at pushing back Iranian forces and preventing the transfer of advanced weapons to Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group that is also fighting in Syria.
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| 'Invisible demon': Virus hits even top-rated nursing homes Posted: 21 May 2020 07:27 AM PDT  The Abbott Terrace Health Center in Waterbury, where 41 residents have died from the coronavirus, has been cited by regulators for infection control violations and fined three times by the state and federal governments over the last several years. It has the lowest nursing home overall rating issued by the federal government — one star, for "much below average." About 40 miles (65 kilometers) away, the Kimberly Hall North nursing home in Windsor has the highest rating, five stars, issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
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| Trump: US may rethink decision to exit surveillance treaty Posted: 21 May 2020 07:26 AM PDT  President Donald Trump said Thursday that Russian violations make it untenable for the U.S. to stay in a treaty that permits 30-plus nations to conduct observation flights over each other's territory, but he hinted it's possible the U.S. will reconsider the decision to withdraw. Trump's announcement comes as the U.S. begins new nuclear arms control talks with the Kremlin aimed at replacing an expiring weapons treaty with a modern and potentially three-way accord that brings China into the fold. Senior administration officials say Trump's willingness to leave the Open Skies Treaty is evidence of how prominently arms control verification and compliance will feature in the new talks.
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| ICRC warns of dire humanitarian crisis in northeast Syria Posted: 21 May 2020 07:04 AM PDT  The International Committee of the Red Cross warned Thursday of a worsening crisis in northeast Syria, where water cuts, food shortages and depleted health services are proving as dangerous as coronavirus. Home to sprawling displacement camps hosting tens of thousands of people, including families of Islamic State group members, the Kurdish-held northeast has been hard hit by nine years of war. A COVID-19 outbreak, which the United Nations says has infected six people and killed one in the region, has only added to a litany of challenges in the area, the ICRC said.
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| Cape Town is virus hot spot for South Africa and continent Posted: 21 May 2020 06:19 AM PDT  Cape Town has become the center of the COVID-19 outbreak in South Africa and one of Africa's hot spots. The popular tourist destination at the southern tip of Africa had more than 12,000 confirmed cases as of Thursday, representing 63% of South Africa's 19,000 cases and about 10% of Africa's 95,000 cases. Gauteng province containing Johannesburg, South Africa's largest city, and the capital, Pretoria, had been expected to be the country's epicenter with its population density and poverty levels, but Cape Town defied predictions with high levels of community transmission.
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| Top educator taught Kansas preschoolers alongside retirees Posted: 21 May 2020 06:02 AM PDT  Teacher Tabatha Rosproy's preschool class met inside a nursing and retirement home in rural Kansas, forming a bond with residents that continued even when social distancing requirements due to the coronavirus pandemic forced her classroom to close down. The Winfield school district in which Rosproy teaches established the early childhood program two years ago inside Cumbernauld Village, a retirement community and nursing home that sits on 44 acres (17.8 hectares) in south-central Kansas. Intergenerational programs have existed in various forms for over a century, with more than 100 in existence, said Donna Butts, executive director of Generations United, which advocates for them.
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| FBI says Texas naval base shooting is 'terrorism-related' Posted: 21 May 2020 05:49 AM PDT |
| Coronavirus: Is Tanzania's president right to say cases are falling? Posted: 21 May 2020 05:45 AM PDT  President Magufuli has been criticised for his response to the virus, but are cases falling as he claims?
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| For Spy Agencies, Briefing Trump Is a Test of Holding His Attention Posted: 21 May 2020 05:13 AM PDT  WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump has blamed many others for his administration's flawed response to the coronavirus: China, governors, the Obama administration, the World Health Organization. In recent weeks, he has also faulted the information he received from an obscure analyst who delivers his intelligence briefings.Trump has insisted that the intelligence agencies gave him inadequate warnings about the threat of the virus, describing it as "not a big deal." Intelligence officials have publicly backed him, acknowledging that Beth Sanner, the analyst who regularly briefs the president, underplayed the dangers when she first mentioned the virus to him on Jan. 23.But in blaming Sanner, a CIA analyst with three decades of experience, Trump ignored a host of warnings he received around that time from higher-ranking officials, epidemiologists, scientists, biodefense officials, other national security aides and the news media about the virus's growing threat. Trump's own health secretary had alerted him five days earlier to the potential seriousness of the virus.By the time of the Jan. 23 intelligence briefing, many government officials were already alarmed by the signs of a crisis in China, where the virus first broke out, and of a world on the brink of disaster. Within days, other national security warnings prompted the Trump administration to restrict travel from China. But the United States lost its chance to more effectively mitigate the coronavirus in the following weeks when Trump balked at further measures that might have slowed its spread.Trump has not mentioned Sanner by name when faulting her Jan. 23 briefing. But by focusing on a single briefing, some former officials said, his criticism seemed both personal and misplaced."It's hard for me to imagine her saying something like 'not so deadly,'" said Greg Treverton, a former National Intelligence Council chairman who worked with Sanner. "But it is conceivable that is what Trump heard and it wasn't exactly said."Trump, who has mounted a yearslong attack on the intelligence agencies, is particularly difficult to brief on critical national security matters, according to interviews with 10 current and former intelligence officials familiar with his intelligence briefings.The president veers off on tangents and getting him back on topic is difficult, they said. He has a short attention span and rarely, if ever, reads intelligence reports, relying instead on conservative media and his friends for information. He is unashamed to interrupt intelligence officers and riff based on tips or gossip he hears from former casino magnate Steve Wynn, retired golfer Gary Player or Christopher Ruddy, the conservative media executive.Trump rarely absorbs information that he disagrees with or that runs counter to his worldview, the officials said. Briefing him has been so great a challenge compared with his predecessors that the intelligence agencies have hired outside consultants to study how better to present information to him.Working to keep Trump's interest exhausted and burned out his first briefer, Ted Gistaro, two former officials said. Gistaro did not always know what to expect and would sometimes have to brief an erratic and angry president upset over news reports, the officials said.Richard Grenell, the acting director of national intelligence, said that the idea that Trump was difficult in intelligence briefings was "flat wrong." "When you are there, you see a president questioning the assumptions and using the opportunity to broaden the discussion to include real-world perspectives," Grenell said.White House officials disputed the characterization of Trump as inattentive. "The president is laser-focused on the issues at hand and asks probing questions throughout the briefings -- it reminds me of appearing before a well-prepared appellate judge and defending the case," Robert C. O'Brien, the national security adviser, said in response to a request for comment.Trump's demeanor is hardly judicial, former officials said, but they acknowledged he occasionally asks good questions.An official with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to make Sanner available for an interview, citing the sensitive nature of her work.Trump has long harbored a suspicion of the intelligence agencies, viewing them as part of the so-called deep state intent on undermining his victory in 2016 by revealing that Russia developed a preference for his campaign as it interfered in the election. His distrust has persisted; he publicly belittled his intelligence chiefs last year after a congressional hearing where they offered assessments at odds with the White House, directing them to "go back to school."Other presidents have had, at times, contentious relationships with their intelligence briefers. But unlike George W. Bush, who questioned assumptions underlying the analysis, or Barack Obama, who cited analysis from deep in his written briefing, Trump does not appear to read the document or to otherwise prepare beyond bringing in information he picked up from personal sources."How do you know?" is Trump's common refrain during his 30- to 50-minute briefings two or three times a week. He counters with his own statistics on issues where he has strong views, like trade or NATO. Directly challenging him, even when his numbers are wrong, appears to erode Trump's trust, according to former officials, and ultimately he stops listening.H.R. McMaster, the former national security adviser, would sometimes interject during intelligence briefings to correct Trump, but the president would ignore him. The corrections contributed to the president's growing irritation with McMaster, according to people familiar with the briefings. McMaster, who was replaced in 2018 after 13 months in the post, declined to comment.Think of Trump as a performer who is always on, even in the confines of a classified briefing, Joseph Maguire, the former acting director of national intelligence, has advised other officials. Maguire has told briefers they need to know their audience and understand that Trump honed his style on reality television, said a former senior intelligence official. Maguire declined to comment.Intelligence briefings are among the most important entries on a president's calendar. The briefer, always a top CIA analyst, delivers the latest secrets and best insights from the 17 intelligence agencies. The oral briefings to Trump are based on the President's Daily Brief, the crown jewels of intelligence reports, which draws from spywork to make sophisticated analytic predictions about long-standing adversaries, unfolding plots and emerging crises around the world.But getting Trump to remember information, even if he seems to be listening, can be all but impossible, especially if it runs counter to his worldview, former officials said.When Sanner replaced Gistaro in April 2017, she tried a new approach. She gives Trump an agenda to try to keep him on track and deploys a more analytical style than the just-the-facts delivery of Gistaro.Over her career, Sanner, 56, has directed the agency's training program for new analysts, overseen the assembly of the most sensitive intelligence reports and has expertise in Central Europe, Russia and Southeast Asia. She relies on humor and sarcasm to get her point across and will subtly challenge the president.If Trump diverges onto irrelevant topics, she will let him talk before interrupting to confidently ask to move on, said people who have seen Sanner brief the president.Trump, who made his name in real estate, is drawn to subjects like international economic developments. Sanner highlights that material and tells the president what is in the intelligence for him, according to people familiar with her briefing style. She draws from recent intelligence reports, or that day's edition of the President's Daily Brief, to lay out a compelling story around a new piece of intelligence. The technique is effective, according to associates of Sanner.Trump has also shown interest in foreign leaders, particularly autocrats like President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi of Egypt, and Sanner mentions them to draw in the president on topics that he might otherwise tune out.While Trump does not appear to read the intelligence reports he is given, he will examine graphs, charts and tables. Satellite pictures clearly interest him, too: He tweeted one from his intelligence brief, revealing the capabilities of some of the government's most classified spy assets.Trump is hardly the only president to prefer oral briefings. Richard M. Nixon also rarely read his daily intelligence reports, instead receiving updates from Henry A. Kissinger, his national security adviser. O'Brien updates Trump on new intelligence throughout the day, including a morning phone call and an end-of-the-day meeting, said a senior administration official.At the start of Trump's tenure, any discussion of Russia could upend the briefing, devolving into complaints by the president that he was unfairly being attacked in the press over Moscow's election interference campaign."There was some venting, which at times made me a little bit frustrated," Dan Coats, the former director of national intelligence, told congressional investigators. "I thought it was taking away from him getting the intelligence he needed."Sanner mostly sidesteps the risk by broadly covering election threats not just from Russia but also from China, North Korea and Iran.White House aides have also limited the number of people who attend the intelligence briefings, in part to limit leaks and to restrict the sessions to senior officials that the president is comfortable with, former officials said. Sanner leads the discussion, and is accompanied most days by Grenell and often by Gina Haspel, the CIA director. Typically, O'Brien and the White House chief of staff sit in.Sanner has cultivated a close relationship with Trump and has displayed respect for him, former officials said, so some of them were surprised when he and intelligence officials pinned blame for the administration's coronavirus response on one of her briefings."On Jan. 23, I was told that there could be a virus coming in but it was of no real import," Trump said in a recent interview with Fox News at the Lincoln Memorial. "In other words, it wasn't, 'Oh, we've got to do something, we've got to do something.' It was a brief conversation and it was only on Jan. 23."Sanner did offer limited information in that briefing, an official said, and she compared the virus to SARS, a less contagious coronavirus from China that was more quickly contained. Former officials defended her, saying that the comparison served to help the president understand the threat.China's failure to share information, not Sanner's presentation, was to blame for the relatively muted warning, according to current and former intelligence officials. Other intelligence officials also noted that public health officials, not spy agencies, were best positioned to sound early warnings about the pandemic.By February, the intelligence agency warnings were more in line with the increasingly dire predictions of the National Security Council staff and the public health officials. But unlike his aggressive move in January barring travel from China, Trump later hesitated to act, ignoring increasingly strident warnings from officials who pressed for stronger steps as the threat became clear.This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company
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| Colleges plan fall opening, but campuses won't look the same Posted: 21 May 2020 04:23 AM PDT  Growing numbers of U.S. colleges are pledging to reopen this fall, with dramatic changes to campus life to keep the coronavirus at bay. Students will face mandatory virus testing. At West Virginia University, President E. Gordon Gee said students don't want to wait for a vaccine, and the school can't afford to.
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| Iran says 10K medics infected as virus fears rise in Mideast Posted: 21 May 2020 03:51 AM PDT  The coronavirus has infected more than 10,000 health care workers in hard-hit Iran, news outlets reported Thursday, as health officials in war-ravaged Yemen and Gaza expressed mounting concern about waves of new cases. Iran's semi-official news agencies cited Deputy Health Minister Qassem Janbabaei, who did not elaborate. Reports earlier in the week put the number of infected health care workers at only 800.
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| Czech court upholds former Prague Muslim leader's conviction Posted: 21 May 2020 03:44 AM PDT |
| South Korean town thanks Gloucester war veterans with face masks Posted: 21 May 2020 03:36 AM PDT  The coronavirus pandemic has given the South Korean town of Paju the chance to repay a historical war debt, by sending 1,000 sets of personal protective equipment to the town of Gloucester to protect its citizens from the respiratory disease. The towns, separated by more than 5,500 miles, have a shared history in the Korean War, and Gloucester officials and serving British Army units had been scheduled to join Seoul and Paju dignitaries to this year to mark the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of the 1950-53 conflict. The ceremony was postponed due to the pandemic but Paju stepped up to gift protective gear to the cathedral town in Southwest England, to thank it for sending its young soldiers to defend South Korea decades before, said the Asia Times, which first reported the story. The Gloster Memorial now stands near Paju to mark where the Gloucestershire regiment and members of the Royal Artillery fought down to their last bullet against Chinese troops during "The Battle of the Imjin River" in April 1951. Outnumbered 9-1, the Brits were completely surrounded on "Hill 235" but held off the Chinese army which was fighting for North Korea, for three days. Fifty-nine of the Gloucestershire regiment were killed in action and 522 became prisoners of war.
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| Destined for conflict? Xi Jinping, Donald Trump and the Thucydides trap Posted: 21 May 2020 02:30 AM PDT  This is the fifth in a series of 10 stories examining the issues Chinese leaders face as they gather for their annual "two sessions" of the National People's Congress and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference this week. This story looks at the sharp decline of US-China ties, and where it may lead.When thousands of China's elites flock to Beijing for the delayed national legislative session starting on Friday they will face a renewed debate about relations with the US. Specifically, can armed conflict between the two economic superpowers be avoided?The question is not new, but it has taken on a new urgency as the acrimony escalates between Washington and Beijing amid the Covid-19 pandemic, exposing growing cracks in the current global order.Harvard professor Graham Allison raised the question in a 2017 book, Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides' Trap? The reference being to the Greek historian of 2,500 years ago and the conundrum named after him on the likelihood of armed conflict when a rising power challenges a ruling power.While observers generally agree that an all-out war between the nuclear-armed nations is improbable, there are potential risks for a limited military conflict.President Xi Jinping has shown personal interest in the Thucydides trap concept, which Allison first posed in a 2012 newspaper article, referencing it on at least three occasions, including the eve of the swearing-in ceremony of US President Donald Trump three years ago.Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2017, Xi said the Thucydides trap "can be avoided ... as long as we maintain communication and treat each other with sincerity".Xi Jinping referenced the Thucydides trap concept on the eve of Donald Trump's swearing-in ceremony. Photos: AFP alt=Xi Jinping referenced the Thucydides trap concept on the eve of Donald Trump's swearing-in ceremony. Photos: AFPBut since then, the devastating Covid-19 pandemic has driven the deeply fraught US-China relations to the brink of an all-out confrontation as a result of strategic distrust and misperception, said Wang Jisi, president of Peking University's Institute of International and Strategic Studies."China and the US are shifting from an all-around competition to a full-scale confrontation, with little room for compromise and manoeuvring," Wang said in a speech in late March. "We cannot rule out the possibility that the two powers may fall into the Thucydides trap."That seems to sum up the tone of recent communications from the US side. Trump has vowed to "take whatever actions that are necessary" to seek reparations and hold China accountable for the Covid-19 disease that was first identified in the city of Wuhan at the end of last year. His top aides, especially Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defence Secretary Mark Esper, have been particularly blunt.During the Munich Security Conference in February, Esper described China as a rising threat to the world order and urged countries to side with the US in preparing for "high intensity conflict against China".Paramilitary police officers patrol in Tiananmen Square near the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, where China's political elites are about to meet for the "two sessions". Photo: Reuters alt=Paramilitary police officers patrol in Tiananmen Square near the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, where China's political elites are about to meet for the "two sessions". Photo: ReutersMainland authorities are usually reluctant to play up sensitive diplomatic topics during the annual gatherings of the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, known as the "two sessions".Domestic concerns, especially the socio-economic upheaval wrought by the pandemic, will no doubt dominate the week-long meetings as the country faces the deepest economic contraction in decades, mass unemployment, and a possible manufacturing exodus from China.However, the sharp decline in relations with the US in recent months and its possible consequences are expected to loom large in the minds of over 5,000 participants at the two sessions, according to Gu Su, a political scientist at Nanjing University."Considering the boiling tensions with the US over Covid-19 and the resulting scrutiny of China's global ambitions " which have dealt a heavy blow to the economy, especially at local levels, and left the country increasingly isolated " it may be hard to suppress such discussions," Gu said.Given the widespread public interest in these contentious topics, Xi and other top leaders may need to weigh in personally and set the tone for the national debate, especially on the future of China and US relations, he said.But it would be unrealistic to expect major policy decisions on diplomacy, as "the two sessions are not usually known for substantial foreign policy deliberations", said Zhu Feng, an international affairs expert at Nanjing University.The deterioration of US-China ties has clearly alarmed Xi and his top aides. On April 8, the Chinese leader issued an unusually stark warning that "we must get ready for the worst-case scenarios" in light of unprecedented external adversity and challenges, according to Xinhua.While the state news agency did not elaborate on what Xi meant by worst-case scenarios, a recent study by a Chinese government-backed think tank offered some hints.The China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR), affiliated with the Ministry of State Security, said Beijing may need to prepare for armed confrontation with Washington amid the worst anti-China backlash since the Tiananmen crackdown in 1989, according to Reuters, which cited an internal report.The report warned that China's overseas investments, especially the ambitious Belt and Road Initiative, could fall victim to rising anti-Chinese sentiments, while the US may accelerate efforts to counter Beijing's expanding clout by increasing financial and military support for regional allies.While the think tank declined to confirm the Reuters story, many international relations analysts shared similar bleak assessments of US-China relations."We are already in an all-around confrontation with the US, which sees both sides at odds on almost every front " from trade and tech tensions, military, ideological and geopolitical rivalry, to political and legal battles over the coronavirus," Zhu said. "The prospects for bilateral ties are deeply worrying and we are just one step away from a new cold war."With much of the world still in the grip of the pandemic, Beijing's critics and opponents, led by the US, have upped the ante in the blame-shifting game as they line up to pursue an international investigation into the origins of the deadly virus.The coronavirus has also derailed most of China's diplomatic agenda for the first half of the year, with Xi's planned state visits to Japan and South Korea postponed.Meanwhile, China's relations with the European Union have become more tense, though Beijing managed to dodge a bullet at this week's World Health Assembly, which adopted a mildly worded resolution drafted by the EU to carry out an independent inquiry into different countries' response to the outbreak at "an appropriate time".But a growing number of European countries have pushed back against China's diplomatic assertiveness and followed Washington's lead to press Beijing for greater transparency over the coronavirus.Shelley Rigger, a political science professor at Davidson College in North Carolina, said the CICIR report, if confirmed, offered a clear-eyed assessment of the situation and did not have the usual triumphalist tone present in many papers on international relations from China."That's a good thing. Everyone needs to be realistic, and not indulge in wishful thinking or overconfidence," she said.Seth Jaffe, assistant professor of political science and international affairs at John Cabot University in Rome and an expert on Greek history, said the Chinese think tank report was "profoundly concerning"."The acrimonious narratives surrounding Covid-19 are currently reshaping the attitudes of leaders and populations alike, which is leading to harder-line strategic postures, as evidenced by the hawkish CICIR report," he said. "In this way, the virus blame game is stirring up nationalistic pride and grievance, narrowing the space for political leaders to manoeuvre, and creating zero-sum dynamics that invite future conflict " a vicious cycle."According to Jaffe, the author of Thucydides on the Outbreak of War: Character and Contest, although the temperaments of Trump and Xi would matter enormously in any actual crisis, it was the structural shifts in the balance of power in recent years that had brought the two sides closer to the brink.The most likely collision scenario, he said, would be in the South China Sea."I still worry most about military close encounters associated with American freedom of navigation operations, which could rapidly escalate in unintended but dangerous directions, for example, in the direction of a serious naval conflict."Guided-missile destroyer the USS Barry sails in the South China Sea last month. Photo: AFP alt=Guided-missile destroyer the USS Barry sails in the South China Sea last month. Photo: AFPHe said an international incident would put Trump and Xi on a reputational collision course, with each leader facing pressure to stand up to the other and not back down, given the mistrust and heated rhetoric."The danger, then, is an unforeseen spark, which could set off a frightening movement up the escalation ladder," he added.Zhao Tong, a senior fellow at the Carnegie-Tsinghua Centre for Global Policy in Beijing, also expressed concern that military incidents and conflicts with the US had become "less unimaginable given how quickly mutual animosity is building".In recent months, many senior Chinese diplomats have risen to Xi's hardline, nationalist call and displayed their "fighting spirit", often at the expense of the country's global image."In future crises, if People's Liberation Army officers, like some Chinese diplomats, calculate that it is in their personal interests to act extra tough, even if they know their aggression could cause war and cost China dearly, they might still feel incentivised to do so," Zhao said.To make things worse, according to Zhang Tuosheng, a security analyst from the China Foundation for International and Strategic Studies, Beijing and Washington had yet to set up an operational crisis management mechanism."One of the major lessons is that we've paid scant attention to the establishment of a series of mechanisms that have proven necessary during the Cold War era in preventing tensions spiralling out of control in the event of emergencies or a real crisis," he said.Beijing made clear its resentment over the warming ties between Washington and Taipei ahead of and during Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen's inauguration on Wednesday, but a military confrontation over the self-ruled island in the near term was not likely, according to Rigger."The Chinese leadership surely understands the massive costs " in blood, treasure and reputation " of military action against Taiwan. They are way too smart to count on the US not intervening," she said.Rigger noted several retired PLA officers, including air force Major General Qiao Liang, had unusually toned down their hawkish stance on seeking reunification with Taiwan by force."That is a frustrating message for many Chinese to hear, but war is very costly and very unpredictable " something the US has learned through painful experience," she said.While experts called for efforts to lower tensions in the lead-up to the US presidential election in November, most said that would largely hinge on Trump."Anything is possible with Trump," Rigger said. "If he thinks better relations with China will help him win re-election, he will do whatever it takes to turn the relationship around. I'd be really surprised if the Chinese leadership didn't respond positively to such an opportunity."But Zhu said it would be naive to pin hopes on Trump, who was desperate to play the China card in his re-election campaign. "Beijing should be particularly cautious on Taiwan and the South China Sea disputes and should not engage in rhetorical tit-for-tat with Washington," he said. "We need to look beyond the Trump presidency and prioritise the steady development of bilateral relations over the need to outcompete Trump."The next story in the series will examine the debate over the future path of China's relations with the United States and how Beijing will respond to the new international economic realities post-coronavirus pandemic. Until then, you can read the first four parts of the series: how Beijing is preparing for a post-Covid-19 world; how it is likely to ignore calls to investigate the coronavirus; the expectations for Beijing's policy on Hong Kong; and the expectations for China's new military budget.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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| Mike Pompeo rips into Beijing with a litany of US grievances Posted: 21 May 2020 02:30 AM PDT  American's top diplomat launched a verbal salvo against China on Wednesday that was anything but diplomatic, attacking Beijing for its policies on health, defence, Taiwan and 5G and its "brutal" regime as he expressed US concern over certifying Hong Kong's autonomy.During a regular press briefing in Washington, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo cited US concern that pro-democracy legislators in Hong Kong were "manhandled" this week while trying to stop an irregular legislative procedure by pro-Beijing legislators.Pompeo, also a former CIA director, also called out the move to have leading Hong Kong activists like United Democrats founder Martin Lee and entrepreneur and media owner Jimmy Lai "hauled into court"."Actions like these make it more difficult to assess that Hong Kong remains highly autonomous from mainland China," Pompeo said. "We're closely watching what is going on there."Under the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019, the US has until the end of this month to assess whether Hong Kong remains suitably autonomous from China, a prerequisite for extending the city's preferential US trading and investment privileges.Comments by Pompeo, who is sometimes referred to in Washington as President Donald Trump's "attack dog" on China, come as the administration ratchets up blame on Beijing and the World Health Organisation (WHO). This dovetails with an effort to deflect attention over its own delayed response to the coronavirus as Trump's poll numbers wobble and his re-election campaign ramps up.Earlier on Wednesday, Trump lashed out on Twitter at "some wacko in China" for "blaming everybody other than China for the Virus which has now killed hundreds of thousands of people", he wrote. "Please explain to this dope that it was the 'incompetence of China', and nothing else, that did this mass Worldwide killing!"It was not immediately clear whom Trump was referring to. The White House declined to comment on the object of Trump's ire. But it came a day after Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian issued a lengthy defence of China's role during the pandemic.During a media briefing, Zhao said the US was targeting the WHO in a bid to "shift the blame" from its own "incompetent response" to the coronavirus pandemic.Within minutes of taking the podium on Wednesday, Pompeo cited a laundry list of US concerns ranging from China's domestic and foreign policies to its overall governance approach."China's been ruled by a brutal, authoritarian regime, a communist regime, since 1949," he said, citing the challenge of getting "the Chinese Communist Party and China to behave in a way that's consistent with how we ask every nation to behave".Martin Lee (left), founder of the Hong Kong Democratic Party, and Jimmy Lai, chairman of Next Media, arrive for a court hearing in Hong Kong on Monday. Photo: Reuters alt=Martin Lee (left), founder of the Hong Kong Democratic Party, and Jimmy Lai, chairman of Next Media, arrive for a court hearing in Hong Kong on Monday. Photo: ReutersThe Chinese embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment.Pompeo devoted considerable time to a critique of Beijing's handling of the coronavirus crisis, adding that the media was "missing the bigger picture" by focusing on the disease rather than China's role.The secretary of state, a close confidant of the president, may have his own reasons for shifting the focus. In recent days, after the firing of a State Department inspector general, he has faced growing questions over allegations that he misused taxpayer money and government aircraft and had diplomatic security agents walk his dog and pick up restaurant takeout food.An agency whistle-blower cited agent complaints last year that serving Pompeo was turning them into "UberEats with guns", referring to a popular food delivery service. Pompeo has denied wrongdoing.He said on Wednesday that Beijing destroyed live virus samples rather than sharing them, denied investigators access to its labs, censored discussion within China about the virus and resisted calls for an independent investigation into the origin of the disease.He directly faulted China for the loss of more than 92,000 American lives, 36 million lost US jobs, 300,000 deaths globally and US$9 trillion in economic damage worldwide, calling out President Xi Jinping by name."President Xi claimed this week that China has acted 'with openness, transparency and responsibility' " I wish it were so," Pompeo said. "If the Chinese Communist Party wants to demonstrate real openness, real transparency, it could easily hold press conferences, like this very press conference, and allow reporters to ask him anything that they would like."Turning to other thorny bilateral issues, Pompeo slammed Beijing's island building activities in the South China Sea, its sinking of a Vietnamese fishing boat, threats to a Malaysian energy prospector and unilateral fishing ban in the region.He also vowed to redouble efforts to keep Huawei Technologies out of the US 5G telecommunications system and condemned China's effort to threaten Australia with economic retribution "for the simple act of asking for an independent inquiry into the origins of the virus," Pompeo said. "It's not right."Additional reporting by Owen ChurchillThis 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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| U.S masses planes at Japan base to show foes and allies it can handle coronavirus Posted: 21 May 2020 01:58 AM PDT |
| Trump points finger at Chinese president over coronavirus Posted: 21 May 2020 01:49 AM PDT  Donald Trump stepped up his attack on China over the coronavirus pandemic, appearing to blame Chinese president Xi Jinping for a campaign of "disinformation" that has helped spread Covid-19 around the world. In a rare direct shot at his Chinese counterpart, the US president said: "It all comes from the top. They could have easily stopped the plague, but they didn't!" Mr Trump has been careful to maintain his relationship with Mr Xi, singling him out for praise early on in the crisis. He has intensified attacks on China, meanwhile, for covering up the scale of the initial outbreak and failing to prevent its spread. He said on Wednesday night that China was "trying desperately to deflect the pain and carnage that their country spread throughout the world. Its disinformation and propaganda attack on the United States and Europe is a disgrace" before appearing to turn on Mr Xi. It comes as China opened its annual session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, its most important political event of the year, after a two-month delay because of the coronavirus pandemic. The White House on Wednesday night issued a broad-scale attack on Beijing's predatory economic policies, military buildup, disinformation campaigns and human rights violations. The 20-page report expands on Trump's get-tough rhetoric that he hopes will resonate with voters angry about China's handling of the disease outbreak that has left tens of millions of Americans out of work. "The media's focus on the current pandemic risks missing the bigger picture of the challenge that's presented by the Chinese Communist Party," Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday before the White House released its report. Earlier in the day Mr Trump lashed out at China on Twitter over the coronavirus pandemic, blaming Beijing for "mass Worldwide killing."
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| Pets will need EU passport to travel to Northern Ireland Posted: 21 May 2020 12:42 AM PDT  British cats, dogs and ferrets will need an EU pet passport to travel to Northern Ireland after the end of the Brexit transition period, it has been confirmed. The creation of an internal "pet border" in the United Kingdom from Jan 1 next year is a result of the Withdrawal Agreement Boris Johnson negotiated with Brussels. That deal effectively keeps Northern Ireland in the EU's customs territory and moves the border between it and the Republic to the Irish Sea to prevent the need for inflammatory checks on the border after Brexit. The EU's Pet Travel Scheme allows for the free movement of cats, dogs and ferrets in the bloc without the need for quarantine. A quarter of a million British pets use their passports to travel in the EU every year, according to the European Commission. Joe Moran is deputy coordinator of the UK-EU Animal Welfare Taskforce and works for the Eurogroup for Animals, an umbrella organisation for 70 animal welfare charities. "You can't refer to the UK at all in this case as a single unit any more," he said. "Pet passports will be needed between Great Britain and Northern Ireland." Animals from mainland Britain travelling to Northern Ireland will need the documents, as will pet owners in Northern Ireland travelling back from Great Britain.
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| ‘We’re expendable’: Russian doctors face hostility, mistrust Posted: 20 May 2020 11:42 PM PDT  There are no daily public displays of gratitude for Russian doctors and nurses during the coronavirus crisis like there are in the West. Residents near the National Medical Research Center for Endocrinology, a Moscow hospital now treating virus patients, complained when they saw medical workers walking out of the building in full protective gear, fearing the workers would spread contagion. "Maybe once the disease knocks on the door of every family, then the attitude to medics will change," said Dr. Alexander Gadzyra, a surgeon who works exhausting shifts.
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| Building a genocide case for IS crimes against Yazidis Posted: 20 May 2020 11:22 PM PDT  QASR AL-MIHRAB, Iraq (AP) — It was clear he was in charge when he entered the wedding hall-turned-slave pen in the Iraqi city of Mosul, where dozens of Yazidi women and girls huddled on the floor, newly abducted by Islamic State militants. This was Hajji Abdullah, a religious judge and a key architect of the IS slave system. Investigators with the Commission for International Justice and Accountability are amassing evidence, hoping to prosecute IS figures for crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide — including Hajji Abdullah.
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| Investigators build a case for IS crimes against Yazidis Posted: 20 May 2020 11:16 PM PDT  QASR AL-MIHRAB, Iraq (AP) — He was burly, with piercing blue eyes, and it was clear he was in charge when he entered the Galaxy, a wedding hall-turned-slave pen in the Iraqi city of Mosul. Dozens of Yazidi women and girls huddled on the floor, newly abducted by Islamic State group militants. This was Hajji Abdullah, a religious judge at the time and labeled one of the architects of the militant group's enslavement of Iraq's Yazidi religious minority, who rose to become deputy to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
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| How should I clean and store my face mask? Posted: 20 May 2020 11:02 PM PDT  Cloth face masks worn during the coronavirus pandemic should be washed regularly, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Public health experts recommend wearing a mask made from cotton fabric, such as T-shirts, or scarves and bandannas, when you are outside and unable to maintain social distancing from others. The covering should be washed daily after use, says Penni Watts, an assistant professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham's School of Nursing.
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| China sticks to 'wartime mode' amid fears of second wave Posted: 20 May 2020 10:56 PM PDT  Handfuls of people milled around one recent morning at a popular art district in Beijing, where galleries are among the first in the world to begin re-opening as coronavirus restrictions subside. After being shuttered for most of the year, the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art opened its first show on Thursday. Face masks are a must with capacity capped at 30; people are asked to maintain a distance of 1.5 metres. Visitors trickling in are greeted with a facial recognition robot scanning their temperatures and a security guard asking for personal details to be registered on a mobile app to assist with contact tracing. "These are excellent artworks," said Cheng Liukai, 20, a university student, gesturing at one video installation. "I'm not afraid of getting virus at all anymore." This is China's new normal, as the country where the coronavirus pandemic emerged gradually lifts lockdowns while battling a second wave of infections. City officials say Beijing remains in "wartime mode" against the virus, a signal for all to remain vigilant. Authorities engineering a return to a more recognisable pace of life are taking no chances, immediately re-instituting lockdowns whenever new cases are found. A handful of infections are still being reported daily, often appearing in clusters along borders to the north, by Russia and North Korea, and the south, lining south-east Asia.
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| Woman, dying sister reunite after Australia exempts travel Posted: 20 May 2020 10:55 PM PDT  A woman has tearfully embraced her dying sister in Australia after weeks of bureaucracy wrangling over pandemic travel restrictions. Australia had rejected Christine Archer's request for permission to fly from New Zealand four times before her story attracted media attention. Archer was eventually allowed to fly to Sydney and spent only a week in hotel quarantine before testing negative for the coronavirus.
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| Detective, nurse, confidant: Virus tracers play many roles Posted: 20 May 2020 10:33 PM PDT  Health investigator Mackenzie Bray smiles and chuckles as she chats by phone with a retired Utah man who just tested positive for the coronavirus. "Was there like a shared food platter or something like that?" Bray asks. Suddenly, with a shared punch bowl, the web has widened, and Bray has dozens more people to track down.
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| Sikh kitchens feed New Delhi's masses in virus lockdown Posted: 20 May 2020 10:28 PM PDT  At first, the kitchen at the Bangla Sahib Gurdwara cooked 40,000 meals each day for the hungry who live on the streets of India's capital city, or who have lost their livelihoods to the coronavirus lockdown. For centuries the faithful have flocked to the temple for its healing waters and a free meal at the community kitchen, the symbol of equality found at every Sikh temple complex and open to all visitors. The Bangla Sahib Gurdwara has remained open through wars and plagues, serving millions of people simple vegetarian food on the cool marble floor of its enormous dining hall.
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| GOP weighs jobless aid cuts to urge Americans back to work Posted: 20 May 2020 10:12 PM PDT  President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell huddled Thursday at the White House as Republicans stake out new plans to phase out coronavirus-related unemployment benefits to encourage Americans to go back to work. Revamping jobless aid is fast becoming the focus of debate over the next virus aid package. After the Senate decided to take a "pause" on new pandemic proposals, senators faced mounting pressure to act before leaving town for a weeklong Memorial Day break.
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