Author: CensorBiz

A bomb in southwestern Pakistan has killed at least six soldiers, including a major-rank officer, and has injured another, according to military officials.An army statement said Friday that the deadly explosion in Baluchistan province had targeted a convoy of the Frontier Corps (FC) paramilitary force, about 14 kilometers from the border with Iran.The troops were moving back to their base after conducting “routine patrolling … to check possible routes used by terrorists in mountainous and extremely treacherous terrain,” when a “reconnaissance vehicle” in the convoy hit an improvised explosive device, it said.  There were no immediate claims of responsibility.
 
The resource-rich province, Pakistan’s largest, has been experiencing a low-level separatist Baluch insurgency for years, although officials say enhanced security actions have lately reduced the violence.Extremists linked to outlawed militant organizations, including the Pakistani Taliban and Islamic State, operate in Baluchistan, which also shares a portion of the country’s long border with Afghanistan.Leaders of the Afghan Taliban are also believed to be sheltering in parts of the Pakistani province, where tens of thousands of Afghan refugee families reside.
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Experts warn there could be an increase in child labor in cocoa-growing African nations as incomes and enforcement suffer due to the coronavirus pandemic. Ghana and Ivory Coast produce about 60 percent of the world’s cocoa, but both have long-standing issues with child labor in cocoa farms. Last month, Fairtrade Africa told Reuters News Agency it had received reports of possible child labor use in Ivory Coast, leading to warnings there might be a spike in cases in both Ivory Coast and neighboring Ghana.Prince Gyamfi, Ghana’s deputy country director for The International Cocoa Initiative (ICI), which is focused on child protection in cocoa-farming communities, says poverty is a major driver for child labor in cocoa farms.If the pandemic continues, he said, there will be increased economic pressures on farming families, and ongoing school closures in Ghana mean children are more likely to accompany their parents to their farms and be exposed to hazardous activities.FILE – Farmers break cocoa pods in Ghana’s eastern cocoa town of Akim Akooko, Sept. 6, 2012.He said ICI found that when farmers’ incomes are negativity impacted, child labor tends to increase. A study in Ivory Coast found a 10 percent fall in income due to a drop in cocoa prices led to a five percentage point increase in child labor. ICI also found increases in child labor when children are on term breaks from school.Estimates for 2013-’14 indicate that 1.2 million child laborers were working in cocoa production in Ivory Coast, and 900,000 in Ghana.The ICI is researching the impact of cash transfer programs on child labor — where giving money to vulnerable families could be a solution. The study’s findings are being used to inform the design of a cash transfer program for vulnerable cocoa-growing households in Ghana.”We think that cash transfer programs, if designed well, could lead to a decrease in child labor by helping parents pay for school costs or education costs, allowing children to go to school, reducing pressure on the household incomes, therefore, reducing the need for child labor to help out on the family farm,” Gyamfi said.Fiifi Boafo, a spokesperson for the Ghana Cocoa Board, Ghana’s cocoa industry regulator, said Ghana’s government had employed an additional 1,300 extension officers in the last six months whose duties included educating cocoa farmers on ethical farming guidelines, such as not using children. However, he characterized the report from Fairtrade Africa as speculation that had only mentioned Ivory Coast.”We do not anticipate that this period where children are not going to school, they are automatically be going into cocoa farms,” Boafo said. “I think the basis for the reason they are not supposed to go to the farms has been established, and it will be respected, and for our part, we shall continue to engage farmers to make sure that their children stay away from the farms.”Daniel Sarpong, dean of the School of Agriculture at the University of Ghana, said Ghana is taking issues of child labor in cocoa farms seriously. He pointed to work done to mechanize the sector, where farmers were encouraged and assisted to use modern farming practices.”The idea here is to be able to phase out those labor-intensive activities that are in cocoa where they are tedious and that cocoa farmers would need children to help in those activities, so yes it is a big problem, but I think that governments are trying to find solutions to some of these things,” he said.Sarpong agreed that cash transfers could help combat child labor in Ghana.So far, Ghana has seen more than 3,000 cases of COVID-19, and Ivory Coast more than 1,500. 
 
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France will slowly begin unwinding a two-month lockdown next week, but not for its restaurants. A new poll finds the coronavirus pandemic may put nearly one-third of French restaurants out of business – a tragic development if it happens for France, known worldwide for its fine cuisine. From the Paris suburb of Rueil-Malmaison, Lisa Bryant takes a look at the industry’s dilemma — and a pro-bono movement born from the crisis.
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The Brookings Institution says at most only about 50 percent of jobs can be fully performed from home, while other studies suggest that number may be high.  The rest of the workforce still has to go to work, assuming they they still have jobs, no matter how dangerous. Anna Rice Narrates this story by Daria Dieguts.
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Authorities in Argentina evacuated 25 residents from a nursing home in Buenos Aires Thursday night after they tested positive for the coronavirus.Initial reports indicated none of those taken from the nursing home showed any symptoms.Five workers at the nursing home also tested positive for the coronavirus.The director of the nursing home, Blas Rinaudo, said the facility will continue to care for 15 other residents who tested negative for the virus and conduct follow-up tests to check their status.Meanwhile, people banged pots and pans from their balconies in Buenos Aires on Thursday evening to protest measures the government is taking to stop the spread of the coronavirus.Argentina is heading into its eighth week of lockdown.The South American nation has 5,371 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 282 deaths.
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Croatia’s defense minister has resigned after an air force training plane crashed shortly after takeoff from a military airbase in the southwest of the country.Both crew members were killed in Thursday’s crash. A similar accident three months ago, when a helicopter crashed, also killed two pilots.Damir Krsticevic announced his resignation, saying “we have to be transparent” and take responsibility for the crashes.”This is a big loss for the Croatian army,” Krsticevic said. “I am today stepping down from the role of vice president of the government and minister of defense of the Croatian Republic. Thank you.”The Croatian Defense Ministry said in a statement that the Zlin single-engine aircraft crashed at around 4 p.m. local time during a routine training flight near the central Adriatic town of Zadar.The ministry did not give any explanation for the possible cause of the accident.Images for the from the scene of the crash showed a small plane’s wreckage in flames, near what seemed to be a private house.
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Georgia authorities arrested a white father and son Thursday and charged them with murder in the February shooting death of a black man they had pursued in a truck after spotting him running in their neighborhood. The charges came more than two months after Ahmaud Arbery, 25, was killed on a residential street just outside the port city of Brunswick. National outrage over the case swelled this week after a cellphone video that appeared to show the shooting. Gregory McMichael told police after the February shooting that he and his son chased after Arbery because they suspected him of being a burglar. Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper Jones, has said she believes her son, a former football player, was just jogging in the Satilla Shores neighborhood before he was killed on a Sunday afternoon.Father, son are jailed The Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced the arrests the day after it began its own investigation at the request of an outside prosecutor. The agency said in a news release that Gregory McMichael, 64, and his 34-year-old son, Travis McMichael, had both been jailed on charges of murder and aggravated assault. The GBI news release said the McMichaels “confronted Arbery with two firearms. During the encounter, Travis McMichael shot and killed Arbery.” No other details were immediately released. It was not immediately known if either of the McMichaels had an attorney who could comment on the charges. Gregory McMichael served as an investigator for Glynn County District Attorney Jackie Johnson. He retired last year. The connection caused Johnson to recuse herself from the case. Governor says state will ‘find the truth’At a news conference before the arrests were announced Thursday, Republican Gov. Brian Kemp told reporters he was confident state investigators would “find the truth.” “Earlier this week, I watched the video depicting Mr. Arbery’s last moments alive,” Kemp told a news conference in Atlanta. “I can tell you it’s absolutely horrific, and Georgians deserve answers.” Gregory McMichael told police he suspected the runner was the same man filmed by a security camera committing a break-in. He and his grown son, Travis McMichael, grabbed guns and began a pursuit in the truck. The video shows a black man running at a jogging pace on the left side of a road. A truck is parked in the road ahead of him. One of the white men is inside the pickup’s bed. The other is standing beside the open driver’s side door. The runner crosses the road to pass the pickup on the passenger side, then crosses back in front of the truck. A gunshot sounds, and the video shows the runner grappling with a man in the street over what appears to be a shotgun or rifle. A second shot can be heard, and the runner can be seen punching the man. A third shot is fired at point-blank range. The runner staggers a few feet and falls face down. Brunswick defense attorney Alan Tucker identified himself Thursday as the person who shared the video with the radio station. In a statement, Tucker said he wasn’t representing anyone involved in the case. He said he released the video “because my community was being ripped apart by erroneous accusations and assumptions.” Tucker did not say how he obtained the video. He did not immediately respond to a phone message or an email. Trump, Biden commentThe outcry over the killing reached the White House, where President Donald Trump offered condolences Thursday to Arbery’s family. “It’s a very sad thing,” Trump said in the Oval Office, “but I will be given a full report this evening.” Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has called Arbery’s death a “murder.” During an online roundtable Thursday, Biden compared the video to seeing Arbery “lynched before our very eyes.” The outside prosecutor overseeing the case, Tom Durden, had said Monday that he wanted a grand jury to decide whether charges are warranted. With Georgia courts still largely closed because of the coronavirus, the soonest that could happen is mid-June.  
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A new Pentagon recruitment policy considers hospitalization for COVID-19 an automatic disqualification for acceptance without a medical waiver from the recruit’s military service branch. Individuals who were hospitalized with COVID-19 “are medically disqualified for accession, subject to further review of hospitalization/comorbidity records, and waiver by a Service Medical Waiver Authority,” the new policy reads. Military Entrance Processing Command (MEPCOM), which screens military applicants, said in a statement given to VOA on Thursday that patients who were hospitalized “may be contagious for a longer period than others” and “are likely to require evaluation for residual physical performance limitations (e.g., pulmonary and end-organ function) before medical qualification.”   Long-term health effects for this group “are unknown,” the command said, which is why a waiver review is required. The guidance also states that recruits who were diagnosed with COVID-19 but not hospitalized are medically qualified to process into basic training following 28 days of home isolation. “Non-hospitalized cases will not be permanently disqualified,” MEPCOM said. A DOD memo leaked to the press Monday said that any history of COVID-19 would be permanently disqualifying for recruits. A defense official told VOA the memo was “interim guidance” that was updated Wednesday.  Michael O’Hanlon, a senior defense fellow at the Brookings Institution, told VOA the tone of new Pentagon directive was regrettable. “Why not say, in gentler terms, ‘Until we can be confident that we understand the trajectory of this disease and recovery process, including the possibility of relapse or recurrence, we cannot yet take COVID-19 positive individuals into the force’?” O’Hanlon said. It’s unclear whether the change will affect recruiting numbers. James Long, a scholar and regular contributor to the Modern War Institute at West Point, said any effects at this stage would be insignificant, while cautioning about accepting recruits with potential health problems. “Even a minor health problem in the force can have massive costs and consequences for metrics like readiness and operational performance,” Long said. “I think the DOD’s medical leaders are wise to focus on this issue early.” All four service branches hit their recruiting goals in 2019, bringing tens of thousands of new service members into the U.S. military.  But an This May 4, 2020, photo provided by the U.S. Navy shows SEAL candidates participating in “surf immersion” during Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training at the Naval Special Warfare Center in Coronado, Calif.COVID-19 and current troops COVID-19 hospitalizations are “not immediate disqualifications” for current troops, according to a senior defense official. However, it could potentially change the careers of some of the 113 military service members who have been hospitalized by the disease, should lingering effects impact the service members’ ability to do their jobs. The official stressed that any service member who is able to return and perform normal job duties after a COVID-19 hospitalization would not need a medical board evaluation. But those who are no longer able to perform their duties would need to undergo a medical board process that could lead to a change in military specialization or a discontinuation of service. “This is similar to what’s done with any illness or injury obtained while in the military,” the senior official told VOA.  The official likened a service member who develops lung issues from a COVID-19 hospitalization to a service member who develops chronic asthma after joining the service. Severe asthma could prevent an infantryman, for example, from carrying out certain infantry requirements, and the military may find that lung problems associated with a COVID-19 hospitalization may yield the same result. “The guidance is evolving,” the official told VOA, adding that the military would refine its policies as necessary.
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The focus of future U.S. missions to the moon may soon shift from research to commerce. Meanwhile, European scientists have discovered the closest black hole to our solar system. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi explores This Week in Space.
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A unanimous Supreme Court on Thursday threw out the convictions of two political insiders involved in the “Bridgegate” scandal that ultimately derailed the 2016 presidential bid of then-New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. The justices found evidence of deception, corruption and abuse of power in the scheme, but said “not every corrupt act by state or local officials is a federal crime.” The court concluded the government had overreached in prosecuting Christie allies Bridget Kelly and Bill Baroni for their roles in creating a traffic jam on the George Washington Bridge as political payback for a Democratic mayor who declined to support the Republican governor’s reelection. Kelly was Christie’s onetime deputy chief of staff. Baroni was a top Christie appointee to the Port Authority, the operator of the New York area’s bridges, tunnels, airports and ports. Kelly and Baroni were convicted of fraud and conspiracy for plotting in 2013 to change the traffic flow onto the George Washington Bridge between New York City and New Jersey to artificially create gridlock in New Jersey’s Fort Lee. The traffic change came after Fort Lee’s mayor declined to endorse Christie. ‘A political crusade'”For no reason other than political payback, Baroni and Kelly used deception to reduce Fort Lee’s access lanes to the George Washington Bridge — and thereby jeopardized the safety of the town’s residents. But not every corrupt act by state or local officials is a federal crime. Because the scheme here did not aim to obtain money or property, Baroni and Kelly could not have violated the federal-program fraud or wire fraud laws,” Justice Elena Kagan wrote for the court. Christie, in a statement following the high court’s ruling, called the prosecutions of his former allies a “political crusade” against his administration, and lashed out at prosecutors and the Justice Department under President Barack Obama, a Democrat. “As many contended from the beginning, and as the Court confirmed today, no federal crimes were ever committed in this matter by anyone in my Administration. It is good for all involved that today justice has finally been done,” Christie wrote. Christie has denied knowing about the plan for gridlock ahead of time or as it was unfolding. Trial testimony contradicted his account, but the scandal helped tank his White House run in 2016. Christie endorsed Donald Trump after leaving the race. ‘Complete and total exoneration’ Trump tweeted his congratulations on Thursday to Christie, calling the court’s decision a “complete and total exoneration” and said there was “grave misconduct by the Obama Justice Department!” As a candidate, Trump had attacked Christie by saying the governor “totally knew about” the lane closings before they happened. The result of the lane realignment was four days of traffic jams. A fictitious traffic study was used as cover for the change, but prosecutors said the real motive was political payback. At one point, Kelly wrote in an email: “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee.”  Kelly was weeks from beginning a 13-month sentence last year when the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case. Baroni had begun serving his 18-month sentence but was released from prison after the high court agreed to weigh in. The court’s decision to side with Kelly and Baroni continues a pattern from recent years of restricting the government’s ability to prosecute corruption cases.  In 2016 the court overturned the bribery conviction of former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell. In 2010 the court sharply curbed prosecutors’ use of an anti-fraud law in the case of ex-Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling. 
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Quarantines and travel don’t mix, but Greece is contemplating opening its borders to travelers from at least two other countries whose COVID-19 outbreaks are under control to revive tourism, which has been devastated by the pandemic.The move, according to Tourism Minister Harris Theoharis, would include setting up a “corona corridor” among Greece, Cyprus and Israel, attracting tourists less willing to travel far in the coming months, allowing them access to the islands of the Aegean and Mediterranean seas by early July.”Several details still have to be worked out,” Theoharis told VOA. “But when we knocked on Israel’s door, it opened wide open. The interest is there; so too with Cyprus.””It is an ambitious scheme that could square the circle,” he said.After Cyprus, Greece is the European Union’s most vulnerable country in terms of tourism. The profitable industry accounts for about one-fifth of its economy and 1 in 4 jobs. Also, in recent years, the country has become a favorite travel destination for young Israelis, attracting nearly a million visitors from the Middle Eastern country.Details of the corona corridor plan have yet to be finalized. However, its creation, Theoharis said, would allow travelers to forgo quarantines or two-week isolation periods.”You don’t want to go on holiday knowing that you will spend it in lockdown,” Theoharis said.Empty chairs with various slogans from the union of bars and restaurants owners are placed at Athens’ main Syntagma square May 6, 2020.Times nevertheless remain difficult for the tourism industry.Since much of the world went into lockdown and nations closed their borders to slow the spread of COVID-19, international travel has plunged, bringing an industry employing 75 million to a standstill.While travelers cannot globe-trot as they did three months ago, studies show that many still dream of escaping their homes — albeit for nearer destinations.The European Union’s executive body, the European Commission, is to release the first EU-wide guidelines for coronavirus-era tourism on Wednesday. Until then, though, several states, including Greece, have wasted no time in taking matters into their own hands.Detailed negotiations with Israel and Cyprus in coming weeks will focus on attempts to thrash out a deal to revive tourism while preventing a catastrophic second wave of the disease.”That means agreeing on every possible guideline and health protocol — from the medical clearances travelers will need to have before setting foot in either of the three countries, to whether hotels will offer breakfast and dinner buffets,” Theoharis said. “Tracking and tracing systems will also have to be in place if there is an outbreak of infections at a resort.””It is a difficult exercise,” he said.Yet with the EU reluctant to issue a blanket release on travel, options like the corona corridor are gaining appeal.The Czech Republic is said to be considering a similar plan with neighboring Slovakia and Croatia. Malta, the Mediterranean island nation that relies heavily on tourism, has also called for the creation of “safe corridors” among territories and regions proven successful in their management of the COVID-19 pandemic.Early and rigorous controls instituted by the Greek government of Prime Minister  Kyriakos Mitsotakis have helped keep most of the country’s idyllic hot spots free of the pandemic.A man wearing a mask to protect against the coronavirus walks in Syntagma square in central Athens, on May 5, 2020.Even so, several Greek hoteliers remain wary of the corona corridor proposal.On Crete, a hugely popular spot for U.S. and British vacationers, hotel owners are considering keeping resorts closed until authorities provide ironclad assurances to ensure their operation.”We are not prepared to risk any human life for the sake of business and profit,” said Manolis  Tsalakakis, president of the hotel owners’ association in Rethimon, a city on Crete’s northern coast, “but we need to be legally covered in the case that we do have an infection during holiday stays.””These are all parameters that have be in put in place before we even consider opening up for business again.”Meanwhile, Italy, among the countries hardest hit by the pandemic, has raised serious concerns about the plan, saying it creates unfair competition, further penalizing the country as it struggles to recover from the death, fear and hardship brought on by the virus.On Thursday, though, Theoharis said Greece would eventually reach out to Italy if its corona corridor plan proves effective.”Israel and Cyprus are just the start,” he told VOA. “Bulgaria, Austria may join in at the next step, eventually bringing in Italy and the United States, where huge pools of expats are eager to come back and visit.”Each step must be planned, though, he said.”We have to first stand up, before we start walking and running again,” he said. 
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Photographers and models typically go from one photo shoot to another. COVID-19 pandemic restrictions are making their jobs challenging, but just like thousands of people around the world, they are finding a way to work. Iacopo Luzi reports in this piece adapted by Cristina Smit.
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The United Nations is boosting its appeal for billions of dollars in coronavirus aid, saying the money is necessary to “protect millions of lives” and help stop the spread of the virus in “fragile countries.”The U.N.’s humanitarian office said Thursday the world’s poorest countries are not expected to experience the peak of COVID-19 until sometime in the next three to six months, but that already those areas are seeing lost jobs and income, as well as tighter food supplies and children going without vaccinations.An earlier appeal asked for $2 billion in funding, and the agency said Thursday it needs a total of $6.7 billion.“If we do not support the poorest people – especially women and girls and other vulnerable groups – as they battle the pandemic and impacts of the global recession, we will all be dealing with the spillover effects for many years to come. That would prove even more painful, and much more expensive, for everyone,” said U.N. humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock.A woman wearing a face mask to protect against coronavirus carries onions in Thokoza township, east Johannesburg, South Africa, May 4, 2020.The increased appeal includes adding nine countries to the list of those most vulnerable: Benin, Djibouti, Liberia, Mozambique, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sierra Leone, Togo and Zimbabwe.A number of countries are starting to lift strict lockdown restrictions put in place to stop the spread of the virus during the past few months, as officials express optimism that the worst has passed in their nations.But health experts are warning of the potential for a resurgence of infections if the restrictions are lifted too quickly.“We’re risking a backslide that will be intolerable,” said Dr. Ian Lipkin of Columbia University in New York.Governments in Europe and individual U.S. states are among those currently starting to allow certain businesses to reopen, and people to start going to restaurants and shops as long as they follow social distancing guidelines.  Health officials have expressed concern the public will see those moves as a sign that the threat of the virus is gone.“If we relax these measures without having the proper public health safeguards in place, we can expect many more cases and, unfortunately, more deaths,” said Josh Michaud, associate director of global health policy with the Kaiser Family Foundation in Washington, D.C.South Korea is taking new steps as its number of new infections remains around zero.  Its largest airline said Thursday it would resume flights to the United States, Europe and other parts of Asia next month.The South Korean government is also expanding shipments of masks to other countries, with a focus on those with an urgent need amid larger outbreaks of COVID-19.In Brazil, the health ministry reported a record rise of 10,500 new confirmed cases, pushing the country’s total above 125,000.There are about 3.8 million confirmed cases worldwide, with 264,000 deaths. 
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El Salvador begins a more restrictive lockdown Thursday to curtail the spread of the coronavirus, with an emphasis on the densely populated capital region of San Salvador.In a national address late Tuesday, President Nayib Bukele said residents will only be permitted to shop for groceries twice a week.He said citizens will not be allowed to travel between jurisdictions unless they have a written document justifying their movement.Under the special lockdown, El Salvador will also suspend public transportation for 15 days to help efforts to contain the COVID-19 outbreak.Bukele said if the scale of the outbreak drops substantially during the 15 days, the country will be able to start reopening some businesses.So far, El Salvador has reported 633 cases of COVID-19 and 15 deaths.
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U.S. military operations killed about 130 civilians and injured 91 others in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and Somalia last year, according to a Pentagon report seen by Reuters on Wednesday, though the figures were far lower than those reported by watchdog groups.During operations in Afghanistan in 2019, 108 civilians were killed, with 22 killed in total in Iraq and Syria, and two civilians killed in Somalia, according to the nearly 20-page report, which tracks air and ground military operations.The Pentagon assessed that no civilians were killed in Libya or Yemen, the report said.The annual report, mandated by Congress, has not been made public yet but is likely to be released in the coming days.Amnesty International USA said the United States was still undercounting civilian casualties.”Based on places where we have done extensive, thorough investigations, the U.S. military is still severely undercounting the number of civilians killed and injured by U.S. strikes,” Daphne Eviatar, director of Security with Human Rights at Amnesty International USA.A tally by the Airwars monitoring group shows that just in the first six months of 2019 in Syria, strikes by the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State caused between 416 and 1,030 civilian casualties.In Somalia, Airwars data shows that as many as 15 allegations of civilian casualties caused by the United States have either been confirmed or are believed to be fair.”Although civilian casualties are a tragic and unavoidable part of war, the U.S. military is steadfastly committed to limiting harm to civilian,” the Pentagon report said.In the report, the U.S. military acknowledged its numbers are different from those of other groups like nongovernmental organizations, saying it could be because of differences in methodology and the types of information used.Last year, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that revoked an Obama-era policy requiring U.S. intelligence officials to report civilian deaths in drone strikes outside of active war zones.President Barack Obama put the policy in place in 2016 as part of an effort to be more transparent about drone strikes after he had dramatically increased their use against Islamist militants.
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A 57-year-old person in immigration custody died Wednesday from complications related to the coronavirus, authorities said, marking the first reported death from the virus among about 30,000 people in immigration custody.The detainee had been held at the Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego and hospitalized since late April, said Craig Sturak, a spokesman for the San Diego County Health & Human Services Agency.U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement would neither confirm nor deny the death. CoreCivic Inc., the private company that operates the detention center, didn’t respond to a request for comment.Otay Mesa has been a hotbed for the spread of COVID-19, with nearly one of five detainees who have tested positive nationwide. As of Wednesday, 132 of ICE’s 705 positive cases were at the San Diego facility. Additionally, 10 of 39 ICE detention employees who have tested positive are at Otay Mesa.Two guards at an immigration detention center in Monroe, Louisiana, died late last month from the coronavirus — Carl Lenard, 62, and Stanton Johnson, 51. Until Wednesday, no detainees had been reported dead.A Justice Department attorney, Samuel Bettwy, said at a hearing on Monday that the San Diego detainee was intubated at a hospital with a prognosis that was not good. While the death came as no surprise, advocacy groups that have been pressing ICE to release detainees on bond swiftly criticized the agency.”This tragic news is even more evidence that failing to act will result in cruel and needless death,” said Monika Langarica, an attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union of San Diego & Imperial Counties, which successfully sued to force the release of dozens of older and medically vulnerable detainees at Otay Mesa.For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death.The frequency of testing may have something to do with Otay Mesa’s elevated infection rate. At Monday’s hearing, authorities said 119 of 171, or 70 percent, of detainees tested at Otay Mesa were positive. ICE says only that it has tested 705 detainees nationwide, without breaking testing down by detention center.The first positive case at Otay Mesa was a guard, whose test result was announced March 31. The facility is designed to hold up to 1,970 ICE detainees and U.S. Marshals Service inmates but has lowered its count in recent weeks.As of April 26, it held 662 immigration detainees and 325 Marshals Service inmates. Dozens are being released this week under a court order.
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Although timing for the House’s return isn’t set, the outlines are emerging for a Democratic-driven bill to aid states and local governments, the Postal Service and boost contact tracing to track the coronavirus.Democratic leaders promise that the House will deliver legislation to help state and local governments through the COVID-19 crisis as early as next week, though the measure is still being drafted by committee chairs and party leaders like Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.No. 2 House Democrat Steny Hoyer of Maryland said Wednesday that party leadership was hoping for bipartisan backing for the upcoming bill, the fifth effort to respond to the devastation COVID-19 has delivered to the economy and U.S. life. Ultimately, it’ll take arduous bipartisan negotiations to produce a bill but the right dynamic hasn’t caught fire yet.FILE – U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., wears a face mask as he walks out of the House chamber during the debate on pandemic aid measures, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, April 23, 2020.Hoyer said he was backing $500 billion in aid to state and local governments with a supplemental aid package for smaller cites left out of previous aid bills. He said the measure would aid the U.S. Postal Service, contain funding for absentee voting this fall, and address other priorities like funds for advanced tracing to monitor the virus as states try to open up without sparking a second wave of infection.Hoyer said the House wouldn’t return to Washington until there was a vote set on the next coronavirus bill, saying “it could be as early as next week.”For now, the House is staying away because of the pandemic, although the GOP-controlled Senate is open. Republicans there face internal divisions over spending and responsiveness to Depression-era jobless levels.Some Republicans such as Senator Mitt Romney of Utah and a group of GOP governors want to be more generous to states confronting furloughs and cuts to services as revenues plummet and unemployment insurance and other costs spike.’Pause’ on aidBut Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said Tuesday that it was time to push “pause” on more aid legislation — even as he repeated a “red line” demand that any new aid package include liability protections for hospitals, health care providers and businesses operating and reopening.Senate Republicans also dislike President Donald Trump’s demand for a cut to Social Security payroll taxes as a salve for the economy. Many lawmakers think the payroll tax cut is a bad idea because it boosts paychecks but doesn’t help people thrown out of a job.FILE – Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, is pictured on Capitol Hill in Washington, April 19, 2019.”We haven’t had any discussion of that” on the tax-writing Finance Committee, panel Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said Wednesday. “And I think I better wait till I talk to my colleagues.”Trump is encouraging states to reopen, and Republicans hope the gradual comeback will kick-start the economy, reducing the pressure for more pricey aid.Trump took to Twitter on Tuesday with a repackaged set of demands.”Well run States should not be bailing out poorly run States, using CoronaVirus as the excuse! The elimination of Sanctuary Cities, Payroll Taxes, and perhaps Capital Gains Taxes, must be put on the table,” Trump tweeted.Romney on Tuesday urged his colleagues to pass additional state aid, with a chart titled “Blue states aren’t the only ones who are screwed,” based on Moody’s Analytics data showing Louisiana, Missouri, Florida, Kansas and Kentucky competing with New York and New Jersey and the states facing the worst revenue shortfalls.  State, local government helpDetails on the package are a ways away, but it’s likely to be anchored by money for state and local governments, including smaller cities. Business interests are pushing hard for additional operating subsidies and relief from COVID-19-related lawsuits.Senate Republicans are frustrated by a negotiating dynamic on previous bills that empowered Democrats and sent costs spiraling. But they’re reluctant to unleash federal funds beyond the nearly $3 trillion Congress has already approved for virus relief.Grassley, for instance, said that “I don’t think we ought to right now decide that there is going to be a phase 4.”Ultimately, the legislation is likely to be shaped most by a familiar group of congressional leaders, including Pelosi and McConnell, and top Trump administration officials like Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. But getting talks to critical mass can be a tricky, arduous process given the web of rivalries and internal party considerations involved. Trump’s political fortunes and a spate of bad GOP polling have added new uncertainty.FILE – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., waits to speak with reporters after the Senate approved a nearly $500 billion coronavirus aid bill, April 21, 2020, on Capitol Hill in Washington.For her part, Pelosi recognizes that any bill drafted by Democrats will need more thorough culling than early Democratic efforts, which came under GOP attack for easy-to-criticize items like aid to Washington’s Kennedy Center and material taken from the so-called Green New Deal.Pelosi advised her colleagues in a caucuswide call this week to think big but be realistic, reminding them that Democrats will have to dial things down.”I think all of us are going to get our papers graded in November based on how we responded. This is going to be the dominant issue in every election in the country,” said Republican Texas Senator John Cornyn said.A freshman Republican senator, Missouri’s Josh Hawley, said: “If we enter a long-term recession or depression, the concerns we have about deficit spending now are going to look like a walk in the park.”One idea gaining traction among Republicans is to allow greater flexibility on $150 billion in aid that’s already been delivered to states and larger cities. That money is supposed to be used to pay for COVID-19 response, but governors in some states won’t be able to use it all for that purpose and want to use it to make up for revenues lost as the country slides into recession.
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