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A surge of deaths in Yemen has prompted aid groups to warn that the war-torn, impoverished nation may have far more than the 122 COVID-19 cases officially reported as of May 17.  Aid groups say hospitals are closing because health workers have no protective gear and people are dying because they cannot get treatment.  VOA’s Heather Murdock reports from Istanbul with Naseh Shaker in Sana’a, Yemen.Videographer:  Naseh Shaker 
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Asian markets are on the rise Monday as more and more nations continue to slowly emerge from the lockdowns imposed to halt the coronavirus pandemic. Tokyo’s Nikkei index closed 0.4% higher, despite news earlier in the day that Japan had technically fallen into recession for the first time since 2010 after two straight quarters of contraction.   The indexes in Hong Kong, Seoul, Shanghai and Sydney also ended in positive territory, while Taipei dropped 0.6%.   The positive trend has spilled over into Europe, as London’s FTSE is up 2.6%, the CAC-40 in Paris has gained 2.4%, and the DAX index in Frankfurt has soared 2.8%. Meanwhile, the price of the U.S. crude oil benchmark, West Texas Intermediate, was trading at $31.04 per barrel, up 5.4%, while Brent crude, the international benchmark, was trading at $33.70 per barrel, up 3.6%.  In equities futures trading, the Dow Jones, Nasdaq and S&P 500 are all trading up 1.5% or better, indicating a good start for Wall Street at its opening bell. 
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Strict COVID-19 controls in Australia are separating families of migrant workers who have been stuck overseas since its international borders were closed.   Temporary visa holders do not have the same rights to return to Australia as citizens during the pandemic.   “Scomo won’t let us come home and they say they don’t know how long it will take before we make it,”   says a migrant Facebook song.A song for Scomo — a colloquial term for Scott Morrison — from an American temporary visa holder.  The Australian prime minister is being urged to let migrant workers stranded overseas return to their jobs, homes and families.  Hundreds of foreign workers, including those from the U.S., Britain, South Africa and Brazil, had temporarily left Australia to go on holiday, to study or attend funerals before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the government in Canberra to close the borders. They have been left stranded away from family, partners and jobs in Australia.   Chloe Fletcher moved from England to Perth, but is separated from her sixteen-year old son, Taylor.  He was in Britain studying for exams when Australia’s borders were closed and has been refused permission to rejoin his family. “For any mother to be away from the child for that long the pain is unbearable.  It is like every day it is hard,” she said. “I don’t understand what the actual boundaries are, what makes a compassionate case because there’s no actual rules or regulations, so we don’t know what category we fit into.” Australia closed its borders to foreign nationals on March 20.  Authorities say decisions about who is allowed to return under special circumstances are made in the interests of public health.  Officials stress that shutting international borders has been one of the key factors in Australia’s ability to control the spread of the coronavirus.  Australian citizens and permanent visa holders are permitted to return but face a mandatory 14-day quarantine period in a hotel paid for by the government. Australia has had about 7,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases.  The vast majority of patients have recovered, but about 100 people have died from the virus.   Lockdown restrictions are gradually being eased across the country.  Cafes, restaurants, places of worship and schools are reopening under strict hygiene controls. But those desperate for Australia’s international borders to reopen face a long and uncertain wait.   
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U.S. President Donald Trump has called his predecessor Barack Obama an “incompetent president” following Obama’s criticism of the U.S. response to the coronavirus pandemic. Obama told college graduates in a live-streamed speech on Saturday that “this pandemic has fully, finally torn back the curtain on the idea that so many of the folks in charge know what they’re doing.” He did not mention anyone by name.   Asked about the remark on Sunday, Trump said:  “Look, he was an incompetent president, that’s all I can say. Grossly incompetent.” The U.S. has become the global epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, with more than 1.5 million confirmed cases and close to 90,000 deaths. Critics have accused the administration of exacerbating the situation by ignoring the gravity of the outbreak in the crucial early weeks. Earlier Sunday, the top U.S. health official rejected the charge that the government had failed its people.  “It could have been vastly, vastly worse,” Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told CNN. He said the U.S. over the last two months was “able to flatten the curve” of the number of coronavirus cases in order to give health care workers a chance to deal with the onslaught of patients needing care. Trump said on Twitter, “Doing REALLY well, medically, on solving the CoronaVirus situation (Plague!). It will happen!”Doing REALLY well, medically, on solving the CoronaVirus situation (Plague!). It will happen!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) A youngster approaches a team of New York City police officers as they walk with face masks to hand out to anyone who needs or asks for one during the current coronavirus outbreak, Sunday, May 17, 2020, in Brooklyn Bridge Park in New York.Most of the country’s 50 states are beginning to relax restrictions on businesses, while urging residents to continue keeping a social distance of at least two meters between people, wearing masks in public, and avoiding congregations.  With millions of Americans suffering from cabin fever after two months of confinement at home, the reopening of bars and restaurants in some Midwestern states and beaches in the coastal states have attracted crowds as if there were no remaining health concerns from the pandemic.  The White House continues to blame China for the global pandemic. The White House trade adviser Peter Navarro reiterated Trump’s blame of China for the advance of virus from the central Chinese city of Wuhan to Europe and the United States.  Trump also accused the World Health Organization for siding with China and has suspended the U.S. contribution to the Geneva-based U.N. agency. “Yes, I do blame the Chinese,” Navarro told ABC News’ “This Week” show on Sunday. He said Beijing, “behind the shield of the World Health Organization — for two months — hid the virus from the world.”  Both China and the WHO have rejected the accusation. 
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After China attempted to put limits on the disputed South China Sea, Vietnam responded with a message to its fishermen: just keep fishing, within the law. The Southeast Asian nation, a major world exporter of seafood, told provincial governments along the coast to “intensify” oversight of the fishers under their safeguard.  The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development sent a letter to the local governments last week, telling them to inform fishermen of China’s “invalid” fishing ban but also to “encourage fishers to stick to normal production within the limits of Vietnam’s territorial waters.” Vietnam rejected China’s seasonal ban from May 1 to Aug. 16 in the South China Sea, which is claimed by both nations, a month after saying China also sank a boat carrying Vietnamese fishermen who have been rescued. “The People’s Committees of provinces and cities shall direct functional agencies to intensify the management and supervision of fishing activities of fishing ships at sea,” said a report from VietnamNet, the official news site of the Ministry of Information and Communications. The agriculture ministry provided a hotline where people should report any “unexpected incidents” to its Department of Fisheries Control in the wake of China’s announcement. The fishing fracas threatens to inflame a South China Sea where multi-nation tensions have already been heating up in recent months. Washington warned Beijing against “exploiting” the COVID-19 pandemic to distract from its maritime aggressions in April, after China sent a ship back to the disputed waters, possibly to explore for oil.  Vietnam protested the ship’s return, as well as the earlier sinking of a fishing boat. The Philippines, which has vacillated in its maritime criticism of China, took the rare step of standing by Vietnam after the sinking. Even Indonesia, not a frequent party to the South China Sea disputes, sank Chinese ships in 2019 that it accused of illegal fishing. Malaysia also protested the return of China’s exploratory vessel in April. The United States showed its opposition, to what it called, China’s “coercive and unlawful actions” in the South China Sea last week by dispatching the USS Gabrielle Giffords, named after a former Arizona congresswoman, injured in a 2011 shooting. “Routine presence operations, like Gabrielle Giffords’, reaffirms the U.S. will continue to fly and sail freely, in accordance with international law and maritime norms, regardless of excessive claims or current events,” Vice Adm. Bill Merz, commander of the U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet, said. The South China Sea, seen as a rich source of fisheries and oil, has overlapping territorial claims by several Asian nations.  Vietnam has already seen a decline in its fishing sector because of COVID-19, including a decrease in seafood trade with China. Nguyen Viet Thang, chair of the Vietnam Association of Fisheries, asked the government to defend local fishermen and oppose China’s attempt at a summer fishing ban. “This regulation has no legal value for the seas under Vietnam’s sovereignty,” he said in a letter to the government on behalf of the association. “Fishermen of Vietnam completely have the right to fish in the waters under its sovereignty.” The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam has responded accordingly. “Vietnam rejects China’s unilateral decision,” Le Thi Thu Hang, the ministry spokesperson, said. She said, using the Vietnamese term for the South China Sea, “Given the current regional and global context, Vietnam asks China not to further complicate the situation in the East Sea.” China has said Vietnam does not have a right to protest the fishing ban. 
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For some of the 2,000 or so year-round residents of Deer Isle, Maine, the fraying American flag outside the post office this spring was a reminder of the nation’s mood.The flag was in tatters. It twisted in the wind from a single hook. But it was stuck in the up position, so the postmistress hadn’t been able to replace it.”I was thinking what a metaphor it is for our country right now,” community health director René Colson Hudson said. “It was really important that the flag be replaced, as a symbol of hope.”Colson Hudson, a former New Jersey pastor who moved to coastal Maine a few years ago, posted an online plea on April 23 that sparked a community thread. Should someone scale the flagpole? Could the local tree-trimmer help? Did they need a bucket truck?By week’s end, a secret helper had gotten the flag down. Postmistress Stephanie Black soon had the new one flying high.Colson Hudson, 54, had rarely visited her post office when she lived in suburban New Jersey. But in Deer Isle, people exchange small talk in the lobby, announce school events on the bulletin board and pick up medications and mail-in ballots — while postal workers keep an eye on everyone’s well-being.”Here,” she said, “it is the center of community.”A STRUGGLE TO FLOURISHMany of the nation’s 630,000 postal employees are facing new risks during the COVID-19 outbreak, as they sort mail or make daily rounds to reach people in far-flung locales. More than 2,000 of them have tested positive for the virus, and a union spokesman says 61 workers have died.For most Americans, mail deliveries to homes or post boxes are their only routine contact with the federal government. It’s a service they seem to appreciate: The agency consistently earns “favorability” marks that top 90%.Yet it’s not popular with one influential American: President Donald Trump, who has threatened to block the U.S. Postal Service from COVID-19 relief funding unless it quadruples the package rates it charges large customers like Amazon, owned by Jeff Bezos. Bezos also owns The Washington Post, whose coverage rankles Trump.”He is willing to sacrifice the U.S. Postal Service and its 630,000 employees because of petty vindictiveness and personal retaliation against Jeff Bezos,” Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., said last week. “That would be a tragic outcome.”Postal Service officials, bracing for steep losses given the nationwide coronavirus shutdown, warn they’ll run out of money by September without help. They reported a $4.5 billion loss for the quarter ending March 31 — on $17.8 billion in revenue — before the full effects of the shutdown sank in.  Some in Congress want to set aside $25 billion from the nearly $3 trillion relief program to keep the mail flowing. But with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin pushing Trump’s priorities, the Postal Service has so far landed just a $10 billion loan.”The Postal Service is a joke,” President Donald Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on April 24. “They’re handing out packages for Amazon and other internet companies and every time they bring a package, they lose money on it.”  Historically, the Postal Service has operated without public funds, even since a crushing 2006 law required it to pre-fund 75 years of retiree benefits. It’s been around longer than the nation itself, with a rich history that includes Benjamin Franklin’s tenure as the first postmaster general.  This month, the USPS Board of Directors appointed Republican fundraiser Louis DeJoy to the post. He succeeds Megan Brennan, a career postal worker who is retiring.The president insists higher package rates could ease the Postal Service’s financial troubles. But most financial analysts disagree. They say customers would turn to UPS or FedEx.Packages typically account for 5 percent of the Postal Service’s volume but 30 percent of its revenue. And package revenue has actually gone up during the shutdown. Still, it hasn’t been enough to restore profitability, battered during the internet age by the decline of first-class mail.Mark Dimondstein, president of the American Postal Workers Union, with 200,000 members, fears the Trump administration wants to destabilize the agency and then sell it off.With more than 30 million Americans suddenly out of work, he wonders why anyone would put “600,000 good, living-wage jobs” at risk. Those Postal Service jobs have moved generations of Americans, especially blacks and minorities, firmly into the middle class.Yet the president, Dimondstein said, wants to privatize the operation when “here you have the post office serving the people of this country in maybe a deeper way than we ever have.”A 55-CENT JOURNEY TO ISLE AU HAUTOn Henrietta Dixon’s mail route in North Philadelphia, every house has a story. Dixon seems to know them all.  Alvin Fields moved back to his block of two-story row homes after 40 years working for Verizon. Jason Saal, 40, lives in an abandoned factory he bought for an art studio, but now hopes to make industrial-grade masks there.Sharae Cunningham is also making masks, but the hand-sewn kind, some with African prints she sells for $6.  All said they would miss the Postal Service if it collapsed.”It’s nice to have mail delivered by a letter carrier,” said Saal, who mailed out two boxes of masks through Dixon one recent morning and gave her several free ones. “It’s the person that you see, a government worker, every day, Monday to Sunday.”They agreed the neighborhood, one of Philadelphia’s poorest, would benefit from the kind of expanded services — such as low-fee check cashing and wifi — that’s the norm in Europe and might help U.S. post offices survive.  “That’d be a great service. A lot of people need to cash checks,” said Cunningham, 40, who helps care for chronically ill parents, four children and a grandchild.Dixon, who lives nearby, has been with the post office for nearly 30 years, the last nine on her current route. Fields called her “absolutely wonderful.”Her route, in a dense city neighborhood, might be attractive to private companies itching to compete with the Postal Service. But the same 55-cent stamp that takes a letter across town can also get one to the Pacific Northwest, rural Appalachia or islands off the coasts of Alaska, California and Maine. That’s because of the USPS pledge to offer “universal service” to everyone in the United States, no matter what it takes.”For the American psyche, it’s one of the last places where we are all equal. We all have the right to a 55-cent letter and mail delivery six days a week,” said Evan Kalish, 30, of Queens, New York, a postal enthusiast who’s documented thousands of post office visits on his blog, Postlandia.A few miles south of Deer Isle, Postmistress Donna DeWitt walks down to a boat dock each morning to retrieve her plastic bins from the 7 a.m. mail boat and carts it up to the tiny Isle au Haut Post Office a few hundred feet away.  With no bridge to the mainland and wifi and cell phone service on the island spotty, mail service is essential to the 70 or so year-round residents, who mostly work in the fishing and lobstering trades.”I don’t think you’d find most of the old-timers, for instance, paying their bills online. They depend on the mail for all of their business transactions,” said George Cole, the volunteer president of Isle au Haut Boat Services, a nonprofit that brings the mail over on the 45-minute trip from Stonington.The ferry service gets most of its revenue from summer tourists, but the small USPS contract helps.”If we lost it, it would be very painful,” Cole said. “We’ve carried the mail for 50 years.”DEATH NOTICES, PLANTS AND PUMPKIN ROLLSFilmmaker Tom Quinn set out to make a movie about a town that lost its zip code — and its place on the map — in a round of USPS closures in 2011. The film became a study in loneliness.”I started to understand what this is about,” said Quinn, speaking of his 2019 film “Colewell,” set in a fictional small town on the New York-Pennsylvania border.In places like those, he said, the post office serves as the town’s living room — a gathering spot for conversation, for human contact, for community.”When this hub is there, you run into people by accident,” said Quinn, who teaches film at Drexel University in Philadelphia. “It’s the same thing about Zoom and teaching. None of those accidental interactions happen anymore.”In rural Fayette County, West Virginia, Susan Williams fondly recalls postmistresses who left homemade pumpkin roll out for customers, posted a note in the lobby when someone died and kept her mail-order geraniums alive.”If I thought these plants were going to arrive while we were away, she would just open the boxes and water them for us,” said Williams, a retired journalist and teacher who lives in Falls View, about 35 miles east of Charleston.  With no home delivery there, she treks two miles to Charlton Heights to get her mail, trying to arrive after it gets put up at 10:30 a.m. and before the post office closes at noon. On a recent day in late April, her box held her mail-in ballot for the presidential primary. She planned to return it the next day.”It means everything,” Williams said of the Postal Service.Back in Maine, Colson Hudson likes to take the mail boat over to Eagle Island in the summer (year-round population 2; seasonal, perhaps 40) to visit friends. She once took a picture of the mail bag, musing about who its contents would connect.”All these people come flocking down at the time the boat comes with the mail,” she said. “There’s something in that bag that they’re waiting for, that they’re hoping for.” 
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Brazil become the country with the fourth-largest number of coronavirus infections in the world, surpassing Spain and Italy. Overnight, the South American country had more than 15,000 confirmed new cases, bringing the total to more than 235,000 Sunday, according to the Johns Hopkins University tally. Health experts say the real number of cases could be higher because many people have not been tested.  With the death toll approaching 16,000, Brazil ranks sixth in the world for coronavirus-related deaths. Mexico and Ecuador also have seen a spike of new cases, prompting the World Health Organization to declare the Americas the new center of the pandemic. Russia is another hotspot, recording about 10,000 new confirmed cases a day for at least the past 10 consecutive days in May. But officials said Sunday the spread is being stabilized across the country.  Russia’s chief sanitary doctor, Anna Popova, told Rossiya 1 TV channel in an interview that the progress has been achieved due to Russians’ careful attention to their health. Russia has reported 281,752 confirmed coronavirus cases and 2,631 COVID-19-linked fatalities.  New hotspots are emerging in Africa, especially Nigeria, drawing attention to the dangers of inaction.A man wearing a protective face mask is seen on the first day of the easing of coronavirus lockdown measures, in Lagos, Nigeria, May 4, 2020.Spain and Italy, two European countries that were at the center of the world’s coronavirus outbreak in March, are now gradually returning to normal after about two months under lockdown and no reports of new infections. The daily number of people dying of COVID-19 in those two countries also is declining. A lockdown remains in place for Spain’s two largest cities, Madrid and Barcelona, as the government seeks to prevent resurgence of infections.  Italy has relaxed some of the coronavirus restrictions and is moving toward the next phase to reopen more businesses. Officials say tourists will be allowed into the country beginning June 3. Britain, which has the third-highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases and the second-highest number of COVID-19-related deaths worldwide, also is preparing to reopen. The government said it has hired nearly all of the contact tracers it plans to employ to trace the virus’ spread when the country eases lockdown measures. Britain was on track to develop a coronavirus vaccine by the end of the year, but Prime Minister Boris Johnson quashed that hope Sunday. “There remains a very long way to go, and I must be frank that a vaccine might not come to fruition,” Johnson wrote in a British newspaper. The number of cases globally continues to rise and has reached close to 4.7 million Sunday with more than 314.000 deaths. But after weeks of lockdowns that have ravaged the global economy and affected people’s material and mental health, even the countries where the spread continues have begun easing some restrictions. The United States, the world’s leader in the number of COVID-19 infections and deaths, with nearly 1.5 million confirmed cases and close to 90,000 deaths, is gradually easing restrictions, albeit at a different pace in different regions.  On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump is set to hold discussions with several state governors as well as restaurant executives and industry leaders on conditions for reopening. He is also expected to announce support of farmers and other members of the food chain industries who helped ensure a steady food supply during the lockdowns.President Donald Trump speaks about the coronavirus in the Rose Garden of the White House, May 15, 2020, in Washington, as Coronavirus Task Force members Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Deborah Birx listen.Elsewhere in the world, Turkey is relaxing coronavirus guidelines. Citizens older than 65, who are the most vulnerable to the coronavirus, were allowed to leave their homes for six hours on Sunday, after weeks under a strict lockdown. In Thailand, malls were reopened Sunday for the first time since March and New Zealand has reopened restaurants and cinemas. Both countries have reported no new cases in recent days but are watching for a possible resurgence of infections.  As a precaution, Thailand on Saturday extended a ban on international passenger flights until the end of June. India has extended its lockdown by two more weeks as the virus continues to spread, the fourth extension since the end of March, but the government has promised new guidelines in the near future with a view to reopen some economic activities. The country of 1.3 billion people Sunday had about 95,000 coronavirus cases and slightly more than 3.000 deaths. China, where the virus originated last year in the central city of Wuhan, and was later contained, has seen a resurgence of new cases in the northeast. The authorities have quarantined about 8,000 people in the province of Jilin.  Health officials worldwide are warning of a possible new wave of infections in the fall. 
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Worries about the breach of individual privacy rights could undermine Louisiana’s ability to quickly pinpoint those who have encountered someone infected with COVID-19, a tracking plan that public health experts say is critical to slowing the spread of the coronavirus disease.Gov. John Bel Edwards has started reopening much of Louisiana’s economy, saying residents have done well with staying home and apart from others that the state’s no longer at risk of overwhelming its hospitals with COVID-19 patients.  Loosening restrictions means more people are moving around, visiting salons and restaurants, attending churches and encountering others. To avoid overwhelming spikes in coronavirus cases, infectious disease specialists say, requires robust testing to locate virus hot spots and widespread contact tracing to determine who has come into close contact with someone infected so they can be urged to self-isolate.Dr. Alex Billioux, leader of Louisiana’s public health office, said he knows some people will find the process of contact tracing “scary,” to be asked about their interactions with people and businesses or to find out someone else has shared information about where they’ve been.”The goal here, though, is to help protect you. The goal here is to identify where you have risk,” Billioux said.But word that the Edwards administration hired nearly 300 contact tracers on top of 70 already employed — and could eventually build up to 700 disease detectives to track the virus— quickly raised concerns about collecting personal medical information and spreading it improperly.Rep. Raymond Crews, a Shreveport Republican, told health care officials he’s heard a lot of reluctance to contact tracing from people who “put a big, big premium on liberty.””My constituents are very leery. They think it opens a Pandora’s box and it’s going to be very scary,” Crews said.Realizing that widespread reluctance to respond to contact tracers could hamper Louisiana’s efforts to contain the virus, Edwards has appealed to people to be “good neighbors” by participating.The Democratic governor said people who test positive for the coronavirus will be asked to identify people they recently came into close contact with for 15 minutes or more. A contact tracer, working from home, will call those people and tell them they should get tested if they’re symptomatic and should isolate for 14 days even if they’re not showing symptoms.”You can rest assured that your information will remain confidential,” Edwards said.Billioux stressed the contact tracers will follow federal laws for protecting personal health information. He said the information collected is held in a private system similar to those used by hospitals to store health data.”We’re not revealing any details of the individual that they came into contact with,” Billioux said.  Public health agencies have used contact tracing to track and combat the spread of other infectious diseases for years, drawing little attention. Republican U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, a doctor, said the nation has laws governing the process.”Privacy is absolutely of greatest importance. Fortunately, we have 25 or 30 or even 40 years of privacy law that we have seen work,” Cassidy said in a conference call with reporters. He added: “We have to reopen the economy safely, and we have to do it in a way which both balances the safety and the reopening. And the way to do that is to know who may be infected.”Rep. Jack McFarland, a Winnfield Republican, said contact tracing concerns are rampant on social media, and he’s been inundated with emails and phone calls from people resisting the idea.  He said the state hasn’t done enough to explain that the contact tracing will be done by phone, that participation will be voluntary and that the “government can’t come into your home and lock you up.” He also said more should be done to explain the benefits to slow the virus’s spread.  McFarland acknowledged he’s not yet “completely comfortable” with contact tracing, and he anticipates the state will have trouble getting some people to participate.”Once people make up their minds, it’s hard to change them,” he said. “The public’s perception is this is big government, an invasion of our privacy. Somebody’s got to do a better job of changing that perception or it’s not going to be successful.”
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Elvis Presley’s Graceland says it will reopen Thursday after it shut down tours and exhibits due to the new coronavirus outbreak.The tourist attraction in Memphis, Tennessee, said Sunday that it has adjusted its tours, and restaurant and retail operations, since it closed in March.  The Memphis tourist attraction is centered on the life and career of the late rock n’ roll icon. It annually attracts about 500,000 visitors, including international travelers.Graceland said in a news release that it is reducing tours of Presley’s former home-turned-museum to 25% capacity, requiring employees and encouraging visitors to wear face masks, and limiting restaurant capacities to 50%.  Temperature checks for guests and employees will be implemented and hand sanitizing stations are being installed, Graceland said.”We are helping Memphis and Tennessee to get back to some sense of normality,” said Joel Weinshanker, managing partner of Graceland Holdings, in a statement. 
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The United States leads the world with nearly 90,000 coronavirus deaths, but the U.S. health chief on Sunday rejected the notion that the government had failed its people. “You can’t celebrate a single death,” Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told CNN, but contended, “It could have been vastly, vastly worse.” President Donald Trump said on Twitter, “Doing REALLY well, medically, on solving the CoronaVirus situation (Plague!). It will happen!” Doing REALLY well, medically, on solving the CoronaVirus situation (Plague!). It will happen!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) Club Ritz reopens to patrons following the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s decision to strike down Governor Tony Evers’ safer-at-home order against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Kaukana, Wisconsin, May 13, 2020.Gov. Mike DeWine in Ohio, where crowds ignored social distancing guidelines as restaurants reopened, said, “We’ve got to continue to keep our space. This is a crucial time,” even as 90% of the state’s economy has now reopened. “We have to open back up,” he said, “but with caution,” to prevent a renewed outbreak of the pandemic. “Whether we’re able to reopen schools (in August) depends on what we’re doing right now. It’s in everyone’s collective hands.” Gov. Gavin Newsom of California, the Pacific coastal state that is the country’s largest, said 75% of his state’s economy is reopened, but that coronavirus precautions must still be adhered to. He said he does not now foresee the likelihood that crowds of 80,000 fans crammed into stadiums will be able to gather for football games in the fall. White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, as Trump has, blamed China for the advance of virus from Wuhan in China to Europe and then to the United States. “Yes, I do blame the Chinese,” Navarro told ABC News’ “This Week” show. He said Beijing, “behind the shield of the World Health Organization — for two months— hid the virus from the world.” “They could have kept it in Wuhan,” he said. “Instead it became a pandemic.”
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Five Mexican citizens apprehended this week after illegally entering the United States in remote northern Maine were returned to Canada within hours under a rule put into place as part of the U.S. government response to the COVID-19 pandemic.A similar policy by the Canadian government allows the return to the United States of most people seeking asylum in Canada.While the restrictions haven’t ended illegal immigration into the United States from Canada, the emergency policy has all but ended the use of Roxham Road in Champlain, New York — one of the most well-known routes used by people fleeing the U.S. to seek asylum in Canada.For more than three years, Janet McFetridge, a humanitarian activist from Champlain, helped the northbound asylum seekers.”‘It makes me wonder where they are and whether they are safe,” she said of their absence.Prior to COVID-19, depending on the circumstances of the individual border crosser, the five people apprehended in Maine on May 12 could have been charged with a federal crime in the United States or quickly processed for deportation to their home country.President Donald Trump closed the borders with Mexico and Canada to all-but-essential traffic in March. For those entering illegally or seeking asylum, the administration has suspended immigration laws on public health grounds, giving border officials authority to rapidly expel them.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s order allowing rapid expulsions along the Mexican and Canadian borders is set to expire May 21, but administration officials have said it could be extended.The vast majority of the expulsions have been on the southern border. CBP statistics show that between the time the rule was implemented and the end of April, 20,860 people were returned to Mexico. On the northern border, there were 27.One of the first instances of returning northern border crossers came on March 21, the day the policy was implemented, when Border Patrol agents in Richford, Vermont, apprehended six individuals who had just illegally entered the U.S. from Canada. They were returned to Canada the same day.Justin Mohammed of Amnesty International Canada, which is party to a pending Canadian lawsuit challenging the safe third country agreement that allows the northbound migrants to seek asylum in Canada, said his organization was extremely concerned by the Trump administration’s summary expulsion of migrants back to Canada, including people who could possibly seek refugee protection.”The terms of the arrangement between Canada and the U.S. have never been publicly disclosed, and thus it is unclear how Canada is ensuring that it will not be complicit in any violations committed by American authorities,” he said Friday in an emailed statement.But Jessica Vaughan, the director of policy studies for the Washington-based Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates for tight restrictions on immigration, said Friday the immigration crackdown is having the desired effect of reducing illegal immigration.”It’s pretty clear the main reason for this is the policies,” Vaughn said. “They are not going to get away with making asylum claims, they are not going to be able to game the system.”Since around the time Trump took office, tens of thousands of immigrants in the U.S. who despaired of finding a permanent safe haven began crossing illegally into Canada to seek asylum. Many of those asylum seekers used Roxham Road, a back road in Champlain that ends at the Canadian border.There, they would cross the border and be arrested by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, but were allowed to file an asylum claim. In most cases, they were released while their applications were pending.After the pandemic hit, the Canadian government implemented its own border restrictions that allows it to return most asylum seekers to the United States. The current order is now scheduled to expire June 30.In an email response to questions, the Canada Border Services Agency said that between March 21 and May 13, 26 asylum seekers were returned to the U.S., including 21 “irregular” border crossers — 14 in Quebec and nine in British Columbia. The other three asylum seekers presented at a port of entry in southern Ontario and were sent back to the U.S.Two other asylum seekers were allowed to enter Canada under exceptions to the rule that include being an unaccompanied minor or a U.S. citizen seeking to make an asylum claim in Canada.In the Maine case, Customs and Border Protection says the immigrants were apprehended May 12 near the St. Juste Port of Entry in Maine’s Big 10 Township, about 60 miles (97 kilometers) southeast of Quebec City.They were spotted by a local resident emerging from brush near the border. The local then gave the five people a ride to the nearby border crossing, where they were taken into custody by the Border Patrol.Later that same day they were returned to Canada at the Armstrong, Quebec, port of entry.
 
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Muslims abstain from eating and drinking during daylight hours in the month of Ramadan, which ends on May 23rd. After sunset, they enjoy a meal and celebration known as iftar. Much of the celebrating this year is taking place in homes or online because of COVID-19. As Mike O’Sullivan reports, one online event has brought together people from two faiths which are sometimes antagonistic towards each other.
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As the U.S. and other countries slowly begin to lift strict COVID quarantine measures, some elements of pandemic life won’t be disappearing so soon. Masks and social distancing are here to stay, say experts, and while gyms and restaurants are reopening, their capacity will be cut in half. These and other measures will be part of the world’s new normal at least until a vaccine against COVID-19 is developed. Lesia Bakalets has the story, narrated by Anna Rice.Camera: Artyom Kokhan 
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A Mexican journalist was killed Saturday in Ciudad Obregon in the country’s north, the third reporter killed this year in Mexico, authorities said.”An armed attack has been confirmed that took the life of Jorge Armenta,” director of digital media outlet Medios Obson, the regional prosecutor’s office said on Twitter. A municipal police officer was also killed and a second officer was wounded.Regional Governor Claudia Pavlovich condemned the armed attack on Armenta in a message on Twitter, adding that she instructed the prosecutor to “immediately start the investigations to clarify and find those responsible for the damnable attack against the director of the Obson Media, Jorge Armenta and 2 municipal police officers.”Media group Reporters Without Borders, known by its French initials RSF, said in a statement that Armenta had received threats and was under government protection. The organization said it is investigating the type of protection he had.RSF has continuously ranked Mexico, as well as Syria and Afghanistan, as the world’s most dangerous countries for journalists to carry out their duties.The two other journalists killed in Mexico also this year were Víctor Fernando Alvarez, who was found dead on April 11 in the port of Acapulco after he disappeared on April 2; and Maria Elena Ferral, who was shot dead by two assailants on motorbikes in the eastern state of Veracruz in March. 
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May 17 is International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia.First observed in 2004, the day was designed to focus “attention on the violence and discrimination experienced by lesbian, gay, bisexuals, transgender, intersex people and all other people with diverse sexual orientations, gender, identities or expressions, and sex characteristics,” according the May17.org website.The U.N. secretary general issued a statement in support of May 17, noting that this year’s observation comes “at a time of great challenge.”“Among the many severe impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic is the increased vulnerability of LGBTI people,” Antonio Guterres said. “Already facing bias, attacks and murder simply for who they are or whom they love, many LGBTI people are experiencing heightened stigma as a result of the virus, as well as new obstacles when seeking health care.”The U.N. chief urged people to “stand united against discrimination and for the right of all to live free and equal in dignity and rights.”Most of the events around the world marking the day have been moved online because of the lockdowns caused by the coronavirus pandemic.The May 17 date was chosen for the worldwide celebration of sexual and gender diversities to commemorate the World Health Organization’s 1990 decision to declassify homosexuality as a mental disorder.  
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More and more migrants are crossing, Europe is closing its ports and no humanitarian ships are carrying out rescues. As the coronavirus pandemic dominates headlines, activists fear the Mediterranean is the scene of an overlooked “tragedy.”A handful of migrant landings have taken place in recent weeks, including 79 people who arrived last weekend in Italy — a country under fire even before the outbreak for refusing to allow private vessels carrying migrants to dock.International organizations and NGOs say the situation is bleak, as all rescue operations were ceased as of last week.”If there is no help at sea and countries drag their feet to rescue and allow people to disembark, we’re going to end up with a fairly serious humanitarian situation,” said Vincent Cochetel, special envoy for the central Mediterranean with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).He estimates that 179 people have died in the area since January.Italy and Malta closed their ports at the beginning of April as the pandemic hit Europe hard. At that time, only two rescue boats were in operation — the Alan Kurdi vessel run by the German NGO Sea-Eye, and Aita Mari chartered by the Spanish organization Maydayterraneo.Both have now been grounded by the Italian coastguard for “technical” problems, a move denounced as unjustified by campaign groups.Meanwhile Malta’s Prime Minister Robert Abela said last month that he was under investigation for his role in the death of at least five migrants who tried to sail from Libya to Italy. A Maltese patrol boat allegedly cut the cables of the migrant dinghy’s motor.More departuresThe situation is all the more dire, Cochetel said, as departures from the Libyan coast have nearly quadrupled compared with the same period a year ago, with 6,629 attempts to reach Europe between January and the end of April.The number of departures from Tunisia had more than doubled, Cochetel said.”Whether or not there are (rescue) boats at sea, it has no influence on departures — this period of coronavirus has amply proven that,” he said.He said that “75 percent of migrants in Libya have lost their jobs since the lockdown measures, which can lead to despair.”Sophie Beau, general director of SOS Mediterranee, a French-based NGO that charters a rescue boat called the Ocean Viking, questions the motives behind the withdrawal of the two vessels.”Two boats one after the other, it really raises questions about why they were seized,” she said.The Ocean Viking will return to sea “as soon as possible” despite the criminalization of aid groups, Beau said.”It’s very dramatic… and counter to international maritime law, which requires us to help anyone in distress as quickly as possible,” Beau said.”Now, as there are no witnesses, we don’t know the extent of the possible tragedy taking place” in the Mediterranean, she added.’Invisible shipwrecks’The central Mediterranean “remains the most dangerous maritime migration route on Earth,” the International Organization for Migration warned.”In the current context, risks that invisible shipwrecks are occurring out of sight of the international community have grown,” it said.Beau warned that “managing the epidemic, closing ports and borders… in addition to these constraints, there is also the lack of a coordinated mechanism,” referring to the agreement on the distribution of migrants between European countries after they have disembarked.The agreement was drawn up in Malta at the end of 2019 but has been slow to materialize.In a joint letter sent to the European Commission and reviewed by AFP, the French, Italian, Spanish and German interior ministers called for the establishment of a “solidarity mechanism” for “search and rescue” at sea.”Currently, a handful of member states carry an excessive burden, which shows a lack of solidarity and risks making the whole system dysfunctional,” they said in the letter.Pending a European agreement, and in the absence of humanitarian vessels, 162 migrants are currently stranded at sea on two tourist vessels.  
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Phyllis George, the former Miss America who became a female sportscasting pioneer on CBS’s “The NFL Today,” has died. She was 70.A family spokesperson said George died Thursday at a Lexington hospital after a long fight with a blood disorder.Her children, Lincoln Tyler George Brown and CNN White House correspondent Pamela Ashley Brown, released a joint statement, saying:”For many, Mom was known by her incredible accomplishments as the pioneering female sportscaster, 50th Miss America and first lady. But this was all before we were born and never how we viewed Mom. To us, she was the most incredible mother we could ever ask for, and it is all of the defining qualities the public never saw, especially against the winds of adversity, that symbolize how extraordinary she is more than anything else. The beauty so many recognized on the outside was a mere fraction of her internal beauty, only to be outdone by an unwavering spirit that allowed her to persevere against all the odds.”Miss America in 1971, George got into television in 1974 at CBS on “Candid Camera” and joined Brent Musburger and Irv Cross in 1975 on “The NFL Today.” Jimmy “The Greek” Snyder later was added to the cast.”Phyllis George was special. Her smile lit up millions of homes for the NFL Today,” Musburger tweeted. “Phyllis didn’t receive nearly enough credit for opening the sports broadcasting door for the dozens of talented women who took her lead and soared.”George worked on “The NFL Today” until 1984 and also covered horse racing. She hosted the entertainment show “People” and later co-anchored the “CBS Morning News.”George was briefly married to Hollywood producer Robert Evans in the mid-1970s and to John Y. Brown Jr. from 1979-98. Brown owned Kentucky Fried Chicken and the NBA’s Boston Celtics and served as the governor of Kentucky.”Phyllis was a great asset to Kentucky,” Brown told the Louisville Courier-Journal. “We had a great partnership. I think we enjoyed every single day.”From Denton, Texas, George attended the University of North Texas for three years, then went to Texas Christian University after earning a scholarship as Miss Texas in 1970.”A true pioneer who approached her job with enthusiasm, empathy and humor,” ESPN broadcaster Hannah Storm tweeted. “She was herself-charming and funny .. helped her audiences connect with some of the great sports figures of the day.” 
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