| Trump plan 'historic', peace deals crucial: Israel foreign minister Posted: 18 May 2020 10:50 AM PDT  Israel's new foreign minister said Monday that US President Donald Trump's Middle East peace proposal offered an "historic opportunity" but that regional peace deals must be maintained during its implementation. Gabi Ashkenazi, who became the Jewish state's top diplomat when a new unity government was sworn in on Sunday, made the comments at a transition ceremony in Jerusalem. "The plan will be promoted responsibly and in coordination with the United States, while maintaining peace agreements and the strategic interests of Israel," Ashkenazi said according to a copy of his remarks seen by AFP.
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| U.S. Supreme Court heaps more damages on Sudan in embassy bombing cases Posted: 18 May 2020 07:21 AM PDT  The U.S. Supreme Court dealt a legal setback to Sudan on Monday, ruling that the African nation cannot avoid punitive damages in lawsuits accusing it of complicity in the 1998 al Qaeda bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed 224 people. Siding with hundreds of people hurt and relatives of people killed in the bombings, the justices ruled 8-0 to throw out a lower court's 2017 decision that had freed Sudan from punitive damages awarded in the litigation in addition to about $6 billion in compensatory damages. Justice Brett Kavanaugh did not participate in the case.
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| Stacey Abrams moment: She shouldn't be Biden's VP, but she's changed the game for women Posted: 18 May 2020 02:00 AM PDT  Would we cast Stacey Abrams as Biden's vice president in a Netflix series? Not without a really good agent. In this case, she's doing the job herself.
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| FBI: US naval base attack 'motivated by al-Qaeda' Posted: 18 May 2020 06:08 PM PDT  The Saudi Air Force officer who killed three Americans in Florida spoke to the terror group in Yemen.
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| Fired scientist Rick Bright says the US coronavirus response has been 'chaotic' and lacks a clear strategy Posted: 17 May 2020 10:09 PM PDT  "I am frustrated at a lack of leadership," Bright told "60 Minutes, adding that the US does not yet have a national strategy to respond to COVID-19.
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| He thought the coronavirus was 'a fake crisis.' Then he contracted it. Posted: 18 May 2020 09:32 AM PDT  Brian Hitchens said he thought that the coronavirus "is a fake crisis" that was "blown out of proportion" and "wasn't that serious."
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| Coronavirus: Hospitals in Brazil’s largest city near collapse amid huge spike in cases, mayor says Posted: 18 May 2020 03:57 AM PDT  The healthcare system in Brazil's largest city is on the verge of collapse due to coronavirus, its mayor has said.
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| Huge fentanyl haul seized in Asia's biggest-ever drugs bust Posted: 18 May 2020 03:47 AM PDT  Myanmar police say they have seized a huge haul of liquid fentanyl - the first time the dangerous synthetic opioid that is ravaging North America has been found in Asia's Golden Triangle drug-producing region. In a sign that Asia's drug syndicates have moved into the lucrative opioid market, more than 3,700 litres of methylfentanyl was discovered by anti-narcotics police near Loikan village in Shan State in northeast Myanmar. The seizure of the fentanyl derivative was part of Asia's biggest-ever interception of illicit drugs, precursors and drug-making equipment, including 193 million methamphetamine tablets known as yaba. At 17.5 tonnes, that is almost as much yaba as has been seized during the previous two years in Myanmar. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said the scale of the bust was unprecedented and Myanmar's anti-drug authorities had "dismantled a significant network" during a two-month operation involving police and military. Also seized were almost 163,000 litres and 35.5 tonnes of drug precursors - substances that can be used to produce drugs - as well as weapons. There were more than 130 arrests.
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| Appeals court clears way for execution of Missouri inmate Posted: 18 May 2020 06:07 AM PDT  A federal appeals court has cleared the way for a Missouri death row inmate to be executed Tuesday and ordered his petition for post-conviction relief dismissed, despite questions raised about evidence used to convict him. The Sunday decision by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals vacates a 30-day stay of execution granted Friday to Walter Barton by a federal judge. Barton, 64, is set to die by lethal injection for the 1991 killing of 81-year-old trailer park operator Gladys Kuehler.
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| Israel court convicts settler of Palestinian arson murders Posted: 18 May 2020 08:14 AM PDT  An Israeli court Monday found a Jewish settler guilty of three murders in an arson attack that killed a Palestinian toddler and his parents -- a verdict that did little to ease the bereaved family's pain. Amiram Ben-Uliel, 25, from the West Bank settlement of Shilo, was also convicted of two counts each of attempted murder and arson, along with conspiracy to commit a hate crime in the 2015 attack. Hours after the verdict, the Palestinian family devastated by the attack told AFP that justice was incomplete, having long insisted that there were several attackers.
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| T cells play a role in fighting coronavirus; COVID-19 affects children differently Posted: 18 May 2020 11:32 AM PDT  The following is a brief roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus. While the immune system's B cells make antibodies that block the novel coronavirus, its T cells provide another line of attack, according to new research. Researchers found that T cells from recovered patients can target the virus.
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| AP FACT CHECK: Trump, GOP falsehoods on Flynn, Biden, virus Posted: 17 May 2020 09:08 PM PDT  President Donald Trump and his GOP allies are misrepresenting the facts behind the legal case of former national security adviser Michael Flynn as they seek to allege improper behavior during the Obama administration in the presidential campaign season. Broadly dubbing his allegations "Obamagate," Trump points to unspecified conspiracies against himself in 2016 and suggests the disclosure of Flynn's name as part of legal U.S. surveillance of foreign targets was criminal and motivated by partisan politics. Over the weekend, White House trade adviser Peter Navarro also alleged without evidence corruption involving Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden's son, Hunter, in China.
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| Burkina Faso unveils 'corrected' Thomas Sankara statue Posted: 18 May 2020 05:02 AM PDT  A new monument to the African nationalist hero is unveiled after parts of the original "melted".
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| The top health official in a Russian region that claims to have only 29 coronavirus deaths says the real figure is more than 20 times higher Posted: 18 May 2020 08:33 AM PDT  Russia says Dagestan has 3,371 coronavirus infections and 29 deaths. The region's health minister says the figures are actually 13,000 and 657.
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| 31 Best Low-Light Indoor Plants and How to Care for Them Posted: 18 May 2020 07:50 AM PDT |
| Health secretary: No spike in coronavirus in places reopening Posted: 17 May 2020 10:43 AM PDT  Authorities are not seeing spikes in coronavirus cases in places that are reopening but are seeing increases in some areas that remain closed, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said on Sunday.
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| Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warns China over interference with US journalists in Hong Kong Posted: 17 May 2020 09:25 PM PDT  US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Sunday he believed China had threatened to interfere with the work of US journalists in Hong Kong, and warned Beijing that any decision impinging on Hong Kong's autonomy could affect the US assessment of Hong Kong's status. "These journalists are members of a free press, not propaganda cadres, and their valuable reporting informs Chinese citizens and the world," Mr Pompeo said in a statement. Britain returned Hong Kong to China in 1997, and the territory was promised a "high degree of autonomy" for 50 years. The system formed the basis of the territory's special status under US law, which has helped it thrive as a world financial centre. Mr Pompeo announced on May 6 that the State Department was delaying a report to Congress assessing whether Hong Kong enjoyed sufficient autonomy from China to continue receiving special treatment from the United States. He said at the time the delay was to allow the report to account for any actions Beijing might contemplate in the run-up to China's May 22 National People's Congress.
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| Coronavirus: Pastor urges churches to ‘step up and roar’ against forced closure amidst lockdown Posted: 18 May 2020 11:46 AM PDT  A Kentucky pastor is urging religious leaders to re-open their churches and "step up and roar" against forced closures put in place to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.Brian Gibson, pastor of a megachurch with locations in Kentucky and Texas, alongside at least 50 other churches are urging religious leaders to demand re-opening their sites for worship.
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| Liberal media does 180 on FBI abuses after bureau goes after Trump team Posted: 18 May 2020 04:11 AM PDT  The liberal press used to denounce FBI abuses until the Trump administration; former deputy assistant director of the FBI's counterterrorism division Terry Turchie weighs in.
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| Trump hears restaurant owners' worries, sees good days ahead Posted: 18 May 2020 02:08 PM PDT  Restaurant owners gave President Donald Trump a sobering accounting Monday of the widespread damage the coronavirus pandemic has dealt their industry and asked him to adjust a loan program for small businesses to address their concerns. The president put a hopeful spin on the situation, saying encouraging news on vaccines and treatment efforts could "negate" the bad news. The president was in good spirits as he met with the restaurant executives at the White House, noting that financial markets were up as states continued to loosen economic restrictions on businesses and following Moderna Inc.'s announcement of encouraging news in early work on vaccine development.
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| Coronavirus 'not a pandemic in Pakistan' says top court, ordering curbs lifted Posted: 18 May 2020 11:06 AM PDT  Pakistan's Supreme Court ordered the government on Monday to lift some of the remaining restrictions imposed on business to halt the spread of the coronavirus, even as the country recorded a rise in infections since beginning to emerge from lockdown. In its decision, which is binding, the court said the virus "apparently is not a pandemic in Pakistan" and questioned why fighting it was "swallowing so much money". The court ordered shopping malls to be reopened if health authorities do not object, and curbs to be lifted on businesses opening on the weekends.
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| The shortest flight route in the US is now a 29-mile American Airlines trip connecting two of Colorado's most wealthy resort towns Posted: 18 May 2020 10:15 AM PDT  American Airlines' 35-minute flight, spurred by funding conditions in the CARES Act, connects super-wealthy Colorado enclaves Vail and Aspen.
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| Jet doing flyover to salute frontline workers crashes, killing 1 Posted: 18 May 2020 03:00 PM PDT  Another person was seriously injured in the wreck, the Royal Canadian Air Force said.
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| Tropical Storm Arthur, the First Named Storm of the Season, Gathers Speed as It Approaches North Carolina Posted: 17 May 2020 07:19 AM PDT  The first named storm of hurricane season—Tropical Storm Arthur—formed off of Florida's east coast Saturday and is strengthening as it approaches North Carolina's outer banks.
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| Xi defends China's virus response, offers vaccine when ready Posted: 18 May 2020 06:58 AM PDT  Chinese President Xi Jinping said Monday Beijing has been "transparent" throughout the coronavirus crisis, and offered to share a vaccine as soon as one was available -- as well as $2 billion in aid. Governments including the US and Australia have called in recent weeks for an investigation into the origins of the virus, which has become a flashpoint in deteriorating tensions between Washington and Beijing. Both US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have accused China of a lack of transparency over the issue, and repeatedly pushed the theory that the virus leaked from a Chinese maximum-security laboratory.
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| 70 cases of COVID-19 at French schools days after reopening Posted: 18 May 2020 12:14 PM PDT  The affected schools are being closed immediately.
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| In Michael Flynn case, Judge Sullivan's gross overreach turns justice into mob rule Posted: 18 May 2020 02:28 PM PDT  The case against Micheal Flynn is abusive and should be dismissed, as the Justice Department requests. But Judge Emmet Sullivan has other ideas.
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| How greater diversity in the cockpit could help airlines avoid a looming pilot shortage Posted: 18 May 2020 05:15 AM PDT  Before the new coronavirus hit, the airline industry was bracing for a severe pilot shortage. But just as the pandemic has forced school closures across the country, it's also disrupting aviation training programs, which could mean even fewer pilots are trained to fly tomorrow's fleet of commercial aircraft.There are many reasons for the anticipated shortage, including increased regulation, growing demand for air travel and an aging workforce, coupled with a mandatory retirement age of 65. But there's one cause that also offers a solution: The industry has long struggled to recruit women, people of color and members of other marginalized groups.As a scholar of aviation education and policy, I believe a stronger focus on attracting a diverse workforce and embracing a more inclusive culture is pivotal to ensuring there are enough pilots as Americans return to the skies in record numbers after this crisis passes. Lack of diversityUpon entering the field of aviation in 2014, it took me about a year on the job before I fully grasped that I was, more often than not, the only woman in the room – and frequently the youngest to boot.Eventually, I had the opportunity to critically examine the systemic problems that have led to a lack of diversity in both the academic aviation world and the broader industry it reflects. I found that women, people of color and members of the LGBTQ community were significantly underrepresented, yet their mere presence was often used to symbolize progress in diversifying the industry. And little has changed.A review of the latest Civil Airmen Statistics indicates that a little over 4% of Airline Transport Certificate holders – the required certification to fly for a major carrier – are women. No major U.S. carrier hired a female pilot until 1973. The situation is even worse for African Americans, who were not hired to pilot a commercial airplane until the 1960s. Things changed only because of a six-year battle against Continental Airlines waged by Marlon Green, who filed a discrimination complaint against the carrier. In 1963, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled in his favor, paving the way for the first black pilot, David Ellsworth Harris, whom American Airlines hired in 1964. Green would follow suit at Continental in 1965.But even today there are few African American pilots. Sociologists Louwanda Evans and Joe Feagin estimate that the number in 2012 was fewer than 700 – less than 1% of all commercial pilots. Fewer than 20 were black women. Pilot shortageI believe this lack of inclusion has contributed to the looming pilot shortage the industry has worried about for several years.Every few years, Boeing releases a report forecasting the number of professionals that the aviation industry will need in the coming years, from pilots and maintenance technicians to cabin crew. In its most recent report, Boeing estimates that North America is short 212,000 pilots through 2038.One of the problems is the field's high barrier for those who lack resources and support. The cost of a flight education at a traditional four-year institution can range from US$50,000 to upwards of $100,000, in addition to rising tuition fees.Another issue is a culture that isn't very inclusive.For an ongoing research project, I've been interviewing African American women in a variety of positions in the aviation industry about the challenges pursuing a successful career in the field. I've found that the lack of mentors, access to the industry, resources and "people who look like you" have all been barriers to entry and retention in the industry. There is also a perception problem, where women are not seen as authoritative enough for positions like captain of an aircraft.In a recent CNN article, aviation writer Kathryn Creedy put part of the blame on work rules that "haven't changed in 50 years." A sexist work environment is the subject of an ongoing lawsuit against Frontier Airlines, which is accused of discriminating against pregnant and breastfeeding women. Beyond tokenismIn the various months devoted to recognizing historically marginalized groups such as women, African Americans and LBGTQ people, the aviation industry joins the chorus of group that use the calendar to highlight historic diversity firsts.For example, you'll often see articles in February showcasing the "first African American pilot" or the "first all LGBTQ flight crew." Unfortunately, those firsts did not spark a significant change that led to real diversity in the cockpit, which continues to be dominated by white men. The problem with celebrating diverse talent only during the designated month is that this approach does not require the industry to reflect on why it needs diversity and inclusion policies in the first place. In her 2013 book, "Cabin Pressure: African-American Pilots, Flight Attendants, and Emotional Labor," sociologist Louwanda Evans writes about how mere representation can't paper over entrenched discrimination. And this problem, in turn, is contributing to the looming pilot shortage. The principles of justice and equity should be enough to convince carriers to make their policies and practices more equitable and inclusive to individuals who have not typically been drawn to the industry. But if they need more convincing, the clear economic imperative should do the job. [Expertise in your inbox. Sign up for The Conversation's newsletter and get a digest of academic takes on today's news, every day.]This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts.Read more: * How do you stay safe now that states are reopening? An expert explains how to assess risk when reconnecting with friends and family * Coronavirus murals: inside the world of pandemic-inspired street artShannon McLoughlin Morrison is affiliated with The Ohio State University, and has volunteered for the National Gay Pilots Association and Women in Aviation
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| Hong Kong: Lawmakers carried out during parliament mayhem Posted: 18 May 2020 01:19 AM PDT  Pro-democracy lawmakers were dragged out by guards during a row partly about the Chinese national anthem.
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| 'This will kill you': Here's what people are saying about Trump's claim he is taking hydroxychloroquine Posted: 18 May 2020 05:38 PM PDT  A few studies have shown the drug has not been effective against COVID-19, and some point to an increase in heart problems.
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| Police in China, Dubai, and Italy are using these surveillance helmets to scan people for COVID-19 fever as they walk past and it may be our future normal Posted: 17 May 2020 01:19 AM PDT  Temperature-scanning $7,000 helmets can catch people running a fever. But experts are skeptical about how helpful temperature scanning will really be.
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| U.S. savages WHO as it promises pandemic review, but China pledges $2 billion Posted: 18 May 2020 01:56 AM PDT  The World Health Organization said on Monday an independent review of the global coronavirus response would begin as soon as possible and it received backing and a hefty pledge of funds from China, in the spotlight as the origin of the pandemic. Trump said later in Washington that the WHO, which he called a "puppet of China", had "done a very sad job" in its handling of the coronavirus and he would make a decision about U.S. funding to the body soon.
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| Martin Shkreli: 'Delusional' jailed 'pharma bro' denied early release from prison to find coronavirus cure Posted: 17 May 2020 07:37 AM PDT  A judge has rejected a request by disgraced pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli to be released from prison amid the coronavirus pandemic.Shkreli, known as the "Parma Bro", is serving a seven-year sentence after being convicted in 2017 for lying to investors about the performance of two hedge funds he was running, as well as defrauding investors in a drug company.
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| Huawei says 'survival' at stake after US chip restrictions Posted: 18 May 2020 03:32 AM PDT  Huawei on Monday assailed the latest US move to cut it off from semiconductor suppliers as a "pernicious" attack that will put the Chinese technology giant in "survival" mode and sow chaos in the global technology sector. The Commerce Department said on Friday it was tightening sanctions on Huawei -- seen by Washington as a security risk -- to include denying it access to semiconductor designs developed using US software and technology. "The decision was arbitrary and pernicious and threatens to undermine the entire (technology) industry worldwide," Huawei said in a statement.
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| Mob storms Saudi-owned channel in Iraq following show Posted: 18 May 2020 08:19 AM PDT |
| Republican apologizes for likening Covid-19 curbs to Nazis' persecution of Jews Posted: 18 May 2020 06:00 AM PDT  Alaska state representative Ben Carpenter told to 'Keep your Holocaust jokes to yourself' after objecting to virus screeningAntisemitic and Nazi-sympathizing comments made by a Republican state representative in Alaska, who likened Covid-19 safety measures at the state capitol to the treatment of Jewish people in Nazi Germany, brought widespread rebuke and, eventually, an apology. Alaska's legislature is due to return on Monday and representatives were told by email they would be asked to undergo screening as they entered the building. Those who are screened will be given a sticker to show completion. Those who refuse will not be given a sticker. In an emailed reply to the new measures that was obtained by the Alaska Landmine, Ben Carpenter, a Republican wrote: "If my sticker falls off, do I get a new one or do I get public shaming too? Are the stickers available as a yellow Star of David?"The reply drew instant rebuke from colleagues in the house."This is disgusting. Keep your Holocaust jokes to yourself," replied Grier Hopkins, a Democrat.Carpenter initially declined to apologize and in an interview with the Anchorage Daily News made remarks that appeared to show Nazi sympathies. "Can you or I – can we even say it is totally out of the realm of possibility that Covid-19 patients will be rounded up and taken somewhere?" he said."People want to say Hitler was a white supremacist. No. He was fearful of the Jewish nation, and that drove him into some unfathomable atrocities." On Sunday, facing a national backlash, Carpenter apologized in an op-ed for a local paper."I take my responsibility as the voice of the people who elected me very seriously," he wrote. "I also hold the Jewish people in the highest regard."I do not take myself so seriously that I cannot recognize that the words I wrote, and those attributed to me, do not adequately reflect the esteem I hold for either group of people. I hope to correct that error now."
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| VA Asks Public for Donations to Help Homeless Veterans Through Pandemic Posted: 18 May 2020 12:47 PM PDT  The VA asked the public yesterday to write checks and donate food for homeless veterans.
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| SARS antibodies can block COVID-19 infection: study Posted: 18 May 2020 07:47 AM PDT  An antibody from a patient who recovered from SARS has been shown to block COVID-19 infection in a laboratory setting, researchers said Monday in another potential breakthrough in the search for coronavirus treatment. Scientists based in Switzerland and the United States previously isolated the antibodies from the patient in 2003, following the SARS outbreak that killed 774 people. The researchers identified eight antibodies that could bind to both COVID-19 and the infected cells.
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| 'I cannot stress this enough, this will kill you': Fox News host Neil Cavuto was shocked by Trump's announcement that he's taking hydroxychloroquine to prevent coronavirus. Posted: 18 May 2020 02:21 PM PDT  "I only make this not to make a political point here, but a life-and-death point," Cavuto said. "Be very, very careful."
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| Canada Snowbirds show jet crashes Posted: 17 May 2020 03:40 PM PDT 
A jet from the Canadian air force's Snowbirds exhibition team crashed into a residential neighborhood in the city of Kamloops northeast of Vancouver on Sunday after the pilot ejected. The air force confirmed on Twitter that one of its Snowbirds had crashed, but gave no details. Local media reported at least one house was on fire in a neighborhood in Kamloops, a city with a population of more than 90,000. The crash was the second recent accident involving the Snowbirds. One of the team's jets fell into an unpopulated area last October before a show in Atlanta, after the pilot ejected.
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| Taiwan says it did not receive WHO meeting invite, issue off the table for now Posted: 17 May 2020 11:48 PM PDT  Despite strong efforts Taiwan did not get invited to this week's meeting of a key World Health Organization (WHO) body due to Chinese pressure, its foreign minister said on Monday, adding they had agreed to put the issue off until later this year. The decision drew prompt condemnation from the United States, which has been blaming China for covering up the early days of coronavirus outbreak and for refusing to share data about the virus with the rest of the world. Non-WHO member Taiwan had been lobbying to take part in a meeting later on Monday of WHO's decision-making body, the World Health Assembly, saying that to lock it out was to create a gap in fighting the coronavirus pandemic.
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| Global warming is making hurricanes stronger, study says Posted: 18 May 2020 02:58 PM PDT  Human-caused global warming has strengthened the wind speeds of hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones around the globe, a new study released Monday said.
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| China warns US of 'all necessary measures' over Huawei rules Posted: 17 May 2020 03:46 AM PDT  China's commerce ministry says it will take "all necessary measures" in response to new U.S. restrictions on Chinese tech giant Huawei's ability to use American technology, calling the measures an abuse of state power and a violation of market principles. "The U.S. uses state power, under the so-called excuse of national security, and abuses export control measures to continuously oppress and contain specific enterprises of other countries," the statement said. China will "take all necessary measures to resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises," it said.
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| Two arrested in US for cross-border kidnap plot that left two dead Posted: 18 May 2020 05:57 PM PDT  A US woman and her boyfriend have been arrested and are facing federal charges for their alleged part in a plot in which three California residents were recently kidnapped while in Mexico and two were killed. Leslie Briana Matla, 20, a US citizen who lives in Mexico, was arrested last Thursday and Juan Carlos Montoya Sanchez, 25, of Tijuana, was arrested on Sunday, the US Department of Justice said. Authorities said Matla crossed the border from Mexico into the United States on three occasions in April and March to collect ransom payments from the families of the kidnap victims, who were residents of San Diego, Norwalk and Pasadena.
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| Setback for Libya's Khalifa Haftar as Tripoli government captures strategic airbase Posted: 18 May 2020 08:14 AM PDT  Libya's internationally recognised government claimed a significant symbolic victory on Monday as its forces captured a strategic air-base from General Khalifa Khaftar's Libyan National Army. Osama Juweili, a senior commander with the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord, said troops entered Watiya airbase, 80 miles southwest of the capital, early on Monday morning. GNA media posted pictures of what it said was a Russian-made Pantsir air defence system captured at the base. There was no immediate confirmation from the LNA, although a spokesman earlier said it had evacuated troops from the base after it came under intense bombardment. Watiya was a key foothold for Gen Haftar's forces, which are backed by the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, and Russia, in western Libya. Its fall marks his biggest setback since he sparked the current round of Libya's civil war by launching an assault on Tripoli in April 2019. It is the latest of a series of gains for the GNA since Turkey openly began supplying weapons and personnel to Tripoli at the beginning of the year. Turkish supplied drones pounded Watiya for weeks ahead of Monday's assault. Violence in Libya has escalated despite international pressure on both sides to pause the fighting to allow the country's doctors to deal with the Covid-19 epidemic. Libya has reported at least 65 cases of the virus, including three deaths. At least seven people were killed a university campus being used to house families displaced by fighting in Tripoli came under artillery fire on the weekend. Fayez Serraj, the GNA Prime Minister, said in a statement that the "victory does not constitute the end of the battle but brings us closer than any time before to the bigger victory, the liberation of all towns and regions and bases."
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| Mexico begins lifting Covid-19 lockdown despite fears worst is still to come Posted: 18 May 2020 01:19 PM PDT  About 300 localities without confirmed virus cases are allowed to resume economic activities, but Amlo warns to maintain discipline * Coronavirus – latest US updates * Coronavirus – latest global updatesLocal authorities across Mexico have resisted President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's call to lift emergency coronavirus measures in municipalities without confirmed Covid-19 cases, warning that the pandemic is far from over.Mexico has registered nearly 50,000 Covid-19 cases and more than 5,000 deaths, and its testing rate ranks among the lowest in Latin America, with just 0.4 tests per 1,000 people.But on Monday, approximately 300 municipalities throughout the country – called "municipalities of hope" – were given the green light to restart economic activities and lift sheltering-in-place recommendations. Similar measures are scheduled to start 1 June in the rest of the country, while classes will resume the same day."We need to maintain discipline, not relax this discipline since we're almost there," said López Obrador, commonly called Amlo. "I have a lot of faith and many expectations that we're going to finish taming this pandemic."The decision to resume comes amid questions over the Amlo administration's coronavirus response, which has depended heavily on disease modeling and involved little testing and no contact tracing.Mexico has also come under pressure from the United States to reopen its economy as factories near the border form important links in continental supply chains. Companies wanting to resume construction, mining and manufacturing activities could apply for permission starting Monday, Amlo said.But the move to reopen the economic comes amid an ongoing row over the scale of Mexico's coronavirus crisis. Amlo has been infuriated by a string of stories in foreign media outlets alleging that his government has undercounted Covid-19 deaths.Amlo returned to the theme at his daily press conference on Monday, accusing international media of wanting to damage his government and spreading disinformation.Physicians and public health experts express disquiet that the country is opening too quickly and the model used to guide Mexico's Covid-19 response is unable to produce granular information for knowing which municipalities to open."We're at the peak and this peak could last a week or two weeks or who knows how long. It remains to be seen," said Asisclo de Jesús Villagómez a former president of Mexico's college of critical care medicine."I think they should be taking measures for when things reopen, but not putting a date on it.""We're flying blind," added Xavier Tello, a physician and healthcare consultant. He said Mexico only tests suspected Covid-19 cases if symptoms are severe – something producing low coronavirus statistics.Still, the coronavirus tsar, Hugo López-Gatell, has insisted that "the curve is flattening" and Amlo has told the country "we're seeing the light at the end of the tunnel."A poll published on Monday by the Reforma newspaper found 67% of respondents believed the "worst is yet to come" with Covid-19, while 68% said people were already casting aside practices like social distancing and staying at home.The 324 municipalities scheduled to reopen were chosen if there were no recorded Covid-19 cases over the previous 28 days and cases were not rising in neighbouring municipalities.Analysts found flaws in the selection process, however; no Covid-19 tests were carried out in two-thirds of the municipalities reopening, according to an investigation by Valería Moy, director of the NGO México, ¿Cómo Vamos?Many of the chosen municipalities are also small and isolated and among the most marginalised in Mexico. More than 200 of the municipalities set to reopen in Oaxaca are governed by traditional rules known as "uses and customs" which are common in indigenous communities.The governors of Jalisco and Chihuahua states said municipalities there would remain closed to conform with statewide Covid-19 restrictions. Local officials in Oaxaca and Guerrero states also seemed unwilling to reopen."With the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic, it's the indigenous population, which will be the most vulnerable [because] we don't have a comprehensive health system," Abel Bruno Arriaga, mayor of Malinaltepec in the rugged La Montaña region of Guerrero, told El Universal.
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| Cuomo: Increase in coronavirus cases expected as New York reopens Posted: 18 May 2020 03:34 AM PDT  "You're going to see an increase in the numbers, but you don't want to see a spike," Cuomo said at his daily coronavirus briefing.
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| Trump said he's taking hydroxychloroquine as a preventative measure against the coronavirus. The drug can lead to heart issues and death. Posted: 18 May 2020 03:13 PM PDT  Clinicians don't know, yet, if the drug helps prevent coronavirus infections, but scientists are looking into the idea.
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