British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his fiancee Carrie Symonds announced the birth of a son on Wednesday, just two days after Johnson returned to work following hospitalization for the coronavirus.
Johnson’s office said Symonds gave birth to a “healthy baby boy at a London hospital” on Wednesday morning, and both mother and infant were doing well.
Johnson, 55, and Symonds, 32, announced in February that they were engaged and expecting a child together. At the time they said the baby was due in early summer. No wedding date has been announced.
Johnson only returned to work Monday after suffering from a bout of coronavirus that left him dangerously ill. He spent a week in London’s St. Thomas’ hospital, including three nights in intensive care, before recovering for two weeks away from London.
Symonds, an environmental campaigner and former Conservative Party staffer, also said she was sick for a week with COVID-19 symptoms, though she wasn’t tested for the virus. The newborn boy is her first child.
Johnson has four children with his second wife Marina Wheeler, from whom he is divorced, and has fathered at least one other child outside his marriages.
The baby is the third born to a sitting British prime minister this century. The wives of leaders Tony Blair and David Cameron also had babies while their husbands were in office.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether Johnson planned to take paternity leave.
The birth comes as the British government faces big decisions about how and when to ease the nationwide lockdown imposed March 23 to slow the spread of the coronavirus. The measures are due to be in place at least until May 7.
Britain is among the countries hardest hit by the pandemic. As of Tuesday, 21,678 people with COVID-19 had died in U.K. hospitals, and several thousand more in nursing homes and other settings.
Johnson’s government faces growing criticism over its slowness in getting enough protective equipment to medics and nursing home staff and its struggle to increase the number of tests being performed for the virus.
Johnson had been due to return to Parliament on Wednesday to take part in the weekly Prime Minister’s Questions session. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab will stand in for him.
Opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer, who had been due to face off against Johnson in the Commons, tweeted that the birth was “wonderful news.”
House of Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle congratulated the couple.
“Such happy news amid so much uncertainty – 2020 is certainly a year they will never forget,” he said.
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The coronavirus crisis risks becoming an existential crisis for the European Union, say diplomats and analysts, as the EU struggles to coordinate a financial response to the pandemic. 
 
Last week, the EU’s national leaders struck an interim agreement on a recovery deal with an emergency fund of about $581 million (a half-billion euros), which the hardest hit member states can tap into for immediate assistance.  
 
But the wrangling over how to cope with the economic impact of the pandemic is far from over, and the overall $2 trillion-plus economic package mooted last week by the national leaders includes the budget costs of the EU itself for the next seven years.  
 
In fact, no final numbers, aside from the emergency fund, have yet been agreed upon, according to analysts. Members states already were at loggerheads over money before the coronavirus appeared, with sharp arguments between them about how to make up for the loss of Britain’s financial contribution to the EU.   
 
The emergency relief package came after an ill-natured squabble and warnings by Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte that the EU project itself was in jeopardy unless the wealthier northern states help bail out their poorer southern neighbors. It also has left unresolved whether aid from the emergency fund to countries like Italy and Spain will be in the form of loans, which must be paid back, or grants, which won’t.Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte delivers his message to the Lower House of Chambers of the Italian Parliament, in Rome, April 21, 2020.Another key issue is whether the eurozone countries will eventually have to mutualize their debt by issuing jointly so-called “coronabonds” to meet health-care costs and mitigate the impact of a deep economic slump, one that could rival the Great Depression almost a century ago. 
 
As the behind-scenes quarreling continues over money, euro-skepticism, which before the pandemic appeared to be ebbing, is rising once again. It’s being fueled by southern Europeans smarting over what they see as an absence of solidarity by the more affluent nations, reminiscent, they say, of the debt crisis following the 2008 financial crash that nearly tore the EU apart. The pandemic is opening up the wounds of that crisis, which also saw a sharp split between the north and south. 
 
“The coronavirus pandemic could well be the ultimate acid test of its resilience as a community based on solidarity and common values,” according to Stefan Lehne of Carnegie Europe, a think tank based in Brussels. In a posted commentary, he wrote: “The mindset of everybody for itself, which is so tempting under the acute stress of the crisis, must be countered by stepping up cooperation and mutual assistance among the member states. Otherwise, the EU will be in great danger.” 
 
A poll published last found 40 percent of Italians would now support exiting the EU and scrapping the euro as its official currency. A further 6.1 percent would support just quitting the EU, while 7.3 percent support remaining in the bloc but replacing the euro with the lira. Just 41.7 percent agreed the status quo should be maintained. 
 
Last month another poll found 88 percent of Italians felt let down by their European neighbors in terms of health-care support for the country’s overwhelmed hospitals. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen apologized to Italians earlier this month for the lack of solidarity shown to Italy, offering “a heartfelt apology” during a speech to the European Parliament. “Too many were not there on time when Italy needed a helping hand at the very beginning,” she said.A man walks along Naples promenade, Italy, Monday, April 27, 2020. Italian factories, construction sites and wholesale supply businesses can resume activity as soon as they put safety measures into place aimed at containing contagion with COVID-19.On Tuesday, Italy became the first country to apply for financial aid from an emergency fund of $581 million. Others will be making their applications shortly, including Spain. But the emergency funds on offer are likely to fall short of what is needed, admits Klaus Regling, director-general of the European Stability Mechanism, an EU agency that provides financial assistance, in the form of loans, to eurozone countries. 
 
He told Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera: “I would say that for the second phase we need at least another €500 billion [$ half-trillion] from the European institutions, but it could be more.” He has warned that economic recovery from the virus will be “long and costly.” Italy—along with France and Spain—are demanding another $1 trillion be earmarked for emergency aid. 
 
So far, Germany, Finland and the Netherlands are resisting the idea of joint debt issuance, which would combine securities from different European countries. But Conte and other south European leaders have been doubling down on the demand for pooling debt, mainly underwritten by the EU’s northern states. 
 
A former adviser to France’s Emmanuel Macron, economist Shahin Vallée says greater financial and political integration will be the only way out of the impasse, which could include pooling taxes. Otherwise, only the countries with strong balance sheets able to subsidize their industries and households will recover quickly, further adding to the north-south divide.  
 
Vallée acknowledges, though, there is little political will to go down this route. The economic recovery plan so far “is incomplete and unbalanced, and it is planting the seed of profound divergence between member states,” he has warned. 
 
Others worry that further mutualizing eurozone debt and integrating more will allow Brussels to demand even more power over the fiscal and political affairs of member states, its due as the loan broker. That, in turn, could fuel the ire of the continent’s populist nationalists, who want nation states less hedged in by the EU.  
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The U.K. held a minute’s silence Tuesday for all front-line workers who have died from the coronavirus, as official figures showed a new weekly high in the total number of deaths in England and Wales.
As clocks struck 11 a.m., senior political leaders, including Prime Minister Boris Johnson, joined hospital and nursing home staff in observing the silence. London’s subway and bus networks came to a halt as workers honored colleagues, and Westminster Abbey paid tribute to “the sacrifice of health and care workers who have lost their lives in the service of others.”
On Monday, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said 82 workers in the National Health Service and 16 social care staff had died so far. Other workers, including a number of bus drivers in London, have also died after testing positive for COVID-19.  
The minute’s silence had been campaigned for by the Unison union, the Royal College of Midwives and the Royal of College of Nursing.
Donna Kinnair, chief executive and general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, said it was “important to pay tribute” and urged all front-line workers be “afforded the greatest protection.” The government has been criticized for not having sufficient supplies of personal protective equipment.
“An even greater task now remains — to stop more joining the tragic number of those who have died,” she said.  
Johnson, who returned to work on Monday after recovering from COVID-19, tweeted that the country “will not forget you.”
Johnson has said he won’t risk a second peak in the virus by relaxing the lockdown restrictions too soon. The country, he said, was at the point of “maximum risk” even though it was coming out of the “first phase of this conflict.”  
Ministers have been reluctant to talk about easing the restrictions, which are due to last until May 7, and the government has set five tests before contemplating such a move, including “a sustained and consistent” fall in the daily death rate and clear evidence that the rate of infection has decreased.
Though England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales moved into lockdown together, some divergences are emerging. Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said her government was recommending the use of face coverings in limited circumstances, such as when using public transport or buying food. The U.K. government hasn’t made such a recommendation.  
The Office for National Statistics also said Tuesday that 22,351 people in England and Wales died in the week ending April 17, the highest since comparable records began in 1993. The total was more than double the rolling five-year average.
In its analysis of death certificates, which take longer to compile than deaths recorded in hospitals, the statistics agency said the coronavirus was mentioned as one of the causes of death in 8,758 cases, nearly 40% of the total.
It also said that 4,316 deaths involving COVID-19 had been registered up to April 17 outside of hospitals with 3,096 in care homes. The equivalent figure for hospital deaths over the period is 14,796.  
The daily figures presented by the government only show the number of people dying in U.K. hospitals, including those in Scotland and Northern Ireland. As of Monday, 21,092 people had died in U.K. hospitals. 
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Ready or not, Greece is opening back up. But it is not happening all at once, as the government plans to lift coronavirus restrictions in phases, keeping a ban on religious services to contain new outbreaks of COVID. The plan has infuriated the Greek Orthodox Church and it is now demanding preference over businesses like hair and nail salons.The standoff comes as Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announces a gradual easing of draconian lockdown measures imposed here since early March.Government officials tell VOA, schools and small-size businesses will be among the first to open next week. Church doors will also be unlocked but only to allow followers to enter and pray on their own, not in large numbers and not for religious services.The country’s archbishop has sent a stern letter to the prime minister, pressing him to reconsider.But on Tuesday, the Church’s spokesperson, the Metropolitan of Nafpaktos, Hierotheos, accused the government of staging what he called a coup against the country’s religious authority. “What do they really think the Church is?” he asked in front of reporters Tuesday. “Do they consider it like any other supermarket or union or nail and hair salon?”The Church, he says, has been a guiding force for the nation and part of Greek tradition for more than 200 years.It’s unlikely the prime minister will back down from his plans, aides say.A beggar sits in an empty Ermou street in front of Kapnikarea church during lockdown measures by the Greek government to prevent the spread of coronavirus in Athens, April 21, 2020.The country’s senior council of prelates, meantime, is scheduling a crisis meeting later this week. It wants to see churches open across the nation soon, in order hold belated Easter services in May – services it has suspended as part of  nationwide efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus.The controversy is fueling a debate in Greece on whether the state should reconsider its close ties with the Greek Orthodox Church.  Commentator Nikos Vlavianos, known for his left-wing views, argues for a separation. He calls this type of intervention absurd and says and it reminds the world that, in the 21st Century, church and state are not separated in Greece.About 90 percent of Greeks identify as Orthodox Christians, although it is unclear how many of them regularly attend church.     The Orthodox Church is deeply intertwined with the society of Greece, predating the Greek state by some 1,500 years. Throughout history, attempts to separate the two have met resistance, with many, many Greeks citing the Church’s key role in preserving the Orthodox faith during 400 years of Ottoman rule.  
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Germany’s national public health institute is urging the public to “stay disciplined” as data regarding the COVID pandemic in the nation remains mixed, even as the country begins to ease public restrictions.Speaking a news briefing Tuesday in Berlin, Robert Koch Institute chief Lothar Wieler told reporters the country’s rate of coronavirus infections has crept up slightly since Germany eased lockdown restrictions on April 20 to allow small businesses to open, while maintaining social distancing.Wieler explained the so-called “R” factor – rate of people infected by every person with COVID-19 – is about 1.0. It had been around 0.7 before restrictions were eased.    Wieler says though the R factor is important, Germany is currently seeing about 1,000 new infections reported per day, down from a high of some 6,000. He said the health care system can cope with that.As the regulations are loosened, Wieler is urging Germans to continue to abide by social distancing guidance, wear masks while on public transportation or shopping, and to stay at home when possible. 
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Austrian officials announced Tuesday the nation will lift lockdown measures effective Friday, May 1, making it among the first European countries to do so. At a news conference in Vienna, Austrian Health Minister Rudolf Anschober  said the COVID-19 figures are such that the lockdown can be allowed run out. Austria has been under lockdown for about seven weeks, during which people were only allowed to leave their homes for designated reasons. As of Friday, people will still need to maintain a one-meter distance from each other in public, and people will be required to wear a face mask in public. In another move, Austrian Tourism Minister Elisabeth Koestinger announced restaurants will reopen May 15. She said up to four adults will be allowed to sit at the same table and the one-meter distance rule will still apply.  According to the ministry of health, current infection rates are well below one percent, making a slow reopening of the economy possible. As of Tuesday, Austria’s health ministry reports the nation has 15,256 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 569 deaths. 
 
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Scientists at Oxford University are racing to develop a vaccine for the coronavirus well ahead of the standard medical timeline. The scientists have expressed confidence in their ability to do it quickly, raising hopes around the world that a vaccine will not have to wait until next year.    The first injections of the vaccine being developed by the university’s Jenner Institute in Britain took place last week. Scientists are planning to massively scale up their testing in a little over a month, a time frame that is currently faster than other vaccine development efforts.  The New York Times reported Monday that the scientists plan to test their vaccine on more than 6,000 people by the end of May. The team at Oxford said their aim is to produce a million doses of the vaccine, if it proves effective, by September — months ahead of a standard timeline of 12 to18 months routinely quoted by health professionals around the world.  Professor Sarah Gilbert, team leader of the program, said she is “80% confident” the vaccine will work.  Britain’s Health Secretary Matt Hancock speaks during a daily news conference on the coronavirus outbreak, at 10 Downing Street in London, April 27, 2020.Early trials promising Because of that confidence, Britain has begun allocating funds for large-scale development, a move that is financially risky if the vaccine turns out to be ineffective. “We are going to back them to the hilt and give them every resource they need to give them the best chance of success,” Britain’s Health Secretary Matt Hancock said last week. The researchers’ confidence comes in part from the knowledge that the vaccine’s basic components have been genetically engineered to be harmless against humans and have been found to be safe in earlier trials.  Initial experiments also indicate the vaccine is effective, including tests that show it can generate a strong immune response in rhesus macaque monkeys.   The vaccine has been made from a common cold virus that has been modified so it cannot grow in people. Scientists have added proteins from the coronavirus that they hope will trigger the human immune system to produce antibodies against the protein, which will then protect against the actual virus.  Trials of the virus’s base components have been ongoing for years as part of an effort to find a malaria vaccine. Gilbert used the same modified virus to make a vaccine against an earlier coronavirus, MERS. Clinical trials of that vaccine are promising. A traditional vaccine uses a weakened version of a virus to trigger an immune response in humans, and great care must be taken to ensure it is not only effective in humans but also safe.  A major reason the Oxford vaccine can quickly move through trials is that its base components have already undergone rigorous testing in humans. FILE – In this March 19, 2020, photo, laboratory scientist Andrea Luquette cultures coronavirus to prepare for testing at U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command at Fort Detrick in Frederick, Md.Challenges  While early indications show the new vaccine is promising, one complication for the trials could paradoxically be the success of efforts to limit the spread of the disease in Britain.  For the vaccine data to be effective, subjects must be shown not to contract COVID-19 from their surroundings. However, if the disease is not spreading naturally around them, the trial might not be able to show whether the vaccine is making a difference, or it might take longer to reach conclusions. Researchers say if they cannot get conclusive results in Britain, they might have to begin new trials in another part of the world where the virus is spreading more rapidly. Ethics guidelines generally prohibit scientists from injecting healthy patients with a serious disease. There are more than 100 efforts around the world to develop a vaccine for the coronavirus, but only a few have begun human trials.  U.S.-based Moderna was the first company to begin small clinical trials in March, but larger human trials have not begun.  Other efforts have come from the Chinese company CanSino, and a partnership between German biotech company BioNTech and U.S. pharmaceutical company Pfizer.  U.S. scientists say they were close to developing a coronavirus vaccine years ago to fight severe respiratory syndrome, or SARS, but that funding dried up when SARS disappeared after killing more than 770 people worldwide. 
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Doctors in Britain, Italy, Portugal and Spain are exploring a possible link between a severe inflammatory disease in children and the coronavirus. A growing number of children of various ages in several European countries have been admitted to hospitals with high fever and heart issues. Some also have suffered from gastrointestinal problems, such as vomiting and diarrhea. The children appear to be suffering from Kawasaki disease, which is more common in parts of Asia where it afflicts children younger than 5. Symptoms include skin rashes, gland swelling and in severe cases inflammation of the heart and blood vessels. The cause of the illness is not clear. COVID-19, a disease caused by a new strain of coronavirus, is rare in children. But an unusual spike in the number of children suffering from Kawasaki-type symptoms at the time of the coronavirus pandemic has put health authorities in Europe on alert. After hearing from pediatricians, British National Health System issued a warning saying: “Over the last three weeks there has been an apparent rise in the number of children of all ages presenting with a multisystem inflammatory state requiring intensive care across London and also in other regions of the U.K.” Some of the children have tested positive for coronavirus, but not all, suggesting that another pathogen could be responsible. Their blood tests revealed severe inflammation, similar to the blood tests in adults with severe COVID-19 infections.   Britain’s national medical director for England, Stephen Powis, said it was “too early to say” whether the Kawasaki-like disease and coronavirus could be linked. But at a briefing Monday he said, “I’ve asked the national clinical director for children and young people to look into this as a matter of urgency.” A press coronavirus briefing at Downing Street with Business Secretary Alok Sharma, right, and Medical Director Professor Stephen Powis, during a Digital Press Conference in London, Saturday March 28, 2020.British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said he was “very worried” by the reports. Doctors treating the sick children say the symptoms indicate that their bodies could be suffering from some form of a toxic shock. Many had to be treated in intensive care. British health authorities emphasized that children are unlikely to become seriously ill with COVID-19, but parents should seek help from a health professional if their child gets seriously ill. They also asked physicians examining children with fever and abdominal pain to include blood tests for any signs of inflammatory issues. Italian heart specialist Matteo Ciuffreda told Reuters that doctors in the northern city of Bergamo have seen at least 20 children younger than 9 with severe vascular inflammation since the end of March, six times more than they would expect to see in a year. He said children’s cardiologists in Madrid and Lisbon had told him they had seen similar cases. But he said only a few of the children tested positive for coronavirus. Ciuffreda said more study is needed to determine what causes the spike in Kawasaki-like symptoms in children in Europe.   American pediatricians have not reported similar cases in the United States. 
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Firefighters in Ukraine continue to battle a series of fires near the defunct Chernobyl nuclear power plant nearly a month after they broke out.The State Service for Emergency Situations said on April 27 that brigades were still working to extinguish fires in the Lubyanskiy, Paryshivskiy, Dytyatkivskiy, and Denysovytskiy forest districts in the Chernobyl exclusion zone.”The main efforts are focused on the localization of two fire sites, smoldering stumps, wood segments, and peat-boggy soil,” the service said, adding that radiation in the area does not exceed permissible levels.The fires began on April 3 in the western part of the uninhabited exclusion zone before spreading to nearby forests.Ukrainian officials have said they have extinguished the fires several times, but new fires continue appearing in the area.The National Police has said it has detained two people suspected of setting the initial fire.The reactor meltdown and explosion at the Chernobyl plant in 1986 sent clouds of nuclear material across much of Europe. It is considered the worst nuclear disaster in history. 
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British Health Secretary Matt Hancock expressed cautious optimism Monday about the COVID-19 outbreak in that country, but said the government is sticking with its lockdown restrictions to continue “flattening the curve.” Speaking at a news briefing in London, Hancock said the nation is coming through a peak in the outbreak but said it would “count for nothing if we let things slip now and risk a second peak.” He urged citizens to have the resolve to see it through. Hancock reported Britain had recorded 4,310 new cases since Sunday, and 360 fatalities, bringing the total number of COVID-19 deaths to 21,092. While that is the lowest daily death toll in a month, it makes Britain the fifth country in the world to surpass 20,000 deaths. Britain’s Chief Medical officer Chris Whitty offered more caution at the briefing, saying the pandemic “has got a very long way to run,” and things “could go in a lot of different ways.” 
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Swedish government officials said Monday they realize the COVID-19 pandemic is not going away anytime soon and their “lighter” approach to the crisis is designed for the long term. Unlike other Scandinavian and European nations, Sweden did not mandate a lockdown in the country, allowing business and schools to stay open, as long as they observed social distancing guidelines. The policy had been met with criticism among health officials in and outside of Sweden. At the news briefing in Stockholm Monday, though, officials say they are cracking down on certain bars and restaurants that failed to observe social distancing guidelines.Deputy Prime Minister Isabella Lovin told reporters they have always been prepared to take new measures when needed, and when public health experts say activities are dangerous, they will close down those activities.Sweden has maintained that its approach to the virus is about “taking the right measures at the right time.”  They used voluntary actions based on recommendations rather than enforcing a nation-wide lockdown.Swedish Foreign Minster Anne Linde told reporters they believe their method is will work better as the pandemic stretches on.As of Monday, Sweden reported 18,926 total coronavirus cases and 2,274 deaths.  
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Many Italians were displeased with the details provided by Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte regarding an end to the total coronavirus lockdown. They feel the government’s concessions and measures that will characterize Phase Two are chaotic, lack logic, do not go far enough and will further cripple the economy.Restrictions on Italians due to the coronavirus pandemic will start to be eased on May 4 but very gradually as the government is still fearful that the number of infections could easily rise again. Addressing the nation on live television Sunday evening, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte appealed to Italians to maintain their sense of responsibility during Phase Two, in which the country must co-exist with the virus.During Phase Two, Conte said, it will be even more important to maintain social distancing and fundamental will be the responsible behavior of each person. If you care about Italy, he added, you must avoid the spread of infections.Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte delivers his message to the Lower House of Chambers of the Italian Parliament, in Rome, April 21, 2020.The prime minister said Italians will now be allowed to meet family members but only in small groups.  They will still not be allowed to move from one Italian region to another unless they have a valid motivation, for work or health matters, and everyone will still be required to carry a form explaining the reason for their travel.Parks will reopen and Italians will no longer be obliged to stay within close range of their homes. Factories and construction sites will be able to resume their activities.  But bars and restaurants will only be able to provide takeaway service for the time being. Conte said no one will be returning to school until September. Parents were left wondering what they will do with their children. Many Italians who have had enough of staying indoors for weeks voiced their dissatisfaction with the decisions taken by the government. They do not understand the logic behind the different dates provided for re-openings. Why can museums open their doors on May 18 but hairdressers not until June 1st? The prime minister stressed re-openings would require the full respect of security protocols.A man bakes a pizza at a restaurant, as Tuscany is the first Italian region to allow restaurants to open only for takeout in Castiglione della Pescaia, April 27, 2020.Italian right-wing politician Giorgia Meloni spoke shortly after the prime minister’s Sunday evening address to the nation on live television and echoed the feelings of many in this country. She said that like everyone else in Italy she waited with great trepidation for the prime minister’s details of Phase Two expecting important announcements only to discover there were hardly any changes at all.Meloni said there should be a logic and the logic cannot be the discrimination of certain sectors. Why are some being helped, and others left to die? She said Italians have for weeks accepted the government rules in the name of public health and to deal with this pandemic but now they feel many of their rights are being trodden on.Meloni said she did not agree that some cannot reopen for another month because this will mean that some will never reopen. The state, she insisted, has not provided valid reasons for their decisions or the required financial assistance.Italy has had the highest number of deaths from coronavirus in Europe with more than 26,000. There were 260 virus-related deaths in the last 24 hours, the lowest number in the past 6 weeks. 
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Greeted by relieved parents, pet dogs, flares and a cloud of orange smoke, a group of 25 Dutch high school students with very little sailing experience ended a trans-Atlantic voyage Sunday that was forced on them by coronavirus restrictions.The children, ages 14 to 17, watched over by 12 experienced crew members and three teachers, were on an educational cruise of the Caribbean when the pandemic forced them to radically change their plans for returning home in March.That gave one of the young sailors, 17-year-old Floor Hurkmans, one of the biggest lessons of her impromptu adventure.“Being flexible, because everything is changing all the time,” she said as she set foot on dry land again. “The arrival time changed like 100 times. Being flexible is really important.”Instead of flying back from Cuba as originally planned, the crew and students stocked up on supplies and warm clothes and set sail for the northern Dutch port of Harlingen, a five-week voyage of nearly 7,000 kilometers (4,350 miles), on board the 60-meter (200-foot) top sail schooner Wylde Swan.As they arrived home, the students hung up a self-made banner saying “Bucket List” with ticks in boxes for Atlantic Ocean crossing, mid-ocean swim and surviving the Bermuda triangle.The teens hugged and chanted each other’s names as they walked off the ship and into the arms of their families, who drove their cars alongside the yacht one by one to adhere to social distancing rules imposed to rein in the spread of the virus that forced the students into their long trip home.Aukje Wakkerman is the last to disembark from the Wylde Swan schooner carrying 25 Dutch teens who sailed home from the Caribbean across the Atlantic when coronavirus lockdowns prevented them flying arrived at the port of Harlingen, April 26, 2020.For Hurkmans, the impossibility of any kind of social distancing took some getting used to.“At home you just have some moments for yourself, but here you have to be social all the time to everyone because you’re sleeping with them, you’re eating with them you’re just doing everything with them so you can’t really just relax,” she said.Her mother, Renee Scholtemeijer, said she expects her daughter to miss life on the open sea once she encounters coronavirus containment measures in the Netherlands.“I think that after two days she’ll want to go back on the boat, because life is very boring back at home,” she said. “There’s nothing to do, she can’t visit friends, so it’s very boring.”The twin-masted Wylde Swan glided into Harlingen harbor late morning Sunday, its sails neatly stowed. Onlookers gathered on a sea wall to watch the arrival set off flares and a smoke grenade that sent an orange cloud drifting over the glassy water.Masterskip, the company that organized the cruise, runs five educational voyages for about 150 students in all each year. Crossing the Atlantic is nothing new for the Wylde Swan, which has made the trip about 20 times.The company’s director, Christophe Meijer, said the students were monitored for the coronavirus in March to ensure nobody was infected.He said he was pleased the students had adapted to life on board and kept up their education on the long voyage.“The children learned a lot about adaptivity, also about media attention, but also their normal school work,” he said. “So they are actually far ahead now of their Dutch school colleagues. They have made us very proud.”
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The Russian Agriculture Ministry announced Sunday that it was suspending its export of most grains until July 1, seemingly ignoring warnings from international organizations who are asking countries not to disrupt global food supply chains during the current COVID-19 pandemic.The ministry said the Russian cutoff affected shipments of wheat, corn, rye, barley and meslin, which is a mixture of wheat and rye.It made no mention of the crisis from the coronavirus that has infected 185 countries or regions around the world and infected nearly 3 million people since emerging in central China in December 2019.The supplies from Russia, the world’s largest wheat exporter, will continue to fellow members of the Moscow-led Eurasian Economic Union (EES), which includes other post-Soviet states Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.Leaders of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) warned in a joint statement in late March that “as countries move to enact measures aiming to halt the accelerating COVID-19 pandemic, care must be taken to minimize potential impacts on the food supply or unintended consequences on global trade and food security.”George Eustice, British secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs, said Sunday there was “no serious disruption” to international flows of food, although he acknowledged that there had been “isolated cases” of trade being disrupted, for example goods from India.The Russian Agriculture Ministry announced the move Sunday by saying a quota set earlier this month for exports through June had been “fully exhausted.”Moscow had said the quota was introduced to safeguard its national supplies and market.The World Food Program (WFP) said in early April that while “disruptions are so far minimal” from the COVID-19 crisis, food supply “adequate,” and markets “relatively stable,” panics or other behavior changes could create major problems.But spokeswoman Elizabeth Byrs said accompanying the release of a WFP report that “we may soon expect to see disruptions in food-supply chains.”Kazakhstan has seen protests over wheat and flour supplies and said recently that it might abolish quotas on wheat and flour exports.A Reuters report said less than 1 million tons of a 7 million-ton quota for April-June remained by Saturday, owing to a deluge of orders for later exports.It quoted analysts suggesting that while the quota might be formally exhausted, grain exports so far in April were probably around 4 million and 3 million tons more might be spoken for but would probably ship out in May and June.Russia exported more than 35 million tons of wheat and 43 million tons of all grains in 2018-19, RIA Novosti reported.
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The itch to dance, to break out of coronavirus lockdown and bust a few moves in the fresh air, out on the street, has proved too strong for some to resist in Paris after weeks of staying home.Video of Parisians dancing in the street this weekend, some wearing face masks, triggered buzz and criticism on social networks and an apology Sunday from the out-of-work theater technician who blasted the music from his balcony.Nathan Sebbagh has been thanking medics and trying to keep people’s spirits up with half-hour hip-shaking musical selections on Saturday evenings.But his goodwill gesture, which he dubs @discobalcons in his Instagram postings, this weekend became a victim of its own success.Police knocked at his door and gave him a talking to after a small but frisky crowd gathered and danced under the balcony of his apartment in Montmartre.”There were a lot of people. The square was quite full. Some people were far too close,” Sebbagh acknowledged somewhat sheepishly in a phone interview Sunday.The police “said that music on balconies is a very good idea but not like this, it’s too dangerous,” he said.Among his musical offerings on Saturday was “Let me Dance” by Egyptian-born songbird Dalida. She lived in Montmartre before her death in 1987 and a square is named in her honor.Video posted by a journalist showed police vehicles rolling up as the song played and people danced. The images provoked hostile comments on social media, with critics arguing that such behavior during France’s lockdown in place since March 17 risked spreading the virus.Paris police tweeted, with “be responsible” and “stay home” hashtags, that the dancers didn’t respect social distancing rules.Sebbagh said it wasn’t his intention to draw a crowd. The 19-year-old said he carted the loudspeakers over from the now closed theater where he worked before the lockdown solely to add a bit of musical zest to the stay-home lives of his neighbors.“I was missing human contact and music,” he said.He said he wholeheartedly supports medical staff battling the pandemic and that he was sorry if he upset them.“It’s true, people are cracking up. But we are in a very complicated and particular situation,” he said. “The aim is to come out alive.” 
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The United Nations says persistent and serious long-term consequences remain more than 30 years after the explosion and fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine.The world body is marking International Chernobyl Disaster Remembrance Day on April 26, the 34th anniversary of the accident that spread a radioactive cloud over large parts of Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia.The anniversary is being marked after fires recently burned in the 30-kilometer exclusion zone around the plant, raising concerns about the potential release of radioactive particles into the air.In this photo taken from the roof of Ukraine’s Chernobyl nuclear power plant on April 10, 2020, a forest fire is seen burning near the plant inside the exclusion zone.The U.N. General Assembly adopted a resolution in December 2016 designating April 26 as a day to recognize the consequences of the accident. Its statement says that while progress has been made, “there is still a great deal of work that needs to be done in the affected region.”The United Nations says the completion of a confinement structure over the reactor most heavily damaged in the accident was a major milestone of 2019.It noted that the project received more than $2 billion in funding from 45 donor nations through funds managed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The scope of the project in terms of international cooperation is one of the largest ever seen in the field of nuclear safety, the U.N. said.A woman wearing a protective mask lights a candle at a memorial, dedicated to firefighters and workers who died after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, during a night service in Slavutych, Ukraine, April 26, 2020.The U.N.’s involvement in Chernobyl recovery efforts dates back to a resolution passed in 1990. U.N. agencies continue to work closely with the governments of Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine to provide development assistance to the communities affected by the disaster.The U.N.’s statement on Chernobyl remembrance day does not mention the fires that have burned in the exclusion zone. The largest among several blazes was extinguished last week. Smaller fires continue to burn in the zone, the authority that administrates it said on April 24.Video showing plumes of smoke billowing from the charred landscape earlier this month alarmed environmental activists, who said the burning of contaminated trees and other vegetation could disperse radioactive particles.The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on April 24 that the increase in levels of radiation measured in the country was very small and posed “no risk to human health.”The Vienna-based IAEA, which acts as the U.N. nuclear watchdog, said it was basing its assessment on data provided by Ukraine.There have been “some minor increases in radiation,” the IAEA said, adding the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine found the concentration of radioactive materials in the air remained below Ukraine’s radiation safety norms. 
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Italians on Saturday celebrated the 75th anniversary of Liberation Day — and the end of World War II fascist rule — under a national lockdown.Stranded at home, they went out on their balconies waving flags, singing, clapping and cheering. Among them were elderly Italians who participated in the resistance movement in the 1940s against German occupation and fascist forces.Rome’s residents sang “Bella Ciao,” a well-known folk song connected with the resistance movement.Every year tens of thousands of people take to the streets of Italy’s main cities, including Rome, Milan and Bologna, to mark the day.This year was different, though, as all events were canceled because of the coronavirus outbreak.  
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Weeks into France’s strict coronavirus lockdown, Mohammed, a 14-year-old with autism, took a pickax and started hitting the wall of his family’s house.His explanation: “Too long at home, too hard to wait.”The disruptions in daily life caused by the virus pandemic are a particularly trying ordeal for children with disabilities and the people who love them and are caring for them confined at home while special-needs schools and support programs remain closed.Mohammed hasn’t picked up the ax again since the incident last month, his father, Salah, said with relief. But the boy still gets frustrated being stuck inside and says, “I want to break the house down.”The family, like others who spoke to The Associated Press about their experiences, spoke on the condition of being identified by first name only out of concern for the privacy of their children.Mohammed, a 14-year-old with autism, on his bike outside his home April 15, 2020, in Mantes-la-Jolie, west of Paris.Making matters worse, Mohammed’s mother, who works in a nursing home, has been on sick leave after testing positive for COVID-19. For weeks, she had to live isolated on the top floor of their house in the Paris suburb of Mantes-la-Jolie. Her health has since improved.The physical distance from her family was particularly hard for Mohammed, who has a close relationship with his mother.“We kept telling him that there’s the disease. He took note. Then he tried again to go up and see her,” Salah said.Violent outbursts, incomprehension, disputes, panic attacks: Life under lockdown has been a shock to many children with special needs who suddenly lost their reassuring routines, cut off from friends and teachers. And France’s virus lockdown measures — now in their second month and set to run until at least May 11 — are among Europe’s strictest.At home, Mohammed requires constant attention so that he won’t injure or endanger himself.“That’s tough on him. We reprimand him, saying no. … We need to repeat and repeat,” Salah said. The father admits to his own fatigue, working at home as a telecom engineer while caring for Mohammed and his two brothers, ages 12 and 8.Salah knows how to detect signs on Mohammed’s face when he is under too much pressure and may get angry: “I don’t let things get heated.”Mohammed normally attends the Bel-Air Institute near Versailles, which provides specialized educational and therapeutic services for dozens of children with different types of disabilities. His teacher, Corentin Sainte Fare Garnot, is doing his best to help.“If you remove crutches from someone who needs them from one day to the next, it gets very complicated,” he said.“The feeling of loneliness and lack of activity can be very deep” for people with autism, the teacher said. Mohammed calls him several times a day.Aurelie Collet, a manager at the Bel-Air Institute, said that at first, some teenagers didn’t understand the lockdown rules keeping them stuck at home and kept going out. Others who had been well-integrated in their classes turned inward, isolating themselves in their bedrooms.The staff developed creative tools to keep communicating and working with the children, including through social networks, she said.In this photo taken April 16, 2020, Jerome, second left, Nadege and their children Thomas, 17, right and Pierre, 14, pose outside their home in Montigny-le-Bretonneux, near Paris.Thomas, 17, and Pierre, 14, brothers with intellectual disabilities who also go to the Bel-Air, have been similarly destabilized by lockdown restrictions.“I feel worried about how long the lockdown will last, what’s going to happen next,” Thomas said. The teenager wonders “how many people will get the virus, when the epidemic will stop?”Another big concern for Thomas is his future; an internship he planned to do this summer is likely to be postponed.Pierre says he’s having more nightmares than usual, adding that the lockdown is also prompting more family quarrels.At first, their parents recalled, the boys acted as if they were on vacation, playing all day and calling their friends. The parents organized activities to give Pierre and Thomas more structure amid the public health crisis.Pierre especially misses the gardening he used to do at the Bel-Air, so he planted seeds in pots to grow radishes.Under nationwide restrictions, the French can only leave home for essential services, like buying food or going to the doctor, and must stay close to home. Physical activity in public is strictly limited to one hour and within a nearby radius. Police routinely fine violators.Recognizing the burden the regulations place on people with autism, French President Emmanuel Macron announced an exception that allows them to go out to customary places without having to observe time or distance limits.The new challenges the pandemic presents to children with special needs are familiar to millions of families around the world. Across the U.S., teachers are exploring new ways to deliver customized lessons from afar, and parents of children with disabilities are not only home-schooling but also adding therapy, hands-on lessons and behavioral management to their responsibilities.Salah has started taking Mohammed out again for bike riding, an activity his eldest son enjoyed before the pandemic.“This is like a safety valve to him. He needs it. … We’re having a hard time following him, he’s going ahead, happily shouting,” Salah said with a smile in his voice.Sainte Fare Garnot is helping the family find concrete solutions. Because playing soccer with his brothers in the garden has proven difficult for Mohammed because the rules of team games are too complex for him, Sainte Fare Garnot suggested that the three boys instead take shots at goal in turn.France is still playing catch-up with some developing-country peers in terms of educational opportunities for children with autism spectrum disorders, and teachers fear that some will also have to spend months relearning skills they may have lost during the lockdown period.The president has announced that schools will be “progressively” reopened starting May 11, but authorities have not provided details yet about special-needs children. France counts more than 350,000 school students with disabilities, including 70,000 in the special education system that includes the Bel-Air.The uncertainty is especially hard for young people like Mohammed. “I know he will ask me again,” his teacher said. “‘When is it ending?’”  
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The mix of fury and disappointment among residents was palpable inside a cafe in the southeastern Turkish city of Mardin after the government replaced the popular mayor with a trustee.One year on from local elections, 40 out of 65 municipalities won by the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) are now under the control of government-appointed trustees.In Mardin, the HDP’s Ahmet Turk won 56.2 percent of the vote in March 2019. But in August he was one of the first, along with those in nearby Diyarbakir and Van, to be removed and replaced by the government.Six months after the move, residents in Mardin, where the governor now runs the city of over 800,000 people, were especially critical of a lack of service and development.”No one bothers, no one wants to do anything, and no one raises their voice. We’re speaking to you now — who knows what will happen to us tomorrow?” cafe manager Firat Kayatar told AFP during a visit late February.”They may as well not hold elections in the southeast because they had two elections, and after both they appointed trustees,” said Kayatar, who lives in the old city.Complaints unheard”No one listens anyway,” one of the cafe’s customers, Abdulaziz, 57, chipped in. “We can’t complain to anyone. [The governor] brings bananas but we need bread.”Another man nearby who did not give his name said young people went to university but were unable to find a job.”This is the problem Mardin faces, too,” he said.The party described the mayors’ removals as an “attack” on Kurds but the government has accused the HDP of links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).Kurds make up around 20 percent of Turkey’s overall population.The HDP accused Ankara last month of making it “even harder for the Kurds to fight the coronavirus” through the “repression of Kurdish democratic institutions, their municipalities in particular.”Such actions are not new. Ankara removed 95 HDP mayors after the party won 102 municipalities in 2014.”When it comes to the HDP, just slapping trumped-up terror charges is the easiest way to go and it’s just a political attempt to destroy their legitimacy,” said Emma Sinclair-Webb, Turkey director of Human Rights Watch (HRW).FILE – Faruk Kilic, city chairman for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling party, speaks during a interview in Mardin, Turkey, Feb. 25, 2020.Accusation against PKKThe chairman in Mardin for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) defended the government’s actions, accusing the PKK of using the HDP mayors to obtain control.”In fact these mayors were Qandil representatives,” Faruk Kilic said, referring to where the PKK leadership and rear bases are located in a mountainous region in Iraq.”None of the mayors made statements of their own independent will,” Kilic added, a claim the HDP strongly denies.The Turkish government has repeatedly accused the HDP mayors of using the municipalities’ money to support the PKK, or hiring relatives of PKK militants.The interior ministry claimed some mayors attended political rallies, demonstrations and even funerals of PKK militants.The HDP says 21 of its mayors are behind bars.The PKK has been waging an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984, and the group is blacklisted as a terror organization by Ankara and its Western allies.The government’s aim was to “collapse any distinction between the HDP, a legal party playing by the rules of the game in parliament and democratically elected representatives from this party, and an armed organization,” HRW’s Sinclair-Webb said.’Economic’ reason for dismissals?Veteran Kurdish politician Turk was acquitted in February in one case cited against him when he was removed as mayor of Mardin the first time in 2016.The AKP’s Kilic said if mayors were later acquitted on the charges against them, they would return to their posts, but added “there’s evidence against many” charged.Eren Keskin, of the Ankara-based Human Rights Association (IHD), believed there was an “economic” motive to the dismissals.”The first municipalities they appointed a trustee for — Diyarbakir, Mardin and Van — are provinces that are really open to economic development,” Keskin said.Her claim was supported by HDP deputy chairman Saruhan Oluc, who said the government “keeps itself strong through the income and profit from local administrations.”Oluc accused the government of handing out money and favors to its allies as well as companies and foundations close to it through the municipalities’ coffers.
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U.S. President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, issued a rare joint statement Saturday commemorating a 1945 World War II link-up of U.S. and Soviet troops on their way to defeat Nazi Germany as an example of how their countries can cooperate.The statement by Trump and Putin came amid deep strains in U.S.-Russian ties over a raft of issues, from arms control and Russia’s intervention in Ukraine and Syria to U.S. charges that Russia has spread disinformation about the novel coronavirus pandemic and interfered in U.S. election campaigns.The Wall Street Journal reported that the decision to issue the statement sparked debate within the Trump administration, with some officials worried it could undercut stern U.S. messages to Moscow.The joint statement marked the anniversary of the April 25, 1945, meeting on a bridge over the Elbe River in Germany of Soviet soldiers advancing from the east and American troops moving from the West.“This event heralded the decisive defeat of the Nazi regime,” the statement said. “The ‘Spirit of the Elbe’ is an example of how our countries can put aside differences, build trust and cooperate in pursuit of a greater cause.”Last Elbe statement in 2010The Journal said the last joint statement marking the Elbe River bridge link-up was issued in 2010, when the Obama administration was seeking improved relations with Moscow.Trump had hoped to travel to Moscow to mark the anniversary. He has been complimentary of Putin, promoted cooperation with Moscow and said he believed the Russian leader’s denials of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.Senior administration officials and lawmakers, in contrast, have been fiercely critical of Russia, with relations between the nuclear-armed nations at their lowest point since the end of the Cold War.The Republican-led Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday issued a bipartisan report concurring with a 2017 U.S. intelligence assessment that Russia pursued an influence campaign of misinformation and cyber hacking aimed at swinging the vote to Trump over his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton.U.S. intelligence officials have warned lawmakers that Moscow is meddling in the 2020 presidential election campaign, which Russia denies.
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The coronavirus lockdown in many European countries has led to less pollution. But policy decisions in coming months will make clear if an economic recovery helps or hurts environmental gains.Europe’s cities, where streets are usually congested, are now quiet, as people are forced to stay at home due to the coronavirus pandemic.Alberto Gonzalez Ortiz, an air quality expert at the European Environment Agency, says air pollution is down since lockdowns were implemented in cities across the continent.“In some cities, it’s from one week to another we see a reduction of more than half of the concentrations. The reductions are not the same in all cities. Because the lockdown measures are not the same or not so intense either in all countries and they have started at different times,” Gonzales said.In Europe, 2019 was the hottest year ever recorded. But with millions of people forced to stay home, consuming less and traveling less, there is a reduction in emissions, carbon and air pollution.But countries across the continent want to slowly ease restrictions to get the economy going again. Some people are concerned a quick return to life as it was before COVID-19 might undo newly gained environmental benefits.Imke Lübbeke of the environmental group World Wildlife Fund (WWF) says there is no reason yet to celebrate about environmental gains.A sign hung by activists of the Fridays for Future movement is seen on a tree in Erfurt, Germany, April 24, 2020.“These are temporary results following from the lockdowns enforced in many countries and cities to address the spread of COVID. But they are not structural emissions reductions or a way out of air pollution yet. We are working hard to make clear that the climate change crisis and all the environmental crisis is not going away once we’ve addressed the COVID crisis,” Lübbeke said.
European Union leaders are discussing an economic recovery package that some say will cost about $2 trillion. And governments are promising billions to businesses, including to polluting industries.Climate Action Network Europe Director Wendel Trio says this moment in history is an opportunity for governments to decide if they want to steer the recovery in a direction that makes current gains lasting.“Both carmakers and airlines, for instance, have been rather reluctant to accept the changes that are needed to go to a climate-neutral society. And I think now is the time to make it clear to them. If they want public money, if they want the taxpayer to pay for their future, then actually their future should also be of benefit to society,” Trio said.There is a fear among some climate advocacy groups that the economic recovery will be valued more highly than addressing climate change.  BusinessEurope, a large corporate lobby group, already wrote to the European Union requesting a delay in climate-related regulations.A speech on climate German Chancellor Angela Merkel is expected to deliver Monday (April 27) might indicate what the EU’s most influential member will be pushing for when it comes to balancing environmental issues against a recovering economy.
 
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The worldwide number of COVID-19 cases continues to climb, bringing misery and pain to all echelons of society.The global count of cases has reached more than 2.8 million people, and more than 197,000 people have died.There have been a growing number of coronavirus cases aboard an Italian cruise ship docked in Japan with a crew but no passengers.  The Costa Atlantica had been headed to China for repairs but was diverted to Nagasaki earlier this year.Crew members were told to stay aboard the ship but media reports say some of them were spotted in Nagasaki.Local officials say at least 91 crew members, many of them asymptomatic, have tested positive for the virus. One has been hospitalized.In Europe, Spain has more than 219,000 coronavirus cases and more than 22,500 deaths, followed by Italy with more than 192,000 cases and almost 26,000 deaths.A nurse wearing a face mask writes down a telephone message from a deceased patient’s family member, to be put in the victim’s coffin, in Corsica, April 23, 2020.Several European countries have seen a decrease in new cases and are preparing to gradually reopen businesses and ease restrictions.The number of U.S. infections is creeping up to a million with more than 905,000 cases and nearly 52,000 deaths. Despite the rising tally, several states took steps Friday to reopen their economies, with Georgia and Oklahoma allowing salons, spas and barbershops to reopen. Some business owners said it was too early to open and doing so could spark a new surge in coronavirus infections, despite facing financial collapse if they do not.The U.S. Congressional Budget Office says the economic hardship caused by the coronavirus in the United States will last through next year, as the pandemic wreaks havoc on the financial health of countries around the world.The nonpartisan agency said the U.S. budget deficit will grow from $1 trillion to $3.7 trillion this year and said the unemployment rate would rise from 3.5 percent in February to 16 percent in September. It predicted that unemployment would fall after that time but would remain in double digits through 2021.The report puts pressure on the U.S. government as it tries to balance the concerns over the growing federal deficit with the approval of stimulus money meant to combat the outbreak’s economic effects.A woman wears a face mask to protect herself from COVID-19 as she walks past a painting in Hong Kong, April 25, 2020.On Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump signed a $484 billion relief package to extend additional support for small business loans and to help hospitals expand COVID-19 testing. The money is part of more than $3 trillion the U.S. government has spent to boost the economy.Earlier Friday, the G-20 called on “all countries, international organizations, the private sector, philanthropic institutions, and individuals” to contribute to its funding efforts to fight COVID-19, setting an $8 billion goal.An international forum for the governments and central bank governors of 19 nations and the European Union said Friday the G-20 already has raised $1.9 billion. Saudi Arabia, the current holder of the G-20 presidency, contributed $500 million.With no proven remedy for the coronavirus, health officials worldwide are recommending protective measures such as hygiene, social distancing and wearing masks and gloves. But people in many places are growing tired of restrictions, even as the number of cases grows.The coronavirus has had a devastating effect on the global economy, but the International Monetary Fund and other organizations warn that developing countries will be the worst hit.The United Nations food agency projects that some 265 million people could experience acute hunger this year, twice as many as last year. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on governments to ensure health care is available to all people and that economic aid packages help those most affected. In Brief:COVID-19’s toll continues to climb, with cases now having surpassed 2.8 millionMore than 197,000 people have died from the diseaseThe U.S. has more than 905,000 cases and almost 52,000 deathsSome states, nevertheless, are taking steps to reopen their economiesA congressional office sees U.S. COVID economic hardship lasting through 2021  Spain has more than 219,000 cases and over 22,500 deathsItaly has more than 192,000 cases and almost 26,000 deathsAuthorities in Italy say the country has passed the peak of the outbreakWith their cases down, parts of Europe are preparing to ease restrictions 
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The worldwide number of COVID-19 cases continues to climb, bringing misery and pain to all echelons of society.The global count of cases has reached more than 2.8 million people, and more than 197,000 people have died.There have been a growing number of coronavirus cases aboard an Italian cruise ship docked in Japan with a crew but no passengers.  The Costa Atlantica had been headed to China for repairs but was diverted to Nagasaki earlier this year.Crew members were told to stay aboard the ship but media reports say some of them were spotted in Nagasaki.Local officials say at least 91 crew members, many of them asymptomatic, have tested positive for the virus. One has been hospitalized.In Europe, Spain has more than 219,000 coronavirus cases and more than 22,500 deaths, followed by Italy with more than 192,000 cases and almost 26,000 deaths.A nurse wearing a face mask writes down a telephone message from a deceased patient’s family member, to be put in the victim’s coffin, in Corsica on April 23, 2020.Several European countries have seen a decrease in new cases and are preparing to gradually reopen businesses and ease restrictions.The number of U.S. infections is creeping up to a million with more than 905,000 cases and nearly 52,000 deaths. Despite the rising tally, several states took steps Friday to reopen their economies, with Georgia and Oklahoma allowing salons, spas and barbershops to reopen. Some business owners said it was too early to open and doing so could spark a new surge in coronavirus infections, despite facing financial collapse if they do not.The U.S. Congressional Budget Office says the economic hardship caused by the coronavirus in the United States will last through next year, as the pandemic wreaks havoc on the financial health of countries around the world.The nonpartisan agency said the U.S. budget deficit will grow from $1 trillion to $3.7 trillion this year and said the unemployment rate would rise from 3.5 percent in February to 16 percent in September. It predicted that unemployment would fall after that time but would remain in double digits through 2021.The report puts pressure on the U.S. government as it tries to balance the concerns over the growing federal deficit with the approval of stimulus money meant to combat the outbreak’s economic effects.A woman wears a face mask to protect herself from COVID-19 as she walks past a painting in Hong Kong, April 25, 2020.On Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump signed a $484 billion relief package to extend additional support for small business loans and to help hospitals expand COVID-19 testing. The money is part of more than $3 trillion the U.S. government has spent to boost the economy.Earlier Friday, the G-20 called on “all countries, international organizations, the private sector, philanthropic institutions, and individuals” to contribute to its funding efforts to fight COVID-19, setting an $8 billion goal.An international forum for the governments and central bank governors of 19 nations and the European Union said Friday the G-20 already has raised $1.9 billion. Saudi Arabia, the current holder of the G-20 presidency, contributed $500 million.With no proven remedy for the coronavirus, health officials worldwide are recommending protective measures such as hygiene, social distancing and wearing masks and gloves. But people in many places are growing tired of restrictions, even as the number of cases grows.The coronavirus has had a devastating effect on the global economy, but the International Monetary Fund and other organizations warn that developing countries will be the worst hit.The United Nations food agency projects that some 265 million people could experience acute hunger this year, twice as many as last year. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on governments to ensure health care is available to all people and that economic aid packages help those most affected.   
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An unmanned cargo spacecraft with food, fuel and supplies docked at the International Space Station (ISS) on Saturday.Russian Progress 75 cargo ship left the Baikonur Cosmodrom in Kazakhstan, a few minutes before 1 a.m. GMT and transported almost 3 tons of food and other supplies to the ISS.Scientists and staff, both in Baikonur and at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, monitored the three-hour journey and the docking.The cargo ship is set to remain at the station until December, when it will leave and burn up in Earth’s atmosphere.   
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