Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness says his administration is shifting its attention to restarting the economy hampered by the COVID-19 outbreak. Holness announced Monday night, the formation of a COVID-19 Economic Recovery Task Force, which is charged with outlining how the country can gradually resume business activities. Holness made a point to emphasize the task force is charged with developing a plan of action in conjunction with concerns from the ministry of health and wellness. Jamaica currently has 364 coronavirus cases. So far, seven people have died of the disease. Additionally, Jamaica’s minister of foreign affairs and foreign trade, Kamina Johnson Smith, announced new strict protocols for Jamaicans wishing to return home during the COVID-19 crisis, including abiding by a 14-day quarantine.  She said the government does not have the resources to pay for charter flights to bring people home, and each person will have to make their own arrangements after getting travel authorization from the government. 
…

Tensions remain high at Peru’s Miguel Castro and Huancayo prisons following a day of riots and protests by inmates over the government’s coronavirus response on their behalf.  Peru’s National Penitentiary Institute confirmed Monday’s uprising, with reports of inmates setting fires and demanding to be freed, as more inmates become infected with the disease. Reuters news agency says human rights groups are calling on the Peruvian government to allow house arrest during the pandemic. Earlier this week, President Martin Vizcarra extended a national quarantine until May 10 following a surge in covid-19 cases, but no plan was unveiled for inmates. Peru has confirmed 28,699 cases of the coronavirus, the second highest total in Latin America after Brazil. So far, 782 people have died of the coronavirus in Peru. 
…

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. 
…

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. 
…

Argentina on Monday banned all commercial flight ticket sales until September, one of the toughest coronavirus travel bans in the world, prompting an industry outcry that the new measure will put too much strain on airlines and airports.While the country’s borders have been closed since March, the new decree goes further by banning until Sept. 1 the sale and purchase of commercial flights to, from or within Argentina. The decree, signed by the National Civil Aviation Administration, said it was “understood to be reasonable” to implement the restrictions, without elaborating.Many countries in South America, including Ecuador, Peru and Colombia, have banned all commercial flights for the time being, but none have extended their timeline as far out as Argentina. The United States, Brazil and Canada have imposed restrictions, but not outright bans.FILE – Argentina’s President Alberto Fernandez talks during a press conference at the presidential residence in Olivos, Buenos Aires, March 19, 2020.”The problem was that airlines were selling tickets without having authorization to travel to Argentine soil,” a spokesman for President Alberto Fernandez said.The ban would put a strain on LATAM Airlines Group, which has a significant domestic operation in Argentina, and has been seeking help from multiple governments. Argentina’s largest carrier, Aerolineas Argentinas, is state-owned and could survive as long as the government is willing to subsidize it.The ban would also affect smaller ultra low-cost carriers that have grown rapidly in Argentina with the support of former President Mauricio Macri, such as FlyBondi domestically, and SkyAirlines and JETSmart, which fly internationally.Argentina has been a difficult market for carriers in recent years, with Norwegian Air Shuttle and an affiliate of Avianca Holdings shutting down short-lived domestic operations before the coronavirus crisis hit.Industry unhappyArgentina’s decision prompted industry groups including ALTA, which lobbies on behalf of Latin American airlines, to warn that the decree represented “imminent and substantial risk” to thousands of jobs in Argentina.”The resolution … was not shared or agreed with the industry and, furthermore, runs counter to the efforts of all the actors in the sector,” the groups said in the statement.The presidential spokesman, however, said the decision resulted from a “consensus between the government and the airline sector.”The Sept. 1 timeframe was arranged with the airlines, the spokesman said. In the interim, the focus of the government would be on bringing back Argentines who were abroad in an “orderly” and “sanitary” manner, he added.Argentina has been under a national lockdown since March 20. The government, over the weekend, extended the quarantine until May 10, but said it had been successful in slowing the rate at which new cases double.The country has 3,892 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 192 deaths. 
 
…

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. 
…

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.” 
…

The spreading specter of the new coronavirus is shaking Latin America’s notoriously overcrowded, unruly prisons, threatening to turn them into an inferno.
The Puente Alto prison in downtown Santiago, Chile, had the largest of Latin America’s largest prison virus outbreaks so far, with more than 300 reported cases. The prison’s 1,100 inmates are terrified. Social distancing is hard to practice in jail.
“They are all in contact with each other,” said prison nurse Ximena Graniffo.
Latin America’s prisons hold 1.5 million inmates, and the facilities are often quasi-ruled by prisoners themselves because of corruption, intimidation and inadequate guard staffs. Low budgets also create ideal conditions for the virus to spread: There is often little soap and water and cell blocks are crowded.
So far, national officials have reported close to 1,400 confirmed cases of COVID-19 among inmates and prison staff. The worst hit has been Peru, with 613 cases and at least 13 deaths, though the extent of testing to determine the full scale of infections differs from country to country. When the Dominican Republic tested more than 5,500 inmates at the La Victoria prison, which has been producing protective face masks for the public, officials reported at least 239 tested postive.
Perhaps the most complete testing appears to be taking place in Puerto Rio, where the Department of Corrections said Friday it will test all the nearly 9,000 inmates being held across the U.S. territory, as well as 6,000 employees, including prison guards.
Fear of the virus itself already has proven deadly. There have been 23 deaths in prison riots in Colombia since the pandemic started. More than 1,300 inmates have escaped prisons in Brazil after a temporary release program wa scancelled due to the outbreak, and more than 1,000 have been on hunger strikes in Argentina.
All over the region, the demands are the same: protection against contagion. With most family visits cancelled, inmates feel exposed, vulnerable, alone — and exploited.
Inmates report that prices at informal and formal prison stores have increased during the pandemic, and relatives can no longer bring them food and hygiene items from the outside.
“Right now, a bag of soap powder costs 29 pesos ($1.20) , when before it was 20 (80 cents)” said a prisoner in Mexico, who lives in a 12 foot by 12 foot (4 meters by 4 meters) cell with a dozen others. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was using a banned cellphone.
Human Rights Watch says conditions are even worse in countries like Haiti, Bolivia or Guatemala.
U.N. Human Rights High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet, the former president of Chile, has called sanitary conditions in the region “deplorable” and called for releases of less dangerous inmates.
Countries like Chile and Colombia have already released about 7,500 inmates and Mexico’s Senate last week approved a measure to free thousands, though Brazil has not yet acted.
Regional security analyst Lucía Dammert says releasing a few thousand inmates won’t significantly reduce the threat of contagion, however, and some urge more sweeping releases.
“Prisoners have been sentenced to loss of liberty, not to death, and the state has to take measures at its disposal,” said José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director for Human Rights Watch. And in many countries, such as Bolivia, most of those behind bars have not yet been sentenced or are awaiting trial.
In Chile, the head of the prison guard system, Christián Alveal, said the prisoners’ fears “are totally reasonable,” and he said officials are working “to minimize the worries of the inmates.”
Some prisons have tried to do that by allowing prisoners more calls to relatives, and Argentina, with 13,000 prisoners, has allowed videocalls. Buenos Aires has even allowed prisoners to use cellphones, which are normally banned because they are sometimes used in extortion schemes.
Inmates at the San Pedro prison in Bolivia’s capital, La Paz, have taken their own measures against contagion. While inmates elsewhere have rioted over bans on family visits, the Bolivian inmates themselves decided on such a ban. And they turned what are normally punishment cells into 14-day quarantine lockups for newly arrived prisoners.
Ximena Graniffo, the nurse at Puente Alto, seemed resigned to a struggle. “You do what you can with what you have,” she said.
…

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.  
…

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. 
…

As the Trump administration increases pressure on Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro, the socialist leader has turned to Iran for help jump starting an aging refinery to prevent the South American nation with the world’s largest oil reserves from running out of gasoline, The Associated Press has learned.
On Thursday, the second flight by Iranian airline Mahan Air arrived at a town in western Venezuela delivering key chemical components used for producing gasoline, two oil industry people familiar with the operation told The Associated Press. They insisted on speaking anonymously to discuss the rescue plan because they were not authorized to talk about it.
One said 14 more flights are expected in the coming days, some of them carrying Iranian technicians. The website FlightRadar24, which tracks international flights, showed the plane’s routes.  
Drivers in recent weeks have started lining up at gas stations for days even in the capital of Caracas, the nation’s political center that has long been immune to long waits, even as strict coronavirus quarantines have limited movement. 
Both antagonistic to the U.S., the governments of Venezuela and Iran have each been hit hard by U.S. sanctions aimed at ending what the White House considers repressive regimes.  
The Trump administration has recently led a “maximum pressure” campaign aimed at ousting Maduro, considering opposition leader Juan Guaidó as the nation’s legitimate leader. The U.S. and a coalition of nearly 60 nations say Maduro clings to power following a 2018 election that critics consider a sham because the most popular opposition politicians were banned from running.  
Venezuela’s Ministry of Communications didn’t immediately respond to an emailed request from AP seeking comment.
The U.S. sanctioned Mahan Air in 2011 for its work in ferrying fighters from the Revolutionary Guard’s expeditionary Quds Force, as well as Hezbollah, into Syria to support embattled President Bashar Assad.
Since the coronavirus pandemic began, Mahan Air continued to fly passenger trips into China while other international carriers stopped, according to the State Department and FlightRadar24. Experts believe this offers Iran’s Shiite theocracy and the Guard hard currency amid the U.S. sanctions campaign targeting the country’s vital oil industry. Iran and Mahan Air have denied the flights took place.
Iran itself does not produce enough of the catalysts locally for its own demand, said Mohammad Rezaei, director for research and technology of Iran’s National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Co. A January report by the Oil Ministry’s SHANA news agency quoted him as saying local catalyst production couldn’t cover for Iran’s nine active domestic refineries.
Iran likely receives the rest of its catalysts from China, which has maintained a business relationship with Tehran despite American sanctions.
Both Mahan and Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the flights to Venezuela. 
…

More than 200 doctors from Cuba have arrived in South Africa to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
The doctors, including community health and infectious disease specialists, arrived early Monday morning and were welcomed by military and health authorities.
South Africa requested assistance from the Cuban government, which is sending more than 1,000 doctors to 22 countries, including Togo, Cap Verde and Angola in Africa.
South Africa has reported the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 infections in Africa, with at least 4,546 cases and 87 deaths.
Some of the Cuban doctors have been “in the frontline of fighting other outbreaks in the world such as cholera in Haiti in 2010, and Ebola in West Africa in 2013,” said South African health minister Zweli Mkhize.
Cuba’s government supported the African National Congress in its fight against South Africa’s apartheid system of racist minority rule. Now the ANC is South Africa’s ruling party and has good relations with Cuba.
South Africa’s first black president Nelson Mandela was known to be close to former Cuban leader Fidel Castro. The two countries cooperate in the health sector, with hundreds of South African medical students studying through scholarships in Cuba.
The Cuban medical personnel will stay in a two-week quarantine before starting work. They have arrived as South Africa is increasing community testing, especially in poor, crowded neighborhoods.
In the economic hub of Gauteng province, which includes South Africa’s largest city Johannesburg and the capital Pretoria, mass screening and testing is scheduled to take place throughout the week.
The screening and testing will also concentrate on the Western Cape province, which includes the city of Cape Town and which has largest number of COVID-19 cases. 
South Africa has conducted nearly 170,000 tests. The country has 28,000 experienced community health workers who track contacts of people who test positive to help contain the spread of the disease.
 
…

Mexico has almost entirely cleared out government migrant centers over the past five weeks to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, returning most of the occupants to their countries of origin, official data showed on Sunday. In a statement, the National Migration Institute (INM) said that since March 21, in order to comply with health and safety guidelines, it had been removing migrants from its 65 migrant facilities, which held 3,759 people last month. In the intervening weeks, Mexico has returned 3,653 migrants to Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador by road and air, with the result that only 106 people remain in the centers, it said. The institute’s migrant centers and shelters have a total capacity of 8,524 spaces, the INM said. Victor Clark Alfaro, a migration expert at San Diego State University, said the announcement went hand in hand with the Mexican government’s readiness to keep migrant numbers in check under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump. “Today, Mexico’s policy is to contain and deport,” he said. There are dozens of other shelters run by a variety of religious and non-governmental organizations throughout the country that continue to harbor migrants. Among those who remained in the INM centers were migrants awaiting the outcome of asylum requests or judicial hearings, and others who had expressly sought permission to stay, a migration official said. The vast majority of those sent back were migrants detained by authorities because they were in Mexico illegally, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Some no longer wished to stay in centers because of the risk of coronavirus infection, the official added. Most of the migrants passing through Mexico to reach the U.S. border are from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador. More than 80 Guatemalan migrants deported to their homeland from the United States have tested positive for the coronavirus.
…

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.”
…

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.
…

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.” 
…

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. 
…

Argentina is extending its coronavirus lockdown until May 10, excluding towns of under 500,000, where the question is up to provincial authorities.President Alberto Fernandez made the announcement Saturday, as the nationwide mandatory quarantine instituted March 20 was to expire Sunday.Fernandez loosened some restrictions, saying people will be allowed to go out daily for recreational purposes, but only within a 500-meter radius of their homes, and not for exercises such as running or bicycle riding.Schools and various other activities, however, will remain closed.”We will continue without classes in primary, secondary, and university levels,” Fernandez said. “We will continue without activity in the public administration. We will continue without recreational activity, without restaurants, without hotels.”As of Saturday night, Argentina had reported 3,780 cases of coronavirus infection and 185 deaths. 
…

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.  
…

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?’”  
…