AP News in Brief at 6:04 a.m. EDT
Perfect storm: Lombardy's virus disaster is lesson for world
ROME (AP) — As Italy prepares to emerge from the West’s first and most extensive coronavirus lockdown, it is increasingly clear that something went terribly wrong in Lombardy, the hardest-hit region in Europe’s hardest-hit country.
Italy had the bad luck of being the first Western nation to be slammed by the outbreak, and its official total of 26,000 fatalities lags behind only the U.S. in the global death toll. Italy's first homegrown case was recorded Feb. 21, at a time when the World Health Organization was still insisting the virus was “containable” and not nearly as infectious as the flu.
But there is also evidence that demographics and health care deficiencies collided with political and business interests to expose Lombardy’s 10 million people to COVID-19 in ways unseen anywhere else, particularly the most vulnerable in nursing homes.
Virologists and epidemiologists say what went wrong there will be studied for years, given how the outbreak overwhelmed a medical system long considered one of Europe’s best, while in neighboring Veneto, the impact was significantly more controlled.
Prosecutors, meanwhile, are deciding whether to lay any criminal blame for the hundreds of dead in nursing homes, many of whom don’t even figure into Lombardy’s official death toll of 13,269, half of Italy’s total.
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Some nations inch toward reopening as virus deaths rise
BEIJING (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to return to work after recovering from the coronavirus, his office said Sunday, as U.S. states and nations around the world took divergent paths on when to reopen their economies and communities.
The 55-year-old U.K. leader, who was hospitalized for a week, will return to the office Monday. Opposition politicians are calling for more clarity on when the government will ease a nationwide lockdown that runs at least through May 7.
The number of deaths officially attributed to the new coronavirus has topped 200,000 globally, a figure widely believed to understate the actual total. A second U.S. Navy ship, a destroyer off the coast of South America, reported an outbreak on board.
While some U.S. states eased restrictions, Hawaii extended its stay-at-home order until the end of May, and California police closed a park because it got too crowded.
Even as aides develop plans to shift President Donald Trump’s public emphasis from the virus to addressing the economic crisis it has caused, Dr. Anthony Fauci at the U.S. National Institutes of Health warned against moving too quickly.
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Virus lockdown raises tensions in France's poorest areas
CLICHY-SOUS-BOIS, France (AP) — Joining more than 1,000 others, Djemba Diatite stood for hours in line to feed her growing family, grateful for handouts of fruits, vegetables and soap. It was her first time accepting charity, but she had no choice. The coronavirus pandemic has turned her small world upside down.
With open air markets closed, supermarket prices skyrocketing, an out-of-work husband, two children to feed and another on the way, Diatite said even tomatoes are now too expensive.
“This is my only solution,” she said, relieved that a local group in her Paris suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois stepped in with help.
Clichy-sous-Bois — where fiery nationwide riots started in 2005 — is just 23 kilometers (14 miles) northeast of the French capital, but with its rows of housing projects, restless youth and residents teetering on the poverty line, it feels light years away.
The town mayor, seeing a looming crisis triggered by food shortages, sounded the alarm, and with scattered unrest simmering in impoverished suburbs, the French government announced a plan for urgent food assistance of 39 million euros (nearly $42.1 million) for communities in need.
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Low-tech Japan challenged in working from home amid pandemic
TOKYO (AP) — When the Japanese government declared an emergency to curb the spread of the coronavirus earlier this month and asked people to work from home, crowds rushed to electronics stores.
So much for social distancing.
Many Japanese lack the basic tools needed to work from home. Contrary to the ultramodern image of Japan Inc. with its robots, design finesse and gadgetry galore, in many respects the country is technologically challenged.
But the bigger obstacle is Japanese corporate culture, experts say. Offices still often rely on faxes instead of email. Many homes lack high-speed internet connections, and documents often must be stamped in-person with carved seals called “hanko,” which serve as signatures. So many Japanese really cannot work remotely, at least not all the time.
A survey by YouGov, a British market researcher, found only 18% of those recently surveyed were able to avoid commuting to school or work, even though a relatively high 80% of people in Japan are afraid of catching the virus.
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Satellite imagery finds likely Kim train amid health rumors
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A train likely belonging to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been parked at his compound on the country’s east coast since last week, satellite imagery showed, amid speculation about his health that has been caused, in part, by a long period out of the public eye.
The satellite photos released by 38 North, a website specializing in North Korea studies, don’t say anything about Kim's potential health problems, and they echo South Korean government intelligence that Kim is staying outside of the capital, Pyongyang. Seoul has also repeatedly indicated that there have been no unusual signs that could indicate health problems for Kim.
That hasn't stopped growing unconfirmed rumors and media reports about Kim’s health that have emerged since he missed an April 15 commemoration of the 108th birthday of his grandfather, North Korea founder Kim Il Sung.
Kim Jong Un is the third generation of his family to rule North Korea, and he hadn’t missed the April 15 event, one of the year's most important for the North, since assuming power after his father Kim Jong Il’s death in late 2011.
Kim's health is of crucial importance because of worries that the serious illness or death of a leader venerated with near godlike passion by millions of North Koreans could cause instability in the impoverished, nuclear-armed country.
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US church faces neglect allegations after Haiti child deaths
KENSCOFF, Haiti (AP) — For a limestone mantel from the Waldorf Astoria, the church that owns the Olde Good Things antique stores asks for $8,500.
But for the death of each child in a fire at a home it ran in Haiti, parents said the same church offered to pay just $50 to $100 in family compensation — along with $150 for funeral-related costs such as new clothes and transportation.
The wealth of the Church of Bible Understanding in the United States has long stood in contrast with the shoddiness of its two children’s homes in Haiti, which have faced years of infractions and failed two state inspections. But the gap came into even sharper focus on Feb. 13, when the fire killed 13 children and two adult caretakers described by the church’s lawyer as disabled. Authorities suspect the fire started because the home used candles instead of a functioning generator or battery in a country where power failures are frequent.
The deaths have devastated parents like Eustache Arismé, 33, who put his two daughters in the home shortly after they were born because he has a withered left arm and cannot find work. His daughters Nedjie, 4, and Vanise, 3, died in the fire at the home, which is known as an orphanage in Haiti although many children have at least one living parent.
Like Arismé's daughters, the children in such “orphanages” are usually handed over, often as babies, by parents who struggle to support them and want them to at least get food and shelter. Parents generally keep custody and are allowed to visit.
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Yemen's southern separatists claim sole control of Aden
SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Yemen's southern separatists on Sunday broke a peace deal with the country's internationally recognized government and claimed sole control of the regional capital of Aden, threatening to resume fighting between the two ostensible allies.
In a statement, the separatists' Southern Transitional Council, which is backed by the United Arab Emirates, declared a state of emergency and said it would “self-govern” the key southern port city and other southern provinces. The separatists accused Yemen's government, which is supported by Saudi Arabia, of corruption and mismanagement.
The government dismissed the separatists' move. Foreign Minister Mohammed Abdullah al-Hadrami called for Saudi Arabia to have a “clear position" and take “decisive measures against the continuing rebellion of the so-called Transitional Council.”
The division between the two supposed allies is another facet of the country's complicated civil war. On one side are the separatists and on the other are forces loyal to former President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi. Both have fought together in the Saudi-led coalition’s war against Yemen’s Shiite Houthi rebels.
The Houthis in 2014 overran major parts of northern Yemen, including the capital, Sanaa, pushing out the internationally recognized government and ushering in a war that has killed tens of thousands of people. Hadi fled first to Aden and then to Saudi Arabia.
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Led by LSU, Alabama, SEC players dominate remote NFL draft
Maybe the Southeastern Conference should simply hold onto its players and become part of the NFL.
The home of national champion LSU and perennial contenders Alabama, Georgia and Auburn, the SEC dominated the first four rounds of the NFL draft before the flow of talent slowed to a trickle. Or the conference finally began running out of top prospects.
The top four rounds are where the vast majority of pro starters are found. So beginning with LSU quarterback Joe Burrow, who went first overall to the Bengals, the SEC provided the mother lode. And by the time this virtual/remote/digital draft — make your own choice — was over, 63 players had come from its 14 teams — well, 13, because Ole Miss was ignored. LSU sent 14, tying the most in a seven-round draft, followed by Alabama with nine. Not quite a record, because the SEC had 64 selectees a year ago. But this grab bag was further proof of its place atop college football.
“I think it’s really easy to see NFL players when you watch as many players get drafted from the SEC and from that conference,” Titans coach Mike Vrabel said after his team grabbed Georgia tackle Isaiah Wilson and LSU cornerback Kristian Fulton. “But there’s great players in every conference. It’s just you don’t have to look too far to see them play against some really talented players.”
The Lions noticed. They took Georgia running back D'Andre Swift and Kentucky guard Logan Stenberg.
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AP PHOTOS: World frozen in time amid virus lockdown
LONDON (AP) — It's early evening on a Friday, a time that signals the end of the workweek in many parts of the world and the middle of the weekend in most others.
Instead of getting ready to go out, having friends over or enjoying a much-needed rest at home, billions of people around the world are now shut in and sitting tight through the coronavirus pandemic.
Associated Press photographers captured images from different parts of Europe and Africa at 6 p.m. local time on Friday, and found that even the most quintessentially public spaces were as still as a Sunday morning.
Waterloo Station, London’s busiest train station and a popular rendezvous point, was missing its usual frantic flow of crisscrossing commuters and visitors to the British capital.
The Via Nazionale, usually one of the busiest streets in Rome’s historic city center, remains buttoned up and closed for business after almost eight weeks.
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In Trump's shadow, Congress-at-home eyes reboot during virus
WASHINGTON (AP) — They long for what's being lost: the ability to publicly question officials at committee hearings, to chat across the aisle, to speak from the House and Senate floor for all of America, and history, to hear.
Congress wants its voice back.
With no real plan to reopen Capitol Hill any time soon, the coronavirus shutdown poses an existential crisis that's pushing Congress ever so reluctantly toward the 21st century option of remote legislating from home.
“It’s the ability to be an equal branch of government,” said Rep. Katie Porter, a freshman Democrat from California.
Divisions are fierce, but so too is the sense of what is being lost. Every day lawmakers shelter at home, their public role is being visibly diminished. While they are approving record sums of virus aid, they are ceding authority to oversee the effort and tackle next steps.