WORLD NEWS May 18, 2020 5 Former President Obama: Brazil Surpasses Spain, U.S. Leaders ‘Aren’t Even Italy in Number of Infections

Pretending to Be in Charge’ WASHINGTON (AP) — Eight more sailors aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt have tested But earlier this month, he harshly positive again for the coronavirus, raising to 13 criticized Trump’s handling of the the number who appear to have become infected pandemic as an “absolute chaotic di- a second time while serving aboard the sidelined saster” in a call with 3,000 members aircraft carrier. All the sailors had previously of his administrations obtained by Ya- tested positive for the virus and had gone through hoo News. at least two weeks of isolation. Before they were allowed to go back to the ship, all had to test As he congratulated the college negative twice in a row, with the tests separated graduates Saturday and commiserated by at least a day or two. That some crew were over the enormous challenges they testing positive again has puzzled officials and face given the devastation and eco- raised questions about reintegrating troops into nomic turmoil the virus has wrought, the military if a second infection were possible. the former president noted the Febru- The outbreak aboard the Roosevelt was discov- ered in March. In port in Guam since then, the ary shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery, ship sent more than 4,000 of its 4,800 crew mem- 25, who was killed while jogging on a bers ashore for quarantine or isolation. Earlier residential street in Georgia. Brazil’s Armed Forces soldiers prepare to disinfect a public shelter in this month hundreds of sailors began returning “Let’s be honest: A disease like to the ship, in coordinated waves, to prepare to Rio de Janeiro, on May 14, 2020. set sail again. participates in a tour of Owens & Minor Inc, a medical this just spotlights the underlying in- supply company, in Allentown, Pennsylvania. equalities and extra burdens that black BRASILIA () -- Brazil’s lowed to reopen as soon as possi- *** confirmed cases of the novel coro- ble. The government now expects communities have historically had BEIJING (AP) — China’s commerce ministry WASHINGTON (AP) — Former “More than anything, this pandemic to deal with in this country,” Obama navirus rose past those of Spain Brazil will post its biggest annual says it will take “all necessary measures” in re- President criticized has fully, finally torn back the curtain said. “We see it in the disproportionate and Italy, which was once the epi- economic contraction this year sponse to new U.S. restrictions on Chinese tech U.S. leaders overseeing the nation’s on the idea that so many of the folks impact of COVID-19 on our commu- center of the pandemic, making since records began over a century giant Huawei’s ability to use American technology, response to the coronavirus, telling in charge know what they’re doing,” nities, just as we see it when a black Brazil’s outbreak the fourth largest ago. calling the measures an abuse of state power and college graduates in an online com- Obama said. “A lot them aren’t even man goes for a jog and some folks feel in the world, according to official Brazil’s vice president, Hamilton a violation of market principles. An unidentified like they can stop and question and figures. Mourao, underwent a COVID-19 spokesperson quoted Sunday in a statement on mencement address that the pan- pretending to be in charge.” the ministry’s website said the regulations also demic shows many officials “aren’t Later Saturday, during a second shoot him if he doesn’t submit to their Brazil’s Health Ministry regis- test and was placed in isolation at tered 14,919 new confirmed cases his official residence on Saturday, threatened the security of the “global industrial even pretending to be in charge.” televised commencement address for questioning.” in the prior 24 hours, taking the after a public servant who had been and supply chain.” “The U.S. uses state power, un- Obama spoke on “Show Me Your high school seniors, Obama panned “Injustice like this isn’t new,” der the so-called excuse of national security, and total to 233,142, behind the Unit- near him last week tested positive. Walk, HBCU Edition,” a two-hour “so-called grown-ups, including some Obama went on to say. “What is new abuses export control measures to continuously ed States, Russia and the United Mourao, 66, will not fulfill of- oppress and contain specific enterprises of other event for students graduating from with fancy titles and important jobs” is that so much of your generation has Kingdom. Brazil has done just a ficial duties on Monday, when the historically black colleges and uni- who do “what feels good, what’s con- woken up to the fact that the status quo countries,” the statement said. China will “take all fraction of the testing seen in those results are expected. Bolsonaro necessary measures to resolutely safeguard the le- versities broadcast on YouTube, venient, what’s easy.” needs fixing, that the old ways of do- three countries. has undergone several coronavirus gitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterpris- Facebook and . His remarks “Which is why things are so screwed ing things don’t work.” In the face of a The global distinction is likely to tests after ministers and other close es,” it said. Under the new rules, foreign semicon- were unexpectedly political, given the up,” he said. void in leadership, he said, it would be pile pressure on President Jair Bol- aides tested positive. ductor makers who use American technology must venue, and touched on current events Obama did not name President Don- up to the graduates to shape the future. sonaro, who lost his second health Nationwide testing in Brazil obtain a U.S. license to ship Huawei-designed beyond the virus and its social and ald Trump or any other federal or state “If the world’s going to get better, minister in a month on Friday as still lags far behind European na- semiconductors to the Chinese company. Huawei economic impacts. officials in either of his appearances. it’s going to be up to you,” he said. Technologies Ltd., China’s first global tech brand he defies public health experts and tions. Brazil had processed nearly and a maker of network equipment and smart- calls for widespread use of unprov- 338,000 novel coronavirus tests in phones, is at the center of a U.S.-Chinese conflict en drugs. official labs by the beginning of the over Beijing’s technology ambitions. Bolsonaro has been fiercely criti- week, according to the Health Min- China Official: Risk of Second cal of the orders by many of Bra- istry. Another 145,000 tests were *** zil’s state governors for strict social under analysis or waiting in line. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President isolation and quarantine to combat By contrast, Italy and Spain have Donald Trump fired the State Department’s in- Coronavirus Wave Remains the spread of the virus, including each run some 1.9 million official spector general following a recommendation by previous 48 hours. the closure of schools, shops and diagnostic tests for the virus. U.S. Secretary of State , the said. “Secretary Pompeo recommended Jilin is the second largest city restaurants. Brazil’s Health Ministry on Sat- the move, and President Trump agreed,” a White of Jilin province, which borders Bolsonaro argues that the toll on urday also reported 816 new deaths House official said after two top Democrats an- North Korea and Russia. It tem- the economy is becoming unbear- related to the virus, bringing the to- nounced a probe into the Republican president’s porarily suspended passenger able and businesses must be al- tal to 15,633. Friday night firing of the department’s internal train services last Wednesday. watchdog, Steve Linick. Fengman district said in a We- *** chat post on Sunday that it will tighten the lockdown by clos- Spraying Disinfectants Poses MOSCOW (Reuters) -- The Russian government ing stores including department said on Sunday it would allow foreign athletes competing in its domestic sports leagues to enter stores, house appliance stores Health Risk: WHO the country as the number of cases of the novel and furniture stores but will keep coronavirus passed 280,000. Russia closed its bor- supermarkets open to maintain ders in March to foreigners and grounded inter- supply to residents. national flights, except those repatriating Russians The number of China’s new as- or returning foreign nationals to their country of ymptomatic cases of the corona- origin, in a bid to stem the spread of the virus. virus fell to 12 from 13, the NHC The government said athletes and coaches under Residents wearing face masks line up for nucleic acid testings at a residential said. contract with a Russian sports organisation would Zhong Nanshan, the Chinese be put under medical observation and obliged to compound in Wuhan, the Chinese city hit hardest by the coronavirus disease spend two weeks in quarantine upon their return government’s senior medical ad- (COVID-19) outbreak, Hubei province, China May 17, 2020. to the country. President Vladimir Putin said this viser told CNN on Saturday that week it was time to gradually lift the nationwide BEIJING (Reuters) -- Mainland its tally of confirmed cases. the danger of a second wave of restrictions that had forced many people to work China reported five new con- The three domestically-trans- infections is looming large. from home and businesses to temporarily close. firmed COVID-19 cases for May mitted cases are related to a dis- “The majority of... Chinese at Russia’s coronavirus task force said on Sunday it 16, down from eight the previous trict in Jilin city called Fengman, the moment are still susceptible had recorded 9,709 new cases of the virus in the day, the National Health Com- which has been classified by Chi- to COVID-19 infection because past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide tally to mission (NHC) said in a state- nese officials as a high-risk area (of) a lack of immunity,” Zhong 281,752, the second highest in the world after the ment on Sunday. for COVID-19. said as quoted in the CNN report. United States. Ninety-four people died overnight, pushing the death toll to 2,631, the authorities Two of the five confirmed cases Heightened disease control “We are facing (a) big challenge, said. were so-called imported infec- measures in the district include it’s not better than the foreign According to the WHO, streets and pavements are not considered as tions, while three were locally allowing only one person from countries I think at the moment.” “reservoirs of infection” of COVID-19 and spraying disinfectants, *** transmitted in the northeastern a family to go out and purchase Zhong acknowledged that the even outside, can be “dangerous for human health”. WARSAW (Reuters) -- The Polish Catholic Chinese city of Jilin. daily necessities each day, ac- number of infections were ini- GENEVA (AFP) -- Spraying disin- spread the virus through droplets or Church’s most senior archbishop notified the Vatican of a Polish bishop accused of shielding The number of confirmed cases cording to the district’s official tially under reported in Wuhan fectant on the streets, as practised in contact,” said the document. in the mainland now stands at post on WeChat. but said the government has priests known to have sexually abused children. some countries, does not eliminate Spraying chlorine or other toxic The referral, unprecedented in the deeply reli- 82,947 and the death toll at 4,634. Residents were advised not to learned lessons from the SARS the new coronavirus and even poses chemicals on people can cause eye and China does not include people leave the city and any who do epidemic 17 years ago and he gious country, will test procedures introduced by a health risk, the World Health Orga- skin irritation, bronchospasm and gas- the Vatican last year to hold to account bishops who have been tested and found need to leave must provide a neg- thinks all the data will be correct nization (WHO) warned on Sunday. trointestinal effects, it adds. accused of turning a blind eye to child sex abuse. to be asymptomatic carriers in ative test result taken within the since Jan. 23. In a document on cleaning and disin- The organization is also warning The Vatican is now expected to assign an investi- fecting surfaces as part of the response against the systematic spraying and fu- gator to the case. “I ask priests, nuns, parents and to the virus, the WHO says spraying migating of disinfectants on to surfaces educators to not be led by the false logic of shield- can be ineffective. in indoor spaces, citing a study that has ing the Church, effectively hiding sexual abusers,” UK’s List of Richest Shows First Fall in a Decade Poland’s Primate Wojciech Polak said in a state- “Spraying or fumigation of outdoor shown it to be ineffective outside di- ment published on Saturday. “There is no place LONDON (AFP) -- Britain’s wealthiest people have lost worth of £6.78bn. spaces, such as streets or marketplaces, rect spraying areas. among the clergy to sexually abuse minors. We do tens of billions of pounds in the coronavirus pandemic as In total, the 2020 list calculated the combined wealth of is... not recommended to kill the COV- “If disinfectants are to be applied, not allow for the hiding of these crimes.” The case their combined annual wealth fell for the first time in a Britain’s super-rich to be £743bn -- £29bn less than last year. ID-19 virus or other pathogens because this should be done with a cloth or came to prominence after a film by brothers To- decade, the Sunday Times reported in its Rich List 2020. Its number of billionaires dropped by four to 147 but Lon- disinfectant is inactivated by dirt and wipe that has been soaked in disinfec- masz and Marek Sekielski, released on Saturday, The newspaper, which has produced the respected annual don remains the billionaire capital of the world, with 89 debris,” explains the WHO. tant,” it says. showed how bishop Edward Janiak, based in the ranking of the country’s 1,000 wealthiest people since 1989, born, living or with a significant chunk of their assets based “Even in the absence of organic mat- The SARS-CoV-2 virus, the cause city of Kalisz, failed to take action against priests found the past two months had resulted in the super-rich los- in the city. ter, chemical spraying is unlikely to of the pandemic that has killed more who were known to have abused children. ing £54 billion ($65 billion, 60 billion euros). “The first detailed analysis of the super-rich’s finances adequately cover all surfaces for the than 300,000 people worldwide since *** More than half of the billionaires in Britain had seen drops since the COVID-19 outbreak began will heighten concerns duration of the required contact time its appearance in late December in MADRID (Reuters) -- Spain’s government will in their worth by as much as £6bn, a decrease in their col- that Britain is entering a deep and long-lasting recession,” needed to inactivate pathogens.” China, can attach itself to surfaces and seek to extend its coronavirus state of emergency lective wealth unprecedented since 2009 and the financial the Sunday Times said. The WHO said that streets and pave- objects. one last time until late June, Prime Minister crisis. The paper noted at least 63 members of the list, includ- ments are not considered as “reservoirs However, no precise information is Pedro Sanchez said as anti-government protests Inventor James Dyson bucked the trend to top the list for ing 20 billionaires, have sought to use a government-run of infection” of COVID-19, adding currently available for the period dur- broke out around the hard-hit country. Spain the first time, with an estimated wealth of £16.2bn. furlough scheme which pays staff up to 80 percent of their that spraying disinfectants, even out- ing which the viruses remain infectious first decreed a state of emergency on March 14. The Hinduja brothers, who topped last year’s list with a salaries up to £2,500 a month during the crisis. side, can be “dangerous for human on the various surfaces. Officials say that while the outbreak has been £22bn fortune, saw among the biggest falls in worth -- £6bn They include London-based Sri and Gopi Hinduja, own- health”. Studies have shown that the virus brought largely under control, restrictions must -- and are now ranked jointly second with entrepreneurs Da- ers of the sprawling Hinduja Group of companies, who have The document also stresses that can stay on several types of surfaces stay in place a bit longer as the lockdown is gradually phased out. The country’s daily death vid and Simon Reuben. furloughed around 360 employees at Optare, their bus-mak- spraying individuals with disinfectants for several days. However, these maxi- toll from the coronavirus was 87 on Sunday, the Jim Ratcliffe, boss of petrochemicals firm Ineos, who ing firm based in northern England. is “not recommended under any cir- mum durations are only theoretical health ministry said, dropping below 100 for the topped the rankings in 2018, also saw his worth slide by Ratcliffe co-owns The Pig hotel chain, which has fur- cumstances”. because they are recorded under labo- first time in two months. Total deaths from the £6bn to £12.15bn. loughed most of its staff, while he is also seeking an emer- “This could be physically and psy- ratory conditions and should be “inter- virus climbed to 27,650, while the number of con- Steel baron Lakshmi Mittal was another to see the steepest gency loan from the government for a joint venture between chologically harmful and would not preted with caution” in the real-world firmed cases edged up to 231,350 from 230,698, falls in his fortune -- nearly £4bn -- placing him 19th with a Ineos and the Chinese state-owned PetroChina. reduce an infected person’s ability to environment. the ministry said.