UNITED STATES
Trump fires Atkinson
President Donald Trump on Friday fired inspector general of the intelligence community Michael Atkinson. Atkinson handled the whistleblower complaint that triggered Trump’s impeachment last year. Trump said in the letter that it is “vital” that he has confidence in the appointees serving as inspectors general, and “that is no longer the case with regard to this inspector general.” He added: “It is extremely important that we promote the economy, efficiency and effectiveness of federal programs and activities,” and that inspectors general are critical to those goals.
UNITED STATES
Singer Bill Withers dies
Bill Withers, the performer who delivered hits such as Ain’t No Sunshine with silky yet funkified vocals and came to define 1970s soul, has died. He was 81 years old. The Grammy-winning artist behind the beloved Lean on Me succumbed to heart complications, according to his family, which said they were “devastated” over the loss. “A solitary man with a heart driven to connect to the world at large, with his poetry and music, he spoke honestly to people and connected them to each other,” they said. “In this difficult time, we pray his music offers comfort and entertainment as fans hold tight to loved ones.”
PANAMA
Transgender people worry
Members of the transgender community have reacted with “dread” to the implemention of gender-based social distancing regulations amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Authorities said this week that men could only leave home to go shopping on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, with women allowed to do so on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. No one is allowed out on Sundays. The measure has left transgender people worried they will be the targets of discrimination. Ali, a 25-year-old illustrator who identifies as a man has an identity card that has “female” in the sex field. “My biggest fear, obviously, is the police, who aren’t trained or sensitized to this subject and I don’t know what attitude they will take with me,” Ali said. “I’m 100 percent sure I’ll be stopped in the street and seeing as I don’t fit the mold ... I don’t know if they’ll be aggressive. That’s what scares me.”
FALKLAND ISLANDS
First virus case reported
The government has confirmed the territory’s first case of COVID-19 after a patient was admitted to hospital with symptoms on March 31, a statement released on Friday said. They were in isolation and in “stable condition,” it said. The British overseas territory had been among a dwindling number of remote places that had reported no cases. The disparate group of places to officially remain untouched by the pandemic include Samoa, Turkmenistan, North Korea and bases in Antarctica.
INDIA
Twins named for pandemic
A couple in Chhattisgarh state have named their newborn twins Corona and Covid. The twins — a boy and a girl — were born during an ongoing 21-day long nationwide lockdown that began on Tuesday last week. “The delivery happened after facing several difficulties and therefore my husband and I wanted to make the day memorable,” Preeti Verma, the 27-old mother of the twins, told the Press Trust of India. The couple said the names would remind them about the hardships they faced during the lockdown and ahead of the successful delivery last week.
RARE EVENT: While some cultures have a negative view of eclipses, others see them as a chance to show how people can work together, a scientist said Stargazers across a swathe of the world marveled at a dramatic red “Blood Moon” during a rare total lunar eclipse in the early hours of yesterday morning. The celestial spectacle was visible in the Americas and Pacific and Atlantic oceans, as well as in the westernmost parts of Europe and Africa. The phenomenon happens when the sun, Earth and moon line up, causing our planet to cast a giant shadow across its satellite. But as the Earth’s shadow crept across the moon, it did not entirely blot out its white glow — instead the moon glowed a reddish color. This is because the
Romania’s electoral commission on Saturday excluded a second far-right hopeful, Diana Sosoaca, from May’s presidential election, amid rising tension in the run-up to the May rerun of the poll. Earlier this month, Romania’s Central Electoral Bureau barred Calin Georgescu, an independent who was polling at about 40 percent ahead of the rerun election. Georgescu, a fierce EU and NATO critic, shot to prominence in November last year when he unexpectedly topped a first round of presidential voting. However, Romania’s constitutional court annulled the election after claims of Russian interference and a “massive” social media promotion in his favor. On Saturday, an electoral commission statement
Chinese authorities increased pressure on CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd over its plan to sell its Panama ports stake by sharing a second newspaper commentary attacking the deal. The Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office on Saturday reposted a commentary originally published in Ta Kung Pao, saying the planned sale of the ports by the Hong Kong company had triggered deep concerns among Chinese people and questioned whether the deal was harming China and aiding evil. “Why were so many important ports transferred to ill-intentioned US forces so easily? What kind of political calculations are hidden in the so-called commercial behavior on the
‘DOWNSIZE’: The Trump administration has initiated sweeping cuts to US government-funded media outlets in a move critics said could undermine the US’ global influence US President Donald Trump’s administration on Saturday began making deep cuts to Voice of America (VOA) and other government-run, pro-democracy programming, with the organization’s director saying all VOA employees have been put on leave. On Friday night, shortly after the US Congress passed its latest funding bill, Trump directed his administration to reduce the functions of several agencies to the minimum required by law. That included the US Agency for Global Media, which houses Voice of America, Radio Free Europe and Asia and Radio Marti, which beams Spanish-language news into Cuba. On Saturday morning, Kari Lake, a former Arizona gubernatorial and US
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