Tuesday, May 26th, 2020
The Bulgarian captain of a Portuguese-flagged cargo ship who was kidnapped along with seven other sailors by pirates off the coast of Benin last month, is freed. The captain of the Tommi Ritscher had been kidnapped at the port of Cotonou in the Gulf of Guinea on April 19. (Reuters)
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe lifts the state of emergency in all remaining parts of the country, including Tokyo. (Associated Press)
Candidate for the ruling party, National Council for the Defense of Democracy – Forces for the Defense of Democracy, and retired general Evariste Ndayishimiye wins the election with 68.72% of votes cast amid an election preceded by political violence including the arrest, torture and murder of opposition activists, according to a local human rights group. (Reuters)
Americans celebrate Memorial Day weekend amid pandemic Americans are marking Memorial Day with pared down events as states continue to limit the sizes of public gatherings to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Many parades and other traditional gatherings have been canceled or moved online, and will pay tribute to the more than 1,000 veterans who have been killed by COVID-19 in addition to those who have died while serving in the military. President Trump attended ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery and Fort McHenry. He spent Saturday and Sunday golfing and unleashing a flurry of attacks against Democrats and other critics on Twitter. Source: KTLA
Joe Biden wears mask in 1st public appearance since March Former Vice President Joe Biden on Monday made his first public appearance since mid-March as he visited a veterans memorial in Delaware, notably clad in a mask. The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee laid a wreath in honor of Memorial Day, alongside his wife, Jill Biden, who also wore a mask. Biden’s choice to follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendation to wear a mask during the coronavirus pandemic is in stark contrast to President Donald Trump, who often refuses to wear masks in public. While Biden’s advisers hope to resume regular campaign outings eventually, they intend to do so “when safety allows, and we will not do that a day sooner,” said Biden campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon. Source: The Associated Press
WHO temporarily pauses hydroxychloroquine study The World Health Organization is temporarily halting a study on hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine as potential COVID-19 treatments due to safety concerns. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced the decision on Monday, after a study published in The Lancet medical journal suggested COVID-19 patients treated with hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine were more likely to die. The drugs were being reviewed as part of the WHO’s Solidarity Trial. The Data Safety Monitoring Board will review data about the drugs to assess whether they should continue to be used in the trial, though other arms of the trial will carry on. President Donald Trump last week revealed he takes hydroxychloroquine as a preventative measure against COVID-19, despite the FDA cautioning against the drug. Source: CNN
Virgin Orbit’s inaugural rocket launch fails Virgin Orbit, the company founded by Richard Branson with the aim of launching smaller satellites, tried unsuccessfully on Monday to launch a rocket off the coast of Southern California. It was the company’s first test launch of a new rocket, which had been in development for five years. The rocket was released from a jet dubbed Cosmic Girl, and dropped over the Pacific Ocean. In a statement, Virgin Orbit said it could confirm a “clean release from the aircraft. However, the mission terminated shortly into the flight. Cosmic Girl and our flight crew are safe and returning to base.” The company said it will “learn more as our engineers analyze the mountain of data we collected today.” The rocket carried a test satellite, but the purpose of the flight was to gather data on each step of the launch process. Source: The Associated Press
Trump blocks travel from Brazil after coronavirus cases surge President Trump on Sunday said the United States would suspend travel from Brazil, after a surge in coronavirus cases made the South American nation one of the world’s hotspots. Brazil now has more than 22,000 deaths and 347,000 confirmed cases, the second most after the U.S. Trump had already banned some travelers from China, Europe, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Iran, but not from Russia, which has the third highest number of coronavirus cases. White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany called the Brazil restrictions another “decisive action to protect our country.” Filipe Martins, who advises Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on international affairs, said the travel ban wasn’t “anything specifically against Brazil. Ignore the hysteria of the press.” Source: The Associated Press
In his first appearance in three weeks, leader Kim Jong-un meets with state officials to discuss improving nuclear war deterrence measures, including increased artillery firepower. (Reuters)
The End
https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-unmasking-2017-4
https://www.businessinsider.com/beijing-new-national-security-laws-hong-kong-protests-2020-5
https://www.businessinsider.com/american-households-about-to-get-hit-by-wave-of-bankruptcies-2020-5
https://www.businessinsider.com/grim-hospital-bed-can-be-converted-into-cardboard-coffin-2020-5
https://www.businessinsider.com/new-york-mom-leaving-city-never-return-after-covid-19-2020-5
artificial stupid 