Muslims worldwide will celebrate one of their biggest holidays under the long shadow of the coronavirus, with millions confined to their homes and others gripped by economic concerns during what is usually a festive time of shopping and celebration.
The three-day Eid al-Fitr marks the end of the fasting month of Ramzan for the world's 1.8 billion Muslims. People usually celebrate by travelling, visiting family and gathering for lavish meals  all of which will be largely prohibited as authorities try to prevent new virus outbreaks.
The holiday will begin on Saturday or Sunday, depending on the sighting of the new moon, and the dawn-to-dusk fasting of Ramadan will come to an end.
Some countries, including Turkey, Iraq and Jordan, will impose round-the-clock curfews for the duration of the holiday. In Saudi Arabia  home to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina  people will only be allowed to leave their homes to buy food and medicine.
But even in countries that have largely reopened, the ..

Virus fallout dampens spirits as Muslims mark major holiday

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Hong Kong's pro-democracy lawmakers sharply criticized China's move to take over long-stalled efforts to enact national security legislation in the semi-autonomous territory, saying it goes against the one country, two systems framework that promises the city freedoms not found on the mainland.
The proposed bill, submitted on the opening day of China's national legislative session Friday, is aimed at forbidding secessionist and subversive activity, as well as foreign interference and terrorism. It comes after a months of pro-democracy demonstrations last year that at times descended into violence between police and protesters.
The move, one of the most controversial items on the agenda of the National People's Congress in years, drew strong rebukes from the U.S. government and rights groups. Despite that, Beijing appears to have lost patience and is determined to assert greater control and limit opposition activity following last year's protests.
Xi Jinping has torn away the whole ...

Hong Kong opposition slams China national security law move

British researchers testing an experimental vaccine against the new coronavirus are moving into advanced studies and aim to immunize more than 10,000 people to determine if the shot works.
Last month, scientists at Oxford University began immunizing more than 1,000 volunteers with their vaccine candidate in a preliminary trial designed to test the shot's safety. On Friday, the scientists announced they now aim to vaccinate 10,260 people across Britain, including older people and children.
The clinical studies are progressing very well and we are now initiating studies to evaluate how well the vaccine induces immune responses in older adults and to test whether it can provide protection in the wider population, said Andrew Pollard, head of the Oxford Vaccine Group.
Earlier this week, drugmaker AstraZeneca said it had secured its first agreements for 400 million doses of the Oxford-developed vaccine, bolstered by a $1 billion investment from a U.S. government agency, for the ...

UK's COVID-19 study aims to vaccinate more than 10,000

The family of slain Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi announced Friday they have forgiven his Saudi killers, giving legal reprieve to the five government agents convicted of his murder who'd been sentenced to execution.
We, the sons of the martyr Jamal Khashoggi, announce that we forgive those who killed our father as we seek reward from God Almighty, wrote one of his sons, Salah Khashoggi, on Twitter.
Salah Khashoggi, who lives in Saudi Arabia and has received financial compensation from the royal court over the killing, explained that forgiveness was extended to the killers during the last nights of the Muslim holy month of Ramzan in line with Islamic tradition to offer pardons in cases allowed by Islamic law.
The announcement was largely expected because the trial in Saudi Arabia left the door open for reprieve by ruling in December that the killing was not premeditated. That finding was in line with the Saudi government's official explanation of Khashoggi's slaying, which .

Khashoggi's sons forgive Saudi killers, sparing 5 execution

A 20-year-old construction worker who opened fire at a suburban Phoenix restaurant and retail complex, injuring three people, wanted to target people in his own age group in retaliation for being bullied, authorities said Thursday.
The shooting rampage occurred Wednesday night after suspect Armando Hernandez scoped out Westgate Entertainment District in Glendale, returned to his car to make a social media video and loaded three rifle magazines, police said.
I'm going to be the shooter of Westgate 2020, Hernandez said in his Snapchat video, holding a beer in one hand. The footage also shows an AR-15-type rifle in the backseat of the car.
Let's get this done, guys, he said.
Hernandez later surrendered, telling detectives that he intended to harm 10 people, though it's unclear why he chose that number.
He wanted to gain some respect, and he felt that he had been bullied in his life, Glendale police Sgt. Randy Stewart said.
Police say Hernandez filmed the attack while holding a cellphone .

Police: Man who shot 3 at Arizona complex felt bullied

After weeks of insisting the Washington, D.C., area is not ready to end its pandemic-induced lockdown, Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser now says the numbers are pointing to the start of a gradual reopening process at the end of the month.
Bowser on Thursday penciled in Friday, May 29 as a potential start date for phase 1 of the District of Columbia's proposed three-phase reopening plan. That includes restaurants allowing outdoor patio seating, non-essential businesses offering curbside pickup and hair salons and barbers operating by appointment at limited capacity.
Bowser emphasized the gradual nature of the process and warned residents not to expect the lives they had in February to return in full any time soon.
Let's be clear on what this is and what this isn't, Bowser said. This is not an on-off switch. Bowser had previously set the nation's capital on a timeline that would have it beginning to reopen on June 8 at the earliest. That's later than most jurisdictions around the country .

Nation's capital aims to start reopening May 29

"A Trump enemy statement, he said of one study.
A political hit job, he said of another.
As President Donald Trump pushes to reopen the country despite warnings from doctors about the consequences of moving too quickly during the coronavirus crisis, he has been lashing out at scientists whose conclusions he doesn't like.
Twice this week, Trump has not only dismissed the findings of studies, but suggested  without evidence  that their authors were motivated by politics and out to undermine his efforts to roll back coronavirus restrictions.
First it was a study funded in part by his own government's National Institutes of Health that raised alarms about the use of hydroxychloroquine, finding higher overall mortality in coronavirus patients who took the drug while in Veterans Administration hospitals.
Trump and many of his allies had been trumpeting the drug as a miracle cure and Trump this week revealed that he has been taking it to try to ward off the virus  despite an FDA warning last 

Trump lashes out at scientists whose findings contradict him

Universal Orlando is aiming to reopen its theme parks in early June, a resort official said Thursday, more than two months after the company joined crosstown rivals Disney World and SeaWorld in closing their gates to stop the spread of the new coronavirus.
Universal Orlando executive John Sprouls asked Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings for approval to open the company's theme parks as early as June 5, the Orlando Sentinel reported.
Demings must sign off on Universal's reopening plan before it heads to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for his approval, the newspaper said.
Universal, Disney World and SeaWorld have been closed since mid-March in an effort to stop the virus's spread.
During a tourism forum in Orlando with Vice President Mike Pence on Wednesday, SeaWorld's interim CEO, Marc Swanson, said he also expected a reopening in June. Officials with Disney World haven't said when they plan to reopen.
Both Disney and Universal in Orlando have reopened shopping complexes and restaurants in ..

Universal Orlando seeks to reopen theme parks in early June

President Donald Trump won at least a temporary reprieve from the Supreme Court earlier this week in keeping secret grand jury materials from the Russia investigation away from Democratic lawmakers.
The president and his administration are counting on the justices for more help to stymie other investigations and lawsuits.
The high court is weighing Trump's bid to block subpoenas for his tax, banking and financial records. It will soon be asked by the administration to kill a lawsuit alleging that Trump is illegally profiting from his luxury hotel near the White House. And a dispute over Congress' demand for the testimony of former White House counsel Don McGahn also could find its way to the justices before long.
Trump has predicted that the court with a conservative majority that includes two of his appointees, Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, would be more sympathetic than lower courts that have repeatedly ruled against him.
And his administration has sought the court's ...

Trump counting on Supreme Court to block probes, lawsuits

The baseball players' association gave management a wide-ranging response to a 67-page proposed set of protocols for a season to be played during the coronavirus pandemic.
Management had presented the union and the 30 teams the proposed draft last Friday.
The union said Thursday it addressed: protections for high-risk players, access to pre- and postgame therapies, testing frequency, protocols for positive tests, in-stadium medical personnel and sanitization procedures.
Players viewed many of the concepts in the original draft as over-the-top, such as arriving in uniform at the ballparks, a prohibition on them leaving without team permission and a ban on guests other than immediate family members. Players also objected to a ban on the use of showers and hydrotherapy.
The union wants more frequent testing than management's proposed multiple times per week."
MLB is expected to make an economic proposal to the union within a few days. MLB hopes to start the season by early July.

Baseball players respond to MLB on virus protocols

The NFL is considering adding a booth umpire and a senior technology adviser to the referee to assist the officiating crew.
The league also is looking at other rules changes, including an alternative to the onside kick.
NFL clubs received a list of potential rules changes on Thursday. Owners will vote on the proposals at the upcoming league meeting to be held by video conference on May 28.
The league's competition committee told teams last month it supports studying ways to determine how officiating personnel who have access to a video feed could help on-field officials. A booth umpire would serve as an eighth game official.
If owners don't approve adding a booth umpire and/or a senior technology adviser, the league could test a version of both rules in the preseason for possible future implementation.
The proposal that would give teams another option instead of an onside kick permits a team to maintain possession of the ball after a score by substituting one offensive play. The ...

NFL looks at adding "booth umpire" and tech adviser for refs

It took seven years to settle on a plan for cleansing two rivers and floodplains polluted with dioxins from a Dow Chemical Co. plant in central Michigan. The work itself has lasted nearly twice as long, with plenty still to do.
Now, scientists and activists fear some of the progress may have washed away with floodwaters that overwhelmed two dams this week, chasing 11,000 people from homes in and near Midland, the company's headquarters city.
The Tittabawassee River flows past the Dow plant and eventually meets the Saginaw River, which continues into Lake Huron's Saginaw Bay. That 50-mile stretch is tainted with dioxins  highly toxic compounds that researchers say can damage reproductive and immune systems and cause cancer. The area is on the federal Superfund list of hazardous sites.
Regulators and company officials said Thursday it was too early to tell whether the swollen river had damaged spots that had been repaired or swept pollutants farther downstream. Dow said it would inspect 

Flood raises fears of pollution at Michigan toxic waste site

Many Central Michigan residents remained cut off from their homes Thursday even as floodwaters receded, with senior citizens among the scores of displaced people staying in shelters after flooding overwhelmed two dams, submerged homes and washed out roads.
President Donald Trump, who was in Michigan to visit a Ford production plant, signed an emergency declaration authorizing the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate disaster relief efforts.
At Midland High School, 90% of people who slept in the school's gym were senior citizens, said shelter coordinator Jerry Wasserman. He said extra precautions were in place due to the combination of the guests' ages and the coronavirus pandemic.
We had to deal with COVID and then deal with their angst of what's happened to their house and their pets and all this Wasserman said Thursday.
In Midland, 61 people spent Wednesday night and Thursday morning in temporary shelters, according to city ...

Trump declares emergency for flooded Michigan communities

South Korea has reported 20 new coronavirus cases, including nine in the Seoul metropolitan area, as authorities scramble to stem transmissions while proceeding with a phased reopening of schools.
The figures announced Friday by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention brought national totals to 11,142 cases and 264 deaths. Nine other new cases were linked to international arrivals.
South Korea was reporting around 500 new cases a day in early March but has since managed to stabilize infections with aggressive tracing and testing. Officials have eased social distancing measures and began reopening schools, starting with high school seniors on Wednesday.
But students at dozens of schools in Incheon, near Seoul, were sent back home after some tested positive after visiting a karaoke room or taking private classes from a virus carrier.
Health Minister Park Neung-hoo pleaded with people Friday to avoid visiting karaoke rooms or computer gaming centers near schools to lower ...

South Korea reports 20 new virus cases

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has proved so popular during the coronavirus pandemic that it has prompted a change of leadership in the conservative opposition party just four months from a general election.
Todd Muller on Friday deposed Simon Bridges as leader of the National Party following two disastrous opinion polls for the party which indicated Ardern was headed for a huge victory in September.
Muller, 51, is not a household name in New Zealand but has support from other lawmakers and farmers. He was a manager at a kiwifruit company and a dairy company before he was first elected to Parliament in 2014. He had been acting as the opposition spokesperson for agriculture.
Before the pandemic hit, polling indicated the National Party and Ardern's Labour Party were running neck-and-neck. But Ardern's leadership since then has been praised, while Bridges' criticism of some of her actions appeared to be turning away even some of National's longtime supporters.
Ardern took ...

New Zealand party replaces leader to face Ardern in election

President Donald Trump says he will order the US flag to be flown at half-staff over the next three days as the death toll from COVID-19 surpasses 95,000.
Trump tweeted Thursday: I will be lowering the flags on all Federal Buildings and National Monuments to half-staff over the next three days in memory of the Americans we have lost to the CoronaVirus."
He said the flags will continue to be flown at half-staff on Memorial Day in honor of those in the military who died serving their country.
The move follows a request from Democratic leaders to do so to recognize a sad day of reckoning when we reach 100,000 deaths.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer wrote to Trump that an order to fly the US flag at half-staff would serve as a national expression of grief so needed by everyone in our country.

Trump: US flag will be half-staff next 3 days

A shooting at a Texas naval air station that wounded a sailor and left the gunman dead is being investigated as terrorism-related, the FBI said Thursday.
The shooting began around 6:15 am Thursday at Naval Air Station-Corpus Christi.
The shooter tried to speed through a gate at the base in a vehicle, but security personnel put up a barrier in time to stop the shooting, US officials told The Associated Press.
The man then got out of the car and opened fire, striking and wounding a Navy sailor who is a member of the security force at the base.
During the exchange of gunfire, the shooter was killed by security personnel, the officials said.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details about an ongoing investigation.
The FBI is investigating the shooting as terrorism-related, FBI Special Agent Leah Greeves said at a news conference Thursday afternoon, and investigators were working to determine whether a second person of interest was at large in the community.
We have .

FBI says Texas naval base shooting is 'terrorism-related'

"Full House" actress Lori Loughlin and her fashion designer husband, Mossimo Giannulli, agreed to serve prison time as part of a deal to plead guilty to cheating the college admissions process, according to court papers filed Thursday.
Loughlin, 55, has agreed to serve two months behind bars and Giannulli, 56, has agreed to serve five months under the deal that must be approved by the judge. They are scheduled to plead guilty Friday via video conference.
It's a stunning reversal for the famous couple who insisted for the last year they were innocent and that investigators had fabricated evidence against them.
Their decision comes about two weeks after the judge rejected their bid to dismiss the case over allegations of misconduct by federal authorities.
"I think they made a calculated assessment that the risks were just too great to bring the case to trial, said former federal prosecutor Bradley Simon.
They were scheduled to go to trial in October on charges that they paid USD 500,000 

"Full House" actress Lori Loughlin, her husband Giannulli to serve prison time for college scam

President Donald Trump said Thursday that Russian violations make it untenable for the US to stay in a treaty that permits 30-plus nations to conduct observation flights over each other's territory, but he hinted it's possible the US will reconsider the decision.
The Open Skies Treaty that governs the unarmed overflights was initially set up to promote trust and avert conflict between the US and Russia.
The Trump administration informed other members of the treaty that it will pull out in six months because Russia is violating the pact and imagery collected during the flights can be obtained quickly at less cost from U.S. or commercial satellites.
Russia didn't adhere to the treaty. So until they adhere, we will pull out, but there's a very good chance we'll make a new agreement or do something to put that agreement back together, Trump told reporters at the White House before leaving for Michigan.
So I think what's going to happen is we're going to pull out and they (the Russians) ...

Trump: US may rethink decision to exit surveillance treaty

As the coronavirus pandemic stretches on, Americans' views of the federal and state government response to the crisis are starting to sour  yet President Donald Trump's personal approval rating has remained steady.
A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that 41 per cent of Americans approve of the president's job performance, while 58 per cent disapprove.
That's consistent with opinions of Trump before the pandemic, as well as throughout his more than three years in office.
The survey highlights one of the remarkable features of Trump's tenure as president: Despite a steady drumbeat of controversies, an impeachment trial and now a historic public health crisis, few Americans have changed their views of him.
He's failed to increase his support in any measurable way, yet he also has retained the approval of his core backers, including the overwhelming majority of Republicans.
The Trump presidency is a perfect example of the Rorschach test of ..

Trump approval remains steady during pandemic

A federal judge on Thursday agreed to impose financial sanctions against the Trump administration for failing to produce hundreds of documents during litigation over whether a citizenship question could be added to the 2020 census.
US District Judge Jesse Furman said in a ruling that the Trump administration's failure to produce the documents may well have been inadvertent, but is nevertheless unacceptable for any litigant, and particularly for the Department of Justice."
The judge in New York ordered the administration to pay some of the costs and fees of nonprofit advocacy groups that had sought the sanctions.
To be sure, this was not DOJ's finest hour," Furman wrote, referring to the Department of Justice. At best, DOJ failed to produce more than ten percent of the documents that Defendants were required to produce as part of this litigation." A spokesperson for the Department of Justice didn't immediately respond to an email inquiry.
Last year, Furman ruled against an effort by ...

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