Daily Archives: March 30, 2020

Kyrgyzstan Cancer Patients Make Face Masks to Fight COVID-19

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A group of cancer patients in Kyrgyzstan is working to meet the demand for protective surgical masks while earning funds to help pay for their treatments.The group is organized by an association known as “Together for Life,” established in July 2019. Originally, the group made handbags and purses as a kind of therapy, as well as financial aid for women overcoming cancer.But once the demand for masks increased, the president of the group, Aigul Kydyrmysheva, told The Associated Press that they received permission from the Ministry of Health to switch …

Sesame Workshop Enlists Elmo, Cookie Monster on Hand Washing

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Elmo, Rooster and Cookie Monster are doing their part to help keep kids safe as the coronavirus pandemic grinds on. The beloved Sesame Street Muppets are featured in some of four new animated public service spots reminding young fans to take care while doing such things as washing hands and sneezing.   One of Elmo’s signature songs, the toothbrush classic “Brushy Brush,” has been updated to  “Washy Wash.”Rooster pops up in another of the 30-second spots  to remind kids to “wash hands now” before eating, playing sports or using the …

Van Gogh Painting Stolen from Dutch Museum

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Officials at a Dutch museum which was closed to the public due to the coronavirus outbreak say a painting by Vincent van Gogh was stolen during an overnight break-in. Singer Laren museum director Evert van Os told reporters Monday the 1884 painting called “Spring Garden” had been on loan from the Groninger Museum, located in the northern Dutch city of the same name.  The Reuters news agency reports police believe the thieves forced the museum’s glass front doors open in the pre-dawn hours. They say they are continuing to investigate the …

Spain Postpones 5G Spectrum Auction Due To Coronavirus

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Spain will delay a planned auction of 5G spectrum due to the coronavirus outbreak, the government said on Monday.   As part of a Europe-wide drive to speed up the roll out of fast Internet and broaden coverage, Spain had been due to free up space in the 700 MHz band of its network by switching from analog to digital terrestrial television by June 30.   One of the world’s worst national outbreaks of the virus, which had infected 85,915 people and killed 7,340 as of Monday, constitutes force majeure, …

Spain Tries Tracking Coronavirus, Sparking Privacy Concerns

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In Madrid only a few weeks ago, thousands of demonstrators took part in a women’s march, defiant or unaware of calls for social distancing to stop what then appeared to be the distant threat of coronavirus. Now, Spain is one of the biggest battlegrounds in the global war against the pandemic.Spain’s health system is stressed to the breaking point. Coronavirus information hotlines have been jammed by frightened people desperate for information.Madrid city leaders launched a web and mobile service modeled after ones that South Korea successfully used to track those …

Tokyo Olympics Organizers Announce New Date

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Organizers for Tokyo’s rescheduled Olympics have announced that the new dates for the Summer Games will be July 23, 2021, to Aug. 8, 2021.The head of the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee, Yoshiro Mori, announced the decision Monday, after consultations with the International Olympic Committee.The IOC announced last week the decision to delay the games due to the coronavirus. Mori said the Paralympic Games would run from Aug. 24, 2021, to Sept. 5, 2021.  …

US Folk Singer-Songwriter John Prine in Critical Condition with Coronavirus

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The family of Grammy- award winning singer/song writer John Prine says the artist is in critical condition with COVID-19 symptoms.The family made the announcement Sunday from the 73-year-old artist’s Twitter account, saying he had been originally hospitalized Thursday and that he had been intubated – a breathing tube was inserted – Saturday night. The Twitter post said “his situation is critical.”There was no mention of where Prine was being treated but the family lives in Nashville.Prine’s wife and manager Fiona Whelan Prine had announced earlier in this month that she …

 Americans Get their Art Fix Despite Corona Threat   

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Museums across the U.S. have closed to the public, to help stop the spread of the coronavirus.But that hasn’t stopped the guardians of some of the greatest art collections in the country from sharing their national treasures with people around the world. Washington’s revered Smithsonian museums are among the institutions that are temporarily closed to the public. But all 19 museums, and the National Zoo, are inviting the public to visit them online, for a compelling collection of digital offerings. Lin-Manuel Miranda/Mark Seliger/2016 (printed 2018), Archival pigment print/National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution“A great place to start is to go to our website, which is NPG.si.edu,” says Kim Sajet, director, Smithsonian’s National Portrait …

Coronavirus-Stricken Cities go Digital to Boost Solidarity, Wellbeing 

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On the streets of Barcelona, a few lone shoppers and dog walkers, their faces obscured by masks, are the only signs of life in this once-vibrant city — but online it’s a different story.   In Spain, as in the rest of the world, increasing numbers of people are going digital to keep community spirits up and avoid feelings of isolation during the coronavirus crisis, which has infected about 725,000 people and killed more than 34,000 worldwide.   Since Spain’s population of 47 million went into lockdown on March 14, there has been a …

Belarus Does Not Give Up on Football

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Football leagues around the world have canceled soccer games for the foreseeable future as one of the measures to slow a rapid COVID-19 spread. But soccer, or football, as it is called in much of the world, continues to be played in Belarus where the number of confirmed infections is still relatively low.The country’s autocratic leader Alexander Lukashenko has dismissed the virus scare as overblown and has advised his people to continue business as usual, especially agriculture. Local media published photos of the Belarus president playing ice hockey.Top Belarusian football …

Democratic Leader Dies as Missouri Coronavirus Cases Top 900

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A Democratic Party leader in western Missouri died Sunday after contracting COVID-19 as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the state exceeded 900 and the death toll reached 12. The death of William “Al” Grimes, the Henry County Democratic Party chairman, was announced in a tweet from state Chairwoman Jean Peters Baker. It came after the Henry County Health Center in Clinton, about 60 miles (96.56 kilometers) southeast of Kansas City, announced that a man in his 70s had died. “We will miss you, Al,” Peters wrote. “The stars …