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This is VOA news. Reporting by remote, I'm David Byrd.
U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday that he expects to see parts of the country reopening in the coming weeks amid the coronavirus outbreak. "I think certain states are going to come online and they're gonna start the early stages of the puzzle that we are putting together." Vice President Mike Pence said that some states have enough test kits in supply to begin moving to phase one of the plan that the White House outlined on Thursday. "Our best scientists and health experts assess that states today have enough tests to implement the criteria of phase one if they choose to do so." Protesters were happening across the country, with groups pushing back against stay-at-home orders in places like Idaho, Michigan, Texas and Virginia. Earlier Friday, the president appeared to support those protests, saying in a series of tweets "LIBERATE MINNESOTA!," "LIBERATE MICHIGAN!," "LIBERATE VIRGINIA!" All three of those states are headed by Democratic Party governors. Even in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, the state of Florida has decided to reopen some of its beaches. AP's Ed Donahue reports. There had been criticism some - beaches were open last month during spring break. Some of the first page is to reopen are in northern Florida. Mayor Charlie Latham in Jacksonville Beach says they'll be open from six to eleven a.m. and five to eight p.m. "The whole point of having the two thirds of the break up the time a little bit so that we don't see the large crowds here." Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry points out no crowds of more than fifty. "The data for Duval County is encouraging. For now we need to stay the course and continue taking precautions. We'll get back to life as we know it but we must be patient." Other more high profile beaches in South Florida, including Miami Beach, were closed by state order. I'm Ed Donahue This is VOA news. Germany's health minister said Friday the COVID-19 outbreak in his country has become manageable because the number of patients who have recovered from the virus is greater than the number that are newly infected. Speaking at a news briefing in Berlin, Health Minister Jens Spahn said compared to other nations, Germany is doing well. He said that fact makes them humble, not exuberant. Spahn says that Germany has carried out more than 1.7 million coronavirus tests, and he and other health experts credit that for their ability to manage the outbreak. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with his Russian counterpart Friday to discuss arms control. We get more from AP's Mike Gracia. The State Department says Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov discussed arms control and other issues by phone Friday. Lavrov indicated Russia is ready to include some of its latest nuclear weapons in an extension of the New START arms control treaty that expires in February, 2021. Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered to extend the treaty. But President Donald Trump wants a trilateral arms control agreement that would include China along with the U.S. and Russia. Moscow has described that goal as unrealistic. Mike Gracia, Washington. China's economy has shrunk for the first time in almost three decades since records began thanks to paralyzed production and spending in the world's second largest economy. Reuters Gloria Tso reports. The slowdown is heaping pressure on Chinese authorities to do more to stop mounting job losses. At a press conference on Friday, Chinese official Mao Shengyong told reporters that China's economic performance in the second quarter is expected to be much better than the first. "There was clearly an improvement in March compared with January and February. This is a basic observation and the progressive momentum in March should be able to continue, especially as we speed up the planning and promotion of the return to work policies. There is more vigorous policies continued to be introduced. I believe the second quarter will perform better." However, the economic standstill has taken its hold on domestic consumption, which had been the biggest driver in China's economic growth. And as incomes slow and much of the rest of the world falls into recession, some analysts worry that economic decline will continue. That's Reuters Gloria Tso. On Wall Street, U.S. stocks rose and posted gains for the week helped by a surge in Boeing shares and President Trump's plan to reopen the economy. The Dow Jones Industrials added 3 percent. The S&P 500 was up by 2.7 percent. The NASDAQ gained 1.4 percent. Reporting by remote, I'm David Byrd, VOA news. |