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This is VOA news. Reporting by remote, I'm David Byrd.
President Donald Trump spent Friday in the state of Florida, a key center for coronavirus infections. But as AP's Sagar Meghani reports, the president didn't talk about the pandemic much. In battleground Florida, a must-win for his reelection hopes, the president went to U.S. Southern Command to praise the fight against drug traffickers. "And, wow, are we making progress in a short period of time." In other events, he went after Joe Biden. "Nobody would be safe in a Biden America." And touted his own poll numbers. "We're doing very well, by the way, you'll be happy to know, in the state of Florida," which itself is not doing well with COVID-19. "... the flu, the virus, the China virus, whatever you'd like to call it ...." That's about the extent the president's virus discussion. Here at home, the White House coronavirus task force was due to hold a news conference and then pushed it until next week. Sagar Meghani, Washington. The World Health Organization on Friday announced that 12 million cases of the new coronavirus have been recorded in total and warned that the number of people infected had doubled in the last six weeks. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the international community needed leadership, participation and solidarity to turn the pandemic around. "Only aggressive action combined with national unity and global solidarity can turn this pandemic around." Tedros cited Italy and South Korea when saying that there are examples from around the world that have shown that even if an outbreak is intense it can be brought under control. However, he also warned that it's not only COVID-19 that threatens lives and livelihoods but other diseases, such as measles, polio and malaria, that all thrive when immunization is paused and supply chains for medical supplies are interrupted. This is VOA news. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced Friday that the Hagia Sophia, one of the architectural wonders of the world, would be reopened for Muslim worship. As Reuters Emer McCarthy reports, his declaration came after a top Turkish court revoked the sixth century Byzantine monument status as a museum. The Council of State, Turkey's top administrative court, ruled that the original decree was unlawful. It was made by Turkey's first president after the fall of the Ottoman Empire, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. The World Heritage site was at the center of both the Christian Byzantine and Muslim Ottoman empires and is today one of Turkey's most visited monuments. UNESCO said on Thursday that it must be notified of any change in the status of Hagia Sophia museum and the changes may have to be reviewed by its World Heritage committee. That's Reuters Emer McCarthy. President Erdoğan has said he wants Friday prayers held in the building in two weeks. The United States, Russia and church leaders were among those to express concern about changing the status of the UNESCO World Heritage site. Disney resorts in Florida are set to open this week. But as AP's Oscar Wells Gabriel reports, it won't be the Disney that people have visited in the past. It's a coronavirus world after all, and while people returning to Disney will be able to escape from their lockdown for a while, there is no escaping the fact that COVID-19 concerns still abound. And it's more than just wearing a mask and practicing social distancing, those "meet-and-greet" sessions with Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck, forget it. Before entering both employees and visitors will have to get temperature checks at the gate even something as simple as asking the Disney staffer to snap a picture of you in front of Cinderella's castle is now a no-no. That would mean they would have to touch your camera. I'm Oscar Wells Gabriel. The U.S. Federal Reserve has purchased more corporate bonds as part of its efforts to boost an economy hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. AP's Ben Thomas reports. The Fed says it bought another $1.3 billion in corporate bonds late last month in an effort to keep interest rates low and ensure large companies can borrow by selling bonds. The bonds are from a wide range of companies mimicking a broad market index in order to avoid favoring any specific industry. The purchases remain well short of the program's original cap of 750 billion. And a Fed official says the buying is slowing and may continue to do so if the market remains relatively healthy. Ben Thomas, Washington. For more on these stories and the rest of the day's news, log on to our website voanews.com. Reporting by remote, I'm David Byrd. |