North America

New York, May 1 (AP) May is bringing cautious reopenings from coronavirus lockdowns, from Beijing's Forbidden city to shopping malls in Texas, as the grim economic toll from the pandemic ticks higher.

Many communities around the world are inching toward normalcy without certainty over whether they've vanquished outbreaks of the virus. But bleak new figures released Thursday underscored the pain inflicted by the disease and added to pressure on leaders to end shutdowns.

LANSING (Michigan, US), May 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Gun-toting protesters against Michigan’s coronavirus lockdown have rallied in the state capitol building.

Hundreds of demonstrators, a few of them armed, gathered in Lansing and many did not wear masks or socially distance.

Police checked their temperatures before some were allowed into the capitol, where lawmakers were debating.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, extended her stay-at-home mandate earlier this month until May 15.

WASHINGTON, May 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — US President Donald Trump threatened China with fresh tariffs as he stepped up his attacks on Beijing over the coronavirus crisis, saying he had seen evidence linking a Wuhan lab to the contagion.

The diatribe from the Republican incumbent came as data showed the United States shed more than 30 million jobs in six weeks, as lockdown measures began to bite across the nation.

WASHINGTON, May 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The IMF approved loans worth hundreds of millions of dollars for Mali and Ethiopia to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

The Washington-based crisis lender has stepped up its global financing efforts in recent weeks to help countries weather the coronavirus crisis.

The IMF board granted $411 million to Ethiopia on the Horn of Africa to help relieve the pandemic’s effects on its fast-growing economy.

UNITED NATIONS, May 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United States and China remained at loggerheads Thursday over a UN Security Council draft resolution calling for a 90-day humanitarian pause in conflicts worldwide in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.

The stalemate — over a mention of the World Health Organization — leaves little hope of a quick vote as the Security Council struggles to find a response to the global crisis, remaining largely mute since the once-in-a-century pandemic began killing tens of thousands of people and shutting down economies across the world.

NEW YORK, May 1 (APP): Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has called for cancellation– not just suspension — of debt payments by developing countries to enable them redirect financial resources toward dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.

In a New York Times’ opinion piece, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning African leader said the recent move by Group of 20 industrialized nations to suspend debt payment of world’s low-income countries until the end of the year was a step in the right direction, but this initiative needed to be even more ambitious.

1 May 2020; AFP: Boeing said Thursday it does not plan to seek US government support now after receiving strong interest from the bond market for a $25 billion public offering.

The aviation giant, which has been badly hit by the devastating impact of coronavirus shutdowns on global airlines, said demand for the bond offering was "robust."

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday his hard-fought trade deal with China was now of secondary importance to the coronavirus pandemic and he threatened new tariffs on Beijing, as his administration crafted retaliatory measures over the outbreak.

Trump’s sharpened rhetoric against China reflected his growing frustration with Beijing over the pandemic, which has cost tens of thousands of lives in the United States alone, sparked an economic contraction and threatened his chances of re-election in November.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Afghanistan, beset by a poor healthcare system, malnutrition, war and other vulnerabilities, likely is facing a “health disaster” from the coronavirus, a watchdog report to the U.S. Congress warns.

The report released late on Thursday by Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) John Sopko could heighten concerns among U.S. officials and lawmakers that the pandemic threatens to derail stalled U.S.-led peace efforts.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has sketched out an altogether bumpier ride for the U.S. economy than many are predicting - one that sees business activity stop and start for months to come, until an effective treatment or vaccine for the novel coronavirus can be found.

Since the novel coronavirus outbreak in the United States, economic growth stalled almost overnight as “stay at home” orders shut down large parts of the economy. Economists and Trump administration officials have been divided about how deep and long-lasting the economic impact will be.