New Events
Covid-19 Dashboard
… now: over 6.6 (+0.8m) million cases, 391k deaths
… 5/29: over 5.8 million cases, 360k deaths
… 5/15: over 3.7 million cases, 260k deaths
… 5/7: over 3.1 million cases, 227k deaths
Trackers: Johns Hopkins, NYT, CovidTracking.com
North Africa / Egypt / Sudan (266m)
Tunisians emerge from lockdowns into mosques and cafes.
… “we missed the smell of coffee a lot” …
E. Africa / Ethiopia / Somalia (520m)
I’m looking for additional good sources of regular information on East Africa.
W. Africa / Nigeria / Sahel (457m)
Nigeria plans to reopen schools, worship centers despite spike.
… not fully, just “relaxing coronavirus curbs on places of worship“
Persecution of Christians continues in northeast Nigeria.
… over 750 deaths, combined Boko Haram, Fulani militants
Senegal: A church for the Wolof.
… h/T Mission Catalyst, with more in this issue
South & Middle Africa (275m)
DR Congo: Five dead in new Ebola outbreak.
W. Asia / Saudi / Turkey / Iran / Iraq (303m)
Lockdown eases, Iran’s mosques to resume daily prayers.
… a rapid rise in cases stoked fears of a second wave …
Jordan’s mosques re-opened for socially distanced prayers.
Saudi reopens mosques with strict regulations for worshippers.
… face masks, personal mats, avoid handshakes, 2 meters apart …
… over 90,000 mosques reopen …
Turkey: Istanbul death toll hints at hidden wider Covid-19 calamity.
… 2,000+ additional deaths over average death rate …
Turkey to re-open border crossings with Iraq, Iran.
Yemen aid falls short, threatening food and health programs.
… hidden migrants risk conflict, virus in fight for survival …
South-central Asia (2.1b)
India reopens temples, malls, but no sprinkling holy water.
No way back: Indian workers shun city jobs after lockdown.
… “What is the point of returning? My employer abandoned me”
… “rather stay with my family even if earn half of what I earned there”
Mass exodus in cities = surge in rural property disputes.
Urban Covid-19 outbreaking morphing into a rural health crisis.
Relative queue in Delhi to cremate coronavirus dead.
… 190,000 cases, 5,000 deaths …
States rush to identify high-risk zones to remain in lockdown.
… 1,111 zones in Uttar Pradesh, 285 in Kolkata, etc …
Pakistan: after lifting lockdown, Covid-19 cases surge.
… to “learn to live with the virus to avoid pushing 10s of millions into destitution”
… (no easy choices, especially in places with poor infrastructure. -Ed.)
East Asia (1.6b)
China, US ban each other’s commercial passenger flights.
… Delta, United will be effectively unable to fly to China, too
Hong Kong airport will re-open to transit in June.
ChinaSource: 3 Questions on China’s Indigenous Missions Movement.
… the next issue of their ChinaSource Quarterly focused on this …
Veterans of HK 2003 protests fear new law.
… “it is much worse” …
“Facing the darkest hour”: protest movement in crisis.
… debating how/when to fight, whether it’s even possible …
… protesters deleting social media accounts …
… parents scouring Internet for information on emigration …
… protests being canceled in the face of police blockades …
New law could be enacted by month’s end.
FP: China’s HK clampdown won’t spare foreigners.
UK: Boris Johnson pledges to admit 3m from HK to UK.
… “opens the door to a significant influx of people fleeing HK”
Throngs line up to apply for British National (Overseas) passport.
Despite risks, thousands defy police ban, gather for Tiananmen anniversary.
S Korea closes schools after big Covid-19 spike.
Southeast Asia (700m)
Indonesia: Jakarta tentatively eases Covid-19 restrictions.
… mosques host Friday prayers for first time in two months …
Singapore rushes to build housing for 60k migrants.
… to reduce density in dormitories …
Europe / North America (1,125m)
Covid: USA has laid off/furloughed 20% of its workers.
… will undoubtedly affect giving, if not reversed …
USA: Telugu is the fastest growing foreign language.
USA: SBC saw 2% drop last year, largest in 100 years.
… down to 14.5m, but worship attendance steady at 5.2m.
A continent re-opens: exploring Europe’s opening.
… EU to lift internal border controls in June.
New Data
ThePointsGuy.com has a country-by-country guide to travel reopening.
Covid-19 rips into Middle East, Africa, L America, S Asia.
… ‘new surge in densely populated low-and-middle-income countries’
New Learnings
What will it take to re-open the world to travel? Bubbles and Trust.
… “World slowly starts traveling again” but nowhere fully open yet
… FP: “Welcome to a World of Bubbles” …
New Technology
Contact tracing surveillance mandated by companies, not by govts.
Zoom won’t offer end-to-end encryption on free accounts.
… it’s an effort to weed out bad actors, most of whom use fake identities …
… this Tweet thread knowledgeably explores the complexities of the issue …
Zoom paid accounts skyrocketing as remote work takes over.
… usage peaked in April at 300 million daily participants …
Facebook is providing a tool to let you bulk-delete old posts.
America is awash in cameras.
… a double-edged sword for protesters and police.
Managing URLs: Every bookmark manager ever made.
… my system centers around Pinboard.in, which replaced delicious.
Signal now features built-in face blurring for photos.
Facebook starts labeling “state-controlled media” pages.
… “wholly or partially under the editorial control of…”
How to secure your phone before attending a protest.
… is also an excellent guide to securing your phone, in general.