White House Chief-of-Staff Mark Meadows said Friday U.S. President Donald Trump is experiencing mild effects of the coronavirus after he and first lady Melania Trump tested positive for COVID-19.“The president does have mild symptoms and as we look to try to make sure that not only his health and safety and welfare is good, we continue to look at that for all of the American people,” Meadows said as he spoke to reporters at the White House.Trump’s chief of staff said the president is “not only in good spirits, but very energetic” and remains “committed to working very hard on behalf of the American people.”    White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows speaks to the media after U.S. President Donald Trump announced that he and U.S. first lady Melania Trump have both tested positive for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Washington, Oct, 2, 2020.In the early morning hours on Friday (04:54 UTC), Trump tweeted: “Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process …

President Donald Trump’s age and weight put him at higher risk of a severe case of COVID-19, but beyond that his prognosis is hard to gauge, experts say.  Trump’s doctor, Sean Conley, confirmed in a statement early Friday that the president and first lady Melania Trump had tested positive for the coronavirus. He said they “are both well at this time.”  “I expect the President to continue carrying out his duties without disruption while recovering,” he added. Trump is 74 years old, and hospitalization rates rise steadily with age. People his age are hospitalized at a rate five times higher than 18-to-29-year-olds, according to the The White House’s Brady press briefing room is almost empty in Washington, Oct. 2, 2020.According to results from his most recent medical exam, Trump is 1.9 meters tall or 6-foot-3 and weighs just under 111 kilos or 244 pounds. That puts his body mass index at …

The world’s democracies are suffering under the weight of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new Freedom House report.     The report, titled Democracy Under Lockdown, says “the COVID-19 pandemic has deepened a crisis for democracy around the world, providing cover for governments to disrupt elections, silence critics and the press, and undermine the accountability needed to protect human rights, as well as public health.”   A possible bright spot, the report says, is “the persistence of public protests, under every type of regime.”   Freedom House President Michael J. Abramowitz said, “Governments in every part of the world have abused their powers in the name of public health, seizing the opportunity to undermine democracy and human rights.”   The report contains a section about the U.S. presidential election, noting that many experts have expressed concern about whether election authorities around the country are fully prepared for the polls, …

A little more than a month before the U.S. presidential election, Donald Trump announced early Friday via Twitter that he and first lady Melania Trump have tested positive for the coronavirus and have begun quarantining themselves. In response, Vice President Mike Pence tweeted: “Karen and I send our love and prayers to our dear friends President @realDonaldTrump and @FLOTUS Melania Trump. We join millions across America praying for their full and swift recovery. God bless you President Trump & our wonderful First Lady Melania.”Karen and I send our love and prayers to our dear friends President A woman walks past an electronic stock board showing Japan’s Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm in Tokyo Friday, Oct. 2, 2020. U.S. stock futures and Asian shares have fallen after U.S. President Donald Trump said he and first lady Melania Trump…Global markets fell following the news of Trump’s diagnosis.Naoya Oshikubo, a senior economist with Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management in Tokyo, told Reuters he was worried that Trump would “become even more aggressive …

New research suggests that the collision of space objects that created Earth’s moon may have robbed it of 10% to 60% of its original atmosphere. Most scientists believe that about 4 billion years ago when Earth was still developing, a massive object the size of Mars hit the planet, sending vaporized particles from the collision into space, which were then bound together through gravity to form Earth’s moon. The so-called “impact hypothesis” is one of three key theories of the moon’s formation. The others suggest the moon was either formed at the same time as Earth, or that it was captured by Earth’s gravitational field as it traveled through space. In the new study published Wednesday in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, researchers focused on the impact theory, and ran more than 300 computer simulations of massive object collisions with rocky planets with thin atmospheres like Earth. The scientists factored in the angle at which …

Italian scientists this week showed evidence of Martian salt water, raising hopes of finding tiny Martian life swimming in it. NASA says an air leak aboard the International Space Station does not threaten the crew.  And SpaceX’s next batch of StarLink satellites will need to find another ride into orbit. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi has the Week in Space. …

The U.S. Health and Human Services Department announced a new funding opportunity Thursday for providers on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic Thursday.     The $20 billion relief fund will be provided through the Health Resources and Services Administration and will allow providers who previously have received Provider Relief Fund payments to apply for additional funding.     Under the Phase 3 General Distribution allocation program, financial losses and changes in operating expenses caused by the coronavirus that previously were not covered now will be considered.   Those who were previously ineligible, such as providers who began practicing in 2020, also will be able to apply. In addition, an expanded group of behavioral health providers confronting the mental health and substance abuse issues exacerbated by the pandemic will be able to receive relief benefits.     A recent report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that …

Britain’s primary environmental agency announced that beginning Thursday a ban on all “single-use” beverage straws is in effect, making it illegal for businesses to sell or supply them to individual customers.   The ban was passed and set to take effect in April, but the COVID-19 pandemic prompted law makers to postpone its implementation so as to not impose a further burden on businesses.   A statement Thursday from Britain’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural affairs says the ban includes plastic straws, stirrers and cotton swabs.   In a statement on its official web site, the agency says it is estimated Britain uses 4.7 billion plastic straws, 316 million plastic stirrers, and 1.8 billion plastic-stemmed cotton swabs annually, many of which find their way into the ocean.   In the statement, Britain’s Environment Secretary George Eustice said single-use plastics cause “real devastation to the environment” and the government is …

British Health Minister Matt Hancock announced Thursday the government will broaden new COVID-19-related restrictions to Liverpool and other areas in northwest Britain after a surge in new cases in that region.Speaking to parliament, Hancock said the restrictions are being extended to Liverpool city region, Warrington, Hartlepool and Middlesbrough. The restrictions are the same as those imposed in the northeast on Wednesday: no social mixing between different households indoors.Hancock also recommended against spectators attending professional or amateur sports events.The health minister said the northwest has seen a recent surge in cases. “In Liverpool, the number of cases are 268 per 100,000 population, so together we need to act,” he said.Hancock said the government is providing about $9 million in aid to local governments to support their anti-COVID-19 efforts.He added that despite the quick spread of the virus in some parts of the country, there are early indications from the Imperial College …