WASHINGTON (AP) — America’s employers added just 266,000 jobs last month, sharply lower than in March and a sign that some businesses are struggling to find enough workers as the economic recovery strengthens. With viral cases declining and states and localities easing restrictions, businesses have added jobs for four straight months. Still, the unemployment rate ticked up to 6.1% from 6% in March. Optimism about the economic recovery is growing. Many Americans are flush with cash after having received $1,400 federal relief checks, along with savings they have built up after cutting back on travel, entertainment and dining out over the past year.
NEW DELHI (AP) — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi faces growing pressure to impose a strict nationwide lockdown, despite the economic pain it will exact. The pressure Friday comes as a startling surge in coronavirus cases that has pummeled the country’s health system shows no signs of abating. Many medical experts, opposition leaders and even Supreme Court judges are calling for national restrictions, arguing that a patchwork of state rules is insufficient to stamp out the surge. Indian television stations broadcast images of patients lying on stretchers outside hospitals waiting to be admitted, with hospital beds and critical oxygen in short supply. People infected with COVID-19 in villages are being treated in makeshift outdoor clinics, with IV drips hanging from trees.
GENEVA (AP) — A key World Health Organization panel is set to decide whether to authorize emergency of a Chinese-made COVID-19 vaccine. The review by a WHO technical advisory group potentially paves the way for millions of doses of a Sinopharm vaccine to reach needy countries through a U.N.-backed distribution program in the coming weeks or months. A WHO spokesperson says a decision is expected later Friday. Apart from efficacy information, Sinopharm has released very little public data about its two vaccines, one developed by its Beijing Institute of Biological Products and the other by the Wuhan Institute of Biological Products. The Beijing shot is one that WHO is considering for an emergency use listing.
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli troops have shot and killed two Palestinians and wounded a third after the men opened fire on a Border Police base in the occupied West Bank. It was the latest in a series of violent confrontations in recent weeks that have unfolded amid soaring tensions in Jerusalem. Dozens of Palestinians in an east Jerusalem neighborhood are at risk of being evicted following a long legal battle with Israeli settlers. Palestinian protesters have clashed with Israeli police in Jerusalem on a nightly basis during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Neighboring Jordan has warned Israel against further “provocative” steps and Israel’s archenemy Iran is encouraging Palestinian attacks.
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — A police official in Texas says 29 people have been recovered from a big rig that was stopped near San Antonio, including one person who was taken to a hospital. Lt. Jesse Salame says a passerby called police to report a suspicious semitruck. An officer performed a traffic stop and as he was approaching the vehicle, the back door swung open and several people ran out. Police made contact with 29 of the people. One person was taken to the hospital to be treated for dehydration. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement told KSAT-TV the stop is being investigated for possible human smuggling.