From producer to wearer -- lifecycle of the humble face mask

AFP / Fredrik LernerydRules and regulations differ across the globe -- but masks play a big role in the fight to limit virus contagion

The humble mask has become a universal symbol of the new coronavirus pandemic and a crucial means of limiting contagion.

But where do they come from? Where are they mandatory? What do they cost and where do they end up?

Contrasting cover-up rationales

Wearing a mask has been quite common in much of eastern Asia since the SARS epidemic of 2002-2003 made it a "daily, recreational, personalised" item, says medical anthropologist Christos Lynteris.

AFP / MIGUEL MEDINACuban Doctor Roberto Arias Hernandez, dons his mask prior going to work at the Maggiore Hospital near Milan

In Japan, wearing surgical style masks is common in winter and spring, both as a means of protecting oneself and others from infection.

In contrast, in Europe wearing one has been rare -- in France, the post-revolution spirit of enlightenment means a "citizen presents himself face uncovered in public spaces", anthropologist Frederic Keck told Le Monde.

Lack of familiarity is evidenced by the number of people who wear them in unorthodox fashion -- under the chin or with the nose uncovered.

AFP / AHMAD AL-RUBAYEA masked member of the Iraqi security forces on duty at Baghdad's Tahrir Square -- some shoppers were spotted handing their masks to others about to go inside after leaving a store

Further afield, in Iraq, AFP witnessed some shoppers leaving a store passing their masks on to those about to go inside...

Rules... and reticence

In around 50 countries, wearing a mask is currently mandatory nationwide. Others require one in some zones and still others simply recommend using one.

In the United Arab Emirates, eschewing one means a fine of around $200 while in Chad the punishment is arrest and up to 15 days in jail.

AFP / Robert ATANASOVSKIMuslim worshippers, some wearing masks, some not, in North Macedonia

In the US town of Stillwater, Oklahoma, the mayor dropped an order insisting on masks in shops after some residents, seeing an infringement of civil liberties, threatened store employees.

Austrians have been more compliant with demands to don masks both in stores and on public transport -- the latter requirement is now in force in France.

At the outset of the pandemic, French authorities indicated facial protection was not necessary -- stocks were in any case in short supply.

Mind the production gap

Supply has been a major problem -- the bulk of production being Asian in origin with China producing around 50 percent of global stocks of surgical varieties.

AFP / GEORGES GOBETPeople wearing face masks carry a fridge home in Bordeaux, France, after their country began progressively easing a two-month lockdown

With the pandemic starting in China, the country felt bound to distribute on home soil first.

"Once the need for masks in China exploded our subcontractor firms in China no longer had the right to export," David Guiho of French specialist protective equipment group Delta Plus told AFP.

When Chinese exports did resume demand was frantic, leaving major shortages from Italy and Spain to Egypt.

"With globalisation we got carried away thinking there would always be (trade) flows between countries. With this crisis we found everyone turned in on themselves," Stephane Billon, a health affairs economist, told AFP.

Costly cover

Given the demand, prices soared -- some 25 times over in Lebanon, according to unions involved with medical imports.

Two firms in South Africa -- Sicuro Safety and Hennox Supplies -- found themselves having to explain to competition authorities why they had raised prices as much as 1,000 percent.

In Iraq, "a 50-pack of surgical masks cost between 2,500 or 3,000 Iraqi dinars (around $2.50) before. Today, they cost 30,000 dinars," Baghdad pharmacist Sayyed Ali told AFP.

Price gouging sparked a welter of counterfeit versions available online -- but there were also thefts of stocks from chemists' and hospitals.

China cranked up production and exported more than 21 billion masks between early March and April 25 while firms across the globe switched production to make their own contributions.

AFP/File / Haidar HAMDANIBlue, white or none at all -- a man waits for a repatriation flight to Kuwait for Najaf International Airport earlier this month after first going through quarantine in Iraq's shrine city

Some 20 Moroccan firms rolled their sleeves up and have been cranking out 10 million per day, says Industry Minister Moulay Hafid Elalamy.

The French government requisitioned production at local firms and large companies diversified to lend a hand.

Paris also decreed a ceiling unit price of 95 cents ($1) -- Italy set the bar at 50 cents.

Moroccan small retailers make them available for just 8 cents, thanks to a special emergency fund subsidy set up by the king.

In Israel, FFP2 grade masks - offering higher protection than basic surgical models spiked to 70 shekels (some $20) but have come down to barely a third as much after the finance ministry intervened. A basic surgical model costs about 80 euro cents.

The price gyrations have prompted many people to make their own out of basic fabric, not least in Egypt, where the government made wearing masks obligatory in public places last month.

Such masks are a boon for the likes of supermarket workers.

In Brussels, Olivier Bruynincx is meanwhile working "seven days a week, almost day and night to repair sewing machines" which are suddenly once more in vogue.

Use and throw

Many countries lack clear guidelines on how to dispose of masks. Many are thrown out with household rubbish.

AFP/File / Bridget BENNETTBiking, masked, down an eerily quiet quiet Las Vegas Strip in early May

French recycling firm Citeo France advises "throwing handkerchiefs, masks and gloves into a resistant plastic bag."

That should be closed carefully and kept overnight before being thrown into the dustbin and ultimately taken off for incineration.

The not very green downside -- a very intensive use of plastic bags.

AFP / Amir MAKAR, Marina PASSOS, Christina ASSIJust don't leave do what someone did here in Larnaca, Cyprus, and leave your protective gear on the beach -- many masks contain polypropylene and will take years to degrade

In many countries, masks simply end up in the street or the countryside.

In Hong Kong, Greenpeace in March complained vast numbers are simply thrown aside in parks while the OceansAsia association says it has spotted many on Chinese beaches.

Such cavalier disposal is environmentally harmful as many surgical masks contain polypropylene, a dense material which degrades over countless decades "either in landfill or the ocean", warns Earth.org.

AFP / VALERIE MACONEven graffiti artists have weighed in with mask 'messages,' such as this one at freshly reopened Venice Beach, California

To limit the ecological damage scientists are seeking ways to decontaminate surgical masks to allow repeated use, including washing at a high 95 degrees Celsius and in a steam chamber allowing sterilisation.

Another ploy under review to kill off lingering microorganisms is gamma ray irradiation.

burs-jug-lem/aue/tq/cdw/har

Alarm in Germany as 'corona demos' take off

AFP/File / John MACDOUGALLA growing wave of protests has shocked Germany, with many of the demonstrators spouting conspiracy theories

From anger over lockdown measures to a purported vaccine plan by Bill Gates: a growing wave of demonstrations in Germany by conspiracy theorists, extremists and anti-vaxxers has alarmed even Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Initially starting as a handful of protesters decrying tough restrictions on public life to halt transmission of the coronavirus, the protests have swelled in recent weeks to gatherings of thousands in major German cities.

Thousands are set to mass again in Stuttgart, Munich and Berlin on Saturday, with police out in force after some protests turned violent.

The growing demonstrations have sparked comparison to the anti-Muslim Pegida marches at the height of Europe's refugee crisis in 2015, raising questions over whether the strong support that Merkel is currently enjoying due to her handling of the virus crisis could evaporate.

AFP/File / John MACDOUGALLThe protests have swelled in recent weeks to gatherings of thousands in major German cities


Just like it won popularity by fanning anti-migrant sentiment five years back, the far-right AfD party is now openly encouraging protesters and repositioning itself as an anti-lockdown party.

A recent poll commissioned by the Spiegel news magazine found that almost one in four Germans surveyed voiced "understanding" for the demonstrations.

The development has shocked the political establishment, with Merkel reportedly telling top brass of her centre-right CDU party of the "worrying" trend that may bear some hallmarks of Russia's disinformation campaigns.

- 'Vilification' -

Germany in March took unprecedented measures to shut down public life.

While a huge majority of Germans back the action, giving Merkel's government a big boost in approval ratings, dissent is fomenting, particularly online where YouTube videos championing conspiracy theories or quack medical advice are attracting tens of thousands of views.

Seeking to counter absurd claims, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said that although he wasn't a medical practitioner, he could safely suggest that the "uncomfortable and cumbersome face mask is more to be recommended than a tin-foil hat."

AFP / THOMAS KIENZLEA demonstrator holds a placard that reads 'Elvis is alive' at a protest in Stuttgart

After a public outcry over unruly protests last weekend, the AfD placed itself squarely on the side of the demonstrators.

Party co-chief Alexander Gauland said it was "completely correct that people are exercising their fundamental rights and demonstrating against corona measures."

Any resulting split in society over the demonstrations should not be blamed on the protesters, but on "the sweeping vilification of participants as right-wing extremists, nutcases or conspiracy theorists," he charged.

Sometimes violent in nature, the demonstrations have also been increasingly tinged by anti-Semitism, as participants hold aloft slogans portraying figures like George Soros as the bogeyman in the virus crisis.

- Second populist wave -

"I consider this type of protest to be extremely dangerous," Felix Klein, the government's pointman on tackling anti-Semitism, told the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper.

"It undermines confidence in our democratic state and forms a reservoir in which conspiratorial anti-Semites and Holocaust deniers can be found alongside others with sometimes very obscure attitudes," he added.

Miro Dittrich, an expert at the Amadeu Antonio Foundation, said conspiracy theories could be appealing to people who find it hard to grasp the concept of the virus, and who personally know of no one who has been affected.

AFP / John MACDOUGALLThe protests have led to speculation they could dent Chancellor Angela Merkel's popularity over her handling of the pandemic


"In addition, people are currently isolated from their social environment in a crisis situation and spend an extremely large amount of time online, all factors that promote the belief in conspiracy stories," Dittrich said.

Klein warned that "we must take the emergence of these movements very seriously and cannot hope that with the end of the corona crisis these forces will disappear again."

Spiegel also cited the urgent need for Merkel to get a grip on the situation.

"If she doesn't take counter action now, a second populist wave of anger could break over Germany," it warned.

Time could be pressing.

Hermann Binkert, who heads the polling institute INSA, said the strong support for Merkel's government could quickly melt away when the health imperative recedes.

"When the unifying theme of health fades and the debate focuses on solving the labour market, economic and financial crisis, the consensus ends," he warned.

France arrests fugitive Rwandan genocide 'financier'

AFP/File / Yasuyoshi CHIBAAround 800,000 people were slaughtered over 100 days

French police on Saturday arrested one of the last key suspects in the 1994 Rwandan genocide, describing him as its "financier" and one of the world's most wanted fugitives.

Felicien Kabuga, once one of Rwanda's richest men, was living under a false identity in the Paris suburbs, the public prosecutor's office and police said in a joint statement.

The operation, carried out at dawn, resulted in the arrest of a fugitive "who has been sought by the judicial authorities for 25 years", the statement said.

Around 800,000 people -- Tutsis but also moderate Hutus -- were slaughtered over 100 days by ethnic Hutu extremists during the 1994 genocide.

The statement said Kabuga, aged 84, had been living in Asnieres-sur-Seine north of Paris and had been hiding with the complicity of his children.

It described him as "one of the world's most wanted fugitives".

Kabuga is accused of creating the notorious Interahamwe militia that carried out massacres in the 1994 genocide.

He also helped create the equally notorious Radio-Television Libre des Mille Collines that incited people to carry out murder in its broadcasts.

"Felicien Kabuga is known to have been the financier of the Rwandan genocide," it said, adding that he had spent time in Germany, Belgium, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya and Switzerland.

- 'Brought to account' -

Kabuga was indicted by the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in 1997 on seven counts including genocide.

The Rwanda tribunal formally closed in 2015 and its duties have since been taken over by the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals (MICT), which also deals with cases left over from the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

AFP/File / Yasuyoshi CHIBAFloral offerings at a mass grave at the Kigali Genocide Memorial

A top UN prosecutor welcomed the arrest, saying it showed that suspects would be still brought to justice.

"The arrest of Felicien Kabuga today is a reminder that those responsible for genocide can be brought to account, even 26 years after their crimes," said Serge Brammertz, chief prosecutor of the MICT in The Hague.

"Today’s arrest underlines the strength of our determination."

He should now rapidly appear before French prosecutors who should order him to be remanded in custody. Judicial authorities can then rule on sending him to The Hague to face justice.

"Following completion of appropriate procedures under French law, Kabuga is expected to the transferred to the custody of the Mechanism, where he will stand trial," the MICT said in a statement.

AFP/File / STFThe genocide was sparked by the assassination president Juvenal Habyarimana (2ndL)

Kabuga is expected to be tried at the mechanism's branch in Arusha in Tanzania, an official from the proscecutor's office told AFP.

His eventual transfer to UN custody was likely to take some time because of the COVID-19 pandemic, tribunal sources said.

In 1994, Kabuga was part of the inner circle of then Rwandan president Juvenal Habyarimana. His daughter was married to one of the president's sons.

It was the assassination of Habyarimana on April 6, 1994 that unleashed the genocide.

Along with former defence minister Augustin Bizimana and top-ranking military figure Protais Mpiranya -- both still at large -- Kabuga was one of the three most significant suspects still sought over the genocide, the statement said.

Trump administration overpaid some farmers with trade aid, researchers say

New research suggests cotton and other commodity growers were overpaid by the Trump administration's aid during the trade war with China. Photo courtesy of Pixabay

EVANSVILLE, Ind., May 14 (UPI) -- New university research claims cotton growers' federal trade bailout payments were 33 times the amount they lost due to the trade war with China.

A study, published this month by researchers at Kansas State University, found that most commodity farmers were overpaid by the Trump administration's $28 billion Market Facilitation Programs.

"What we tried to do is compare what the price effect of trade war was with the payments that farmers got," said Joseph Janzen, an assistant professor of agricultural economics at Kansas State University, who co-authored the study along with fellow agricultural economics professor Nathan Hendricks.

"In most cases, the payment rate was higher than the price impact," Janzen said. "And the payments for some of the commodities are pretty huge

Cotton and sorghum growers received inordinately high payments compared to how their prices were impacted, Janzen said.

Cotton prices dropped an estimated 1.2 percent, according to the study, which was published May 3 in the journal Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy. But, in 2019, payments to cotton growers were paid as if the price had dropped by 40 percent.

That same year, sorghum prices dropped around 6.4 percent, but the payments growers received covered a nearly 47 percent price drop.

Meanwhile, payments to soybean growers were around double their price drop, according to the study. Corn payments were close to accurate.

Corn prices fell an estimated 2.5 percent due to the trade war, according to the study. In 2018, growers received payments equivalent to a 0.3 percent price drop. In 2019, the payments equated to a 3.4 percent price drop.

Part of the reason for the discrepancy is the U.S. Department of Agriculture calculated farmers' losses based in large part on lost trade with China, according to the study.

When it announced the program, the agency said China's retaliatory tariffs disrupted "normal marketing patterns, raising costs by forcing commodities to find new markets."

While it is true commodities had to find new buyers in different countries, the price drop had the most direct impact on farmers, the researchers said.

"The USDA methodology is based on a change in quantity (i.e. loss in exports) rather than a change in price," according to the study. "The damages to farmers would be more accurately assessed as the price decrease caused by retaliatory tariffs multiplied by production -- or, even better, the decrease in producer surplus."

The National Cotton Council disfuted the study, saying cotton growers were underpaid for their trade war losses -- not overpaid.

"A further look at actual price and trade data confirms that cotton producers have not been overcompensated for the trade damages," the group said in a statement. "The [Market Facilitation Program] assistance has only partially compensated cotton producers for the loss in market revenue."

According to the Kansas State University study, the trade war pushed cotton prices down about 1 percent.

Cotton prices (paid to farmers) have fallen 20 percent over the last two years, dropping to under 60 cents per pound in May from more than 75 cents per pound in June 2018, the group said.

"What [the Cotton Council is] saying is absolutely true," Kansas State's Janzen said. "Cotton prices have dropped. But there is all kinds of stuff going on that's affecting prices."

The worldwide coronavirus pandemic, for example, has substantially reduced demand -- and therefore price -- of cotton, he said.

"For [2019 and 2020], the world consumption forecast is reduced ... 12.7 percent below the previous year," according to the USDA's World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report, which was released Tuesday.

"This would be the largest annual decline in world consumption since the 19th century," the report said.

The USDA's trade aid was not intended to help farmers beyond the immediate impact of the trade war, Janzen said.

The agency has established another $19 billion aid package aimed at helping farmers through the coronavirus pandemic.

"What we were trying to do is look at how the Market Facilitation Program payments compared to the effect of the retaliatory tariffs imposed by China on commodity prices," Janzen said.

"I will say, it is difficult to design a single program that fairly distributes that much money across all commodities," he said.

"We understand these payments have been really important to farmers. [The USDA] broadly accomplished their goal. But, there are significant inequalities across commodities."

HERTORY
First female flight attendant took maiden trip 90 years ago

Ellen Church poses standing in doorway of United Airlines Douglas DC-3 wearing an original stewardess uniform, circa 1930. File Photo courtesy of Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum

May 15 (UPI) -- As flight attendants learn to navigate new working conditions -- and potential job losses -- amid the coronavirus pandemic, Friday marks the anniversary of the flight that in many ways gave birth to the job as we know it today.

Ninety years ago on May 15, 1930, Ellen Church led the first group of what were then called "stewardesses" on a Boeing Air Transport -- now United Airlines -- flight. Church and three other young women served as flight attendants on the trek from San Francisco to Chicago, which took 20 hours and 13 stops for 14 passengers.

Four fresh flight attendants took over the flight during its leg from Cheyenne, Wyo., to Chicago.

Church wasn't just an ordinary flight attendant, though. Her desire to put her expertise and background as a pilot and nurse to use in the skies is part of what led to women taking over the flight attendant role.

Before she and the seven other inaugural flight attendants came into the picture, only men served the friendly skies -- both as pilots and in some cases, stewards. Sometimes pilots performed dual roles, flying the plane and handing out coffee and sandwiches.

Church initially wanted to be a pilot on commercial flights, but at the time, airlines only allowed men behind the yoke. Instead, she suggested women -- specifically nurses -- take over the role of flight attendants. She told BAT that nurses could better help new fliers through airsickness and be useful during any medical emergencies.




Having women in the role could also help put businessmen's fears of flying at ease -- perhaps 1930s-era men would put on a better show of bravery if a handful of fearless women hauled their luggage and served them coffee.

Church's argument was bolstered by a simultaneous suggestion by BAT official Steve Stimpson after a particularly rough flight. The turbulence meant the pilots were too busy to serve refreshments during the flight, so Stimpson took over the job of handing out drinks and sandwiches.

When he got back to the office, he told BAT management it needed to hire dedicated stewards.

Top brass took both ideas and began a trial program to have women serve as stewardesses. Church was tasked with training the new attendants and eventually wrote a manual on the position.

At the time, she was to ensure that all flight attendants weighed no more than 115 pounds and be no taller than 5 feet 4 inches. They also had to be registered nurses.

And while the job was a major step forward for women in the aviation industry, it still reeked of the patriarchy. Women couldn't be older than 25 and they had to quit if they got married.

After a three-month trial period, BAT decided to keep the flight attendants permanently and other airlines began hiring their own. For decades, the role was purely a female one, as is evidenced by the fact that the use of "stewardess" hung around until the 1970s, when airlines began hiring men again.

RELATED After lawsuit, United Airlines says cuts to workforce will be voluntary

Church would only continue working for BAT for another 18 months, when a car crash ended her career. She later earned a nursing degree and served in the Army Nurse Corps during World War II. She died in 1965 from injuries sustained in a horseback riding fall, one month after she received the Amelia Earhart Memorial Award for her contribution to aviation.

Friday's milestone anniversary comes at a time modern flight attendants face an uncertain and potentially dangerous future. The head of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA union last month called on the Trump administration to ban all leisure flights until the novel coronavirus has been contained.

"While this global system is integral to our modern economy, its essential inter-connectedness also provides a convenient pathway for opportunistic pathogens to hitch rides on unsuspecting crewmembers and travelers and spread all over the world," AFA International President Sara Nelson wrote in a letter to the administration.

"As some of the most frequent travelers, flight attendants feel a deep responsibility to ensure that our workplace risks of acquiring and spreading communicable diseases are minimized as much as possible."

Most flight attendants have held onto their jobs despite a sharp decline in air travel in recent months, thanks to a government bailout. Under the terms of the aid, airlines are required to keep employees on the payroll until at least October. After that, executives predict up to one-third of the sector's job could disappear.




"We have a lot of cash today, but we burned through about almost a billion dollars in the month of April as an example," Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly told CNN this week.

Helene Becker, an airline analyst with financial services firm Cowen, said the industry could lose as many as 105,000 jobs out of roughly 750,000 pilots, flight attendants, baggage handlers and mechanics.

Map of tectonic stresses in North America could help assess tremor risk


A new map of North America shows the different types and directions of stress that influence the continent's crust. Photo by Jens-Erik/Lund Snee/Mark Zoback

April 23 (UPI) -- For the first time, scientists have produced a comprehensive map of the tectonic stresses acting on the North American continent.

In the short term, the map of North American faults -- published Thursday in the journal Nature Communications -- could help scientists assess the risk of major tremors, as well as take steps to mitigate human-caused earthquakes.

In the long term, the map could inspire and inform modeling efforts aimed at better understanding North America's geologic past, as well as the continent's present day tectonic intricacies.

"Understanding the forces in the Earth's crust is fundamental science," study co-author Mark Zoback, professor of geophysics at Stanford University, said in a news release. "In some cases, it has immediate application, in others, it may be applied decades later to practical questions that do not exist today."

RELATED Timing of Earth's biggest earthquakes follows a 'devil's staircase' pattern

To build the map, researchers compiled localized data on fault features using measurements from boreholes drilled across the continent. Scientists used historic seismic data to estimate the types of faults found in different parts of North America.

The three most common types of faults are extensional, strike-slip or thrust. On extensional faults, crust extends horizontally. Landmasses slip past each other along strike-slip faults. On thrust faults, landmasses move over and under the other.

Most earthquake hazard maps contain little to no information on the types of tectonic mechanisms that might fuel the next big one. The new map could help risk models better account for the kinds of earthquakes likely to strike across varying parts of the continent.

RELATED Study of shear zones yields data on earthquakes deep below surface

In addition to aiding risk assessment, the new map and the data that informed its compilation could help scientists better understand the behavior of North America's subsurface.

"If you know an orientation of any fault and the state of stress nearby, you know how likely it is to fail and whether you should be concerned about it in both naturally-triggered and industry-triggered earthquake scenarios," said lead study author Jens-Erik Lund Snee, a former Stanford doctoral student and now a postdoctoral fellow with the United States Geological Survey. "We've detailed a few places where previously published geodynamic models agree very well with the new data, and others where the models don't agree well at all."

Across the Eastern United States, scientists expected rebound forces to dominate the region's crustal stress. It was only 20,000 years ago that the weight of massive glaciers receded from atop the region. But the new mapping effort showed the region's crustal stress is mostly caused by the stored energy of tectonic shifts.
RELATED Geologists figure out what fuels 'slowquakes'



On the other side of the continent, scientists were surprised to find a diversity of stress types and shifts in stress directions over short distances -- the kinds of localized changes that are missed by current geologic models.

"It's just much clearer now how stress can systematically vary on the scale of a sedimentary basin in some areas," Zoback said. "We see things we've never seen before that require geologic explanation. This will teach us new things about how the Earth works."

RELATED Seimsmologists describe drainage of deep magma reservoir in Indian Ocean


upi.com/6999924

U.S. faced 'tricky choices' following South Korea coup, documents show
By
Elizabeth Shim

South Korean President Chun Doo-hwan (L) came to power following a military coup in 1979. File Photo courtesy of U.S. Department of Defense

May 15 (UPI) -- Newly declassified U.S. documents released to the South Korean government are shedding light on U.S.-South Korea exchanges following the Dec. 12 Military Insurrection of 1979, when South Korean Army Major Gen. Chun Doo-hwan, later president, staged a military coup against acting President Choi Kyu-ha.

The documents, which were approved by the U.S. State Department, show evidence William Gleysteen, then U.S. Ambassador to South Korea, was concerned about the decisions Washington would need to make in the wake of the coup, Yonhap reported Friday.

There was "a real danger of further struggle within the Army," as "a minority of younger officers have seized power from the established authorities," Gleysteen said in his telegram messages, referring to the group as "Young Turks," according to the report.

Chun had ordered the arrest of South Korean Army Chief of Staff Jeong Seung-hwa, charging him with the assassination of President Park Chung Hee. Chun also acted without authorization from the acting president.

RELATED UPI Archive: Personality Spotlight: Gen. Chun Doo Hwan, South Korean president

Following a private meeting with Chun, Gleysteen said Chun tried to conceal evidence he had premeditated the coup. Gleysteen also raised concerns the coup could increase the risk of a North Korean provocation.

The top U.S. diplomat for the Carter administration also said in his messages there was apprehension that Chun's opponents could push back and reverse the coup, thereby expanding the conflict.

"Obviously, Chon and his colleagues would like to enlist our help," Gleysteen wrote.

RELATED Russia delivered 25,000 tons of wheat to North Korea, Embassy says

"While we can easily stress the importance of unity in the military, we may conceivably be faced with some extremely tricky choices in the weeks and months ahead."

Other declassified U.S. documents indicate Gleysteen met with South Korean presidential aides ahead of May 17, 1980, before the expansion of martial law under then-President Chun, local news service Seoul Pyongyang News reported Friday.

The Blue House told Gleysteen the military has completely captured the South Korean government.

Seoul requested the declassified documents from Washington in November, ahead of the 40th anniversary of the May 18 Gwangju Uprising, a pro-democracy movement that was quelled under Chun.

Chun currently faces trial for libel in connection to the Gwangju incident.

OTD 
On May 16, 1920, Joan of Arc was canonized 
as a saint of the Roman Catholic Church.

A gilded bronze statue of Joan of Arc 
stands in the Place des Pyramides in Paris. 
 File Photo by Eco Clement/UPI | License Photo

Auto workers’ tenuous return a ray of hope in jobs crisis

1 of 11
FILE - In this Feb. 26, 2019, file photo, Jeep vehicles are parked outside the Jefferson North Assembly Plant in Detroit. Defying a wave of layoffs that has sent the U.S. job market into its worst catastrophe on record, at least one major industry is making a comeback: Tens of thousands of auto workers are returning to factories that have been shuttered since mid-March due to fears of spreading the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)

DETROIT (AP) — Defying a wave of layoffs that has sent the U.S. job market into its worst catastrophe on record, at least one major industry is making a comeback: Tens of thousands of auto workers are returning to factories that have been shuttered since mid-March due to fears of spreading the coronavirus.

Until now, it was mostly hair salons, restaurants, tattoo parlors and other small businesses reopening in some parts of the country. The auto industry is among the first major sectors of the economy to restart its engine.

About 133,000 U.S. workers — just over half of the industry’s workforce before the pandemic — are expected to pour back into auto plants that will open in the coming week, according to estimates by The Associated Press. In addition, parts-making companies began cranking this week to get components flowing, adding thousands more workers.

Looming in the background is an economy decimated by the pandemic. Nearly 3 million laid-off U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week, raising the total seeking aid in the past two months to about 36 million. Although some states have begun to let selected businesses reopen, workers are still reporting difficulty getting unemployment benefits. Freelance, gig and self-employed workers are struggling.


Mary Lisa Poole works on the assembly line at the Ford Rawsonville plant, Wednesday, May 13, 2020 in Ypsilanti Township, Mich. The plant was converted into a ventilator factory, as hospitals battling the coronavirus report shortages of the life-saving devices. The company has promised to deliver 50,000 by July 4. Ford and other automakers are preparing for the reopening of their plants next week. Factories must adopt measures to protect their workers, including daily entry screening and, once they are available, the use of no-touch thermometers. Those measures already are in effect at Rawsonville. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

In this May 10, 2011 photo an autoworker assembles a transmission at the General Motors Transmission Plant in Toledo, Ohio. Defying a wave of layoffs that has sent the U.S. job market into its worst catastrophe on record, at least one major industry is making a comeback: Tens of thousands of auto workers are returning to factories that have been shuttered since mid-March due to fears of spreading the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Rick Osentoski)

Even the auto sector won’t see a full return to normal yet, and if people don’t start buying vehicles again, workers could be sent home. Yet automakers say there’s enough pent-up demand, especially for pickup trucks, to get factories humming again.

That could help states slow the drain on their unemployment benefit funds. In Michigan, where over one-third of the labor force sought benefits, the fund fell from $4.6 billion before the pandemic to $4.1 billion on April 30, said Jeff Donofrio, director of the state Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity. Some returning auto employees could work part-time and get still some unemployment benefits, but federal programs could cover part of their payments, he said.


Ford Motor Co., assemblyman Malcolm Brumwell puts together a ventilator that the automaker is assembling at the Ford Rawsonville plant, Wednesday, May 13, 2020 in Ypsilanti Township, Mich. The plant was converted into a ventilator factory, as hospitals battling the coronavirus report shortages of the life-saving devices. The company has promised to deliver 50,000 by July 4. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

At Ford, where about 47,000 U.S. factory workers will return by next week, there’s optimism that consumer demand will accompany them. Chief Operating Officer Jim Farley said the company has seen sales start to recover.

Ford is predicting stronger sales in the future in Europe, China and the U.S. based on data collected from new models equipped with internet modems that show the number of times an engine is turned on and off. The company found a correlation between the number of trips people take and auto sales, with trips increasing as restrictions eased.

“We started to see in early April a change where people started to take more trips,” Farley said Thursday. “The (sales) decline stopped and our retail sales improved a lot.”

Auto sales in China, where the virus peaked before the U.S., could be a harbinger of things to come. China sales fell just 2.6% in April from a year earlier, compared with a 48% free-fall in March. Production at many plants is nearly back to normal after being shut down in January and February. Volkswagen, Honda, Mercedes and Ford reported no virus cases among employees since reopening. Fiat Chrysler had two, but said the workers never entered factories.


Signage at the Ford Rawsonville plant, Wednesday, May 13, 2020, in Ypsilanti Township, Mich. The plant was converted into a ventilator factory, as hospitals battling the coronavirus report shortages of the life-saving devices. The company has promised to deliver 50,000 by July 4. Ford and other automakers are preparing for the reopening of their plants next week. Factories must adopt measures to protect their workers, including daily entry screening and, once they are available, the use of no-touch thermometers. Those measures already are in effect at Rawsonville. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Things are worse in Europe, where sales plummeted 55% in March and some factories are running at only 40% of capacity. The pandemic has affected over 1.1 million European auto industry workers, almost half the sector’s manufacturing jobs. Most are getting paid through government support. A survey of auto parts suppliers shows that a third of executives believe it will take at least two years for the industry to recover.

U.S. sales fell 46% in April compared with a year ago, but analysts are forecasting a smaller decline of 30% in May. Sales have been juiced by incentives, with offers of 0% financing for seven years. Government statistics show auto production dropped over 70% in April.

Ford Motor Co., team leader, Stephon Robinson who oversees workers on the subassembly line of ventilator production at the Ford Rawsonville plant, Wednesday, May 13, 2020 in Ypsilanti Township, Mich. The plant was converted into a ventilator factory, as hospitals battling the coronavirus report shortages of the life-saving devices. The company has promised to deliver 50,000 by July 4. Beginning Monday, will phase back into producing automotive components. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Ford Motor Co., line workers put together ventilators that the automaker is assembling at the Ford Rawsonville plant, Wednesday, May 13, 2020 in Ypsilanti Township, Mich. The plant was converted into a ventilator factory, as hospitals battling the coronavirus report shortages of the life-saving devices. The company has promised to deliver 50,000 by July 4. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)



Pickup trucks are giving automakers the most hope, said Jeff Schuster, senior vice president at LMC Automotive, a consulting firm. From January through April, total auto sales were down 21%, but pickups were only off 4%, he said.

Yet Schuster says automakers could be a little too optimistic. “Those consumers who are still unemployed are not likely to be making auto purchases,” he said.

Some U.S. automakers, like General Motors, are restarting slowly, only bringing back workers on one shift in factories, some of which ran around the clock before the pandemic. Others, like Subaru in Indiana, have a full complement of employees.

Although companies are taking precautions, one big virus outbreak at an auto plant could send the industry back into hibernation. And the industry could face parts supply interruptions from Mexico, where the government wants to reopen factories despite rising virus cases.

Automakers in the U.S. are requiring employees to fill out questionnaires daily to see if they have symptoms, taking temperatures with no-touch thermometers before workers enter buildings, and requiring gloves, masks and face shields. They’ve also tried to keep at least six feet between workers, staggered time between shifts so workers don’t interact, and put up plexiglas barriers when possible.

All the steps were tested on U.S. workers who volunteered to make protective gear and breathing machines while they were laid off. Automakers say they know of no virus cases among workers in the effort.

But Phil Cuthbertson a worker at GM’s transmission plant in Toledo, Ohio, who will return Monday, said he has mixed feelings.

“I just don’t want the whole thing to be pushed on us to go back if it’s not safe,” he said.


A Ford employee, left, shows his COVID-19 daily survey pass and is given a face mask as he enters the Ford Rawsonville plant, Wednesday, May 13, 2020 in Ypsilanti Township, Mich. The plant was converted into a ventilator factory, as hospitals battling the coronavirus report shortages of the life-saving devices. The company has promised to deliver 50,000 by July 4. Ford and other automakers are preparing for the reopening of their plants next week. Factories must adopt measures to protect their workers, including daily entry screening and, once they are available, the use of no-touch thermometers. Those measures already are in effect at Rawsonville. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)






Cindy Estrada, United Auto Workers vice president for Fiat Chrysler, said she’s been impressed by the companies’ safety commitment. But she’s sure some workers, especially in the hard-hit Detroit area, will be fearful because family members or co-workers have had COVID-19. At least 25 UAW members employed by Detroit automakers have died from the virus, although no one is sure if they caught it at a factory.

The union will be watching in case workers get infected, though there’s no magic number for when it will try to close a factory, Estrada said.

“If something looks like it’s becoming a hot spot, then we need to act quickly and make adjustments,” she said. “No one wants to see that happen.”

____

AP reporters Joe McDonald in Beijing, Carlo Piovano in London, Jonathan Mattise in Nashville, Tenn.; John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio; Mike Householder in Ypsilanti Township, Michigan; David Eggert in Lansing, Michigan; and Mary Esch in Albany, N.Y.; contributed to this report.

IT'S ALL ABOUT ME

Truckers honk over shipping rates, not ‘in favor of’ Trump

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says the sound of truck horns just south of the White House is a “sign of love” for him from truckers. But the truckers are actually honking their opposition to low shipping rates.

“They’re protesting in favor of President Trump,” the president claimed in the Rose Garden on Friday during an announcement about vaccine development. The blaring of truck horns wafted across the Ellipse and into the sun-splashed garden during that event and a ceremony Trump held in the afternoon to recognize good deeds during the coronavirus pandemic.

“Those are truckers that are with us all the way,” he said at the earlier event.

But the drivers who have lined Constitution Avenue with their big rigs didn’t come to Washington for Trump. They’re in the nation’s capital to protest low shipping rates that they say could force many of them out of business.

An initial flurry of freight shipments stemming from the coronavirus pandemic has subsided. As a result, many truckers have found themselves without freight to haul or with offers to deliver goods at rates they say are unsustainable.

White House chief of staff Mark Meadows visited the truckers on Thursday