AP News in Brief at 6:04 a.m. EDT

AP Exclusive: ER staff saves lives, suffers in hot spot

YONKERS, N.Y. (AP) — A nurse furiously pushes down on a man's chest as five other staff in full protective gear surround the patient's bed.

Suddenly, one throws up his arms and steps backward.

“OK, move! Everybody move!” are the instructions.

Moments after they back away, the patient's heart is shocked, his arm spasms and he shakes on the bed. Soon after, he is placed on a ventilator. He has been saved — for now.

Many more at Saint Joseph's Medical Center have not.

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As people stay home, Earth turns wilder and cleaner

An unplanned grand experiment is changing Earth.

As people across the globe stay home to stop the spread of the new coronavirus, the air has cleaned up, albeit temporarily. Smog stopped choking New Delhi, one of the most polluted cities in the world, and India’s getting views of sights not visible in decades. Nitrogen dioxide pollution in the n ortheastern United States is down 30%. Rome air pollution levels from mid-March to mid-April were down 49% from a year ago. Stars seems more visible at night.

People are also noticing animals in places and at times they don't usually. Coyotes have meandered along downtown Chicago’s Michigan Avenue and near San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge. A puma roamed the streets of Santiago, Chile. Goats took over a town in Wales. In India, already daring wildlife has become bolder with hungry monkeys entering homes and opening refrigerators to look for food.

When people stay home, Earth becomes cleaner and wilder.

“It is giving us this quite extraordinary insight into just how much of a mess we humans are making of our beautiful planet,” says conservation scientist Stuart Pimm of Duke University. “This is giving us an opportunity to magically see how much better it can be.”

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Fresh cancellations show reopening from virus will be tough

ATLANTA (AP) — Even with many former virus hotspots seeing a reduction in new deaths and hospitalizations, a flurry of cancellations of major events made it clear Wednesday that efforts to return to normal life could still be a long and dispiriting process.

In just the past day, the U.S. scrapped the national spelling bee in June, Spain called off the Running of the Bulls in July, and Germany canceled Oktoberfest five months away. Singapore, once a model of coronavirus tracking and prevention, saw an explosion of new cases and announced it would extend its lockdown into June.

Nevertheless there was growing impatience over virus-related shutdowns that have thrown tens of millions out of work, and more countries and U.S. states began taking steps to get back to business.

Business owners in the U.S. who got the go-ahead weighed whether to reopen, and some hesitated, in a sign that commerce won’t necessarily bounce back right away.

Mark Lebos, owner of Strong Gym in Savannah, Georgia, where Gov. Brian Kemp announced that gyms and salons can reopen this week, said Tuesday that it would be professional negligence to do so right now.

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Big unknowns about virus complicate getting back to normal

WASHINGTON (AP) — Reopening the U.S. economy is complicated by some troubling scientific questions about the new coronavirus that go beyond the logistics of whether enough tests are available.

In an ideal world, we’d get vaccinated and then get back to normal. But, despite unprecedented efforts, no vaccine will be ready any time soon.

“We're all going to be wearing masks for a while,” Dr. Rochelle Walensky, infectious diseases chief at Massachusetts General Hospital, predicted during a podcast with the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Three big unknowns top the worry list:

WHO’S CONTAGIOUS?

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Iran's Guard says it launched satellite amid US tensions

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's Revolutionary Guard said Wednesday it put the Islamic Republic's first military satellite into orbit, dramatically unveiling what experts described as a secret space program with a surprise launch that came amid wider tensions with the United States.

There was no immediate independent confirmation of the launch of the satellite, which the Guard called “Noor,” or light. The U.S. State Department and the Pentagon did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

However, such a launch immediately raised concerns among experts on whether the technology used could help Iran develop intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Already, Iran has abandoned all the limitation of its tattered nuclear deal with world powers that President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from in 2018. Trump's decision set off a monthslong series of escalating attacks that culminated in a U.S. drone strike in January that killed a top Iranian general in Iraq, followed by Tehran launching ballistic missiles at American soldiers in Iraq.

As the world grapples with the coronavirus pandemic and historically low oil prices, the missile launch may signal a new willingness to take risks by Iran.

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Lack of virus testing stokes fears in world's refugee camps

There are over 70 million people worldwide who have been driven from their homes by war and unrest, up to 10 million are packed into refugee camps and informal settlements, and almost none have been tested for the coronavirus.

While the relative isolation of many camps may have slowed the virus' spread, none is hermetically sealed. Without testing, as the world has seen repeatedly, the virus can spread unchecked until people start showing symptoms. That could have catastrophic results among the world's refugees: There will be few if any intensive care beds or ventilators for them. There might not even be gloves or masks.

“Testing is in short supply even in New York and Norway, but it is nonexistent in most of the countries in the (global) south for the people we try to help,” Jan Egeland, the head of the Norwegian Refugee Council, told The Associated Press.

His group recently conducted a review of all 30 countries where it operates and found virtually no testing before people became sick.

In Syria's war-ravaged Idlib province, only one small health facility is equipped to receive suspected coronavirus cases. In the world's largest refugee camp, in Bangladesh, aid workers are racing to build isolation facilities. In two sprawling camps in Kenya, Somalis who survived decades of famine and war fear the worst is yet to come.

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Trump bars new immigration green cards, not temporary visas

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump announced what he described as a “temporary suspension of immigration into the United States." But the executive order would bar only those seeking permanent residency, not temporary workers.

Trump said Tuesday he would be placing a 60-day pause on the issuance of green cards in an effort to limit competition for jobs in a U.S. economy wrecked by the coronavirus. The order would include “certain exemptions," he said, but he declined to outlined them, noting the order was still being crafted.

“By pausing immigration we’ll help put unemployed Americans first in line for jobs as America reopens, so important," Trump said at the White House. "It would be wrong and unjust for Americans laid off by the virus to be replaced with new immigrant labor flown in from abroad.”

An administration official familiar with the plans, however, said the order will apply to foreigners seeking employment-based green cards and relatives of green card holders who are not citizens. Americans wishing to bring immediate family will still be able to do so, according to the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity before the plan was announced. About 1 million green cards were granted in the 2019 fiscal year, about half to spouses, children and parents of U.S. citizens.

By limiting his immigration measure to green cards, Trump was leaving untouched hundreds of thousands of foreign workers granted non-immigrant visas each year, including farm workers, health care workers and software programmers. The Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank, estimated that some 110,000 green cards could be delayed during a two-month pause. Trump said he would consider extending the restrictions, depending on economic conditions at the time.

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Michelle Obama's star power could help Biden unite Democrats

WASHINGTON (AP) — Seeking to unite Democrats, Joe Biden has raced to line up supporters ranging from progressive icon Bernie Sanders to former President Barack Obama, whose administration sometimes irked liberals. But the person with the most influence may be Michelle Obama.

The former first lady is a unique figure in a deeply polarizing political environment, exceedingly popular with the party faithful while also having some appeal with Republicans and independents.

She left the White House with a 68% approval rating, according to Gallup polling. She also was named “the most admired woman” in the world for the second year in a row in a Gallup poll from December.

And her memoir, “Becoming,” has sold more than 11 million copies worldwide since its November 2018 release, making it one of the bestselling political memoirs in history. Her book tour filled arenas with thousands of cheering fans.

That type of energy could be critical for Biden, who is trying to build momentum for his campaign at a time when the coronavirus is dominating headlines. Michelle Obama could help Biden present a clear contrast with President Donald Trump and rebuild the multiracial, multigenerational coalition that twice put Barack Obama in the White House.

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Congress set to pass $483B virus aid as Trump eyes next deal

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress is sprinting to approve the next coronavirus aid package, a $483 billion deal backed by the White House to replenish a small-business payroll fund and pump more money into hospitals and testing programs.

President Donald Trump is urging swift passage this week. The Senate approved the bill Tuesday and the House planned a vote on Thursday.

The bipartisan bill, Washington's fourth in response to the crisis, is not expected to be the last as lawmakers take unprecedented steps to confront the virus and prop up communities nationwide amid the health crisis.

Most of the funding, $331 billion, would go to boost a small-business payroll loan program that ran out of money last week. There would be $100 billion for health care, with $75 billion to hospitals and $25 billion to boost testing for the virus, a key step in building the confidence required to reopen state economies. There is $60 billion for a small-business loans and grants.

What started as a Trump administration effort with Republicans to bolster the government’s small-business Paycheck Protection Program quickly doubled in size, second only to the nearly $2 trillion coronavirus rescue package that became law last month.

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No prom? For this teen, it's a trifecta of missed milestones

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — On a Friday night in late February, 17-year-old Amanda Reynolds raced into a department store on Florida's Gulf coast. She'd been on a mission for weeks, and after countless hours shopping online and in stores, there it was.

Off the shoulder, blue lace, with crystal accents. Her perfect prom dress.

For decades, the prom has represented a cornerstone of American teenage life. Shopping for the dress, finding a date, posing for photos, dancing awkwardly in a low-lit gym - it's all enshrined in movies, books, television and the memories of generations of Americans.

Combine prom with graduation and an 18th birthday. It’s a trifecta of milestones. But now, for millions of Class of 2020 teenagers living through the coronavirus outbreak, these coming-of-age moments look and feel vastly different. And while they’re doing the best they can to reschedule, to wing it, to celebrate virtually with technology, the truth is that this generation will never regain these moments. Amanda Reynolds is like all of these young people – a case study in what is being lost by those who, in spring 2020, are on the cusp of adulthood and losing many of their expected rites of passage.

But that day at Macy's, Amanda had no idea a pandemic would change everything.