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

Disinfectant riff is latest of many Trump science clashes

WASHINGTON (AP) — What President Donald Trump says and does often flies in the face of mainstream science. Coronavirus and the idea of injecting disinfectants is only the latest episode.

When a rare solar eclipse happened in 2017, astronomers and eye doctors repeatedly warned people not to stare directly at the sun without protection. Photos show Trump did anyway. He later donned protective glasses.

For decades, scientists have called climate change a pressing issue, pointing to data, physics and chemistry. Trump regularly called it a hoax until recently. He also claims that noise from wind turbines — which he refers to as windmills — causes cancer, which is not accurate. He's also claimed that exercise will deplete the finite amount of energy a body has, while doctors tell people that exercise is critical to good health.

When Trump wanted to defend his warning that Alabama was threatened by Hurricane Dorian last year, he displayed an official weather map that had been altered with a marker to extend the danger areas. Alabama National Weather Service meteorologists were chastised by their agency chief when they issued tweets to reassure worried residents that they were not in the path of the hurricane.

On Thursday, Trump raised the idea of injections of disinfectant to fight the coronavirus, which health officials warned would be dangerous. The president later claimed he was being sarcastic, although the transcript of his remarks suggests otherwise. Trump also suggested ultraviolet light, even internal light, could be a possible preventative measure, contrary to scientific advice.

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India reopens stores, speeding easing of virus lockdowns

NEW DELHI (AP) — A tentative easing around the world of coronavirus lockdowns gathered pace Saturday with the reopening in India of neighborhood stores that many of the country's 1.3 billion people rely on for everything from cold drinks to mobile phone data cards.

The relaxation of the super-strict Indian lockdown came with major caveats. It did not apply to hundreds of quarantined towns and other hotspots that have been hit hardest by the outbreak that has killed at least 775 people in India and t errified its multitudes of poor who live hand-to-mouth in slum conditions too crowded for social distancing.

Shopping malls also remained closed across the country. Still, for families that run small stores, being able to reopen and earn again brought relief.

“This is a good decision," said Amit Sharma, an architect. “We have to open a few things and let the economy start moving. The poor people should have some source of income. This virus is going to be a long-term problem.”

Last week, India also allowed manufacturing and farming activities to resume in rural areas to ease the economic plight of millions of daily wage-earners left without work by the country's lockdown imposed March 24. India's stay-home restrictions have allowed people out of their homes only to buy food, medicine or other essentials.

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Bloomberg moves past presidential defeat with virus crusade

NEW YORK (AP) — Nearly two months after an embarrassing end to his presidential campaign, Mike Bloomberg is again deploying his massive personal fortune – this time to combat the coronavirus.

The billionaire former New York City mayor is spending tens of millions of dollars to bolster social services, feed first responders and help local officials trace the spread of the coronavirus in the city that has become the epicenter of the pandemic in the United States.

The effort is in line with Bloomberg’s long-standing interest in scientific research and public health. But it’s also an opportunity for him to rebuild an image that was badly damaged earlier this year by accusations from some Democrats that he was trying to buy the White House. He spent more than $1 billion on a campaign that ultimately resulted in just one primary victory, in American Samoa.

Allies say the coronavirus plays to Bloomberg’s strengths.

“He is really good at a lot of things, but he’s really, really good in crisis, in organizing, in bringing people together and making plans and executing,” said former Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, who served as a national co-chair for Bloomberg’s presidential bid.

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Indian Muslims face stigma, blame for surge in infections

NEW DELHI (AP) — India's government is blaming an Islamic missionary meeting for a surge in coronavirus cases, triggering a wave of violence, business boycotts and hate speech toward Muslims that experts warn could worsen the pandemic in the world's second-most populous country.

The stigma faced by India's Muslims, poorer and with less access to health care than other groups, is making health workers' battle against the virus even tougher, according to veterans of other epidemics. India has about 24,500 confirmed coronavirus cases — about one in five of which have been linked to the missionary meeting — and 775 deaths, and the outbreak may not peak until June.

“Not only is the (Muslim) community at a higher risk of being infected, but they will also be at a high risk of spreading the virus,” said Dr. Anant Bhan, a bioethics and global health expert. "It becomes a cycle that will continue.”

About 8,000 people in the Tablighi Jamaat congregation met for three days in March at the group's compound in the crowded Nizamuddin area of New Delhi, shortly before the Indian government banned large gatherings. The compound stayed open, later giving shelter to people stranded in a 21-day lockdown imposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 24, according to the group’s spokesman, Mujeeb ur Rehman.

On the second day of the lockdown, a government raid on the compound discovered the largest virus cluster in India. Police filed a case against some of the group’s leaders for violating the ban, a charge the group denies. Officials said Tuesday they have arrested 29 people, including 16 foreigners, who participated in the missionary meeting.

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For Peace Corps evacuees, there wasn't even time for goodbye

DUMFRIES, Va. (AP) — After two weeks alone in a hotel room in the Virginia suburbs, 40 minutes outside Washington, Kelsea Mensh was ready to go home.

A few weeks earlier, the 22-year-old Peace Corps volunteer had completed a year of service in the Dominican Republic. She loved being in her “pueblo” surrounded by families and lively children. She was working on a school improvement project and applying for funding to install hand-washing stations to help provide running water in her community. She was filled with purpose and excited to fulfill her two remaining years of service.

Then an email came, followed by a phone call. The Peace Corps was pulling all its volunteers from projects around the world because of concerns about the coronavirus. There would be no hand-washing station. There would not even be time to say goodbye.

In a message posted on the Peace Corps website last month, Director Jody Olsen said the decision to temporarily suspend operations was difficult. “Fortunately, we were able to safely evacuate each of our posts, avoiding a situation where Volunteers would have been stranded overseas as borders and air space were shutting down to prevent the spread of COVID-19,” she said.

In response to questions, the agency said about 7,000 volunteers were evacuated from 60 countries. Upon returning to the U.S., they were asked to self-quarantine for two weeks.

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Despite risks, auto workers step up to make medical gear

DETROIT (AP) — Cindy Parkhurst could have stayed home collecting most of her pay while the Ford plant where she normally works remains closed due to coronavirus fears.

Instead, she along with hundreds of workers at Ford, General Motors, Toyota and other companies has gone back to work to make face shields, surgical masks and ventilators in a wartime-like effort to stem shortages of protective gear and equipment.

“I didn’t give it a second thought,” said Parkhurst, 55, a tow motor driver who is now helping Ford and its partner 3M manufacture and ship respirators. “It’s a neat thing to do for the community, for the first responders who definitely need this kind of protective gear.”

All over the country, blue-collar and salaried workers have raised their hands to make medical equipment as companies repurpose factories to answer calls for help from beleaguered nurses, doctors and paramedics who are treating patients with the highly contagious virus. Workers also are making soap and hand sanitizer, which early in the crisis were in short supply.

At Ford, over 800 people returned to work at four Detroit-area sites. General Motors, which President Donald Trump had alternately criticized and praised for its work, has about 400 at a now-closed transmission plant in suburban Detroit and an electronics factory in Kokomo, Indiana, working on shields and ventilators. About 60 Toyota workers, both salaried and blue-collar, are making protective equipment in Kentucky, Texas, Michigan and Alabama.

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Pandemic gives megaphone to the oft-maligned New York accent

Hey, they're talkin' here!

With New York City at the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. and its native-born among those offering crucial information to the nation in televised briefings, the New York accent has stepped up to the mic — or maybe the megaphone.

Holly Kelsey, for one, is charmed.

“I think it's because my accent is so opposite from theirs, it's intriguing to me," said Kelsey, 59, of Denton, Texas, who's been watching New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and top infectious disease specialist Dr. Anthony Fauci, both sons of New York City.

Fauci’s science-based way of explaining the crisis at White House briefings has attracted untold numbers of fans, and Cuomo's news conferences have become must-see TV.

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AP Week in Pictures, Global

April 18 - 24, 2020

This photo gallery highlights some of the most compelling images made or published by The Associated Press from around the world.

The selection was curated by AP photo editor Patrick Sison in New York.

Follow AP visual journalism:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/apnews

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Pitch and catch: Round 2 of NFL draft heavy on receivers

Pitch and catch.

While only one quarterback, Oklahoma's Jalen Hurts, was taken on the second day of the NFL draft Friday, the guys who haul in passes were everywhere.

Starting with the top two selections on Day 2 — Clemson's Tee Higgins to Cincinnati and Southern California's Michael Pittman to Indianapolis — seven wideouts were drafted in the second round. Add that to the six who went in the opening session, and it set an NFL record through two rounds.

Three more receivers were selected in the third round — were teams running out of prospects?

"It doesn’t matter who your quarterback is, you want him to have as many weapons as possible,” Bengals coach Zac Taylor said. “A lot of great offenses have those weapons at their disposal.”

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Gaza factories roar back to life to make protective wear

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — For the first time in years, sewing factories in the Gaza Strip are back to working at full capacity — producing masks, gloves and protective gowns, some of which are bound for Israel.

It's a rare economic lifeline in the coastal territory, which has been blockaded by Israel and Egypt since the Hamas militant group seized power from rival Palestinian forces in the strip in 2007. The blockade, and three wars between Hamas and Israel, have devastated the local economy, with unemployment hovering around 50%.

But the sudden opportunity also shows how Gaza's economy is at the mercy of those enforcing the blockade — and how depressed wages have become. Workers earn as little as $8 a day.

So far, Gaza appears to have been largely spared from the coronavirus pandemic, with only 17 cases detected, all within quarantine facilities set up for those returning from abroad. Many still fear an outbreak in the impoverished territory, which is home to 2 million people and where the health care system has been battered by years of conflict. But for now, authorities are cautiously allowing most businesses to stay open.

Rizq al-Madhoun, owner of the Bahaa garment company, said he has produced more than 1 million masks in the past three weeks, “all for the Israeli market.”