US stock market ended sharply higher on Friday (8 May) despite grim monthly jobs report as investors bet the worst of the coronavirus crisis has passed. Investors also hoped for an eventual reopening of the economy.

Venezuela's chief prosecutor ordered the arrest Friday of a former Green Beret and two opposition figures living in the United States for their purported role in a botched operation aimed at removing Nicols Maduro from power. Tarek William Saab said Venezuela will seek the capture of Jordan Goudreau, a military veteran who has claimed responsibility for the attack, as well as Juan Jos Rendn and Sergio Vergara, two U.S.-based advisers to opposition leader Juan Guaid. They are living in impunity, Saab said. In tranquility over there. US law enforcement is investigating Goudreau, though it remains unclear if he will charged. President Donald Trump does not recognize Maduro's government, making it highly unlikely that his administration would accept any extradition request. The Trump administration has denied all responsibility in the armed raid, which resulted in the arrests of two Americans, Luke Denman and Airan Berry, who were purportedly hired by Goudreau's private firm to ...

Britain's minister for the environment, food and rural affairs says Prime Minister Boris Johnson won't be announcing immediate changes to the country's coronavirus lockdown when he addresses the nation on Sunday. George Eustice said the U.K. is not out of the woods and that there isn't going to be any dramatic overnight change to the lockdown. He said the government will be very, very cautious in loosening the restrictions. Johnson is expected to set out a roadmap of how the U.K. can start easing the lockdown in the future. Only minor changes, such as allowing individuals to sunbathe in parks and removing the limit on one daily outing for exercise, are anticipated. Eustice also revealed that another 626 people have died after testing positive for COVID-19 in all settings, including hospitals and care homes. That takes the U.K. total to 31,241, the second highest official death toll in the world behind the United States.

US lawmakers have introduced a legislation in Congress to give unused green cards or permanent legal residency status to thousands of foreign nurses and doctors to meet the urgent needs of the overstretched healthcare sector in the country. The Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act would allow for recapturing green cards that were approved by Congress but unused in past years, allowing thousands of additional medical professionals to serve permanently in the United States. The legislation would send green cards to 25,000 nurses and 15,000 doctors during the COVID-19 pandemic and ensure that places like Iowa have the professionals they need to serve patients for years to come, a media release said. The move is likely to benefit a large number of Indian nurses and doctors, who are either on H-1B or J2 visas. In the House of Representatives, it has been introduced by lawmakers Abby Finkenauer, Brad Schneider, Tom Cole and Don Bacon. The bipartisan Senate companion bill is led by Senators ..

Three sisters who worked in Mexico's government hospital system were found murdered by strangling, authorities in the northern border state of Coahuila announced on Friday, stirring new alarm in a country where attacks on healthcare workers have occurred across the nation amid the coronavirus outbreak. Two of the sisters were nurses for the Mexican Social Security Institute and the third was a hospital administrator, but there was no immediate evidence the attack was related to their work. The state prosecutor told local media the motive might have been robbery. State police said the bodies were found in a house in the city of Torreon. The Social Security Institute said they were killed on Thursday. The National Union of Social Security Employees called the killings "outrageous and incomprehensible". In other parts of Mexico, nurses have had been hit, kicked off public transport or had cleaning fluids poured on them amid fears they might spread the coronavirus. Mexican health ...

Two men were arrested Friday in the fatal shooting of a security guard who demanded a woman wear a mask while shopping at a store. Genesee County authorities said Ramonyea Bishop, 23, was taken into custody at an apartment in Bay City. His alleged accomplice, Larry Teague, 44, was arrested Thursday near a motel in Houston. The men and Sharmel Teague, the wife of Larry Teague, are charged with first degree murder in the May 1 shooting of Calvin Munerlyn at a Family Dollar store in Flint. Munerlyn was shot at the store just north of downtown Flint a short time after telling Sharmel Teague's daughter she had to leave because she lacked a mask, according to Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton. Teague argued with Munerlyn, 43, before leaving. Two men later came to the store and allegedly shot the security guard to death.. Bishop's sister, Brya Bishop, was previously charged with tampering with evidence, lying to police and being an accessory to a felony. Leyton has said she attempted to

Several American lawmakers have introduced a legislation in Congress to offer the 40,000 unused green cards to thousands of foreign nurses and doctors to meet the urgent needs of the overstretched healthcare sector in the US, the worst hit nation by the coronavirus pandemic. The US has nearly 1,284,000 cases of confirmed COVID-19 cases and over 77,000 people have died due to the highly contagious disease. The Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act would allow for recapturing green cards that were approved by Congress but unused in past years, allowing thousands of additional medical professionals to serve permanently in the United States. The legislation would send green cards to 25,000 nurses and 15,000 doctors during the COVID-19 pandemic and ensure that states like Iowa have the professionals they need to serve patients for years to come, a media release said. The move is likely to benefit a large number of Indian nurses and doctors in the US, who are either on H-1B or J2 visas. The ..

The U.S. government has awarded a $275 million border wall contract for construction that would begin in South Texas in January, at the start of President Donald Trump's second term if he is re-elected. Caddell Construction Company, based in Montgomery, Alabama, won the contract to build 14 miles (22.5 kilometers) of barriers in and around Laredo, Texas, a city of 260,000 people on the Rio Grande, the river that runs between Texas and Mexico. U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced the contract award Friday night using funds it had previously received from Congress rather than military funding re-directed to the wall. The CBP said construction would begin in January 2021 pending availability of real estate. There is little existing wall separating Laredo and its sister city of Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. Much of the planned construction would cut through private land in neighborhoods close to the edge of the Rio Grande, requiring the government to take property through its power of ...

Watford chairman Scott Duxbury says at least six of the 20 English Premier League clubs are concerned about the plan to use neutral stadiums to finish the season. Duxbury says there is no altruism in the Premier League and that there are 20 different vested interests, which sometimes align but more often than not work purely to protect each individual club. Ahead of Monday's crunch meeting of topflight clubs, the Hornets have joined Brighton and Aston Villa in making clear their opposition to the current Project Restart plans. With nine rounds left, Watford is 17th in the league and looking to fight off relegation amid a challenging backdrop brought on by the coronavirus outbreak. Duxbury says some clubs are happy to sign up to 'Project Restart' because arguably there is only an upside in participating in this compromised format. It means Liverpool can win the title, other clubs can book their place in Europe next season or potentially fight their way up the table from a position of ..

Australia's Daniel Ricciardo anticipates "chaos", "rust" and "adrenaline" should the 2020 Formula One season start at last. The global spread of the coronavirus has already led to 10 races, of what was to have been a record 22-event championship, being either cancelled or postponed. Officials at the FIA, motorsport's world governing body, are hoping to launch the season behind closed doors in Austria on July 5. "(It will be) some form of chaos, hopefully in a controlled manner," the Renault driver told BBC Radio Five Live. "I am not really referencing cars everywhere. But there is going to be so much rust, a combination of emotion, excitement, eagerness." Ricciardo, waiting out the crisis on his farm near Perth, Western Australia, believes a dramatic season-opener is in prospect at the Red Bull Ring. "Everyone is going to be ready to go," he said. "You are going to get some guys who perform on that level of adrenaline and others who might not. "So you're going to get some bold ...

The coronavirus pandemic has cancelled dozens of spring traditions, from college basketball's Final Four to Easter Sunday services, but there's one rite that's going on largely unfettered turkey hunting. Every state except Alaska, which is the only state with no turkeys, hosts a spring turkey hunt each year. The birds, whose domesticated cousins grace Thanksgiving tables from Hawaii to Maine, are among America's greatest conservation success stories. The hunt is taking on a new look in some parts of the country this year due to social distancing laws. Many states, including Maine, are requiring out-of-state residents to self quarantine for two weeks when they enter the state. That functionally eliminates out-of-state hunters from coming to the Pine Tree State to bag a bird. Other states, including Kansas, have suspended the sale of turkey permits to non-residents to reduce spread of the coronavirus. Some have suspended the need to register a bird after shooting it. But all 49 states .

Jharkhand on Friday reported its highest single-day spike in COVID-19 cases with 21 people testing positive, taking the total number of infections to 153 in the state, officials said. Of the total 455 swab samples tested during the day, 21 tested positive for COVID-19, said the Director of the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Dr D K Singh. He said 25 more people recovered from the infection, bringing the total number of cured people in the state to 77. The officials did not provide any details of the 21 people who tested positive for COVID-19 in the state on Friday. Since the outbreak of the pandemic on March 31 in the state, two persons have died of the infection while one COVID-19 patient died due to underlying health condition after testing negative.

In his new Netflix special, Kanan Gill revisits the letter he wrote as a teen to his future self but if he could go back in time, the stand-up comedian says he would tell his younger self to "relax" and live more. Gill, like the rest of the world, is self-isolating at home which he finds ironical considering how worried he was about not having any free time due to a packed schedule. But the spread of the coronavirus led to the cancellation of shows. "I am privileged that isolation for me just means having my usual life at home. I ended up having to cancel around six months of shows -I think it's so funny now that my calendar was packed with international shows till February and I was worried how little free time I had. "Now that I'm lucky enough to have all this time I have spent every waking moment working. That is life," he told PTI in an interview. Gill, who shot to fame with the YouTube show "Pretentious Movie Reviews" with fellow comedian Biswa Kalyan Rath, said he was already ...

A 17-year-old girl was allegedly raped by two men here who made a video of the act and then blackmailed her for about an year, police said on Saturday. A case was registered against the two men, Circle Officer Aalok Mishra said. "On a complaint lodged by the girl that she has been raped by two youths, who also made a video clip and blackmailed her for almost an year. Police on Friday registered a case," he said. The girl has been sent for medical examination at a government hospital, he said. The CO also said that the two accused are absconding and efforts are on to nab them.

In a slugfest over the transportation of stranded migrants to West Bengal, railway officials on Saturday said there was no proposal on record so far with the national transporter to run any more 'Shramik Special' trains to the state. The Indian Railways reaction came minutes after the TMC said they have already planned to run eight trains to ferry migrants from Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Telangana. The railway said they did not even have the proposal yet for the train, which the TMC claimed has been scheduled from Hyderabad to Malda on Saturday at 3 pm. The Indian Railways has so far run only two trains to West Bengal, one from Rajasthan and the other from Kerala. According to the guidelines issued by the railways for these trains, the proposal has to be received from both the states along with the number of passengers for these trains to run. The officials said the railways has 47 planned for Saturday so far, none of them were bound for West Bengal. The TMC on Saturday accused

The Tamil Nadu government on Saturday moved the Supreme Court challenging a Madras High Court order for closure of state-run liquor outlets on the ground that there was total violation of guidelines meant to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. The Madras High Court had on Friday ordered closure of liquor outlets noting that there were huge crowds and no social distancing was being maintained by tipplers. It, however, allowed doorstep delivery of booze through online mode. The top court too had taken note of crowding at liquor shops and asked states on Friday to consider non-direct contact or online sales and home delivery of liquor during the lockdown period to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. The appeal against the high court order has been filed by the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC), a government firm which sells alcoholic beverages in the state, seeking permission to sell liquor through vends also. The high court order restraining counter-sale of liquor was .

: The 10th standard public examination will be conducted in Tamil Nadu after the COVID- 19 attack wanes and the resultant lockdown goes, state education Minister K Sengottaiyan said on Saturday. A decision on the exam would be taken based on the recommendations of a high-level education committee and getting concurrence from health officials, he said at Savakkatupalayam village near Gobichettipalayam where he distributed welfare schemes to 450 handloom weavers. The Minister said candidates appearing for the board exams would be seated in line with social distancing norms stem the spread of coronavirus. He said schools for the coming academic year would be re-opened only after the coronavirus attack blows over. He further said 2,000 mathematics teachers would be roped in to provide online training to students. Similarly, students keen on accountancy would be given online classes, he said. Replying to a query, the Minister said a decision on increasing the retirement age for

A plea seeking linking of a metro card or token with a commuter's address proof was not entertained by the Delhi High Court as no representation about the issue had been made to the DMRC before moving the court. A bench of justices Manmohan and Sanjeev Narula disposed of the plea, but gave petitioners liberty to move a representation before the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) on the issues raised in the plea. In case the petitioners move a representation to the DMRC, it is supposed to dispose of the plea within four weeks by a reasoned order after taking inputs from authorities concerned. The petitioners had contended in their plea that it should be mandatory for metro travellers to provide proof of their identity and address while purchasing metro cards or tokens to establish ownership in case such items are lost. They also contended that in the prevalent situation of coronavirus pandemic, the DMRC should be aware about the details of commuters as it will help in preventing ...

Over 1 lakh migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh stranded in different parts of the country following the coronavirus-induced lockdown will return to the state by Saturday night on 114 trains, a senior government official said. Another 98 trains will reach the state on Sunday and Monday, while talks are on to allow 15 to 20 more, he said on Saturday. "Till Saturday morning, 97 trains have reached the state and another 17 will reach by the evening. With this, more than 1.20 lakh migrant workers and labourers will be back in the state," Additional Chief Secretary, Home, Awanish Awasthi said. These trains arrived at 36 railway stations of the state, with Lucknow and Gorakhpur receiving 11 trains each, he said. Awasthi said Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has stressed that no migrant should undertake the journey home on foot or bicycle. The government has also given permission for 98 more trains which will bring back migrants from other parts of the country on Sunday and Monday, he said, ...

The evaluation for class 10, 12 board exams will be done by teachers at their homes and 3,000 schools have been identified as exam centres to deliver the answer sheets to them, Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' said on Saturday. He said 1.5 crore answer sheets of already conducted class 10, 12 exams will be delivered to teachers. "From the 3,000 schools, these copies will go the evaluators and evaluation will begin tomorrow. Teachers will evaluate from home and we will be able to complete the process in 50 days," he added. The evaluation of the answer sheets has been delayed due to a nationwide lockdown imposed to contain the coronavirus outbreak. The pending board exams will be held from July 1 to 15.

The Tamil Nadu government on Saturday moved the Supreme Court challenging a Madras High Court order for closure of state-run liquor outlets on grounds of violations of COVID-19 guidelines, arguing that it would lead to "grave losses" in revenue and complete halt in commercial activities. The Madras High Court had on Friday ordered closure of liquor outlets noting that there were huge crowds and no social distancing was being maintained by tipplers. It, however, allowed doorstep delivery of booze through online mode. The state government, in its appeal, termed the HC order a case of "judicial overreach" and said online sale and home delivery of alcohol were not possible in the entire state. "It is pertinent that online modes of effective liquor sales are not even available in the vast majority of state at present and can only be implemented after following the due procedures under law," said the appeal filed by government firm Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC) which sells

With 224 new instances of the novel coronavirus infection, the total number of cases reported in the national capital climbed to 6,542, the Delhi government said on Saturday. The fresh cases were reported between 4 pm to midnight of May 8. No fresh death due to the virus was reported in this period. Delhi has so far reported 68 deaths. Of the total cases reported in the city, 4,454 are active while 2,020 patients have been cured of the disease, the health bulletin stated.

The testing capacity for COVID-19 has been scaled up to around 95,000 tests per day and a total of 15,25,631 tests have been conducted so far across 332 government and 121 private laboratories, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Saturday. The minister, who reviewed the status of COVID-19 in the northeastern states along with the measures taken for its containment and management, also stressed on the need to take concrete action to check the use of non-smoking tobacco and prohibiting spitting in public places which shall help in preventing the spread of the infection, according to a statement. During the high-level meeting with Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim, Vardhan appreciated the dedication of all the states in combating COVID-19. "It is a huge relief and very encouraging to see green zones in most northeastern states. As of date, only Assam and Tripura have active COVID-19 cases. Other states are all in the green zone. ..

April’s jobs report shows record-high job losses and unemployment, low-risk businesses in California reopen for curbside pickup today, and testing will increase at the White House. WSJ’s Jason Bellini has the latest on the pandemic. Photo: John Locher/Associated Press

The Labor Department’s survey taken in April shows record job losses for the U.S. WSJ explains the context behind the historic numbers Photo: Justin Lane/EPA/SHUTTERSTOCK

By Sara Germano and David Benoit The restaurant that Dan Loeb said Sotheby’s management wined and dined at to a bill that was in the “multiple hundreds of thousands of dollars,” was the famed Blue Hill, according to people familiar with the matter.

At the world's biggest ship-recycling yard at Alang, India, life is becoming harder as fewer ships arrive. Here's why. Photo: Karan Deep Singh/The Wall Street Journal

The destinies of the people of Kolavipalam village in North Kerala and the endangered Olive Ridley turtles are bound together. M P Basheer explores.

Kishore Wankhade peers into a 2002 inquiry report into the disappearance and fast-track clearance of hazardous wastes from India's Ports.

Declared 'protected' by the central government way back in 1984, the Chimmony Wildlife Sanctuary in Kerala has suffered from emboldened poachers who have met with little resistance from authorities. But with community involvement, a local development committee holds some hope of restoring protection, reports Deepa A.

Unmindful of evidence that Nalwa Sponge Iron Limited had started civil works for its expansion without environmental clearance, officials rush through a public hearing to review the new project. An operation that is already violating regulations is given the merit of due process for its expansion under the same law, notes Kanchi Kohli.

On 6 September, the water of the Periyar, Kerala's largest river, suddenly changed colour into red. Eloor remains a glaring example of unchecked corporate crimes against neighbourhood communities. It also highlights the apathy of the state's apex pollution watchdog, writes M Suchitra.

By every rule in the book, this ship, carrying asbestos waste and radioactive elements, should not be in Indian waters, let alone be beached. And yet, despite well-premised objections, the central government persuaded the Supreme Court to rule that Blue Lady be dismantled at Alang. Gopal Krishna was a petitioner in the litigation.

Last year, the Ministry of Environment and Forests attempted to dilute the hazardous waste management regulations. Earlier this year, the Supreme Court intervened and the tacky attempt appears to have stalled. Gopal Krishna digs deeper.

From its promising beginning and grand proclamations at international fora, the nation's Biodiversity Plan has undergone a massive erosion, as MoEF has consistently put economic values above environmental ones. Kanchi Kohli reports.

Over 170 organisations and individuals came together to highlight Vedanta's history of environmental irregularities to the Golden Peacock jury members, prompting a second look. Kanchi Kohli reports.

Gold mining wreaks havoc on the environment and humans alike, but some precautionary measures and fair practices can help minimize the damage. Mahazareen Dastur concludes this two-part series.

Construction of a project that requires environmental, coastal zone and forest permissions cannot begin until all of these are secured. Or can it? Kanchi Kohli reports.

Despite the number of times a court, tribunal or the Ministry has acted to stop construction of OPG's power plant in Bhadreswar, the project goes on uninterrupted. Kanchi Kohli reports.

The Paris Climate Accord is undergoing final round of negotiations and will be announced soon. Darryl D’Monte reports from the Climate Change Conference in Paris, on how there will be a huge gap between the promises made in the accord and what will end up happening on the ground.

In this edition we remember the hunger strike launched by Irom Sharmila fifteen years ago and which is still going strong. We also have a national award winner explaining why she will not give back her awards like the other awardees, and much more.

Post-POCSO Act, reporting of child sexual abuse cases have rocketed in Kerala, but conviction rates remain dismal. State government and judiciary lack the infrastructure to ensure justice for victims, finds Navya P K.

The Clemenceau has set sail for India, and the spotlight is on the ship-breaking industry at Alang, where workers' safety takes a last-row seat and owners operate without fear of regulatory enforcement or punishment. Ramesh Menon writes that the toxic cargo presents an opportunity to reverse this tide of disgrace.

The ship-breaking yard of Alang in Gujarat, which brings millions of dollars into the state, wreaks heavy environmental damage and endangers thousands of labourers. Ramesh Menon, who first visited the yard in the early eighties, finds very little has changed over the decades.

World's largest ship-breaking yard at Alang is crumbling as the EU Commission and the Supreme Court are now putting pressure to get them to create modern environmentally friendly facilities. If they do not do it, the graveyard of ships will die says Ramesh Menon.

How does one countenance a regulator that does not adhere to the law of the land and is also unable to protect the interest of one group against another? The Genetic Engineering Approval Committee, says Bhaskar Goswami, itself needs to be regulated to ensure it plays a balanced role.

A note on Tehri Dam case heard in Supreme Court by Vimal Bhai of the Matu People's organisation.

Mere participation as labourers is not enough to mainstream women's concerns in water management. Instead, they must be engaged as partners, whose roles are located in larger social and political structures. Sudhirendar Sharma reviews Flowing Upstream, a collection of essays drawing attention to this distinction.

Tending livestock is difficult enough for settled communities, but for migrants the hardships are even worse. Without formal laws providing them access to water or feed, they must continually negotiate these, or bribe forest officials to obtain passage rights. Surekha Sule reports on recent studies highlighting their woes.

The new Bureau of Water Efficiency should push for Central laws that can be adopted without dilution by the states, and work with specific industry segments to address their water deficits, writes Chandrashekar Hariharan.