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Committed Brazil a favorite to defend Copa America title
SAO PAULO (AP) Brazil s international players were reluctant to play in the Copa America on home soil. Now that they re committed, they re favored to win it.Argentina still looms as a threat to Brazil s title defense, but now as a visiting team.Argentina and Colombia were dropped as tournament co-hosts before Brazil contentiously stepped in late to stage the continental championship.Being away from home takes some pressure off Lionel Messi and his Argentina team.The Copa America will kick off Sunday with defending champion Brazil against Venezuela at the Man Garrincha stadium in Brasilia. The final will be on July 10 at the Maracan stadium in Rio de Janeiro, one of the COVID-19 epicenters in Brazil, where more than 480,000 have died from the coronavirus.No spectators will be allowed to attend any Copa America matches because of restrictions in place for the pandemic, which has already delayed the tournament by a year.Brazil players ended speculation about a potential boycott by issuing a unified statement on Wednesday saying they are unsatisfied with the decision to move the tournament to their country, but it wouldn t stop them representing their national team.And if South American World Cup qualifiers are anything to go by, the Copa America title is Brazil s to lose. Brazil has won all six of its games and is six points clear of second place Argentina. With the likes of Neymar on board, coach Tite expects not only to defend the title lifted in 2019, but also use the next 30 days to prepare for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.Many tests are expected. Alisson is no longer the team s unchallenged goalkeeper, with Ederson getting more chances to start.Captain Casemiro is yet to find out whether he will play as defensive midfielder next to Douglas Luiz, Fred or Lucas Paqueta. And four options appear up front to work with Neymar: Gabriel Jesus, Roberto Firmino, Richarlison and Gabriel Barbosa.Argentina placed third in the 2019 Copa America, but the team has improved under coach Lionel Scaloni.Defender Cristian Romero, and midfielders Leandro Paredes and Giovani Lo Celso are now trusted to break the opponents lines. Up front, Lautaro Mart nez and Sergio Ag ero bring the same respect.And that means Messi, who turns 34 later this month, doesn t need to be part of every play for Argentina to win.Argentina always dominates, sometimes in a very vertical way, Scaloni said. If you look at all our matches in qualifiers we deserved to win. But at soccer, deserving doesn t count.Argentina hasn t won a major title since the 1993 Copa America.Colombia has improved since the return of coach Reinaldo Rueda. It trashed Peru 3-0 in Lima and got a late equalizer to force a 2-2 draw after being two goals down against Argentina. Copa America could further enhance the team, which will not have midfielder James Rodr guez because of fitness problems.Uruguay has struggled despite counting on Luis Su rez and Edison Cavani, who will return to the team after a two-match suspension in World Cup qualifiers. Uruguay hasn t won any of its three latest matches on the road to Qatar.We have to be aware there s things to improve as always and get ready for something that gives us a lot of aspiration, Uruguay coach Oscar Tab rez said after Tuesday s 0-0 draw with Venezuela.Peru, the 2019 Copa America runner-up, is struggling in World Cup qualifying but hoping a 2-1 win at Ecuador earlier this week might spark a change in momentum. Coach Ricardo Garca decided not to bring in striker Paolo Guerrero, who is returning from injury. He will be relying instead on Santiago Orme o, who plays at Mexico s Le n.Chile coach Mart n Lasarte has decided to use an inexperienced squad in Copa America, making it more of a priority to qualify for the next World Cup.We will use it as a tool to strengthen younger players, he said. Chile is currently in the sixth in qualifyingThe tournament will be divided into two groups of five. Group A includes Argentina, Bolivia, Uruguay, Chile and Paraguay. Brazil is in Group B with Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador and Peru. The four best of each group advance to the knockout stage.Quarterfinals will take place on July 2 at the Nilton Santos and Goiania s Olimpico stadium, and July 3 at Olimpico stadium and Brasilia s Man Garrincha.The semifinals will be at the Nilton Santos stadium in Rio on July 5 and in Brasilia the next day.___ Associated Press writer Debora Rey contributed to this report from Buenos Aires___More AP soccer: https: apnews.com hub soccer and https: twitter.com AP_Sports
Afghan Hazaras being killed at school, play, even at birth
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) Just running errands in the mainly Hazara neighborhoods of west Kabul can be dangerous. One day last week, Adila Khiari and her two daughters went out to buy new curtains. Soon after, her son heard that a minibus had been bombed the fourth to be blown up in just 48 hours.When his mother didn t answer her phone, he frantically searched hospitals in the Afghan capital. He found his sister, Hosnia in critical condition with burns over 50% of her body. Then he found his mother and other sister, Mina, both dead. Three days later, on Sunday, Hosnia died as well.In all, 18 people were killed in the two-day string of bombings against minivans in Kabul s Dasht-e-Barchi district. It was the latest in a vicious campaign of violence targeting Afghanistan s minority Hazara community one that Hazaras fear will only get worse after the final withdrawal of American and NATO troops this summer.Hundreds of Afghans are killed or injured every month in violence connected to the country s constant war. But Hazaras, who make up around 9% of the population of 36 million people, stand alone in being intentionally targeted because of their ethnicity distinct from the other ethnic groups, such as Tajik and Uzbek and the Pashtun majority and their religion. Most Hazaras are Shiite Muslims, despised by Sunni Muslim radicals like the Islamic State group, and discriminated against by many in the Sunni majority country.After the collapse of the Taliban 20 years ago, the Hazaras embraced hopes for a new democracy in Afghanistan. Long the country s poorest community, they began to improve their lot, advancing in various fields, including education and sports.Now many Hazaras are moving to take up arms to protect themselves in what they expect will be a war for control among Afghanistan s many factions.Inside the Nabi Rasool Akram Mosque compound, protected by sandbags stacked against its ornate doors and 10-foot high walls, Qatradullah Broman was among the Hazaras attending the funeral of Adila and Mina this week.The government doesn t care about Hazaras and has failed to protect them, he said. Anyone who can afford to leave, they are leaving. Those who can t are staying here to die, said Broman. I see a very dark future for our people.There is plenty for Hazaras to fear.Since it emerged in 2014 and 2015, a vicious Islamic State group affiliate has declared war on Afghanistan s Shiites and has claimed responsibility for many of the recent attacks on the Hazaras.But Hazaras are also deeply suspicious of the government for not protecting them. Some worry that government-linked warlords, who also demonize their community, are behind some of the attacks.Former government adviser Torek Farhadi told the Associated Press that within the political leadership, from the top down, there is a sorry culture of discrimination against Hazaras. The government, in a cynical calculation, has decided Hazara lives are cheap, he said.Since 2015, attacks have killed at least 1,200 Hazaras and injured another 2,300, according to Wadood Pedram, executive director of the Kabul-based Human Rights and Eradication of Violence Organization.Hazaras have been preyed on at schools, weddings, mosques, sports clubs, even at birth.Last year, gunmen attacked a maternity hospital in the mainly Hazara districts of west Kabul. When the shooting ended, 24 people were dead, including newborns and their mothers. Last month, a triple bombing at the Syed Al-Shahada school in the same area killed nearly 100 people, mostly Hazara schoolgirls. This week, when militants attacked a compound of de-mining workers, shooting at least 10 to death, witnesses said they tried to pick Hazaras out of the workers to kill.Some of these attacks, deliberately targeting civilians, hospitals and children, could rise to the level of war crimes, said Patricia Gossman, Associate Director of the Asia Program of Human Rights Watch.Pedram s organization has petitioned the U.N. Human Rights Commission to investigate the killing of Hazaras as genocide or a crime against humanity. It and other rights groups also helped the International Criminal Court in 2019 compile suspected war crimes cases in Afghanistan.The world doesn t speak about our deaths. The world is silent. Are we not human? said Mustafa Waheed, an elderly Hazara weeping at the burial of Mina and her mother.A black velvet cloth inscribed in gold with Quranic verses was draped over the two bodies. Family and friends carried them on wooden beds, then placed them inside the graves. Mina s father fell to the ground crying.The U.S. can go into space, but they can t find out who is doing this? Waheed said. They can see an ant move from space, but they can t see who is killing Hazaras?In the face of the killings, talk has turned to arming Hazara youth to defend the community, particularly in the districts that the community dominates in western Kabul. Some Hazaras say the May 8 attack on the Syed al-Shahada school was a turning point.It is a significant reversal for a community that showed such hope in a new Afghanistan. After the fall of the Taliban, many Hazara militias gave up their weapons under a government disarmament program, even as other factions were reluctant.We used to think the pen and the book were our greatest weapon, but now we realize it is the gun we need, said Ghulam Reza Berati, a prominent Hazara religious leader. Fathers of the girls killed in the school attack are being told to invest in weapons, said Berati, who helped bury many of the girls.Sitting on the carpets of west Kabul s Wali Asar Mosque, Berati said Hazaras are disappointed in the democracy brought by the U.S.-led coalition. Hazaras have largely been excluded from positions of prominence, he said.Hazaras worry about continuing Islamic State group attacks and about the potential return of the Taliban to power after the American withdrawal. But they also worry about the many heavily armed warlords who are part of the government. Some of them carried out violence against Hazaras in the past, and Hazaras fear they will do so again if post-withdrawal Afghanistan slides into a repeat of the brutal inter-factional civil war of the early 1990s.One warlord who is still prominent in Kabul, Abdul Rasool Sayyaf, led a Pashtun militia that massacred Hazara civilians during a ferocious 1993 battle with Hazara militias in Kabul s mainly Hazara neighborhood of Afshar.Rajab Ali Urzgani became a sort of folk hero in his community as one of the youngest Hazara commanders during the Battle of Afshar only 14 at the time.Now 41 and still known by his nom de guerre, Mangol, he returned to Afshar earlier this month with the AP to visit the site. He stopped to give a prayer for the dead at a mass grave where nearly 80 men, women and children killed in the bloodshed are buried. A black Shiite banner flies at the entrance.Mangol held out little hope for peace in Afghanistan following the withdrawal.When the foreigners withdraw, the war will happen 1000%, he said. The war will happen like in the past with the different groups, and we will defend our family and our dignity._____Associated Press Writer Tameem Akhgar contributed to this report.
The Latest: Philippines reopens gyms, museums as surge ebbs
MANILA, Philippines Philippine officials have allowed the reopening of gyms, skating rinks, racket courts and museums in metropolitan Manila and adjacent provinces as a coronavirus surge continues to ease.Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez says Filipinos 65 years old and above who have been restricted to home can now travel within the densely populated capital region two weeks after having been fully vaccinated.He says gyms and similar indoor businesses with safety certificates can reopen up to 30% of their capacity.Lopez has called for the further reopening of the battered economy to address unemployment and hunger. Museums and historical sites also can reopen at 20% capacity but guided tours remain prohibited.The Philippines has reported the second highest number of COVID-19 infections in Southeast Asia at nearly 1.3 million with 22,312 dead. The government reimposed a lockdown in the capital region and four nearby provinces after infections surged in March.___MORE ON THE PANDEMIC:Celebrations (and questions) greet US vaccine donation planNew federal COVID-19 safety rules exempt most employersUS extends expiration dates for J&J COVID vaccine by 6 weeksBritish Health Secretary Matt Hancock has defended his handling of the coronavirus pandemic following a series of damaging allegations from Prime Minister Boris Johnson s former top adviser.Germany has started rolling out a digital vaccination pass that can be used across Europe as the continent gears up for the key summer travel season.___Follow more of AP s pandemic coverage at https: apnews.com hub coronavirus-pandemic and https: apnews.com hub coronavirus-vaccine___HERE S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:NEW DELHI The Indian state of Bihar has increased its COVID-19 death toll after the discovery of thousands of unreported cases, raising concerns that many more fatalities were not officially recorded.The health department in Bihar, one of the poorest states, on Thursday revised its COVID-19 fatality count to more than 9,429 from 5,424 a jump of more than 70%.Officials said the 3,951 unreported fatalities had occurred in May and reflect deaths reported at private hospitals, in transit to health facilities, under home isolation and those dying of post COVID-19 complications.Health experts say many COVID-19 fatalities remain unrecorded in India, more so during the latest surge in April and May, when hospitals ran unbearably full and oxygen supplies were low.India s federal ministers from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party have dismissed reports of undercounting as exaggerated and misleading. In the past, states like Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu have also recalibrated death numbers.Overall, India s cases and deaths have fallen steadily in the past weeks.The 91,702 cases added in the past 24 hours pushed India s total to more than 29.3 million on Friday, second only to the United States. The Health Ministry also reported 3,403 fatalities in the past 24 hours, raising the overall death toll to 363,079.___CHICAGO Illinois is lifting all capacity limits on bars, restaurants, businesses and other venues Friday, nearly 15 months after the first stay-at-home order during the coronavirus pandemic.Businesses still can have their own rules for capacity, masks and social distancing. Masks are still required on public transportation and in airports, schools and hospitals.Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Thursday that as we take this next step forward, let s do so with a renewed commitment to empathy, to community, and to making each day together count.State health officials say more than 68% of Illinois residents who are 18 or older have received at least one dose of vaccine against the coronavirus, and 51% of adults are fully vaccinated.___WASHINGTON U.S. health officials are investigating what appear to be higher than expected reports of heart inflammation in male teens and young adults after they get a second dose of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.It s not clear if the inflammation is caused by the shots and the reports still are rare, the CDC says. It urges everyone 12 and older to get vaccinated.A CDC official said Thursday that as of May 31, the agency had 275 preliminary reports of such inflammation in 16- to 24-year-olds,.That s out of more than 12 million second-dose injections of the vaccines.The official says the cases seem to occur more often in men and in younger people, and most already have fully recovered.___DENVER Colorado Gov. Jared Polis has announced the first five winners of $50,000 scholarships in a program designed to encourage students to get vaccinated against COVID-19.The state is offering 25 student scholarships for students ages 12 to 17 who have received at least one vaccine dose.Winners selected in random drawings can use the scholarships at the post-secondary educational institutions of their choice. That includes colleges and technical, occupational and credential programs inside and outside Colorado.Five winners will be chosen each week through July 9. Colorado also is offering a $1 million lottery program for five adults who get at least one shot.___ATLANTA Georgians receiving unemployment benefits will once again be required to look for work and will be able to earn less before unemployment payments drop beginning June 27.Labor Commissioner Mark Butler announced the changes Thursday, also saying that employers with many laid-off workers collecting benefits will face higher unemployment insurance taxes after that date.Georgia announced last month that beginning June 27 it would cut off federal programs that provide a $300-a-week pandemic boost to people on the jobless rolls as well as programs that pay federal money to people not usually eligible for state unemployment.Butler earlier signaled he would reinstate work-search requirements, a move underway in more than three-quarters of states.___CONCORD, N.H. New Hampshire s nearly 15-month pandemic state of emergency will end Friday night, Gov. Chris Sununu said Thursday.Sununu first declared a state of emergency over the coronavirus on March 13, 2020. He renewed it every three weeks until two weeks ago, when he indicated he would let it expire at midnight June 11.In the governor s words: We ve kind of checked all the boxes and we feel very confident that moving away from it tomorrow still keeps us in a very strong position.Sununu thanked public health officials as well as citizens for volunteering during the pandemic, balancing safety with maintaining a strong economy and getting vaccinated.___ST. IVES, England President Joe Biden is calling on global leaders to follow his lead in sharing coronavirus vaccines with struggling nations around the world.He promised the U.S. would donate 500 million doses to help speed the pandemic s end and bolster the strategic position of the world s wealthiest democracies.In Biden s words: In times of trouble, Americans reach out to offer help.Speaking before the meeting of the Group of Seven, Biden announced the U.S. commitment to vaccine sharing, which comes on top of 80 million doses he has already pledged by the end of the month.He says the other G-7 nations will join the U.S. in outlining their vaccine donation commitments Friday.___WASHINGTON Johnson & Johnson says U.S. health officials have extended the expiration date for millions of doses of its coronavirus vaccine by an extra six weeks.The drug maker says the FDA approved a longer shelf-life for the one-dose shots. State officials recently warned that many unused doses would reach their original three-month expiration by the end of June.The extension comes as the rate of new U.S. vaccinations continues to slip. The U.S. averaged about 800,000 injections per day last week. That s down from a high of nearly 2 million per day two months ago.President Joe Biden s goal is 70% of American adults partially vaccinated by July 4. The CDC says about 64% of Americans 18 and above have received at least one dose.___ANKARA, Turkey Turkey is expanding its vaccination drive to include restaurant workers, barbers and hairdressers.Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced on Twitter that food production and distribution sector workers as well as employees of cafes and restaurants will be included in the inoculation program starting Friday.Turkey is currently vaccinating those 45 and older as well as people in the health sector, police, teachers, journalists and tourism sector workers. Earlier this week, musicians, other performers and academics were added to the list of priority occupations.The country of 84 million has administered some 32 million shots since starting its vaccination campaign on Jan. 14. Some 13.5 million have received two doses.___CHICAGO United Airlines says more than 830,000 people have entered the contest it started last month to encourage people to get vaccinated against COVID-19.People who upload pictures of their vaccination card to the airline have a slim shot at free flights.The airline says the largest bloc of contest entrants are people in their 50s, and about one in eight are between 18 and 28.___SACRAMENTO, Calif. California s workplace regulators have withdrawn a controversial mask regulation.Their second such reversal in a week gives them time to consider a rule that more closely aligns with Gov. Gavin Newsom s promise that the state will fully reopen from the pandemic on Tuesday.But some business leaders on Wednesday kept up their pressure on Newsom to override the board. The California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board s rule would have allowed workers to forego masks only if every employee in a room is fully vaccinated against the coronavirus.That contrasts with the state s broader plan to do away with nearly all masking requirements for vaccinated people.
Bucks edge Nets 86-83 in Game 3; Jazz grab 2-0 lead in West
MILWAUKEE (AP) Jrue Holiday made a go-ahead driving layup with 11.4 seconds left and the Milwaukee Bucks held on for an 86-83 victory Thursday night that cut the Brooklyn Nets lead to 2-1 in the Eastern Conference semifinals.Kevin Durant s 3-point attempt to tie bounced off the rim as the horn sounded. He scored the Nets last nine points and finished with 30.Game 4 of the second-round series is Sunday in Milwaukee.Khris Middleton scored 35 points, and Giannis Antetokounmpo added 33 for the Bucks.JAZZ 117, CLIPPERS 111SALT LAKE CITY (AP) Donovan Mitchell scored 37 points and Utah forced nine straight misses down the stretch to outlast Los Angeles and take a 2-0 lead in their Western Conference semifinal series.Mitchell clinched the game with a driving shot with 43 seconds remaining but then appeared to hurt his leg slightly on a foul by Paul George with 10 seconds to play. He made one of two free throws after hobbling to the line.The guard is the first Jazz player with at least 35 points in back-to-back playoff games since Karl Malone in 1988.Jordan Clarkson scored 24, including six 3-pointers, while Joe Ingles had 19 points and Rudy Gobert contributed 13 points and a career playoff-high 20 rebounds.Reggie Jackson led the Clippers with 29 points and George had 27. Kawhi Leonard scored 21 points but managed just two in the fourth quarter.The series shifts to Los Angeles on Saturday for Game 3.
Mitchell has 37, Jazz beat Clippers 117-111 for 2-0 lead
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) Donovan Mitchell scored 37 points and the Utah Jazz forced nine straight misses down the stretch to outlast the Los Angeles Clippers 117-111 on Thursday night and take a 2-0 lead in their Western Conference semifinal series.Mitchell clinched the game with a driving shot with 43 seconds remaining but then appeared to hurt his leg slightly on a foul by Paul George with 10 seconds to play. He made one of two free throws after hobbling to the line.The guard is the first Jazz player with at least 35 points in back-to-back playoff games since Karl Malone in 1988.Jordan Clarkson scored 24, including six 3-pointers, while Joe Ingles had 19 points and Rudy Gobert contributed 13 points and a career playoff-high 20 rebounds.Reggie Jackson led the Clippers with 29 points and George had 27. Kawhi Leonard scored 21 points but managed just two in the fourth quarter.The series shifts to Los Angeles on Saturday for Game 3.Once the Clippers took their only lead at 101-99 after consecutive 3-pointers by Jackson, the Jazz forced nine consecutive misses to power a 14-2 run that was capped by Ingles 3-pointer to make it 113-103 with 3:07 to play.In the second half, the Clippers mixed multiple coverages and cut off the passing lanes that usually garner the Jazz clean 3-point looks and Jackson got hot.Mitchell scored 27 first-half points the most by a Utah player in the last 25 years to spark the Jazz to an early lead and then a late second-quarter push to boost Utah to a 66-53 halftime lead.Mitchell shot 11 of 16 in the first half and did the same in the second half of Game 1. He tallied 59 points on 22-of-32 shooting over those four quarters.The demonstrative Mitchell has said he wants to conserve energy with the exceptional physical demands of the playoffs, but he couldn t help showing emotion one some of his spectacular finishes.Mike Conley missed his second game after injuring his hamstring late in the Utah-Memphis series finale but the Jazz have now won six straight playoff games.Jackson scored 16 points in the third quarter and the Jazz finally started missing shots against an active Clippers zone. Their 21-point lead shrunk to four when Marcus Morris drove the lane and flipped in a leaning shot to make it 82-78. The Clippers made their comeback without Leonard, who sat most of the period with four fouls.For most of the game, the Clippers looked for Gobert whenever they ventured into the lane and resorted to double-pumps and odd angles on the shots at the basket that weren t blocked by the long-armed Frenchman.Leonard, George and Patrick Beverley were among the Clippers that shadowed Mitchell in addition to throwing double-teams at the Utah guard well beyond the 3-point line.Instead of going small, the Clippers countered Gobert with DeMarcus Cousins and Ivica Zubac, who was hampered with foul trouble in the first half.TIP-INSClippers: After posting the league s all-time best free throw percentage in the regular season (83.9%), the Clippers made 20 of 23. Jackson s 16 third-quarter points were the most he s scored in a single quarter in the postseason. LA outscored Utah in the paint 42-32.Jazz: Coach Quin Snyder and owner Ryan Smith presented Gobert his third Defensive Player of the Year Award before tipoff. Ingles got a flagrant foul for an arm to the head of Beverley after the Clippers guard fouled him early in the fourth quarter. The Jazz made 20 3-pointers (on 39 attempts) to set a franchise playoff record.
Crime leads voter concerns as NYC mayoral primary approaches
NEW YORK (AP) Fear of crime is back as a political issue in New York City. For the first time in years it could be a prime factor in who voters pick as their next mayor.Early voting begins Saturday in the city s party primaries. Ballots are being cast as the city is emerging, brimming with hope, after a year in pandemic lockdown, but also amid an unsettling rise in shootings.The violence is still well short of the historic highs of the 1990s, or even in the New York of the early 2000s. But it has forced the leading Democratic candidates to balance talk of police reform with promises not to let New York backslide to its long-gone days as a crime capitol.No one is coming to New York, in our multibillion-dollar tourism industry, if you have 3-year-old children shot in Times Square, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams said at a recent debate, referring to a May 8 shooting in which a 4-year-old girl and two adult women were wounded by stray bullets.Adams, a former police captain who also co-founded a leadership group for Black officers, has risen to the top of most polls as issues of crime and policing have dominated recent mayoral debates.The race remains tight, though, with 2020 presidential candidate Andrew Yang, former city sanitation commissioner Kathryn Garcia, city Comptroller Scott Stringer and civil rights attorney Maya Wiley the top contenders in a field of 13 candidates on the Democratic ballot.The final day of voting is June 22, with the top Democrat in overwhelmingly Democratic New York City highly likely to win the November general election and succeed the term-limited Mayor Bill de Blasio.The Republican primary features Curtis Sliwa, founder of the Guardian Angels anti-crime group, versus Fernando Mateo, a restaurant owner and advocate for taxi drivers.The Times Square shooting and other high-profile crimes like last weekend s fatal shooting of a 10-year-old boy in Queens have sparked fears of a city under siege. Stop the Bloodshed, screamed a recent front page of the New York Post, which warned of surrendering streets to homelessness, filth, crime and guns in an editorial endorsing Adams.The reality is more nuanced.Many of the most common types of crime in the city, including robberies, burglaries and grand larcenies, remain near historic lows. Through the first five months of 2021, the total number of major crimes measured by the police department has been at its lowest level since comparable statistics became available in the 1990s.But since the spring of 2020 the number of shootings has soared.Through June 6, there were 181 homicides in New York City, up from 121 in the same period in 2019, an increase of 50%. That s the worst start to a year since 2011.At least 687 people were wounded or killed by gunfire through June 6. That s not historically bad. More than 2,400 people were shot during the same period in 1993. But it is the highest number for a winter and early spring since 2000.A plurality of voters surveyed in a Spectrum News NY1 Ipsos poll released this week chose crime or violence as the biggest problem facing New York, with both racial injustice and police reform also in the top 10.The Rev. Al Sharpton, who has known most of the Democratic mayoral candidates for years, said crime is a big issue in Black communities and the progressive candidates should address it more forthrightly.You know, two weeks after I did the eulogy at George Floyd s funeral I did the eulogy for a 1-year-old kid in Brooklyn killed by a stray bullet in a gang fight, Sharpton said, referring to Davell Gardner, shot while sitting in his stroller last summer. So it is not true that those of us that want police reform do not also at the same time want to deal with crime. And I think that the progressive candidates need to be more out on that.Maria Forbes, president of the Clay Avenue Tenants Association in the Bronx, said crime has risen in her neighborhood during the pandemic and she has taken taxis in order to avoid the subway.I do not feel safe getting on the train, Forbes said.But Forbes, like a lot of New Yorkers, also doesn t single out crime or any one issue as the most pressing. Housing and education are also big issues, she said.You have minimum wage people who need housing and there s six of them in a two-bedroom, Forbes said.The candidates differ widely in their approaches to crime.Wiley, who is competing with Stringer and former nonprofit executive Dianne Morales for the votes of the most liberal of New Yorkers, would cut the police budget by $1 billion annually and invest those funds directly into the communities most impacted by gun violence, according to her platform.A Wiley campaign ad shows police driving into a crowd of Black Lives Matter protesters last year. She says in the ad that it s time the NYPD sees us as people who deserve to breathe, a reference to the deaths of Eric Garner and George Floyd.Stringer says he would cut at least $1 billion over four years through measures such as transferring mental health response to non-police crisis teams and reducing police overtime.Garcia has not called for cutting the police budget, but says officers minimum age should be increased from 21 to 25 and new recruits should be required to live in the city.Yang backs a police residency requirement as well as beefed up oversight of the department, but rejects calls to defund the police.The truth is that New York City cannot afford to defund the police, he warned.Adams, who spent 22 years in the New York Police Department, says he was victimized by police brutality as a teenager and joined the force to reform it from within.A group Adams founded called 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care advocated against racial profiling and for recruitment of more officers of color.While New York City mayoral races are often unpredictable, this primary is especially hard to predict because it will be the first to use ranked choice voting, with voters ranking up to five candidates.Turnout, usually low in mayoral primaries, will also be a factor.The question is which issues are going to be the most important to the voters that turn up on primary day, said Susan Kang, a political scientist at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice.Kang said crime isn t the main issue she hears about knocking on doors for a City Council candidate she s supporting in Queens.People talk to me about all kinds of things like property tax issues, street parking, public transportation, Kang said. No one says to me, but what is this person going to do about crime?
Bus carrying pilgrims overturns in SW Pakistan, killing 19
QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) A speeding bus carrying pilgrims overturned on a highway in southwestern Pakistan on Friday, killing at least 19 people and injuring 50 others, police said.The accident happened in Khuzdar, a district in the Baluchistan province, local police official Hafeez Ullah Mengal said. Rescuers transported the dead and injured to a nearby hospital, he added.The pilgrims were returning to Dadu, a district in the neighboring southern Sindh province, after visiting a shrine of a Sufi saint when the driver lost control on a sharp turn and the bus overturned, he said.Deadly accidents are common in Pakistan due to poor road infrastructure and disregard for traffic laws.
China s children may be next in line for COVID-19 vaccines
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) If China is to meet its tentative goal of vaccinating 80% of its population against the coronavirus by the end of the year, tens of millions of children may have to start rolling up their sleeves.Regulators took the first step last week by approving the use of the country s Sinovac vaccine for children aged 3 to 17, though no announcement has been made about when the shots will start.Children have been largely spared the worst of the pandemic, becoming infected less easily than adults and generally showing less severe symptoms when they do catch the virus. But experts say children can still transmit the virus to others and some note that if countries are going to achieve herd immunity through their vaccination campaigns, inoculating children should be part of the plan.Vaccinating children is an important step forward, said Jin Dong-yan, a virologist at the University of Hong Kong s medical school.Doing so, however, may be easier said than done for reasons ranging from vaccine hesitancy to vaccine availability.Even in countries with enough vaccines to go around, some governments are having problems convincing adults that the shots are safe and necessary despite studies demonstrating they are. Such concerns can be amplified when dealing with society s youngest.There s also the issue of approval. Few regulators around the world have evaluated the safety of COVID-19 shots in kids, with the majority of shots approved only for adults right now. But the approvals are starting. The United States, Canada, Singapore and Hong Kong are all allowing the use of the Pfizer vaccine in children as young as 12.The Sinovac announcement could open the way for the vaccine, already in use in dozens of countries from Brazil to Indonesia, to be given to children across the world.In Thailand, where Sinovac makes up the bulk of the country s vaccine supply, Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul welcomed the news that China had approved emergency use for children.Once it gets approved, we are ready to provide the vaccine to cover all ages, Anutin said Monday.Other vaccine makers are also working to expand access to younger people. Moderna is seeking permission to use its shot in children as young as 12, like Pfizer. Both companies have studies underway in even younger children, down to age 6 months.Another obstacle to vaccinating children is that many countries are still struggling to get enough doses to inoculate their higher-risk adult populations. Thailand, for example, has vaccinated only 4% of its population so far and adult demand for vaccines far outweighs supply.Right now given the shortages of vaccines, any available vaccine should be placed in age-based prioritization and risk-based prioritization, said Jerome Kim, head of the International Vaccine Institute in Seoul. It s really important to get this vaccine out in the places it s needed now.In many places there are also concerns among the public about the efficacy of the Sinovac vaccine versus Western rivals. While efficacy rates cannot be compared directly, owing to the trials being conducted under different conditions, the Western vaccines have shown to be very effective in preventing infection in real world tests. Sinovac s shot has been shown to be effective in preventing severe disease and hospitalization.The World Health Organization last week approved the Sinovac vaccine for emergency use in adults aged 18 and older, paving the way for its use in global programs aiming to distribute vaccines to low- and middle-income countries. The WHO has given no indication of when it might approve it for those younger.Vaccines are often approved separately for adults and children because younger immune systems may react differently to the doses. Experts say inactivated vaccines are generally considered safe for children, as the technology has been in use for a long time, such as in mandatory childhood immunization programs, and have shown low risk.Nikolai Petrovsky, a vaccine expert at Flinders University in Australia, said that while it is reasonable to assume the vaccines would safe for children, he questioned the necessity of vaccinating them against a virus they are relatively protected from using a vaccine that has yet to show it blocks transmission.As far as I am aware there is no data to suggest the Sinovac vaccine will block transmission in children, he wrote in an email. Without such evidence we need to ask why we are immunising the children.China has a population of 1.4 billion, meaning it needs to inoculate 560 million people to reach its goal of 40% vaccination by June and 1.12 billion people to get to the 80% goal. It will be hard to do the latter without vaccinating many of its 254 million children who are younger than 14.When China starts inoculating children will be determined by the government s National Health Commission in accordance with the epidemic situation, Sinovac CEO Yin Weidong told state broadcaster CCTV last week.A spokesperson for Sinovac did not respond to a call requesting comment. China s National Health Commission directed the AP to a news report that summarized Yin s comments.China s state-owned Sinopharm, which has two inactivated vaccines in wide use for adults, said it also has has submitted data to regulators on clinical trials for kids aged 3 to 17.___Associated Press writers Chalida Ekvitthayavechnukul and Fu Ting in Bangkok contributed to this report.