Six In In The Morning Tuesday 7 April 2020

Coronavirus wreaks havoc in African American neighbourhoods

Stark statistics from Chicago health officials have underscored the heavy toll of coronavirus on black Americans.

Black Chicagoans account for half of all coronavirus cases in the city and more than 70% of deaths, despite making up 30% of the population.

Other cities with large black populations, including Detroit, Milwaukee, New Orleans and New York, have become coronavirus hotspots.

The US has recorded nearly 370,000 virus cases and almost 11,000 deaths.

India releases hydroxychloroquine stocks amid pressure from Trump
US president called Modi and threatened ‘retaliation’ if country kept full export ban
Hannah Ellis-Petersen South Asia correspondent

India has approved some exports of hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria drug being touted as a possible coronavirus treatment, after apparent pressure from Donald Trump, who has been urging Americans to take it.

The tablets are used to prevent and treat malaria, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis but over the past week the US president has been aggressively promoting the drug as a treatment for coronavirus, despite there being no conclusive medical evidence to prove its efficacy.

Peru is responsible for rape and torture of trans woman, rules human rights court

Complainant was beaten and raped by in custody, say lawyers
Oscar Lopez

The top human rights court in the Americas has found Peru responsible for the arbitrary detention and rape of a transgender woman in a landmark case marking the first time it has ruled on a complaint of torture against a member of the LGBT+ community.

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights in a ruling made public on Monday said Azul Rojas Marin had been the victim of an act of torture in 2008, and it ordered the government to pay her unspecified damages.

Opinion: Coronavirus: A timeline of Turkey's missteps

Turkey has put more effort into containing the flow of information about COVID-19 cases than it has into containing the spread of the virus. But transparency and press freedom are crucial to fight it, says Miray Erbey.

Containing the spread of the novel coronavirus and saving lives requires governments to be transparent. This includes letting journalists and medical professionals do their jobs without being intimidated. We rely on a free press to hold governments accountable, but this is not possible in countries with intransigent leaders who regularly imprison journalists for their reporting. This is especially true in Turkey, which has one of the highest incarceration rates for journalists worldwide. Without transparency and freedom of the press, the true scale of the epidemic remains obscured, and increases the threat to public health.

French researcher tells of nine months of misery in Iranian jail

Roland Marchal, the French researcher freed last month after more than nine months imprisoned in Iran, detailed Monday the conditions of his confinement, with only the occasional book, odd visit or exchanges with other inmates to keep him sane. 

In his first public statements since returning to France as part of a prisoner exchange, Marchal said the isolation was worse than the interrogations.

"I was not physically tortured, but I suffered greatly from my confinement, and above all, my isolation," he said in a written message transmitted by his support group of friends and colleagues.

Libya's war: Will new EU mission stop arms shipments?

Questions raised over EU's new anti-arms mission since it deals primarily with naval violations, not land transfers.

by Ramy Allahoum

When Joseph Borrell, the European Union's diplomat-in-chief, announced the launch of Operation Irini  last week, he noted: "Diplomacy cannot succeed unless it is backed by action."

Irini - Greek for "peace" - is the bloc's latest attempt at stemming the flow of weapons to war-torn Libya, a country in chaos since longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown in a NATO-backed uprising in 2011.