116-year-old woman survives COVID-19
PARIS – A 116-year-old French nun who is believed to be the world’s second-oldest person has survived COVID-19 and was looking forward to celebrating her 117th birthday on Thursday.
The Gerontology Research Group, which validates details of people thought to be 110 or older, lists Frenchwoman Lucile Randon – Sister André’s birth name – as the second-oldest known living person in the world.
French media report that Sister André tested positive for the virus in midjanuary in the southern French city of Toulon. But just three weeks later, the nun is considered recovered.
“I didn’t even realize I had it,” she told French newspaper Var-matin.
Sister André, who is blind and uses a wheelchair, did not even worry when she received her diagnosis.
“She showed no fear of the disease,” David Tavella, the communications manager for the care home where the nun lives, told the newspaper. “On the other hand, she was very concerned about the other residents.”
Not all of the home’s residents shared Sister André’s luck. In January, 81 of the 88 residents tested positive for the virus, and about 10 of them died, according to Var-matin.
Once doctors declared the nun no longer infected, she was allowed to attend Mass.
WASHINGTON – Former President Donald Trump denounced his lawyers’ performance in the Senate impeachment trial during private conversations with allies, but his advisers said he has no plans to shake up his legal team.
The advisers, who described their discussions with Trump on condition of anonymity, said one of the reasons the former president doesn’t see a need to make a change is that he remains confident of an acquittal.
Trump voiced particularly searing criticism of attorney Bruce Castor, whose meandering presentation drew the ire of some Republican senators.
Trump spoke more favorably of the presentation of attorney David Schoen, who sought to persuade senators that the trial is unconstitutional because the president has left office – an argument the majority of senators rejected.
Trump is accused of inciting the insurrection Jan. 6 at the U.S. Capitol by pro-trump rioters seeking to overturn his election loss to Democrat Joe Biden. The riot left five people dead, including a Capitol Police officer.
Trump, who is watching the trial from his Mar-a-lago estate in Palm Beach. Florida, and speaking with allies by phone, said Castor appeared illprepared and constantly wandered off the main claim that the trial is unconstitutional.
Castor also complimented the presentation of the House impeachment managers – praising the opposition is always a no-no with Trump – and spent too much time praising senators and not enough defending Trump, the advisers said.
Trump often judges people by how they perform on television, and his lawyers did not always live up to expectations, aides said. Schoen, at the end of his appearance, got choked up.
Castor declined to discuss his relationship with Trump in detail, but did dispute news reports that the former president was “furious” about his nationally
televised performance.
Asked if Trump expressed displeasure to him directly, Castor said: “Far from it.”
Allies of Trump urged him to shake up his legal team. Peter Navarro, a White House adviser on trade and manufacturing during the Trump administration, had actually called for dismissal of Castor and Schoen last week, questioning their qualifications.
After Tuesday’s presentation at the impeachment trial, Navarro tweeted: “Time for an affirmative defense of the charges against POTUS45. First we fire all the lawyers.”
As a legal matter, the Trump attorneys lost on Tuesday. The Senate voted, 56-44, that the trial is constitutional and should proceed. That majority included six Republicans, some of whom criticized the defense attorneys, who joined 50 Democrats and independents.
“The House managers made a compelling, cogent case, and the president’s team did not,” said Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-LA., in comments echoed by Trump and some of his allies. Cassidy voted with the majority.
Conviction requires a two-thirds vote of a Senate split 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans. That means 17 Republicans would have to vote against Trump, and that seems unlikely.