San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Somber, lonely DDay tribute
At daybreak Saturday, Charles Shay stood without any fellow veterans on the very same beach where he waded ashore 76 years ago, part of one of the most epic battles in military historic that came to be known as DDay and turned the tide of World War II.
Compared with last year, when many tens of thousands came to the northern French beaches of Normandy to cheer the dwindling number of veterans and celebrate threequarters of a century of liberation from Nazi oppression, the coronavirus shutdown turned this year’s remembrance into one of the eeriest ever.
“I am very sad now,” said Shay, who was a 19yearold U.S. Army medic when he landed on Omaha Beach under horrific machinegun fire and shells. “Because of the virus, nobody can be here. I would like to see more of us here.”
Still the French would not let this day slip by unnoticed, such is their attachment to some 160,000 soldiers from the United States, Britain, Canada and other countries who spilled their blood to free foreign beaches and fight on to finally defeat Nazism almost one year later.
“It’s a June 6 unlike any other,” said Philippe Laillier, the mayor of SaintLaurentSurMer, who staged a small remembrance around the Omaha Beach monument.
INDIA
Rural areas report surges
India surpassed Italy as the sixth worsthit by the coronavirus pandemic after another biggest singleday spike in confirmed infections.
The Health Ministry reported 9,887 new cases on Saturday, bringing the total to 236,657. Most of the new cases are in rural areas following the return of hundreds of thousands of workers who left cities after the shutdown in late March. The shutdown is now largely being enforced in highrisk areas while authorities have partially restored train services and domestic flights and allowed shops and manufacturing to reopen.
CHINA Beijing eases restrictions
China’s capital lowered its emergency response to the secondlowest level Saturday for the coronavirus pandemic.
The move lifts most restrictions on people traveling from Wuhan and the surrounding province of Hubei, where the virus first appeared late last year. They will no longer face 14day quarantines and other forms of monitoring.
Beijing has reported no new cases of local transmission in at least 50 days and as many as 90 days in some districts.
BRITAIN
Prince pitches in on helpline
Prince William has revealed that he has been anonymously helping out on a crisis helpline during the virus shutdown.
The Duke of Cambridge’s work with Shout 85258 — an aroundtheclock text messaging helpline developed by the Royal Foundation — was made public to mark Volunteers Week.
William, who is second in line to the throne, is one of more than 2,000 volunteers who have been formally trained to help those in need. More than 300,000 text conversations have taken place between volunteers and people needing mental health support.