Storm's Philippine hit deadly, disastrous
MANILA, Philippines -- Strong winds and rain from Typhoon Vongfong left at least one person dead and damaged hundreds of homes and coronavirus isolation facilities along with rice and corn fields in five hard-hit eastern towns, a governor said Friday.
Gov. Ben Evardone of Eastern Samar province, where the typhoon slammed ashore, said distraught residents wept after their houses were destroyed or blown away in the towns he inspected. One villager who lost his home slashed his wrist but was treated in time, he said.
A man bled to death after he was hit by glass shards in a school building he was trying to open to take shelter in, Evardone said.
"The damage I saw was very extensive. The roof of one church was ripped off completely, its iron bars twisted badly by the typhoon," Evardone said by telephone.
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Videos and pictures of the devastation sent by Evardone showed several low-slung buildings and sports centers either destroyed or badly damaged with their roofs peeled off or deformed and their iron trusses bent. Villagers outside damaged houses yelled "help" in one video.
Evardone said he and a group of military, police and local authorities failed to reach two towns hit by the typhoon, Jipapad and Maslog, because of fallen trees on the road. Cellphone and two-way radio communications to the far-flung areas were down and Evardone appealed to the military to deploy a helicopter to inspect them and deliver food if troops are unable to reach the area by today.
Vongfong weakened into a severe tropical storm after hitting land and was blowing northwest toward the populous main northern island of Luzon, government forecasters said.
Surrogacy babies stranded in Ukraine
KYIV, Ukraine -- Ukraine's human-rights ombudswoman has appealed to authorities to find a solution for scores of infants born to surrogate mothers for foreign parents who are stranded because the country's borders are closed under coronavirus restrictions.
Ukraine has a thriving surrogate industry and is one of the few countries that allows the service for foreigners.
"About 100 children are already waiting for their parents in different centers of reproductive medicine. And if quarantine is extended, then it will not be about hundreds, but about thousands," said ombudswoman Lyudmila Denisova.
Biotexcom, the country's largest surrogate operation, posted a video to reassure absent parents that their little ones are receiving good care, showing nurses bathing and caressing them.
Denisova said there are 51 babies in all at Biotexcom, 15 of them under the care of parents who were able to make it into the country before the shutdown but can't leave. Ukraine's restrictions are to remain in place until at least May 22.
The parents are from 12 countries, which includes the U.S.
Under a proposed plan, foreign parents would have to write a statement addressed to Denisova's office, which would then contact the ministry with a request to give permission to enter Ukraine.
Austria's culture minister steps down
BERLIN -- Austria's culture minister resigned Friday after mounting criticism and disappointment with her performance in the coronavirus crisis.
Ulrike Lunacek, a member of the Green party -- the junior member of the governing coalition -- is the first senior figure to leave Chancellor Sebastian Kurz's government since the alliance of conservatives and liberal-minded Green party members took office in January.
Lunacek pointed to dissatisfaction and disappointment in the cultural sector, the Austria Press Agency reported.
"I am making way for someone else," said Lunacek, who reported to Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler and was technically one rung below Cabinet level.
Lunacek irked Austrian cultural figures early in her tenure by saying she didn't understand last year's awarding of the Nobel literature prize to Austrian writer Peter Handke and describing a Bob Dylan concert as "boring."
"Although we have announced concrete things and conducted many talks and videoconferences with the representatives of various sectors, I had to acknowledge that I was no longer able to achieve a positive effect with my strengths, that I wasn't given a chance any more," Lunacek said.
Fire's smoke, fumes blanket Venice
ROME -- A fire at a chemical plant near Venice critically injured two people, belched thick black smoke into the air and forced Venetians to stay indoors for fear of toxic fumes, Italian authorities said Friday.
Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro said the blaze, triggered by an explosion Friday morning at the factory in the industrial town of Porto Marghera, was extinguished.
Firefighters warned of a possible spread of chemicals into the surrounding area.
State RAI TV said the fire broke out in a plant producing cosmetics, including a solvent used for nail varnish removal.
Brugnaro tweeted that text messages were sent to Venetians, urging them to "stay home and close the windows" as a precaution while authorities determine what chemicals were released by the accident.
A Section on 05/16/2020