[RFI] South Africa's government will assist the authorities in Madagascar to test and analyse an unproven herbal treatment for Covid-19, according to health minister Zweli Mkhize. Madagascar's President Andry Rajoelina is promoting a tea infusion based on the artemisia plant, praising its benefits in treating the coronavirus.

[News24Wire] While at least 19 000 inmates inside South Africa's prisons will be eligible for special parole to curb the spread of Covid-19, those sentenced for a range of serious crimes will not make the cut.

[The Herald] AN estimated 4 000 Zimbabweans in South Africa have registered with the embassy for food aid as many have become desperate due to that country's prolonged lockdown.

Fans can enjoy a full slate of classic college basketball games, including three national championships, Friday on ESPNU.

ESPN's team of college writers and reporters reflects on the stunning reversals of fortune they have covered during their careers.

East Tennessee State University is promoting Jason Shay to be head coach of the men's basketball team, replacing Steve Forbes, who left for Wake Forest last week. Shay was on Forbes' staff the past five seasons.

Top international basketball prospect Rati Andronikashvili has committed to Creighton, he told ESPN on Thursday.

The NCAA enforcement staff, in its reply to Kansas regarding charges of five Level I rules violations, said coach Bill Self and assistant Kurtis Townsend "embraced, welcomed and encouraged" Adidas' influence to help high-profile recruits sign at KU.

Marquette has added Gardner-Webb transfer Jose Perez, who scored at least 15 points per game for his former team each of the past two seasons.

1 Polish Zloty = 0.336 Singapore Dollar

1 Polish Zloty = 290.1005 South Korean Won

1 Polish Zloty = 5.9772 Czech Republic Koruna

1 Polish Zloty = 1.6824 Chinese Yuan Renminbi

1 Polish Zloty = 1.3633 Brazilian Real

1 Qatari Rial = 0.388 Singapore Dollar

1 Qatari Rial = 335.0142 South Korean Won

1 Qatari Rial = 6.9026 Czech Republic Koruna

1 Qatari Rial = 1.9429 Chinese Yuan Renminbi

1 Qatari Rial = 1.5744 Brazilian Real

Winds are from the Northwest at 13.8 gusting to 36.8 MPH (12 gusting to 32 KT). The pressure is 1010.5 mb and the humidity is 33%. The wind chill is 39. Last Updated on May 9 2020, 11:53 am EDT.

1 Indian Rupee = 0.0187 Singapore Dollar

1 Indian Rupee = 16.1554 South Korean Won

1 Indian Rupee = 0.3329 Czech Republic Koruna

1 Indian Rupee = 0.0937 Chinese Yuan Renminbi

1 Indian Rupee = 0.0759 Brazilian Real

1 Pakistani Rupee = 0.0088 Singapore Dollar

1 Pakistani Rupee = 7.6405 South Korean Won

1 Pakistani Rupee = 0.1574 Czech Republic Koruna

1 Pakistani Rupee = 0.0443 Chinese Yuan Renminbi

1 Pakistani Rupee = 0.0359 Brazilian Real

Researchers highlight risk of asymptomatic infection, as Europe begins easing lockdown

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More than 10 times as many people in Germany as thought may have been infected with coronavirus, researchers have said, as Italy led swathes of Europe out of lockdown and officials said the continent’s outbreak was mostly past its peak.

Researchers from Bonn University said on Monday that their preliminary study, based on fieldwork in the town of Gangelt in Heinsberg municipality, which had one of Germany’s highest death tolls, showed the risk of infection by asymptomatic carriers.

Coronavirus has infected more than 3.5 million people and caused nearly 250,000 deaths worldwide, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker.

China’s state broadcaster CCTV attacked the US secretary of state’s “insane and evasive remarks” on the origins of the pandemic. Mike Pompeo said there was “enormous evidence” to show the virus originated in a lab in China.

As Donald Trump presses states to reopen their economies, his administration is privately projecting daily deaths will almost double to about 3,000 by 1 June, according to an internal document seen by the New York Times.

Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, extended the country’s national state of emergency to 31 May, adding that he would consider lifting it earlier if experts decided that was possible based on regional infection trends.

World leaders, with the exception of Trump, stumped up nearly €7.4bn (£6.5bn) to research Covid-19 vaccines and therapies, pledging the money would also be used to distribute any vaccine to poor countries on time and equitably.

Lack of PPE cited as reason for mass infections – with suspicions deaths are not recorded

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For weeks, paramedic Dmitry Seryogin had warned about the lack of coronavirus testing and inadequate protective gear that he and his colleagues were given in the city of Oryol, about a four-hour drive south of Moscow. If a patient did not explicitly warn they had coronavirus, he said, teams handled likely infections in simple masks and gloves.

Then, the inevitable happened. Two of his colleagues fell ill with coronavirus, then five more, and now, Seryogin says, more than a dozen have contracted the virus. The regional governor has confirmed an outbreak at a medical station, saying staff had been quarantined and he had “set the goal of providing everyone with PPE. No matter where they are going, what kind of call”.

Related: Concern as coronavirus threatens Russia's closed ‘nuclear cities’

Figures from human rights commissioner paint different picture to that provided by police

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Reported cases of domestic violence in Russia have more than doubled during the country’s coronavirus lockdown, according to the Russian human rights commissioner, who painted a different picture to that provided by police data.

Complaints and reports made to Russian non-governmental organisations spiked from roughly 6,000 in March to more than 13,000 in April, Tatyana Moskalkova said on Tuesday. “The picture is rather non-optimistic,” the RIA Novosti news agency quoted her as saying.

Related: 'Calamitous': domestic violence set to soar by 20% during global lockdown

Related: How the killing of an abusive father by his daughters fuelled Russia's culture wars

Fake social media accounts also used to support Ron Paul’s presidential bid and the Occupy movement

Iran’s state broadcaster experimented with using fake social media accounts to influence the outcome of the 2014 Scottish independence referendum and other western elections, according to a report from Facebook released on Tuesday.

The Iranian network, one of eight to be suspended for so-called “coordinated inauthentic behaviour” by the social media giant in April, points to efforts by state-linked groups to try to use Facebook to influence foreign democratic contests years before Russia’s alleged campaign against the 2016 US presidential contest.

1 Sierra Leonean Leone = 0.0001 Singapore Dollar

1 Sierra Leonean Leone = 0.1237 South Korean Won

1 Sierra Leonean Leone = 0.0025 Czech Republic Koruna

1 Sierra Leonean Leone = 0.0007 Chinese Yuan Renminbi

1 Sierra Leonean Leone = 0.0006 Brazilian Real

With his flawless English, he sometimes translated for both American and Chinese officials, making him the “indispensable man.”

The latest on stock market and business news during the coronavirus outbreak.

It was not clear whether the scientists had found infectious virus or inert fragments, so sexual transmission of the virus still seems very unlikely.

A House report found that Americans fleeing Asia and Europe to beat the president’s travel bans faced few temperature checks or other rigorous screenings to see if they were bringing the virus home.

Ekpar Asat came to the United States for the State Department’s most prestigious program for foreign citizens. Chinese security officers detained him weeks after he returned home.

New 90-day limits on work visas for Chinese journalists followed Beijing’s expulsion of American journalists and raised the threat of further retaliation by the Chinese government.

1 New Taiwan Dollar = 0.0473 Singapore Dollar

1 New Taiwan Dollar = 40.8547 South Korean Won

1 New Taiwan Dollar = 0.8418 Czech Republic Koruna

1 New Taiwan Dollar = 0.2369 Chinese Yuan Renminbi

1 New Taiwan Dollar = 0.192 Brazilian Real