The novel coronavirus killed more than 1,900 people (WaPo) in the United States yesterday, the highest daily toll any country has seen (France 24) from the virus. Preliminary data from across the country suggests the virus is infecting and killing black Americans (WaPo) at a disproportionately high rate, prompting widespread calls to better understand and address the disparity.
 
A Washington Post analysis of available data found that majority-black U.S. counties have three times the infection rate and almost six times the death rate as white-majority counties. U.S. infectious disease chief Anthony Fauci said the virus is “shining a bright light on how unacceptable” pre-existing racial health disparities are. Research shows that worldwide, economically marginalized communities have higher rates of the chronic health conditions (NYT) that increase the risk of dying from the virus.

The Chinese Communist Party said that Ren Zhiqiang, a former property tycoon who disappeared in March after writing a widely circulated essay criticizing Beijing’s response to the coronavirus outbreak, is under investigation (SCMP) for “serious violations of law and discipline.”
 
CFR’s Elizabeth C. Economy discusses how the coronavirus is a stress test for Chinese President Xi Jinping.
 
New Zealand: The country extended its strict national lockdown (WaPo) for two more weeks after signs that its “elimination” rather than “containment” approach to the coronavirus is effective. New case reports have dropped for two consecutive days amid a major expansion of testing.

Bangladeshi counterterrorism authorities arrested (Dhaka Tribune) Abdul Majed, who was convicted of the 1975 assassination of Bangladesh’s independence leader but had been living as a fugitive abroad.
 
Afghanistan: Human Rights Watch urged the Afghan government (RFE/RL) to prosecute captured militant leader Aslam Farooqi, who is affiliated with the self-proclaimed Islamic State, for war crimes.

Washington will hold a dialogue in June to review its economic and security presence (FT) in Iraq, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said. On Sunday, Iraq’s prime minister–designate said the United States pledged to remove half its 5,200 troops in the country by the end of the year.
 
CFR’s Steven A. Cook argues that there is nothing left for Americans to do in Iraq.
 
Qatar: The organizers of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar denied new charges from U.S. prosecutors that they paid bribes (Reuters) to secure hosting rights for the tournament.

The South African national health workers’ union is preparing a lawsuit (Mail & Guardian) against the government for failing to provide workers with adequate protective gear to face the coronavirus. Some 250,000 workers (Reuters) are members of the union.
 
Guinea: President Alpha Conde enacted a new constitution (Al Jazeera) by decree. A referendum on its changes last month was boycotted by the opposition and spurred mass protests.

Mauro Ferrari, the European Union’s top scientist, resigned (FT) after facing obstacles in creating a scientific cooperation program to fight the coronavirus. He criticized “the complete absence of coordination of health-care policies among member states.”
 
For Think Global Health, Ilona Kickbusch and Susan Bergner write that the pandemic reveals the EU’s powerlessness to act coherently on health matters.

A top court sentenced (NYT) former Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa to eight years in prison for accepting $8 million in bribes in exchange for public contracts between 2012 and 2016.
 
Peru: The Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruled that the Peruvian government is responsible (BBC) for the 2008 detention and rape of Azul Rojas Marin, a trans woman. The ruling was the court’s first on the torture of an LGBTQ+ person.

The International Labor Organization (ILO) projects the coronavirus crisis will result in the loss of 6.7 percent of all working hours during the second quarter of 2020, far exceeding losses of the 2008 financial crisis.