Informing, engaging & connecting the people of the world. APRIL 24, 2020

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Joyce Rydstrom of Alta, Iowa, had to shut the doors to her hair salon last month when the governor ordered a suspension of nonessential businesses to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Now, she says her emergency fund is shrinking.

ON THIS DAY IN AMERICAN HISTORY On April 24, 1800, President John Adams establishes the Library of Congress using $5,000 appropriated by Congress. The first books were ordered from London and arrived in 1801. They were kept in the U.S. Capitol. In 1802, the library had 964 books and nine maps. During the War of 1812, the Capitol was burned down causing the loss of 3,000 books. In order to replace the loss, former President Thomas Jefferson sold his extensive library of nearly 6,500 volumes to Congress to rebuild the collection. Another fire in 1851 destroyed about two thirds of the then 55,000-volume library, including many of Jefferson’s books. These losses were replaced within a few years. Today, the library has about 38 million books as well as photographs and recordings.

Britain has performed the first human trial of a coronavirus vaccine in Europe. Two volunteers were injected Thursday in the city of Oxford, where a university team developed the vaccine in less than three months. Hundreds of other volunteers will be injected with the trial vaccine, and the same number will get a vaccine for meningitis so the results can be compared.

International media havе been filled with reports that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is seriously ill. In reality, though, nothing is known about his condition.

VIDEO: Medical students from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., are helping supply doctors and nurses with much-needed medical supplies during the coronavirus pandemic. Now hundreds of med students nationwide are collecting as many face masks, gloves, disinfectants and hand sanitizers as they can.

Police in Cameroon used force on Friday to disperse Muslims praying at mosques at the start of the holy month of Ramadan, saying they were violating government orders not to gather because of the coronavirus.