Citing national security concerns, the U.S. government said it will bar downloads in the U.S. of the Chinese-owned TikTok and WeChat apps starting Sunday.

In its announcement Friday, the Commerce Department accused China's communist leaders of having shown "the means and motives to use these apps to threaten the national security, foreign policy, and the economy of the U.S.,"

Never before has Israel had such a high need for those schooled in the rarefied art of shofar blowing.

The wail of the Biblical shofar — made from the horn of a ram or a certain antelope species — is a hallmark of prayer gatherings on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, which begins this weekend.

But because of the coronavirus pandemic, Israel is mandating smaller, socially distanced prayer gatherings — so the country needs many more shofar blowers than in years past.

This past Sunday at Uhuru Park in downtown Nairobi, it was life as usual.

Kids took rides on horses and camels. Families and lovers shared paddle boats in the lake at the center of the park.

Alice Nyambura and Lucy Wahu, both college sophomores, sat on the grass watching the boats. The sun was shining; the lily pads blooming. They had come here to get their minds off the pandemic.

"I don't think there is anything like corona," Nyambura said.

"It is there," Wahu corrected her. "But I think they are exaggerating the numbers."