| No alcohol, no dog walks: Lockdown life in South Africa Posted: 26 Mar 2020 05:14 PM PDT  South Africa government has introduced stringent measures to halt the spread of coronavirus.
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| EU Leaders Struggle to Find Way Forward With Economy Tanking Posted: 26 Mar 2020 03:43 PM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- European leaders struggled to agree on a concrete strategy to contain the fallout from the deadly coronavirus, leaving key details to be hammered out in the weeks ahead.With thousands of people falling ill and hundreds dying every day from the pandemic, the leaders spent much of Thursday arguing over whether a joint communique would hint at financial burden sharing as a way to repair the damage to their economies. Earlier this week, finance ministers had passed the buck to the leaders but the leaders passed it right back. They tasked the finance chiefs with coming up with proposals within two weeks.A video call was expected to give the green light for the creation of credit lines from the region's bailout fund to keep borrowing costs low while governments ramp up spending to cushion the impact of the pandemic. But efforts to agree on the exact wording of the common statement ended with a fudge after six hours of talks, as a group of member states including France, Italy and Spain pushed for more radical steps to tackle the economic impact, such as the prospect of joint debt issuance via so-called coronabonds.That call was backed by European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde who warned leaders they were facing a crisis of "epic" proportions. But her appeals fell largely on deaf ears with Germany and the Netherlands, echoing similar divisions during the sovereign debt crisis that almost tore the bloc apart almost decade ago. The European Stability Mechanism was seen by many countries as a more straightforward solution to the problem of funding the response but Italy pushed back.While German Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed with the bleak assessment of the situation, she resisted calls for mutualizing debt, warning against unrealistic expectations, according to the officials. Merkel's tone was more categorical than before, one of the officials said, after nine EU leaders, including France's Emmanuel Macron, backed the idea of coronabonds in a letter ahead of the meeting. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte backed the German chancellor's stance on the joint instruments, the officials said.Merkel's intervention, delivered via an interpreter with just her photo on screen, came amid dramatic pleas for more action from her counterparts. In an address officials described as emotional, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said his whole country was suffering, while Macron warned that the political reaction after this crisis could kill the European project, two of the officials said. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez joined Conte in pushing for bolder and faster fiscal action and fought to stop the baton passing back to finance ministers.Over a heated exchange, countries most hit by the coronavirus were pitted against those from Europe's fiscally hawkish north. In lieu of concrete decisions and in an effort to bridge the different positions, the leaders asked the presidents of the European Union institutions to come up a with a proposal for an exit strategy, on top of the work assigned to finance minister over the next two weeks.While some officials interpreted the vagueness in the statement as a win for countries who pushed for steps that went beyond the mobilization of the ESM, there was little evidence that opponents to coronabonds were ready to give ground.Speaking after the leaders' call, Merkel said "Germany and others" were not in agreement on joint debt. "For me, the ESM is the preferred instrument -- it was created for times of crisis," she said.ECB WeaponThe ECB's massive intervention earlier this month has let the decision-making paralysis among EU governments go unpunished. When sovereign bond yields spiked amid doubts by investors on whether indebted countries can afford the spending required to stem the fallout, the ECB announced a bond purchase program that brought down borrowing costs across the bloc.But some leaders cautioned that not acting convincingly on the fiscal front could eventually undermine the ECB's work. During the leaders' discussion Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who co-signed the letter calling for coronabonds, cautioned that if the bloc didn't react, it could push the ECB toward an even larger program that would risk financial instability.(Updates with comments from Merkel, Rutte in fifth paragraph)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| FBI chief pledges to find answers on ex-agent Levinson Posted: 26 Mar 2020 03:41 PM PDT  The FBI won't give up on "finding out what happened" to former agent Robert Levinson, who the U.S. government believes died in the custody of the Iranians after vanishing more than a decade ago, according to an email FBI Director Chris Wray sent to the FBI workforce on Thursday. Wray also writes in the email, which was obtained by The Associated Press, that he himself met with the Levinson family and "we explained that the most credible evidence we have collected over the past 13 years points to the likelihood that Bob died in captivity." "It pained me to deliver that news, but I believe that we owed Bob's family a thorough and candid presentation of the information that we've collected," Wray wrote.
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| The U.S. Has ‘A Moral Obligation’ To Help Venezuela Deal With Its Coronavirus Outbreak Posted: 26 Mar 2020 03:30 PM PDT  A group of Democratic senators joined growing calls for Trump to ease punishing sanctions and provide aid to Venezuela and Iran amid the worsening pandemic.
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| US to free some prisoners amid coronavirus threat Posted: 26 Mar 2020 03:18 PM PDT  US Attorney General Bill Barr said Thursday he had instructed federal prisons to free some inmates to lessen the impact of the coronavirus epidemic. One day after the United Nations human rights chief urged countries to protect people held in overcrowded jails and other enclosed facilities, Barr said he had encouraged US prisons to release qualified inmates. "I've asked and issued a memorandum just today to the Bureau of Prisons to increase the use of home confinement, based on a number of factors... particularly for those older prisoners who have served substantial parts of their sentences," Barr said.
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| Merkel Pleads With Germans for Patience on Lockdown Measures Posted: 26 Mar 2020 03:12 PM PDT |
| On NYC's front lines, health workers worry they will be next Posted: 26 Mar 2020 03:07 PM PDT  A nurse died from coronavirus after working nonstop for weeks at a hospital where staffers frustrated with dwindling supplies posed in gowns made of trash bags. An emergency room doctor fears he had the virus long before getting too sick to work. At New York City-area hospitals on the front lines of the biggest coronavirus outbreak in the nation, workers are increasingly concerned about the ravages of the illness in their own ranks, and that the lack of testing and protective gear is making it not a matter of if they get it, but when.
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| Yemen rebel leader is ready to free Saudi captives for Hamas Posted: 26 Mar 2020 02:51 PM PDT |
| NY wants the nation's breathing machines, but supply is low Posted: 26 Mar 2020 02:31 PM PDT  New York's scramble to find enough breathing machines to treat its rapidly expanding legion of coronavirus patients illustrates a problem vexing hospitals and governments worldwide. In his nationally televised briefings this week, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has made desperate pleas to other states and the federal government to send breathing machines that the state will return when demand slows down. Cuomo's plea has proven to be a tough sell.
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| U.S. Is Poised to Top China With Most Infections: Virus Update Posted: 26 Mar 2020 02:16 PM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. surpassed Italy in cases, with more than 80,700, and is poised to overtake China as having the most infections in the world.President Donald Trump offered a plan that may help restore normal business. U.S. stocks jumped on optimism the $2 trillion U.S. stimulus package will blunt the pandemic's impact.China, where the outbreak began, will temporarily suspend the entry of foreigners holding valid visas and residence permits starting Saturday.Key Developments:Cases top 523,000; 23,000 dead, 122,000 recovered: Johns HopkinsU.S. fatalities top 1,000; confirmed cases in Canada surge 72%Fauci warns of potential for another cycle of infectionsWashington state's new-case rate slowsChina's Wuhan lockdown may delay feared second wave: studySpanish doctors are forced to choose who to let die from virusSubscribe to a daily update on the virus from Bloomberg's Prognosis team here.Click VRUS on the terminal for news and data on the coronavirus and here for maps and charts. For analysis of the impact from Bloomberg Economics, click here. To see the impact on oil and commodities demand, click here.U.S. Poised to Have World's Largest Outbreak (5:06 p.m. NY)The U.S. has at least 80,703 confirmed cases of coronavirus, surpassing Italy and positioning the country to overtake China as the site of the world's largest outbreak.The American tally was bolstered by a large jump in New York, which had 6,448 new cases Thursday, bringing the state's total to 37,258. That accounts for almost half the outbreak nationwide, according to data collected by Bloomberg.New Jersey and California also saw large increases in patients, and smaller hot spots in states like Michigan and Illinois began to grow more quickly.Italian health officials reported 6,153 new cases Thursday, the most in five days, bringing the country's total to 80,539. The outbreak in mainland China remains the largest globallyWashington's New Cases Slow (3 p.m. NY)Washington state has seen a drop in the rate of new cases being reported, Governor Jay Inslee said at a press conference, led by improvement in three counties in near Seattle where the outbreak began a month ago. Other counties aren't seeing the pace of new cases slow, he said.While hospitals are not yet full, the state -- which ranks fourth in U.S. cases -- needs to see a significant further reduction in cases in order to avoid running out of beds and equipment in the coming days, he said."We should not be within 10,000 miles of champagne corks on this," Inslee said. Without further decreases to the case count "a lot of people in the state of Washington are going to die."Inslee called for a national system for buying personal protective equipment and other supplies in order to use the federal government's buying power and avoid putting Washington in a "mad scramble" with all the other states for supplies.U.K. Helps Self-Employed Workers (2:30 p.m. NY)The U.K. government offered self-employed workers cash grants of as much as 2,500 pounds ($3,040) a month.Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak announced the three-month plan, at a cost the Treasury estimates will be about 9 billion pounds, after his offer last week to pay a portion of citizens' wages was widely criticized for omitting self-employed workers.About 95% of self-employed workers, 3.8 million people, will be eligible for the grants, Sunak said.Full story here.Latin Bank Offers Aid (2:30 p.m. NY)The Inter-American Development Bank will make $12 billion available to countries for responding to the crisis and its aftermath. That includes $8.8 billion for other purposes that the nations can redirect, and $3.2 billion added to the the 2020 lending program.The IDB wants to support the immediate public health response, safety nets for economically vulnerable people, aid for small- and medium-sized businesses and fiscal policies that support member countries.The Washington-based IDB provided loans and technical assistance in a region with chronic infrastructure and financial shortages.Trump Considers Plan to Rank Counties by Risk (2:15 p.m. NY)President Donald Trump said his administration is working on a plan that would rank U.S. counties into one of three categories as a step toward the relaxing the tight restrictions put in place to halt the spread of the coronavirus.The administration, using criteria developed based on expanded testing capabilities and in consultation with health officials, proposes to designate counties as high-risk, medium-risk and low-risk. This ranking will help local officials decide on maintaining, increasing or relaxing social distancing and other measures, the president said in a letter to U.S. governors."Americans across the country are hoping the day will soon arrive when they can resume their normal economic, social and religious lives," Trump wrote in the letter released by the White House.Read the full story hereItaly Virus Cases Rise, Fueled by Lombardy (1:11 p.m. NY)Italy reported its biggest rise in coronavirus infections in the past five days, as the disease spread further in the northern Lombardy region, even after weeks of rigid lockdown rules.The civil protection agency reported 6,153 new cases on Thursday, up from 5,210 a day earlier.Fatalities from the outbreak over the past 24 hours totaled 662, down from 683 for the previous day, according to figures provided at the agency's daily news conference on Thursday. Confirmed cases in the country now total 80,539.Read the full store hereN.Y. Patients Staying on Ventilators (12:20 p.m.)Some New Yorkers are staying on ventilators as long as 30 days, dimming hopes for their recovery and adding to the shortage of the lifesaving machines, Governor Andrew Cuomo said.Cuomo reported 100 more fatalities, for a total of 385, as hospitals brace for more. The city is deploying refrigerated trailers for use as temporary morgues. Until the outbreak is under control, Cuomo said officials are focused on reducing the rate of increase, not the reducing the number of cases, so hospitals don't run out of beds.New York added almost 6,500 cases, for a total of more than 37,000.China Blocks Foreigners (11:55 a.m. NY)China will temporarily suspend the entry of foreigners starting Saturday as cases worldwide surge, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and National Immigration Administration said on its website.China has to take "necessary and temporary" measures in response to the current coronavirus situation, using practices of various countries as reference, the agencies said. Adjustments will be made according to the situation, they said.U.K. Police Get Extra Powers (11:50 a.m. NY)The U.K. government gave police strengthened enforcement powers to ensure people stay at home unless their trip is essential. From Thursday, the police may issue a penalty of 60 pounds ($73), rising to 120 pounds for second-time offenders.Those not paying the fine can be taken to court and police can arrest those who continuously refuse to comply.U.S. Delays New ID Deadline by Year (11:40 a.m. NY)The U.S. delayed by a year, until October 2021, the deadline for states to issue new identification documents that meet the federal Real ID standards. Chad Wolf, acting Homeland Security secretary, said states needed time because motor vehicle offices that issue driver's licenses have been closed in response to Covid-19.U.K. Warns on 'Coughing' as Harassment (11:26 a.m. NY)The U.K. is ready to crack down on coughing as a way to threaten or intimidate police officers and shop workers. The nation's prosecution office issued a statement after reports that emergency workers were coughed at by people claiming to be infected. That could lead to assault charges and two years in jail, the prosecution service said.Expo in Dubai Could be Delayed (11:26 a.m. NY)A global exposition set for Dubai in late October could be delayed for up to a year, a setback for organizers who for years have touted the event as a potential bonanza for the United Arab Emirates. Dubai has spent billions of dollars building hotels and facilities in anticipation of attracting 25 million visitors during the six-month event.A final decision must be made by member states of the Paris-based International Bureau of Expositions, which awarded the event to Dubai and the U.A.E. in 2013.Iran Bans In-Country Travel (10:15 a.m. NY)Iran banned travel between cities and ordered people to return to their hometowns or face fines after millions defied calls to stay indoors and went out to celebrate the Persian new year. President Hassan Rouhani warned of a second surge of the disease after new cases surged followed the holiday period.Emergency services and cargo vehicles are exempt from the travel ban, the semi-official Tasnim news agency quoted Iran's police chief as saying.Europe Shies Away from Retooling Production for Gear (9:36 a.m. NY)The European Union signaled that efforts to increase the supply of medical gear will involve ramping up existing production capacity. The European Commission said converting production lines at the likes of automotive and aeronautics businesses "would be time-consuming and not always necessarily successful." The EU's executive arm commented after President Ursula von der Leyen and European Industry Commissioner Thierry Breton held a phone call with representatives of various businesses.U.K. Should Brace for $240 Billion Budget Deficit (9:28 a.m. NY)Britain's budget deficit could easily exceed 200 billion pounds ($240 billion) in the coming fiscal year as the coronavirus crisis hammers the economy and forces the government to unleash a huge package of fiscal stimulus. The warning came Thursday from the Institute for Fiscal Studies.Caterpillar Withdraws Forecast, Halts Some Operations (9:11 a.m. NY)Caterpillar Inc. is suspending operations at some U.S. facilities and withdrawing its 2020 financial guidance. The heavy-equipment maker said Thursday that the virus is starting to affect its supply chain.U.S. Jobless Claims Surged to Record (8:31 a.m. NY)The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits surged to a record 3.28 million last week. Initial jobless claims in the week ended March 21 were up from 282,000 in the prior week and more than quadruple the previous record of 695,000 in 1982, according to Labor Department data released Thursday. The figures date to 1967.Economists' projections had ranged as high as 4.4 million.Faster Virus Tests (8:30 a.m. NY)Henry Schein said an antibody rapid blood test, known as Standard Q COVID-19 IgM/IgG Rapid Test, is now available. The test is intended to be administered at the point of care and delivers results within 15 minutes from a pinprick with no instrumentation required.Earlier, Robert Bosch GmbH said it developed a test that can diagnose Covid-19 in less than 2.5 hours. The new test uses the Vivalytic molecular diagnostics platform made by Bosch's healthcare division, used in hospitals, laboratories and medical practices. Patients typically must wait one or two days before they get test results.Separately, U.K.-based Mologic Ltd. has sent prototypes of a 10-minute coronavirus test to laboratories for validation before it can begin full-scale manufacturing. The company and its partner, the Senegalese research foundation Institut Pasteur de Dakar, have developed a finger-prick test to determine whether a person had the illness and the state of their immune system. The company is also working on a separate saliva test to detect the presence of the virus.Walmart Hires Thousands (8:25 a.m. NY)Walmart Inc. has taken on 25,000 new employees and given offers to thousands more in the first week of a hiring push, as the biggest private employer in the U.S. scrambles to keep its shelves stocked and checkouts staffed.The retailer has compressed a hiring process that can often take two weeks into as little as three hours by eliminating formal interviews and written job offers.German Tour Operator TUI Said to Near State Aid (8:20 a.m. NY)TUI AG, the world's biggest tour operator, is close to securing almost 2 billion euros ($2.2 billion) in government aid in what's seen as a litmus test for Germany's pledge to rescue businesses ravaged by the pandemic.The company and its adviser reached an agreement with Germany's state-owned KfW development bank on the terms of loans earlier this week, said the people, who asked not to be identified because discussions are private. That financing package is now with TUI's lending banks, which are expected to sign off in the coming days, they said.BOE Warns of Long-Term Damage; Holds Rates (8 a.m. NY)The Bank of England left rates unchanged, but said it's ready to provide more support for the economy after warning that a very sharp reduction in activity was likely. The pound stayed stronger in a broad trend for a weaker dollar across global markets and gilts continued to gain."Given the severity of that disruption, there is a risk of longer-term damage to the economy, especially if there are business failures on a large scale or significant increases in unemployment," the central bank said.Ford Plans Gradual Restart of Plants (7:30 a.m. NY)Ford Motor Co. plans to resume production in Mexico on April 6, with some U.S. plants cranking up again about a week later. After halting North American production as of March 19, Ford said it's aiming to restart production first in Hermosillo, Mexico, which builds the Fusion and Lincoln MKZ sedans.Ford then plans to restart production on April 14 at Michigan, Kentucky and Ohio plants that assemble profitable F-Series pickups and commercial vans. Other factories that make transmissions and press metal parts for those vehicles are due to resume that day.Powell Says Fed Will Keep Credit Flowing (7:18 a.m. NY)"We will keep doing that aggressively and forthrightly, as we have been," Powell said in an interview on NBC Thursday. "When it comes to this lending we're not going to run out of ammunition." Over the past three weeks, the U.S. central bank has introduced an unprecedented series of measures pushing it deep into uncharted territory.Powell said the U.S. may well be in recession, but expects activity to resume and move back up in the second half of the year. He said "we would tend to listen to the experts" on when normal activity should resume and added that the virus would dictate the timetable.Spain Reports Fewer Deaths, Cases Surge (6:32 a.m. NY)Total cases rose to 56,188 from 47,610 and fatalities jumped by 655, fewer than on Wednesday, to 4,089. Hospitals in the country are struggling to cope with the surge.Europe Accounts for 7 out of 10 Virus Deaths, WHO Says (6:20 a.m. NY)The number of cases tripled in the past week in Europe, with the disease spreading faster in Spain, France, Germany and Switzerland, Hans Kluge, the World Health Organization's director for Europe, said at a press briefing in Copenhagen. Italy's infection rate has slowed slightly, but it's too early to say the disease has peaked there, he said. The country has 6,200 infected health-care workers, he added.Kluge said Europe needs to attack the disease in solidarity, because if the European Union manages to fight it but it takes hold in eastern Europe, it will just come back.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| W.House says ex-FBI agent may be dead; Iran says left 'years ago' Posted: 26 Mar 2020 02:08 PM PDT  The White House said Thursday that a missing former FBI agent may have died in Iran, acknowledging his family's conclusions, but Tehran said he had left the country years ago. The family of Bob Levinson, who disappeared in 2007 on a mysterious trip to Iran, said Wednesday that US intelligence had convinced them that he died in Iranian custody but that it was unclear when or how. President Donald Trump did not confirm Levinson's death when asked by reporters late Wednesday but his national security advisor, Robert O'Brien, went further Thursday.
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| A new beat for police across US: Enforcing social distance Posted: 26 Mar 2020 02:03 PM PDT  In New York City, they've started dismantling basketball hoops to prevent people from gathering in parks and playing. In Lakewood, New Jersey, police broke up a wedding being held in violation of a ban on large gatherings. Police departments are taking a lead role in enforcing social distancing guidelines that health officials say are critical to containing COVID-19.
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| Warring sides in Yemen back calls for coronavirus ceasefire Posted: 26 Mar 2020 01:39 PM PDT  All sides in Yemen's long conflict offered support on Thursday for the United Nations' call for a ceasefire to protect civilians from the novel coronavirus pandemic. The move came on the fifth anniversary of regional power Saudi Arabia's intervention in Yemen's civil war, at the helm of a military coalition supporting the internationally recognised government against the Iran-backed Huthi rebels. Yemen's broken healthcare system has not so far recorded a case of the COVID-19 illness, but aid groups have warned that when it does hit, the impact will be catastrophic in a country already regarded as facing the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
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| 8 countries under unilateral sanctions ask UN chief for help Posted: 26 Mar 2020 01:17 PM PDT |
| After Bailing Out Euro Area, Lagarde Tackles Merkel on Debt Posted: 26 Mar 2020 12:18 PM PDT |
| Europe Fumbled Coronavirus at First. Can It Manage the Pandemic Now? Posted: 26 Mar 2020 12:06 PM PDT  BRUSSELS -- With the rapid spread of the new coronavirus, the flattened world has developed a few speed bumps. With trade disrupted and economies paralyzed, some consider that the nation-state is back, as if it ever went away.For countries like the United States, China and Russia, that is normality. But for the European Union, this continuing experiment in shared sovereignty, borderless trade and freedom of movement, the virus has been a serious systemic shock. Some have even wondered if the bloc itself could shatter under the pressure.But after a fumbling start, the EU and its institutions, including the European Central Bank, have begun to cope better with the new challenge of Europe as the epicenter of the virus.Huge issues remain to be resolved, however. The whole concept of European "solidarity" is being challenged.The question, said Marc Pierini of Carnegie Europe, is a pretty simple one: "Can an EU-level response to this massive crisis prove to citizens that the EU will protect them and show solidarity?"The answer so far has been mixed. There is no doubt that the first impulse of important states, like Germany and Austria, was to retreat within their borders, which were being reestablished in panic.Despite increased efforts from Brussels, six countries still have export bans on medical equipment: Italy, Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. France has nationalized its supplies, and 12 states have put up internal borders, blocking the easy transport of goods through the bloc.But even as some borders have remained closed to combat the spread of the virus, that initial flinching is steadily giving way to pressure from large states, like France, Italy and Spain, joined by six others, to do more collectively, especially financially, to issue a "common debt instrument," a kind of Eurobond for the virus to help afflicted countries.For now, that idea is opposed by the more frugal northern states like the Netherlands and Germany, which think there are other ways to help Italy and Spain, but it will surely be discussed Thursday evening when European leaders meet in a teleconferenced summit.The meeting is part of Europe's deepening effort at coordination after a faltering start."We need to be pretty honest and say that the initial EU response was chaotic and belated," said Agata Gostynska-Jakubowska of the Center for European Reform in Brussels.It was obvious by the end of last year that the virus would come to Europe, she said, but even after it developed in Italy, "member states took center stage while the commission," the bloc's executive arm, "and other EU institutions were rather absent, and the harm was done, playing into the hands of Euroskeptics."As Europe dithered, states re-created internal borders, damaging the single market. Germany in particular has come under criticism for initially banning the export of supplies like masks, protective gear and medical equipment.Once the commission came up with an EU-wide restriction on exports, Germany lifted its own, but that took some time. Since then it has shown more solidarity by accepting some coronavirus patients from Italy and France.Only now is the bloc organizing 50 million euros -- about $54 million -- to buy needed medical equipment to distribute to hospitals where it is most needed.Embarrassingly for Europe's leaders, and even for the United States, it was China that stepped in early with medical aid.The fault for Europe's fractured response lies mostly with member states, argued Fabian Zuleeg, chief executive at the European Policy Center in Brussels."If there is an ineffective European response, a lot has to do with what the member states do," he said. "EU institutions need to do the right thing, but they need the permission of member states to act."There was confusion at the beginning, Zuleeg said. "People didn't grasp the magnitude of the crisis," he said. "Different countries took different approaches, and the commission was uncertain what to do.""There is still a huge risk to the union," said Daniela Schwarzer, director of the German Council on Foreign Relations in Berlin. "All the disintegrative tendencies can accelerate."Even when Chancellor Angela Merkel made a rare national address on the crisis a week ago, she failed to mention Europe at all."It was possible to frame a national approach in a European perspective," Schwarzer said, noting that President Emmanuel Macron of France did so, emphasizing "the Europe that protects," but Merkel did not.A senior adviser to Macron noted that Europeans have now provided as many masks to Italy as China, but given the delay, they are getting little credit for it."Mistakes were made for sure -- there was some flip-flopping, hesitations -- but that's the case everywhere in the world," the official said. "When we see what's going on in the United States today, Europe is not the continent that's the least organized."Part of the problem for Brussels is structural. Health, like terrorism, is considered an issue of national security and is the responsibility of individual member states.According to the governing treaties, while Brussels has exclusive competence over trade and has shared competence with member states over matters like agriculture and the single market, on health it can only "encourage cooperation" among states, promote research and "complement national policies."Europe's best instrument in a crisis, then, is money. While it could have acted faster, the European Central Bank on March 19 came up with a huge and unparalleled plan for further quantitative easing -- a bond-buying plan -- of up to 750 billion euros, some 6% of eurozone gross domestic product -- with the promise of more if necessary.The European Commission has relaxed its rules on state aid to companies and on limits to annual fiscal deficits, and the European Investment Bank has promised up to 40 billion euros so far in financing to help with liquidity for companies.But more will be needed, especially as the size of the economic hit becomes clearer in a bloc that already had anemic growth.Germany is crucial, and policy changes slowly with the current coalition. But Germany has moved, or has been pushed to move, further toward economic support of member states, Zuleeg said.Given that "no country can be blamed for being hit by the virus, there is a clear reason to show solidarity," he said.There is growing recognition that no member state can handle the crisis on its own, but whether that strengthens the EU in the hazy aftermath of the pandemic is hardly clear. There are already calls for the commission to work to coordinate how the crisis ends, given the economic and human disruption, to avoid the chaos of the start."We don't know if Europe will become stronger since we're really only at the beginning of this pandemic whose course we don't yet know," said François Heisbourg, a French analyst."The EU may strengthen if it demonstrates measures relevant to the crisis and if it can use its scale to overcome the limitations of purely national policies," he said. But the fuss over borders is exaggerated, he added."The virus travels with the person, so borders are relevant," he said. "People talked about how catastrophic it was to have temporary borders between France and Germany, about Europe splintering," Heisbourg added. "But not everything is geopolitical. You can't fight this without borders. It's about the logic of taming the epidemic."If populists criticize the performance of Brussels, the pandemic is also an argument for giving Brussels more power over health research, standards and the coordination of policies, he argued.Zuleeg agrees. "When it comes to cross-border issues like this, we need to set up ways to react quickly," he said. "We had to do it in the financial and monetary field with the debt crisis, and now we'll have to do it in health. Not because someone wants 'a bigger Europe' but because we need to do it. We are interdependent across borders."This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company
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| Trading handguns for handwipes Posted: 26 Mar 2020 12:00 PM PDT |
| Trump's 'Disaster Diplomacy' Has So Far Had Few Results Posted: 26 Mar 2020 12:00 PM PDT  WASHINGTON -- As the coronavirus raced across the globe earlier this year, the Trump administration offered assistance to a pair of longtime U.S. enemies, Iran and North Korea. The responses hardly amounted to a diplomatic breakthrough.The Iranians angrily dismissed the offer, calling it insincere and demanding broader relief from crippling U.S. sanctions. The North Koreans, angry with the United States over stalled nuclear negotiations, said they appreciated the offer but did not publicly accept, warning of "big difficulties" in their relationship with the United States.But the two cases illustrate the way President Donald Trump continues to pursue his foreign policy goals amid the pandemic, and the way the virus is shaping his approach. Administration officials see the crisis as creating new opportunities, but it also brings new risks as China and Russia seek to take advantage of a moment of perceived weakness and disarray for their U.S. adversaries.Experts call it disaster diplomacy -- the way nations use disasters like earthquakes, tsunamis and diseases to advance their agendas overseas. Historically, that has involved local catastrophes; now Trump and other world leaders are calibrating their political responses to a crisis afflicting all of humanity."It's clear that coronavirus is going to affect almost every aspect of American foreign policy for quite a while," said Richard Fontaine, a former National Security Council official during the administration of President George W. Bush who is now chief executive of the Center for a New American Security.Already, Fontaine said, the virus has accelerated competition between the United States and China, and could hasten the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere to keep them safe from the pandemic.China's government has promoted disinformation blaming the United States for creating the virus, and is positioning itself as a global leader against the pandemic, which the United States is struggling to contain. One of the country's most prominent businessmen, Alibaba founder Jack Ma, who is close to the country's leaders, recently offered to donate masks and test kits to help Americans fight the outbreak, a gesture underscoring the Trump administration's belated response.In a Facebook post Tuesday, the Russian Embassy in Washington quoted its ambassador, Anatoly Antonov, making a similar gesture -- offering test kits, which have been in short supply. And the Kremlin-funded English language media outlet RT published an op-ed on Wednesday which praised President Vladimir Putin for bravely donning a hazmat suit during a visit to a Moscow hospital, contrasting his leadership with that of Trump, who it said was sidelining experts and popping off for a "slack-jawed press corps."In an implicit challenge to U.S. policy against other adversaries, two top United Nations officials, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Michelle Bachelet, the high commissioner for human rights, this week called for the easing of financial sanctions against economically strapped countries so that they could confront the spreading virus. Bachelet said the economic penalties could impede medical treatment in Iran, Venezuela, Cuba, North Korea and Zimbabwe -- all of which are sanctioned by the United States.Speaking to reporters on March 22, Trump cast himself as a providing relief to at least two of those nations. "On North Korea, Iran, and others, we are open for helping other countries. It is a very serious time," Trump said, adding that he had offered "a glad hand" to "many other countries," although he did not specify which ones.With Iran's health care system swamped by one of the world's worst outbreaks of the coronavirus, the State Department said last month that it was "prepared to assist the Iranian people in their response efforts," a message conveyed through the Swiss government, which acts as an intermediary between Washington and Tehran.The State Department could not clarify precisely what sort of assistance the Trump administration offered. But the gesture was a shift for an administration that has worked to undermine Iran's government in every way it can, and which imposed new economic sanctions on Tehran as recently as last week.Despite a swiftly mounting death toll, which has surpassed 2,000, Iran quickly rejected the U.S. offer, making clear that what it really wants is broader relief from the sanctions Trump has imposed since he withdrew two years ago from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. Even before the virus struck, Iran appealed to international opinion by arguing that the U.S. sanctions were causing innocent people to suffer.In an open letter to the American people last week, Iran's president, Hassan Rouhani, said the United States was "aiding the spread of this virus with its sanctions," which he said "have drastically undermined the ability of the Iranian people to fight the coronavirus and some among them are losing their lives as a result."U.S. officials said that Iran's government had only itself to blame, and could quickly end the sanction by abandoning its nuclear program and foreign interventions in places like Syria and Yemen.But European leaders, as well as the governments of China and Russia, have called for broader sanctions relief from Washington, as have some Democrats."Rather than continue to pile on sanctions in the Iranian people's hour of need, we urge you to substantially suspend sanctions on Iran in a humanitarian gesture to the Iranian people to better enable them to fight the virus," a group of Democratic and liberal lawmakers reportedly wrote in a letter Tuesday to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.State Department officials maintain that humanitarian aid to Iran is exempt from the sanctions, and say Iranian government mismanagement and corruption is responsible for the suffering of people there.But Jarrett Blanc, a former Obama administration State Department official who oversaw the 2015 nuclear deal's implementation, said that U.S. financial restrictions have effectively choked off even permissible humanitarian aid. And they dismiss the U.S. offer of aid "as a few crumbs on the table" without any change in policy, said Vali R. Nasr, a former Obama administration State Department official and dean of the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University."The Iranian government does not want a situation where the United States gets maximum PR for minimal steps," Nasr added.Trump's offer to North Korea was received more warmly, although its practical impact remains unclear. In statement carried by the North's state-run Korean Central News Agency, Kim Yo Jong, the North Korean leader's sister and policy aide, extended "sincere gratitude" for what she called his intent to render cooperation in the anti-epidemic work. But Kim did not say whether her country would accept any U.S. assistance.North Korea says it has no confirmed cases of coronavirus -- a claim experts call implausible.Trump wants to resurrect a dialogue that stalled a year ago, after he rejected North Korea's demand for sweeping sanctions relief in return for rolling back a small part of its sprawling nuclear program.Kim suggested that Trump's letter was heavy on personal flattery, and that Trump said "he was impressed by the efforts made by the chairman to defend his people from the serious threat of the epidemic."North Korea has often accepted foreign aid during past crises, including national famine, only to quickly return to its previous state of hostile isolation, noted Ilan Kelman, a professor of disasters and health at University College London.Kelman, author of the book "Disaster Diplomacy: How Disasters Affect Peace and Conflict," said that reflected the recent history of hostile nations, which might be a lesson for the Trump administration."There are no clear-cut historical examples of disease diplomacy, medical diplomacy, disaster diplomacy where we saw new lasting diplomatic change because of the disaster or the disease."But in hard times like now, even collaboration with allies does not always achieve the results U.S. officials seek.After a meeting Wednesday with other foreign ministers of the industrialized nations that make up the Group of 7, Pompeo said that medical assistance the United States had sent worldwide demonstrated "the American people's famous generosity at its finest."He said that included recent aid to northern Italy, the hardest-hit country in Europe, where the Air Force has flown a jet filled with medical supplies and a private charity, Samaritan's Purse, has helped open a 68-bed hospital.But Pompeo did not deny a report in Der Spiegel that the United States wanted the Group of 7 ministers to adopt the term "Wuhan virus" in a joint statement about the meeting, part of a coordinated Trump administration effort to blame China's government for what U.S. officials call its efforts to cover up the virus's initial outbreak.A statement about the G-7 meeting from France's foreign minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, however, made no mention of China. Instead it emphasized "the need to combat any attempt to exploit the crisis for political purposes."This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company
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| VIRUS DIARY: `When are we going to the playground, Mama?' Posted: 26 Mar 2020 11:47 AM PDT  OAKLAND, California (AP) — "When are we going to the playground, Mama?" she asks again today, like she did yesterday and the day before that. Later I will bribe her with a spoonful of Nutella to eat half a strawberry.
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| Venezuela’s Dollar Lifeline at Risk From Anti-Virus Lockdown Posted: 26 Mar 2020 11:35 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Business closures and lockdowns in the U.S., Europe and Latin America are putting at risk billions of dollars in remittances on which Venezuela's economy depends.Venezuelan families get nearly $4 billion per year from relatives abroad, but that figure is projected to slump as migrants lose their jobs amid the coronavirus pandemic. That would bring additional misery to a country that has also been hit by a crash in crude prices as well as its own outbreak of the virus.Mariang Stefanie Escala, 29, earned 34,000 pesos ($8) a day as a waitress in a Bogota restaurant until March 19, when the managers told her they were closing due to a lockdown announced by the mayor's office.Escala sent 300,000 pesos per month to her family in the Venezuelan city of Puerto la Cruz, but now doesn't even have enough to pay her own rent or electricity bill."There are a lot of Venezuelans in the same situation," she said, in a phone interview.Venezuela is undergoing the deepest depression in the history of the Americas, made even worse by U.S. sanctions. The inflow of dollars from the 5 million Venezuelans who left the country in recent years is a lifeline for about a third of the households left behind.Now Venezuelan migrants in countries such as Colombia, Peru and Spain risk being thrown out of work amid the global downturn."The economies of the countries where Venezuelans are living and sending remittances from are losing dynamism and, adding the exceptional situation of the coronavirus, impediments to sending money build up," said Francisco Rodriguez, a Venezuelan economist who teaches at Tulane University.Rodriguez estimates remittances will drop 60% this year. Other economists, such Ecoanalitica director Asdrubal Oliveros, estimate a less dramatic drop of 30%, depending on how severely the global crisis affects employment.A quarter of Venezuelans -- about 7 million -- face regular food shortages, according to the United Nations Food Program.President Nicolas Maduro ordered a nationwide lockdown on March 17 to curb the spread of the virus, which has so far infected at least 106 people in Venezuela and more than 490,000 worldwide.(Updates with latest numbers of infected people in the 11th paragraph.)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Appeals grow to close US national parks during pandemic Posted: 26 Mar 2020 11:28 AM PDT  The Trump administration is sticking with its crowd friendly waiver of entrance fees at national parks during the coronavirus pandemic, as managers at some parks try and fail to keep visitors a safe distance apart and communities appeal for a shutdown at other parks that are still open. While the Interior Department agreed this week to requests from local managers of Yellowstone and some other iconic national parks to close, others remained open and newly free of charge. In Arizona, local governments and the Navajo Nation were waiting for an answer Thursday on their request earlier this week for federal officials to shut down Grand Canyon National Park as cases of the coronavirus grow in surrounding areas.
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| Paris falls silent: Sound maps show impact of confinement Posted: 26 Mar 2020 11:18 AM PDT  It's silence — a rare phenomenon in big cities like Paris, but one that's increasingly common now that tourism is banned and millions of people in and around the French capital are confined at home. Some 150 monitoring stations around the Ile-de-France — the name given to Paris and its suburbs — have recorded an "unusual silence" since the virus prevention lockdown officially began March 17. The agency that measures sound pollution in the region, Bruitparif, released before-and-after maps Thursday showing the drop in decibels.
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| Trump says feds developing new guidelines for virus risk Posted: 26 Mar 2020 11:10 AM PDT  President Donald Trump said Thursday that federal officials are developing guidelines to rate counties by risk of virus spread, as he aims to begin to ease nationwide guidelines meant to stem the coronavirus outbreak. In a letter to the nation's governors, Trump said the new guidelines are meant to enable state and local leaders to make "decisions about maintaining, increasing, or relaxing social distancing and other measures they have put in place." "Every day that we stay out it gets harder to bring it back very quickly," Trump said during a Thursday press conference.
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| Tiptoe through Dutch tulips? Not in coronavirus crisis Posted: 26 Mar 2020 10:56 AM PDT  The manicured lawns and pathways winding the flower beds at the Keukenhof spring garden, normally crowded with thousands of visitors on any given sun-splashed spring day, were deserted Thursday. "It feels very bad, you can imagine," said Keukenhof Director Bart Siemerink. The Keukenhof's annual eight-week opening, which usually attracts some 1.5 million visitors from more than 100 countries, was postponed last week, and on Wednesday canceled altogether.
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| ‘We’re Fucked’: Aircraft Carrier Outbreak Sends Troops Scrambling Posted: 26 Mar 2020 10:55 AM PDT  U.S. Navy and Marine Corps service members in Guam were ordered on Wednesday to break their own quarantine to set up makeshift shelters for U.S. troops coming off a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, where an outbreak of the novel coronavirus is rapidly spreading within the hulls of the ship.Some of the U.S. troops at Naval Base Guam, located on the western side of the U.S. territory at Apra Harbor, were assembled into 100-man working parties to begin transforming some of the base's facilities into temporary quarantine shelters for some of the 5,000 service members arriving from the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, a naval vessel where COVID-19 is spreading. "We found several more cases aboard the ship, we are in the process now of testing 100 percent of the crew of that ship to ensure that we are able to contain whatever spread that might have occurred there... but I also want to emphasize that the ship is operationally capable and can do its mission if required," said Acting Navy Secretary Thomas B. Modly at the Pentagon on Thursday. This Is a Man-Made Disaster, and That Man Is Donald TrumpU.S. Navy officials told The Daily Beast that 23 sailors onboard the Roosevelt tested positive for COVID-19 and that testing capabilities for the coronavirus are limited. The Wall Street Journal first reported the latest figures on Thursday. In total, the Navy has 133 confirmed cases of COVID-19, 104 of which are active-duty.One U.S. service member assigned to the working parties in Guam, who asked not to be named, told The Daily Beast that some troops are afraid they will contract the coronavirus from crew members arriving from the Roosevelt. U.S. Soldier in Virus Quarantine: 'Prisoners Receive Better Care'The service member added, "We're fucked." At a virtual town hall held from the Pentagon on Tuesday and streamed to Facebook live, Defense Secretary Mark Esper cautioned troops from holding mass troop formations and urged both service members and commanders to follow the guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But in Guam on Wednesday, both Navy and Marine Corps service members set up roughly 140 military beds in a basketball gymnasium. To squeeze more troops into the gym, Navy medical professionals recommended measuring the six-foot distance per guidance from the CDC from the center of the bed rather than from the outer edges, meaning that the beds are actually three feet apart. The CDC also suggests avoiding mass gatherings as a part of its social distancing guidelines. Meanwhile, soldiers from the 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 82nd Airborne Division are adjusting to the frustration of being stuck in Kuwait for a deployment now extended due to Esper's new order preventing troops overseas from coming home for another 60 days. They were the ones sent to the Mideast to deter Iran after December's violent escalation. "This wasn't a normal deployment. It was truly no notice. Dudes' lives are in a shit place back home because of how fast we had to leave," one soldier from the brigade said.Meanwhile, in Kuwait, the 1st Brigade of the Army's 82nd Airborne hasn't seen any outbreak thus far. One symptomatic soldier was kept in isolation recently, but his test came back negative. Their entire deployment is a case study in how the consequences of the Trump administration's bellicosity to Iran have now combined with the global spread of the novel coronavirus. During the nearly two years after the administration chose to abandon the Iran nuclear deal in favor of its "Maximum Pressure" campaign of economic strangulation, Iran-backed militias in Iraq resumed their attacks on U.S. forces. In late December, Iran's Kataib Hezbollah besieged the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, prompting Esper to order a battalion of the storied paratroopers to Iraq on New Year's Eve, with the rest of the brigade following soon after. The deployment was an "an appropriate and precautionary action taken in response to increased threat levels against U.S. personnel and facilities," Esper said at the time. Days later, a U.S. drone strike killed Iran's external security chief and Iran fired missiles at U.S. positions in Iraq. The escalation leveled off before rising again earlier this month—even as all sides dealt with their own coronavirus crises. The first battalion into Iraq from the brigade returned home in late February, before all the stop-movement orders, travel restrictions, and quarantine requirements. But the rest of the brigade, which specializes in rapid reaction to crises, is on ice. A soldier with the brigade told The Daily Beast that the uncertainty over when they'd return home—The Daily Beast is choosing not to report timeframes it's been told—is one more frustration in a deployment that's seen many.The soldier noted that they all understood that their job is to deploy quickly–but there wasn't much of a mission besides being ready if a shooting war broke out. "People are just getting frustrated because of how random, piecemeal [things are], and how many different things we've been told," the service member said. Faced with a situation they can't control, the brigade, and the base it's calling home for longer than expected, is adjusting as best they can to a different kind of crisis than the one it deployed to confront. Army Says It's $1 Billion Short on Coronavirus PrepWhen the gym closed, soldiers improvised workout equipment from the ever-present sandbags and whatever else was heavy enough to lift. Training continues, but in smaller-unit groups so the soldiers can follow social-distancing practices. The same practices apply in the tents where they sleep, as bunks are spread out to the degree possible. The Morale, Welfare, and Recreation facility, where servicemembers can get a paperback, movie, or videogame, has closed. The dining facility has shifted to carryout-only. Inevitably, the lines for it are long. An email to an account for the brigade's public-affairs officer was not immediately returned. On Facebook, the division commander, Army Maj. Gen. James J. Mingus, wrote on Wednesday that the elements of the 82nd deployed to the Mideast and South Asia are "training hard, maintaining readiness, and prepared to respond to any mission they are given… We will lead through this!""The biggest complaint," the service member said, "remains just the uncertainty and frustration of being told something only for it to be canceled and superseded multiple times."Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| REFILE-WRAPUP 1-Tens of millions face losing jobs in escalating coronavirus crisis Posted: 26 Mar 2020 10:54 AM PDT |
| Lawyers, judges push to close immigration courts amid virus Posted: 26 Mar 2020 10:47 AM PDT  Immigration attorneys have sported swim goggles and masks borrowed from friends to meet with clients in detention centers. Masked judges are stocking their cramped courtrooms with hand sanitizer for hearings they want to do by phone. While much of daily life has ground to a halt to reduce the spread of the coronavirus, the Trump administration is resisting calls from immigration judges and attorneys to stop in-person hearings and shutter all immigration courts.
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| Europe Reaches Libya Breakthrough With Naval Mission Deal Posted: 26 Mar 2020 10:45 AM PDT |
| Autism diagnosis more common in the US as racial gap closes Posted: 26 Mar 2020 10:42 AM PDT  Autism has grown slightly more common in the U.S., but a gap in diagnosis of white and black kids has disappeared, according to a government report released Thursday. Closure of that gap — thanks to increased screening — is the main reason autism diagnoses are up a little, some experts said. About 1 in 54 U.S. children were identified as having autism in 2016, according to the new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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| Cameroon rebels declare coronavirus ceasefire Posted: 26 Mar 2020 10:16 AM PDT  It is hoped more militias will follow suit to allow people to get medical treatment amid the pandemic.
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| Putin calls for sanctions 'moratorium' at G20 summit Posted: 26 Mar 2020 09:35 AM PDT  Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday called for sanctions relief during the coronavirus pandemic, telling G20 leaders it was a matter "of life and death". "Ideally we should introduce a... joint moratorium on restrictions on essential goods as well as on financial transactions for their purchase," Putin said at a virtual meeting of G20 leaders Thursday. "These matters should be freed of any politics," Putin added.
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| Feds Charge Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro With Drug Trafficking Posted: 26 Mar 2020 09:33 AM PDT  The Department of Justice on Thursday unveiled narco-terrorism charges against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and other senior government officials, alleging they participated in the country's illegal drug trafficking system and collaborated with a leftist Colombian guerrilla group to export cocaine to the United States. The president, along with five other Venezuelan officials, were all slapped with narco-terrorism, drug trafficking, and weapons charges by the Southern District of New York for allegedly facilitating the importation of tons of cocaine into the U.S. with the Cartel of the Suns, Attorney General William Barr said Thursday.The highly unusual charges mark only the second time the U.S. government has brought criminal charges against a foreign head of state.Venezuela allowed Colombians tied to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia—the People's Army, known as FARC—to fly cocaine north through the country and ultimately to North America, Barr said at a press conference."The scope and magnitude of the drug trafficking alleged was made possible only because Maduro and others corrupted the institutions of Venezuela and provided political and military protection for the rampant narco-terrorism crimes described in our charges," U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Geoffrey Berman said in a statement. "As alleged, Maduro and the other defendants expressly intended to flood the United States with cocaine in order to undermine the health and wellbeing of our nation."At the press conference, Barr also announced a $15 million reward for information leading to Maduro's arrest and lesser amounts for information leading to his alleged co-conspirators' arrests. Was a Russian Plot Behind the Venezuela Coup?More than a dozen other officials were charged in four separate indictments, including Diosdado Cabello Rondon, former speaker of the National Assembly, who was once considered the second most powerful man in Venezuela; Minister of Defense Vladimir Padrino Loquez; Hugo Armando Carvajal Barrios, former director of the country's military intelligence agency; and two leaders of the FARC terror group, one of the largest producers of cocaine worldwide.Prosecutors allege the Venezuelan officials conspired with the Cartel of the Suns, which was under Maduro's leadership, to take bribes in exchange for allowing the South American country to be used for narcotics shipments, according to one of the indictments unsealed on Thursday. The financial gains from the shipments were then allegedly used to finance a decades-long civil war in Columbia. The charges also designate Venezuela as a state sponsor of terrorism, a distinction that the U.S. has only bestowed on four other countries—North Korea, Iran, Sudan, and Syria. The move, which states the country "repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism," will allow the U.S. government to implement further sanctions against Venezuela and the Maduro regime. Thursday's charges escalate the feud between the U.S. and Maduro over the South American country's extensive alleged corruption—a deteriorating relationship that began in 1999 when former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez assumed power. The Trump administration has even publicly backed Venezuelan opposition leader, Juan Guaidó, in his efforts to unseat Maduro.During his State of the Union address last month, President Donald Trump slammed Maduro, calling him "an illegitimate ruler" and "a tyrant who brutalizes his people," vowing that his power would "be smashed and broken." Guaidó was a guest of Trump's at the address. One of the indictments filed in the Southern District of New York states Maduro allegedly "helped manage and ultimately lead" the criminal organization, even allegedly personally negotiating multi-ton shipments of cocaine while cultivating relationships with other South American countries for drug trades.Maduro and other cartel members "prioritized using cocaine as a weapon against America and importing as much cocaine as possible into the United States," the indictment says, adding that the Cartel of the Suns "sought not only to enrich its members and enhance their power but also to flood the United States with cocaine and inflict the drug's harmful and addictive effects on users in this country."The indictments are rare; the U.S. government has only brought charges against a foreign head of state twice. In 1989, Miami federal prosecutors indicted Manuel Noreiga, the former dictator of Panama, on drug trafficking charges. Noreiga, who served as the country's ruler for six years, was convicted in Miami. He later died in 2017 in Panama.Maduro condemned the charges on Twitter, accusing the U.S. and its ally Colombia of trying to fill Venezuela "with violence."Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Flatter or fight? Governors seeking help must navigate Trump Posted: 26 Mar 2020 08:50 AM PDT  The first-term Democrat blasted the Trump administration Sunday on CNN for failing to help states obtain masks, gloves and other protective gear. It got President Donald Trump's attention. After a Twitter feud and some mudslinging (Pritzker compared Trump to a "carnival barker"), the two got on the phone Monday, and Trump promised Illinois 250,000 masks and 300 ventilators.
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| Virus takes toll on US military as it tries to aid civilians Posted: 26 Mar 2020 08:40 AM PDT  The coronavirus is taking a growing toll on the U.S. military, and commanders and senior officials are bracing for worse. From nuclear missile fields at home to war zones abroad, from flight lines to ships at sea, the Pentagon is striving to shield vital missions even as it faces urgent calls for help on the civilian front. Army recruiting stations have closed.
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| Exclusive: Coronavirus crisis could destroy far more than 25 million jobs - ILO official Posted: 26 Mar 2020 08:36 AM PDT  The number of jobs lost around the world due to the coronavirus crisis could be "far higher" than the 25 million the International Labour Organization (ILO) estimated just a week ago, a senior ILO official said on Thursday. The United Nations agency said on March 18 that, based on different scenarios for the impact of the pandemic on global economic growth, estimated the global ranks of jobless would rise by between 5.3 million and 24.7 million. ILO's next forecast is expected to be issued next week.
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| Egypt expels Guardian reporter for challenging virus count Posted: 26 Mar 2020 08:31 AM PDT  Egypt has expelled a correspondent for The Guardian over a report citing a study that challenged the official count of coronavirus cases in the Arab world's most populous country, the British daily reported Thursday. The paper's correspondent, Ruth Michaelson, left the country last week after Western diplomats informed her that Egyptian security services wanted her to leave "immediately," the daily said. Michaelson had reported on unpublished research by Canadian infectious disease specialists estimating an outbreak size of over 19,000 cases in Egypt.
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| U.K. Wants Global Virus Fight But Won’t Join EU Ventilator Plan Posted: 26 Mar 2020 08:26 AM PDT |
| Gunmen kill 2 Pakistani troops, wound 4 near Iran border Posted: 26 Mar 2020 08:24 AM PDT |
| American held by Iran hospitalized with coronavirus symptoms amid worsening outbreak Posted: 26 Mar 2020 08:18 AM PDT  An American detained by Iran for over 600 days on spurious charges has been hospitalized with symptoms consistent with the novel coronavirus, according to his family's spokesperson. Michael White, 48, has not yet been confirmed to have the virus, known as COVID-19, but there are deep concerns about his safety as Iran struggles to contain its outbreak, with over 29,000 Iranians infected and over 2,200 killed.
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| Smaller communities prepare for onslaught of virus patients Posted: 26 Mar 2020 07:35 AM PDT  Now the largest hospital in Georgia's mostly rural southwest corner is rapidly running out of space amid the highest rate of coronavirus infection in the entire state. At Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital in Albany, Georgia, intensive care beds are filled with COVID-19 patients, employees are hand-sewing masks to help stretch dwindling supplies, and every day is a struggle. The rampant infections in New York City have dominated much of the national conversation about the disease.
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| Iran says missing ex-FBI agent left country 'years ago' Posted: 26 Mar 2020 07:04 AM PDT Iran implicitly denied Thursday that a missing former FBI agent had died in its custody as his family claims, restating its longstanding position that he left the Islamic republic "years ago". US President Donald Trump did not confirm Bob Levinson's death, saying that Iran had not communicated any news on the former agent, who has been missing since 2007 and would have turned 72 this month. "Based on credible evidence, (Levinson) left Iran years ago for an unknown destination," foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said in a statement.
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| Curfews extended as USAID declares aid suspension in Yemen Posted: 26 Mar 2020 06:21 AM PDT  As countries across the Middle East tighten restrictions on movement to curb the spread of the coronavirus, a spokesman for the U.S. Agency for International Development said on Thursday that strict measures are forcing it to halt aid for deficient health care in war-ravaged Yemen. A spokesman for USAID, one of the largest donors to UN operations in Yemen, told The Associated Press that it will "partially suspend" its operations the following day in Houthi rebel-held areas, where 70% of Yemenis live, because of heavy restrictions imposed by the rebels. In Iraq and Lebanon, authorities extended far-reaching curfews for two weeks, while in hard-hit Iran, the death toll jumped by 157, prompting new steps to limit public gatherings and domestic travel.
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| What you need to know today about the virus outbreak Posted: 26 Mar 2020 05:28 AM PDT  The number of people around the world who have contracted the coronavirus has surged past 500,000, and the United States tops the list, according to a Johns Hopkins University tally. In India, some of the country's legions of poor and others thrown out of work by a nationwide stay-at-home order began receiving aid from public and private groups working to ensure people have enough to eat.
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| Why do rightwing populist leaders oppose experts? Posted: 26 Mar 2020 05:17 AM PDT  The likes of Trump, Bolsonaro and Johnson have denigrated professionalism but Reagan, Thatcher and other neoliberals led the wayIt is conventional wisdom that populists are against "elites" – and experts in particular. But rightwing populists aren't opposed to all elites – they only denounce professionals who claim authority on the basis of special knowledge. Their perverse version of rightwing anti-authoritarianism implies that there is nothing wrong with the wealthy; in fact, the latter can be superior sources of wisdom. Trump putting the advice of "business leaders" above that of infectious disease experts is likely to yield deadly results. But it's important to understand that the systematic denigration of professionalism started not with the populists – Reagan, Thatcher and other cheerleaders for neoliberalism led the way.Populists are often criticized for being great simplifiers, when the world is in fact highly complex. For those who take Trump to be the paradigmatic populist of our day, it's easy to conclude that populists are constantly lying and ushering in a "post-truth" era, in which falsehoods exclusively produced by the daily White House reality TV show are literally turning out to be deadly.But this picture is itself simplistic. Populists are not by definition liars. They are only committed to one particular empirical falsehood: the notion that they, and only they, represent what populists often call "the real people" – with the implication that other politicians are not only corrupt and "crooked", but traitors to the people, or, as Trump has often put it, "Un-American".More important, it's not true that today's rightwing populists are indiscriminately against all elites. They only denounce professionals. Trump supporters did not find it scandalous that his cabinet was full of Wall Street figures. The base does not resent the rich – rather, it aspires to be rich. In their eyes, the wealthy have earned their money, an objective indicator of their "hard work", or the fact that they really produced something (never mind that the likes of Ross and Mnuchin have never created anything and only shifted money around).These supposed movers and shakers contrast starkly with professionals who claim authority on the basis of education and special licensing – think lawyers, doctors and professors. Such figures can automatically be maligned by rightwing culture warriors as "condescending" – after all, they tell other people what to do, because they claim to know better. According to Nigel Farage, for instance, the World Health Organization is just another club of "clever people" who want to "bully us".Is the success of the Trumps, Bolsonaros and Johnsons of this world proof that the people can always be seduced by demagogues – and simply don't know what's good for them? Distrust of professionalism does not come out of nowhere. Neoliberalism paved the way for these attitudes. Margaret Thatcher memorably held that academics didn't really do any work; in fact, they all – with the possible exception of scientists – seemed to be lefties wasting taxpayers' money. Tories introduced the imperative constantly to audit and assess (and discipline and punish those not measuring up); only what could be counted, counted. Governments that praised "free markets" – the spontaneous emergence of economic order – actually ended up constructing entirely artificial "markets" in academia and healthcare. These pseudo-markets had to provide the right "incentives" – because, so the assumption went, professionals could not possibly be motivated by intrinsic goals of helping patients or pursuing research or educating young people.> This concerted attack on professionalism made it easier for Trump and Boris Johnson to claim that they might just know better than leading scientistsThe result was not a genuine market, but a vast bureaucracy reminiscent of the late Soviet Union. What one historian has called "the tyranny of metrics" meant that the measure became the target; the relentless quantification of performance distorted what and how professionals performed. Enormous resources, and a fair bit of cunning, went into gaming a system which was based on the suspicion that professional self-regulation and internal accountability are sham ideals that just justify professionals erecting monopolies and closed shops.This concerted attack on professionalism made it easier for Trump and Boris Johnson to claim that they might just know better than leading scientists. Business leaders are praised as more capable decision-makers, when it comes to the length of a lockdown, than epidemiologists. Trump – who apparently listens to theories cooked up by his uniquely unqualified son-in-law and fears being upstaged by Anthony Fauci – has still not understood that the longer amateur hour at the very top lasts, the more lives will be lost.The Covid-19 crisis might lead us to a clear-eyed view of the value of professionalism (including professionals in politics like, say, Hillary Clinton). But it's also important to keep professionalism in its place. Professional advice should constrain political choices, not determine them. Proper professionals, unlike technocrats, do not promise that they know the uniquely correct solution to all policy problems.The assumption that there is only one right way is perversely shared by populists and technocrats: populists claim that there is only one authentic popular will (to build a Wall, get Brexit done, or what have you), and that they are the only ones who know it – and the only ones who can implement it. The technocratic stance – widely on display on the continent during the European debt crisis – holds that there is only one rational answer to policy challenges, and that only technocrats can identify it. If you disagree with a populist, you are declared a traitor to the people; if you disagree with a technocrat, you'll be told politely that you're not smart enough.The lesson is not that professionalism should replace democratic politics, or, for that matter, widespread participation by citizens – a conclusion drawn by unashamedly elitist liberals who have sought to reinstate professional gatekeepers everywhere, but especially in primaries. Citizens still know best what their problems are; professionals – in perfectly non-condescending ways – play a crucial role in addressing them. Or, as John Dewey, the greatest American philosopher of democracy in the 20th century, put it, "no government by experts in which the masses do not have the chance to inform the experts as to their needs can be anything but an oligarchy managed in the interests of the few." * Jan-Werner Müller teaches at Princeton. Democracy Rules is forthcoming
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| Former FBI agent missing in Iran may be dead, US officials say Posted: 26 Mar 2020 04:43 AM PDT  Iran must provide a complete accounting of what occurred with Bob Levinson before the United States can fully accept what happened in this case," National Security Advisor Robert C. O'Brien said.
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| Iran reports 157 new virus deaths, imposes intercity ban Posted: 26 Mar 2020 03:35 AM PDT  Iran on Thursday announced 157 new deaths from coronavirus, raising the official number of fatalities to 2,234, as it slapped a ban on intercity travel to try to curb the spread. Health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour also said that 2,389 new cases have been confirmed in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of declared infections in one of the world's wost-hit countries to 29,406. Jahanpour said that the spread of the new coronavirus and its rate of infection was "growing steadily" in Iran.
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| Trump’s Go-It-Alone Virus Stance Brings Risks Posted: 26 Mar 2020 03:28 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Donald Trump looks increasingly intent on playing a game of chicken of sorts with his government's Covid-19 response.As the U.S. death toll topped 1,000 yesterday, the president's vision of putting Americans back to work by Easter has set him on a collision course with some other global leaders and the heads of U.S. cities and states who are imposing lockdowns to stem the contagion.Trump's play-it-down approach, also embraced by like-minded Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, contrasts with the nations warning their health-care systems risk being overrun. The schism will be on full display today as Group of 20 leaders hold a virtual summit to "advance a coordinated global response."Others who adopted lenient stances have since bowed to the reality of the virus. U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson abandoned a "herd immunity" approach and announced a three-week lockdown. In Russia, Vladimir Putin postponed a constitutional vote that would let him rule to 2036, and Japan, where workers were thronging the Tokyo metro as recently as yesterday, is considering declaring a state of emergency.The World Health Organization wants governments to stop wasting time."We squandered the first window of opportunity," Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said yesterday in a rare public admonishment of the response so far. "The time to act was actually more than a month ago or two months ago."Global HeadlinesU.S. stimulus | The Senate approved a $2 trillion economic rescue plan, putting pressure on the Democratic-led House to do the same and send it to Trump for his signature. The legislation passed on a 96-0 vote just before midnight following intense negotiations between Republicans and Democrats, who demanded changes after saying the measure's provisions were too focused on companies.Click here for a breakdown of the bill. White House chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow said jobless claims data out today will show a "very large increase" in Americans filing for benefits.Life-or-death choice | In Spain, people are dying in hospital waiting rooms before they can even be admitted, Ben Sills and Laura Millan Lombrana report. Triage rules for access to overflowing intensive-care wards dictate that older patients miss out to younger people with a better shot at surviving the virus. With some funeral services halted and no space left in morgues, corpses are being stored at the main ice rink. "We are completely overwhelmed," one medic said.Taking control | Governments worldwide have adopted sweeping powers to control the coronavirus, Iain Marlow reports. They're locking down cities with the help of the army, mapping population flows via smartphones and jailing or sequestering quarantine breakers using CCTV and facial recognition cameras. As the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks on the U.S. shows, however, governments may be reluctant to relinquish these tools once the immediate crisis is over.Power shift | Israel's parliament meets today to choose a new speaker, a vote that's expected to hand control of the legislative agenda to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's opponents, the Blue and White bloc of Benny Gantz. It follows a showdown between the High Court and Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein, a Netanyahu ally, who resigned rather than call a vote on his successor. The court transferred his authority to convene parliament to an opposition legislator.Refugee risk | Social distancing and even clean water needed to keep the coronavirus at bay are luxuries few of the world's 30 million refugees can afford, Saud Abu Ramadan and David Wainer report. With health-care systems and employment opportunities already under severe strain, camps for those fleeing conflict and poverty and urban slums are potential breeding grounds for the pandemic.What to WatchU.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak will announce assistance today to help millions of self-employed people whose incomes are threatened by the pandemic. Joe Biden rejected any idea of an April debate with Bernie Sanders and signaled that he views the Democratic nominating contest as essentially over.Tell us how we're doing or what we're missing at balancepower@bloomberg.net.And finally … Kosovo became Europe's first nation to torpedo a government for the way it's confronting the coronavirus. Lawmakers voted to remove Prime Minister Albin Kurti after he clashed with President Hashim Thaci over calling a state of emergency. The ouster underscores a split between Western powers over Kosovo's approach to resolving its dispute with Serbia: Germany and France warned it could spread instability but Washington supported Kurti's departure because the U.S. prefers Thaci calling the shots. For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| After Putin's Big Fail, Russia Braces for COVID-19 Onslaught Posted: 26 Mar 2020 03:18 AM PDT  Only days after the Kremlin assured the Russians that the coronavirus pandemic was under control, Moscow's Mayor Sergei Sobyanin told Russian President Vladimir Putin that "the momentum is high and a serious situation is unfolding." Contrary to the previously reported low rate of infection, "the real number of those who are sick is significantly higher," Sobyanin said. He added that the number of tests conducted to date has been extremely low "and no one on earth knows the real picture."Russia Swore It Whipped the Virus, and Fox and CNN Bought ItOn Wednesday, officially released statistics listed 658 coronavirus infections and no deaths. To date, there have been at least 3 known deaths of coronavirus patients in Russia, but they are being attributed to other causes and thereby deceptively omitted from government reports. The official bulletin about the coronavirus, released by Russia's federal agency Rospotrebnadzor on March 24, states that more than 112,074 people remain under medical supervision.Concerned Russian doctors sounded the alarm that potential coronavirus cases are being ascribed to pneumonia and seasonal flu without testing. For example, the city of St. Petersburg experienced a sharp jump of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) virus cases. During just one week in March, 63,000 SARS cases and 406 cases of pneumonia have been recorded, according to Interfax. The city's administration emphasized that the incidence of SARS is at the epidemiological threshold. The Interfax news report did not point out that the official name of the novel coronavirus is SARS-CoV-2.In light of the Kremlin's pandemic propensity for lying, the public disregarded initial claims that the government successfully curtailed the spread of the coronavirus. Panic buying ensued, leading to the rising prices of sugar, buckwheat, produce and other food items.As the coronavirus curve keeps on climbing, President Putin is on a mission to demonstrate his leadership. He postponed a nationwide vote on pending constitutional changes, which are meant to secure his lifelong presidency. The voting may take place later in the year and possibly be conducted by mail. The decision is being left solely to Putin.Putin Worries Coronavirus Could Screw Up His Constitutional 'Coronation'In a televised address to the nation Wednesday, Putin announced a sweeping array of measures, which he said were designed to prevent "what is happening today in many Western countries, both in Europe and overseas" from becoming Russia's future. Starting on March 28, Russians are getting one week of paid leave to stay home, in an attempt to "flatten the curve" of the pandemic. With exception of the Russians trying to return from abroad, Russia stopped all international flights.Russian pundits and medical experts described the fight against the coronavirus pandemic as a rehearsal for biological warfare. Vladimir Putin has ordered the Russian army to carry out drills designed to increase its readiness to fight the novel coronavirus. The drills will include specialist medical units and nuclear, biological and chemical protection troops. Discussions are underway as to the potential cancellation of the Victory Day parade in May of this year, but final determination will be made depending on the efforts to curtail the spread of the coronavirus. There is a possibility the parade, commemorating the surrender of the Nazis in WWII, may be held without spectators. U.S. National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien is currently set to attend the event, in lieu of Donald J. Trump. Kremlin-controlled state TV shows are taking unprecedented measures to protect some of their most cherished assets: the hosts, whose full-throated support of Vladimir Putin is especially important during these challenging times. Popular Russian info-talk show 60 Minutes is now filming its segments without audiences. After the host Olga Skabeeva could be heard coughing during a commercial break, she was separated from her husband and co-host Evgeny Popov. The married couple are now hosting 60 Minutes separately, on different days. Likewise, they are staying apart during the off-work hours, because even if one of them falls ill, the show must go on.Speaking of performance art, Vladimir Putin embarked on a visit to Moscow's hospital for monitoring suspected coronavirus patients. Unlike U.S. President Donald J. Trump, who frequently claims that the threat of coronavirus is widely overblown, Vladimir Putin is an old Chekist who believes in science, facts and bio-warfare. Taking no chances, Putin donned a hazmat suit and visited only one patient— Dmitry Garkavi, who is a doctor and a social media influencer. The drop-in was not particularly risky, since Garkavi was hospitalized with pneumonia, and tested negative for coronavirus—twice. In his social media posts, Garkavi remarked that he communicated with Vladimir Putin for all of "10-15 seconds." After the brief exchange, Putin observed other patients through the glass of the hospital's control room, was helped out of his outfit and promptly left the building. The hazmat suit sported by the Russian leader was distinctly different than the protective attire worn by hospital workers. It was purchased for the Russian president by his staff especially for his hospital visit. Putin's yellow jumpsuit is now in high demand, but is completely sold out at the store where it was bought.Vladimir Putin's coronavirus photo op promptly made the rounds on Russian state television. During his show, The Evening with Vladimir Soloviev, the host beamed with pride when he pointed out: "Out of all of the world leaders, only [China'a President] Xi Jinping and [Russian President] Vladimir Putin went to visit the sick." For contrast, Soloviev introduced a clip of the U.S. President Donald J. Trump rapidly moving away from the White House's coronavirus task force response coordinator, Dr Deborah Birx, as soon as she mentioned her low grade fever.In spite of Russia's own issues with coronavirus testing, widespread shortages of medical equipment and protective medical gear, the Kremlin is posturing by offering to help other countries in fighting the coronavirus pandemic. Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov offered to help Washington in the fight against the outbreak of the novel coronavirus and complained about "rude" American media trying to switch the focus to other countries (like Russia).State TV host Vladimir Soloviev pompously predicted: "I have a feeling that we will end up saving humanity—again, like we've done more than once," an apparent reference to Russia's sacrifices defeating the Nazis in World War II. Russian state media are framing the failure by the Trump administration to offer help to its European allies in their fight against the deadly pandemic as the defeat of the United States, the end of NATO, and the virtual nonexistence of transatlantic unity. Russian experts believe that the outcome of the global fight against the coronavirus pandemic will change the entire balance of power in the world. Russian state media outlet Vesti described the course chosen by the administration of the U.S. President Donald J. Trump as "indecisive," "poorly coordinated" and hesitant to implement the tough measures recommended by the experts in curtailing the deadly pandemic.Vesti argued that "coronavirus will determine the winner in the rivalry between China and the United States." But the stakes are much higher. Kremlin-controlled media believe that on a larger scale, "the success or failure of the United States will form a global view of the effectiveness of democracy compared to autocracy. This, in turn, will affect America's global position, its ability to attract vacillating allies into its orbit from China's sphere of influence, and possibly determine the global geopolitical leader for years to come."Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Iraq extends nationwide curfew until April 11 Posted: 26 Mar 2020 02:54 AM PDT  The Iraqi government said Thursday that it will extend a countrywide lockdown it imposed in response to the coronavirus pandemic until April 11. One of Iraq's first precautionary measures was to close its 1,500-kilometre (940-mile) land border with Iran late last month. Iraq has since ramped up its measures against the virus, with individual provinces imposing curfews before the government last week announced a countrywide lockdown.
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