| California Declares Emergency; Dog Tests Positive: Virus Update Posted: 04 Mar 2020 05:48 PM PST  (Bloomberg) -- California declared a state of emergency to give authorities greater leeway in combating the coronavirus, while the death toll from the disease surpassed 3,000 in China.The declaration in the most populous U.S. state followed passage in the House of Representatives of a $7.8 billion spending package to fund measures to combat the outbreak, showcasing a strengthening response in the world's largest economy. China continues to report rising numbers of people discharged after treatment, while confirmed cases keep climbing from South Korea to Italy to North America. The first confirmed human-to-animal transmission of the coronavirus was reported in Hong Kong.Key Developments:Global cases reach 94,410; death toll rises past 3,269U.S. lawmakers agree on $7.8 billion in emergency spendingThe U.S. CDC lifted most restrictions on coronavirus testingVirus threatens to unleash lawsuits against global businessA coronavirus expert is racing for answers in a locked-down labClick 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.China Deaths Slow (8:33 a.m. Hong Kong time)China on Wednesday reported an additional 31 coronavirus deaths by March 4, bringing the total to 3,012, with all of the newest fatalities coming from Hubei province, the original source of the outbreak. The country also reported an additional 139 confirmed cases of the virus, bringing the total to 80,409. Discharged patients climbed by 2,189 to 52045.While doubts remain over whether the Chinese statistics show the full picture, the surging number of recovering patients has spurred optimism. Sixty-two percent of those who've been officially diagnosed with the disease are now better and out of hospital, according to the data from the National Health Commission on Wednesday.California Governor Declares Emergency (8:09 a.m Hong Kong time)California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency to make more resources available and loosen regulations. The state had its first death Wednesday from a resident in Placer County, whose case was linked to travel on a cruise ship from San Francisco to Mexico last month.More than 50% of the roughly 2,500 people on that cruise were Californians, Newsom said. The state is sending people up and down the state to find passengers for monitoring. The ship, the Grand Princess, is now being rerouted from a separate sailing and is being held off the coast of San Francisco as the state prepares to test guests on board, Newsom said. Twenty-one passengers and crew members are showing symptoms.Washington Conference (7:39 a.m. Hong Kong)The American Israel Public Affairs Committee said Wednesday that a person infected with the coronavirus had contact in New York with people who attended the organization's policy conference in Washington this week."To our knowledge no one who attended the conference has tested positive for coronavirus at this time," AIPAC said in an emailed statement to conference participants, also posted on Twitter. The people exposed to the infected person "have been added to the self-quarantine list," according to the statement.AIPAC, an influential pro-Israel lobby, said it has been in close contact with Washington's health department. "There is no evidence of community spread in D.C.," according to the District of Columbia Health Department Web siteWeb siteWeb siteWeb siteWeb siteWeb siteWeb site. Among the speakers at the AIPAC conference were Vice President Mike Pence, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and Michael Bloomberg, the former New York mayor and the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.Qantas Cleaning (7:25 a.m. Hong Kong)Qantas Airways Ltd.'s substandard plane-cleaning practices may have put workers and passengers at risk of catching the coronavirus, according to a workplace safety watchdog.The airline's method of cleaning planes that could have carried infected passengers are "inadequate," SafeWork NSW said in a March 2 notice to Qantas that was released by a trade union Thursday. "Workers and other persons may be exposed to a risk of injury or illness," the state government body said in its report.A spokesman for the airline said it's considering appealing the notice. "Qantas is not known for being complacent when it comes to safety or the cleanliness of our aircraft," it said in a statement.CDC Lifts Most Restrictions on Testing (5:16 p.m. NY)The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lifted most restrictions on coronavirus testing on Wednesday, saying in a new set of guidelines that doctors could use their judgment in deciding what patients to test."This expands testing to a wider group of symptomatic patients," the agency said in a document posted on its website. Testing decisions should be based on how the virus is spreading in a given community, as well as whether a patient has symptoms consistent with possible coronavirus infection.The CDC has been criticized by local doctors and health officials over overly restrictive testing criteria that had prevented physicians from testing sick people who hadn't traveled to affected areas or had contact with known patients. Also, the original test kit the CDC produced had flaws that led to shortages of testing capacity, which are only now being resolved.Drugmakers Promise Affordable Vaccines, Treatments (4:25 p.m. NY)Executives from Sanofi, Johnson & Johnson and other drugmakers committed to affordable access of potential coronavirus vaccines and treatments, at a briefing with reporters Wednesday."We're keenly aware of what's at stake here," said Stephen Ubl, head of PhRMA, the industry's lobbying arm.Daniel O'Day, chief executive officer of Gilead Sciences Inc., said there are many factors that need to be considered when pricing a drug, such as what other treatments are available and how to ensure there's an ability to reinvest into medicines for other potential pandemics.Washington State Targets Price Gouging (3:21 p.m. NY)Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson is investigating price gouging in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak in the Seattle region, where 10 people have died from the illness. Many stores are out of hand sanitizer and face masks, and panicked shoppers are stocking up on essentials."My office is investigating price gouging in the wake of the Covid-19 public health emergency," Ferguson said in a statement, referring to the name of the disease caused by the virus. "We do not identify the targets of our investigations, but we are taking formal investigative actions. If you see price gouging, file a complaint with my office."Washington, unlike most U.S. states, doesn't have a specific price-gouging law.United to Reduce Flights, Freeze Hiring (3:10 p.m. NY)United Airlines Holdings Inc. plans to cut back on flights, freeze hiring and halt merit pay raises as it grapples with a rapid decline in travel demand. The domestic schedule will be pared 10% in April and international flying will be chopped 20%, United said in a message to employees. Similar reductions will probably be necessary for May, Chief Executive Oscar Munoz and President Scott Kirby said in the memo.United has also imposed a hiring freeze through June and deferred merit-based salary increases for management until July 1, in an effort to prepare the company financially for a steep downturn in business. The Chicago-based carrier will also offer employees voluntary unpaid leaves of absence.Italy Closes Schools Until March 15 (12:55 p.m. NY)Italy said it would close its schools until March 15 as it redoubles efforts to curb the worst outbreak of the coronavirus epidemic in Europe.The decision came after Italian emergency chief Angelo Borrelli reported an additional 28 deaths, bringing the total to 107. The number of coronavirus cases increased to 3,086 from 2,502 on Tuesday in an outbreak that has crippled activity in the rich northern regions.U.K. Lawmakers Discuss Contingency Plans (11:52 a.m. NY)The U.K. Parliament is working on contingency plans to keep functioning if there are restrictions placed on public gatherings to delay the spread of coronavirus. The U.K. said Wednesday that cases jumped by 34 to a total of 85.Ministers "will be saying a little bit more in the next couple of days," Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the House of Commons after he was asked about using conference calls and electronic voting to pass legislation."You have to make a judgment on the most opportune and effective time to implement these measures, and that will be a calculation for the experts," Johnson's spokesman, James Slack, said later.N.Y. Students to Be Flown Home (10:41 a.m. NY)About 300 City University of New York and State University of New York students and related faculty studying in China, Italy, Japan, Iran and South Korea will be flown back in a charter plane to New York Stewart International Airport in Orange County, Governor Andrew Cuomo said in a media briefing. They will then be quarantined and monitored for 14 days in dormitories, he said.Cuomo and state health officials plan to meet with Westchester County government and health leaders Wednesday to track the spread of the virus after six people tested positive in the county. Cuomo said they're looking into whether any of the patients took public transportation.Four More Test Positive in New York, Cuomo Says (10:10 a.m. NY)Relatives and a neighbor of a lawyer who contracted the coronavirus in Westchester County all have tested positive for the infection, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday.The lawyer's wife, 14-year-old daughter, 20-year-old son and a person who drove him to the hospital all came down with the sickness, the governor said during a briefing. Yeshiva University in Manhattan's Washington Heights and Salanter Akiba Riverdale Academy in the Bronx, where the children attended, both have been closed.The attorney is in intensive care, Cuomo said.U.S. Business Leaders Caution Against Overreacting (9:42 a.m. NY)U.S. Chamber of Commerce officials and travel industry leaders urged businesses and consumers not to overreact to the spread of coronavirus and to take precautions while going about business as usual."Fear and panic undermine our ability to contain the virus, to minimize disruptions to daily life and to keep our economy humming along," the chamber's chief executive officer, Tom Donohue, said at a press conference in Washington.BOE's Bailey Says Coronavirus Means Bank Must Be Nimble (9:40 a.m. NY)The Bank of England needs to be nimble in its efforts to tackle the coronavirus threat, according to incoming Governor Andrew Bailey.Speaking before U.K. lawmakers at his appointment hearing in Parliament on Wednesday, Bailey said collective action may be needed to offset the impact on supply chains. There is mounting speculation that the BOE will follow the Federal Reserve with an emergency interest-rate cut.Hong Kong Pet Dog Tests Positive, Report Says (9:39 a.m. NY)Hong Kong authorities confirmed that a pet dog belonging to a coronavirus patient had tested positive for the virus, likely marking the first case of human-to-animal transmission, the South China Morning Post reported. The dog will now remain in quarantine.France Reports 45 New Cases; Total Is 257: (9:34 a.m.)France has 45 new cases, public health authority Sante Publique France said on its website. The number of fatalities is unchanged at four.U.K. Coronavirus Cases Jump by 34 to 85 (9:22 a.m. NY)The U.K.'s Department of Health and Social Care said in a tweet that the number of confirmed positive coronavirus cases stands at 85 people as of 9 a.m. local time on March 4.EU Fears Cascading Effects on Economy From Virus (9:12 a.m. NY)The coronavirus is threatening to plunge both France and Italy into recession, and a prolonged epidemic could ripple through the region's economy and financial markets and cause a "vicious sovereign-bank loop," European finance ministers were warned by officials on Wednesday."A longer and more widespread epidemic could have a disproportionate negative impact through uncertainty and financial-market channels," according to a European Commission briefing note on the economic impact, seen by Bloomberg. "Cascading effects could stem from liquidity shortages in firms that have to stop production, amplified and spread out by financial markets."'\--With assistance from John Harney.To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Mark Schoifet in New York at mschoifet@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Emma O'Brien at eobrien6@bloomberg.net, Kara Wetzel, Christopher AnsteyFor 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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| Roberts chides Schumer for 'dangerous' remarks on 2 justices Posted: 04 Mar 2020 04:45 PM PST  Çhief Justice John Roberts on Wednesday criticized as "inappropriate" and "dangerous" comments that Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer made outside the Supreme Court earlier in the day about Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. Roberts was responding to Schumer's remarks at a rally outside the court while a high-profile abortion case was being argued inside. In a statement, Schumer spokesman Justin Goodman criticized Roberts, saying that "to follow the right wing's deliberate misinterpretation of what Sen. Schumer said" shows the chief justice "does not just call balls and strikes."
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| CDC Expands Testing; More Infections in NYC Suburb: Virus Update Posted: 04 Mar 2020 03:52 PM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Five more people were infected with the coronavirus in New York state, all linked to a 50-year-old lawyer who lives in Westchester County and works in Manhattan, Governor Andrew Cuomo said. That brings the total in the state to 11, including three family members of the lawyer and a neighbor who drove him to the hospital.United Airlines Holdings Inc. cut domestic and international flights for April, and froze hiring. Italy announced a nationwide closing of its schools until March 15 as it redoubles efforts to curb the worst outbreak in Europe.Total coronavirus cases globally topped 93,000, and infections rose in Europe. In the U.S., fatalities rose to 11 from nine on Tuesday. Cases also climbed in South Korea, Iran, Malaysia and India. The U.K. said cases jumped by 34 to a total of 85, and Parliament is discussing contingency plans.Key Developments:Global cases reach 93,017; death toll rises past 3,200U.S. lawmakers agree on $7.8 billion in emergency spendingSome VA stockpiles of protective medical masks aren't usableVirus threatens to unleash lawsuits against global businessA coronavirus expert is racing for answers in a locked-down labClick 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.Washington Conference (7:39 a.m. Hong Kong)The American Israel Public Affairs Committee said Wednesday that a person infected with the coronavirus had contact in New York with people who attended the organization's policy conference in Washington this week."To our knowledge no one who attended the conference has tested positive for coronavirus at this time," AIPAC said in an emailed statement to conference participants, also posted on Twitter. The people exposed to the infected person "have been added to the self-quarantine list," according to the statement.AIPAC, an influential pro-Israel lobby, said it has been in close contact with Washington's health department. "There is no evidence of community spread in D.C.," according to the District of Columbia Health Department Web siteWeb site. Among the speakers at the AIPAC conference were Vice President Mike Pence, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and Michael Bloomberg, the former New York mayor and the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.CDC Lifts Most Restrictions on Testing (5:16 p.m. NY)The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lifted most restrictions on coronavirus testing on Wednesday, saying in a new set of guidelines that doctors could use their judgment in deciding what patients to test."This expands testing to a wider group of symptomatic patients," the agency said in a document posted on its website. Testing decisions should be based on how the virus is spreading in a given community, as well as whether a patient has symptoms consistent with possible coronavirus infection.The CDC has been criticized by local doctors and health officials over overly restrictive testing criteria that had prevented physicians from testing sick people who hadn't traveled to affected areas or had contact with known patients. Also, the original test kit the CDC produced had flaws that led to shortages of testing capacity, which are only now being resolved.Drugmakers Promise Affordable Vaccines, Treatments (4:25 p.m. NY)Executives from Sanofi, Johnson & Johnson and other drugmakers committed to affordable access of potential coronavirus vaccines and treatments, at a briefing with reporters Wednesday."We're keenly aware of what's at stake here," said Stephen Ubl, head of PhRMA, the industry's lobbying arm.Daniel O'Day, chief executive officer of Gilead Sciences Inc., said there are many factors that need to be considered when pricing a drug, such as what other treatments are available and how to ensure there's an ability to reinvest into medicines for other potential pandemics.Washington State Targets Price Gouging (3:21 p.m. NY)Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson is investigating price gouging in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak in the Seattle region, where 10 people have died from the illness. Many stores are out of hand sanitizer and face masks, and panicked shoppers are stocking up on essentials."My office is investigating price gouging in the wake of the Covid-19 public health emergency," Ferguson said in a statement, referring to the name of the disease caused by the virus. "We do not identify the targets of our investigations, but we are taking formal investigative actions. If you see price gouging, file a complaint with my office."Washington, unlike most U.S. states, doesn't have a specific price-gouging law.United to Reduce Flights, Freeze Hiring (3:10 p.m. NY)United Airlines Holdings Inc. plans to cut back on flights, freeze hiring and halt merit pay raises as it grapples with a rapid decline in travel demand because of the coronavirus outbreak.The domestic schedule will be pared 10% in April and international flying will be chopped 20%, United said in a message to employees. Similar reductions will probably be necessary for May, Chief Executive Oscar Munoz and President Scott Kirby said Wednesday in the memo.United has also imposed a hiring freeze through June 30 and deferred merit-based salary increases for managements until July 1, in an effort to prepare the company financially for a steep downturn in business. The Chicago-based carrier will also offer employees voluntary unpaid leaves of absence."We certainly hope that these latest measures are enough, but the dynamic nature of this outbreak requires us to be nimble and flexible moving forward," Munoz and Kirby said.United fell less than 1% to $58.10 at 3:01 p.m. in New York.California Reports First Death (2:50 p.m. NY)California's Placer County reported that a resident died of the coronavirus, marking the first such death in the state. The person was an elderly adult with underlying health conditions, who tested positive Tuesday.The patient was likely exposed during a trip on a Princess cruise ship that traveled Feb. 11-21 from San Francisco to Mexico, the Northern California county said. The person had "minimal community exposure" after returning from the cruise and entering a hospital Feb. 27.Earlier this week, Sonoma County also reported a case from a patient who had returned from a San Francisco-to-Mexico cruise. Placer County said it is working with local officials to identify and contact other cruise passengers.Italy Closes Schools Until March 15 (12:55 p.m. NY)Italy said it would close its schools until March 15 as it redoubles efforts to curb the worst outbreak of the coronavirus epidemic in Europe.The decision came after Italian emergency chief Angelo Borrelli reported an additional 28 deaths, bringing the total to 107. The number of coronavirus cases increased to 3,086 from 2,502 on Tuesday in an outbreak that has crippled activity in the rich northern regions."It is a prudent decision to contain the virus because we have a health-care system at risk of being overloaded," Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said in a statement. "We have a problem with intensive and sub-intensive care."Read the full story hereL.A. County Reports Six Additional Cases (12:55 p.m. NY)Los Angeles County, home to more than 10 million people, recorded six new coronavirus cases in the past 48 hours and declared a state of emergency.The county, which previously had just one confirmed case, is prepared to deal with the situation and is increasing testing capacity, Barbara Ferrer, the director of the county Department of Public Health, said Wednesday.While there are no confirmed cases of community transmission, the public should be prepared for more infections to emerge, she added.One of the new patients is hospitalized, while the others are at home, officials said. Three of the new infections involved people who had recently traveled to Italy, the center of the outbreak in Europe.U.K. Lawmakers Discuss Contingency Plans (11:52 a.m. NY)The U.K. Parliament is working on contingency plans to keep functioning if there are restrictions placed on public gatherings to delay the spread of coronavirus. The U.K. said Wednesday that cases jumped by 34 to a total of 85.Ministers "will be saying a little bit more in the next couple of days," Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the House of Commons after he was asked about using conference calls and electronic voting to pass legislation."Conversations have been had with Parliament, as you'd expect, and if and when there are further steps to set out, they will be made public," Johnson's spokesman, James Slack, said later. "You have to make a judgment on the most opportune and effective time to implement these measures, and that will be a calculation for the experts."N.Y. Students to Be Flown Home (10:41 a.m. NY)About 300 City University of New York and State University of New York students and related faculty studying in China, Italy, Japan, Iran and South Korea will be flown back in a charter plane to New York Stewart International Airport in Orange County, Governor Andrew Cuomo said in a media briefing. They will then be quarantined and monitored for 14 days in dormitories, he said.Cuomo and state health officials plan to meet with Westchester County government and health leaders Wednesday to track the spread of the virus after six people tested positive in the county. Cuomo said they're looking into whether any of the patients took public transportation.Four More Test Positive in New York, Cuomo Says (10:10 a.m. NY)Relatives and a neighbor of a lawyer who contracted the coronavirus in Westchester County all have tested positive for the infection, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday.The lawyer's wife, 14-year-old daughter, 20-year-old son and a person who drove him to the hospital all came down with the sickness, the governor said during a briefing. Yeshiva University in Manhattan's Washington Heights and Salanter Akiba Riverdale Academy in the Bronx, where the children attended, both have been closed.The attorney is in intensive care, Cuomo said.U.S. Business Leaders Caution Against Overreacting (9:42 a.m. NY)U.S. Chamber of Commerce officials and travel industry leaders urged businesses and consumers not to overreact to the spread of coronavirus and to take precautions while going about business as usual."Fear and panic undermine our ability to contain the virus, to minimize disruptions to daily life and to keep our economy humming along," the chamber's chief executive officer, Tom Donohue, said at a press conference in Washington.BOE's Bailey Says Coronavirus Means Bank Must Be Nimble (9:40 a.m. NY)The Bank of England needs to be nimble in its efforts to tackle the coronavirus threat, according to incoming Governor Andrew Bailey.Speaking before U.K. lawmakers at his appointment hearing in Parliament on Wednesday, Bailey said collective action may be needed to offset the impact on supply chains. There is mounting speculation that the BOE will follow the Federal Reserve with an emergency interest-rate cut.Hong Kong Pet Dog Tests Positive, Report Says (9:39 a.m. NY)Hong Kong authorities confirmed that a pet dog belonging to a coronavirus patient had tested positive for the virus, likely marking the first case of human-to-animal transmission, the South China Morning Post reported. The dog will now remain in quarantine.France Reports 45 New Cases; Total Is 257: (9:34 a.m.)France has 45 new cases, public health authority Sante Publique France said on its website. The number of fatalities is unchanged at four.U.K. Coronavirus Cases Jump by 34 to 85 (9:22 a.m. NY)The U.K.'s Department of Health and Social Care said in a tweet that the number of confirmed positive coronavirus cases stands at 85 people as of 9 a.m. local time on March 4.EU Fears Cascading Effects on Economy From Virus (9:12 a.m. NY)The coronavirus is threatening to plunge both France and Italy into recession, and a prolonged epidemic could ripple through the region's economy and financial markets and cause a "vicious sovereign-bank loop," European finance ministers were warned by officials on Wednesday."A longer and more widespread epidemic could have a disproportionate negative impact through uncertainty and financial-market channels," according to a European Commission briefing note on the economic impact, seen by Bloomberg. "Cascading effects could stem from liquidity shortages in firms that have to stop production, amplified and spread out by financial markets."'\--With assistance from John Harney.To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Mark Schoifet in New York at mschoifet@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Drew Armstrong at darmstrong17@bloomberg.net, ;Stuart Wallace at swallace6@bloomberg.net, Kara Wetzel, Christopher AnsteyFor 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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| Trump picks official involved in Bush-era torture program as his nuclear envoy Posted: 04 Mar 2020 03:32 PM PST  * Marshall Billingslea oversaw Guantánamo detainees' treatment * Trump wants to negotiate new deal with Russia and ChinaThe Trump administration has chosen a special envoy for nuclear talks, with the principal task of negotiating a new arms control agreement with Russia and China, according to congressional sources and former officials.The proposed special negotiator, Marshall Billingslea, is currently the under-secretary for terrorist financing at the US Treasury. His nomination last year for a top human rights job at the state department was stalled by controversy over the extent of his involvement in the torture programme established by the George W Bush administration, in which he oversaw the conditions of detainees in Guantánamo Bay.Neither the state department nor the treasury responded to a request for comment, but congressional staffers and former officials said Billingslea had accepted the post.The Trump administration has been trying to recruit a high-level arms control negotiator for several months, but several former Republican officials with significant experience in the field turned down the offer.Billingslea, who has a long record as a hawk on nuclear weapons issues, faces a daunting task. Donald Trump wants to negotiate a new agreement to reduce the vast nuclear weapons arsenals of the major powers, to replace the New Start deal with Russia agreed by Barack Obama.Trump wants China to be included in a new agreement but Beijing has so far refused on the grounds that the Chinese arsenal is a small fraction (estimated at about a 20th) of its US and Russian counterparts.Trump has accepted an invitation from Vladimir Putin to take part in talks on nuclear arms control and other strategic issues at a summit meeting of the five permanent members of the UN security council, most likely at the time of the UN general assembly in September.One of Billingslea's tasks would be to prepare for the summit, but in the absence of a major shift by China, he would have to advise Trump on whether or not to extend the New Start deal – the last nuclear arms control agreement to have survived the Trump era – as an interim measure. That is something the president is highly reluctant to do, because the 2010 agreement is part of the Obama legacy Trump has been eager to expunge.Billingslea is a former aide to the late Republican senator Jesse Helms, who was a fervent opponent of arms control efforts during the cold war, for example blocking US ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, and campaigning for the US withdrawal from the Anti Ballistic Missile treaty."No special envoy, especially one like Marshall Billingslea who has a record of dismantling or blocking effective nuclear arms control, can hope to accomplish very much toward the goal of a wholly new multilateral nuclear arms control agreement through a one-day heads of state summit," said Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association. "But a decision by Trump and Putin to extend the New Start agreement would surely help prevent a new arms race and create more favorable conditions for more ambitious nuclear arms talks with Russia and China."Alexandra Bell, senior policy director at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, said: "Now that he has been selected, Mr Billingslea has no time to lose. In less than a year, we could lose the last major treaty constraining the world's two largest nuclear arsenals."
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| Sanders refocusing his campaign after Biden's super Tuesday Posted: 04 Mar 2020 02:48 PM PST  His front-runner status slipping, Bernie Sanders refocused his Democratic presidential campaign on surging rival Joe Biden on Wednesday as the Vermont senator's allies grappled with the fallout from a Super Tuesday stumble that raised internal concerns about the direction of his White House bid. Sanders targeted Biden's record on trade, Social Security and fundraising just hours after billionaire Mike Bloomberg suspended his campaign and Elizabeth Warren confirmed she was privately reassessing her future in the race. The dramatic shifts signaled that the Democrats' once-crowded nomination fight had effectively come down to a two-man race for the right to face President Donald Trump in November.
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| Trump gets desired Democratic foes, but Biden worries linger Posted: 04 Mar 2020 02:12 PM PST  While Super Tuesday left the Democrats with a pair of front-runners whom President Donald Trump believes he can define and defeat, there are still some private worries in the White House. There is concern that the Democrats' messy nomination contest may end up producing an emboldened version of the very man who once worried Trump so much as a foe that it led to the president's impeachment.
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| The Coronavirus Is a Human Credit Crunch Posted: 04 Mar 2020 02:00 PM PST |
| Editorial Roundup: US Posted: 04 Mar 2020 01:57 PM PST |
| When it comes to Ukraine, Trump is the gift that keeps on giving — to Putin | Opinion Posted: 04 Mar 2020 01:36 PM PST  The conclusion of the politically toxic impeachment process and the emergence of the worldwide coronavirus pandemic, not surprisingly, have diverted public and media attention from the United States' relationship with Ukraine. As a result, President Trump, through his actions and inactions, can quietly continue to undermine one of America's most important and vital strategic relationships. There is only one real beneficiary, the authoritarian leader for whom the president seems to have an unusual affinity, Vladimir Putin.
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| Can Russia and Turkey Step Back from the Brink in Syria? Posted: 04 Mar 2020 01:25 PM PST  Moscow has sometimes miscalculated Ankara's reaction to the conflict next door. That oversight has created friction between the two countries in the past. But those grievances are likely to be set aside when Vladimir Putin and Recep Erdogan meet on March 5.
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| Saudi suspends 'umrah' pilgrimage over coronavirus fears Posted: 04 Mar 2020 01:06 PM PST  Saudi Arabia on Wednesday suspended the year-round "umrah" pilgrimage over fears of the new coronavirus spreading to Islam's holiest cities, an unprecedented move that raises fresh uncertainty over the annual hajj. The kingdom halted the pilgrimage for its own citizens and residents, on top of restrictions announced last week on foreign pilgrims as it declared a second coronavirus infection in a Saudi man who returned from Iran. The kingdom said the suspension was provisional, but with the umrah drawing millions of people annually, the decision has a huge potential impact.
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| Can Putin and Erdoğan once again keep their countries from going to war? Posted: 04 Mar 2020 01:04 PM PST |
| China’s Green Goals Overtaken by Worries Over Virus-Hit Economy Posted: 04 Mar 2020 01:00 PM PST  (Bloomberg) -- With global climate stress growing ever more apparent, the world's biggest polluter is setting aside its lofty environmental ambitions as it confronts an unprecedented slowdown in growth.China, which spews more carbon into the atmosphere than the U.S. and European Union combined, is being forced to give greater priority an economy that had wilted during the trade war with Washington and is now being flattened by the coronavirus epidemic.Increasing economic headwinds are prompting Beijing to roll back restrictions on industrial pollution, slow its transition away from coal and slash subsidies for cleaner energy and transportation. A carbon market slated for this year may not live up to its billing, and there are signs that the government is unwilling to set a higher bar this year for its climate goals.It doesn't mean China is giving up its long-term green ambitions, and one silver lining to a flagging economy is fewer emissions in any case. The nation is expected to remain as the largest investor in renewable energy. But the deceleration will undermine Beijing's opportunity to exert influence internationally after the U.S. exited the Paris climate accord, underscoring the priority it places on the economic engine that has lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty and solidified the legitimacy of the ruling Communist Party."In China, there's a belief that problems can only be solved in the process of economic development," said Ma Jun, director of the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs in Beijing. "Just like a moving bicycle, it runs more smoothly when it is moving at a high speed. But when it slows down, setbacks tend to occur."Hard BrakeChina's National Development and Reform Commission did not respond to faxed questions. A fax to the Ministry of Ecology and Environment's listed number would not go through, and no one answered calls to the ministry's listed phone number.China's economy has been slowing since early 2018, when U.S. President Donald Trump began a tariff war between the world's two biggest economies. Efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus from its epicenter in Hubei have put a hard brake on growth. Economists believe gross domestic product could contract in the first three months of the year from the prior quarter, leaving full-year growth well below the politically important threshold of 6%.With millions of firms teetering, Beijing is enacting a series of stimulus measures to get the citizenry back to work, and avoid the widespread unemployment that could lead to unrest and jeopardize President Xi Jinping's goal of doubling per-capita GDP over the decade that ends in December.The industry-friendly measures threaten to unravel, at least temporarily, some of Xi's modest green gains. The super-charged growth of the 2000s came with an unhealthy dose of environmental degradation and left China as the world's biggest polluter. When Xi came to power in 2013, he made building an "ecological civilization" a priority and began a series of radical measures to improve air quality and cut emissions.China's carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels more than doubled in the 2000s, the biggest jump of any country, according to BP Plc. Xi's first three years in charge actually saw emissions fall, before they started creeping higher again. The short-term need for stimulus, including a big fiscal jolt to infrastructure spending, means pollution controls are likely to take a back seat to shoring up the economy in the second half of the year."I don't think China will go back down the old road of development with huge pollution, but it's likely the government might adjust its priorities at a time like this" said Qian Guoqiang, a strategy director at SinoCarbon Innovation & Investment Co. in Beijing.China's initial response to the outbreak, including quarantining millions of families, shutting down transportation and idling factories, has already reduced carbon dioxide emissions by at least 100 million tons, more Greece spews out in an entire year. Depending on how quickly activity ramps back up and how the government decides to stimulate the economy, emissions growth in the second half of the year could outweigh the short-term reduction.Industrial EmissionsAmong the first casualties of Beijing's refocus on growth were measures to reduce pollution from heavy industry, put in place to bring blue skies to smoggy cities, particularly the capital. In the winter of 2018, the environment ministry relaxed those rules, adopting a more flexible program for output curbs and giving special treatment to sectors including steel. This past winter, the government again eased its clean air targets.The step-back from more stringent targets "indicates the enhanced policy priority of growth support relative to air pollution control, in the short term at least," analysts with Everbright Sun Hung Kai Co. said in a report after the initial relaxation.Coal TransitionIn another effort to clear the nation's skies, the government in 2017 began an aggressive campaign to make homes and factories switch from burning coal to cleaner natural gas. While successful in helping rein in smog, the program also resulted in heating fuel shortages in the middle of winter, and the following year it was eased to allow for a larger role for coal.The program may face even further cutbacks after the coronavirus outbreak, as the government could halt spending that gives rural customers an incentive to use gas, according to Daiwa Capital Markets analyst Dennis Ip. "We believe China's economy would be further dampened and hence the three-year rural gas subsidy may not be extended in the coming winter," he said in a note in early February.The China Electricity Council is also backing efforts to rely more on the cheaper fuel, recommending that the nation increase its total coal-fired power capacity to a maximum of 1,300 gigawatts from its current cap of 1,100.The sum of China's efforts to wean itself off the dirtiest fossil fuel: coal is shrinking as a proportion of the energy mix, but overall consumption continues to rise.Subsidy SlashingChina has also cut the financial support that made it the world's biggest market for renewable energy and electric vehicles, a decision that's slowing the adoption of cleaner modes of power generation and transport. EV sales have fallen for seven straight months after the government slashed subsidies by two-thirds last year.About 70% of China's operating wind and solar plants were built in the last five years, driven by high subsidies. Those are now being phased out. Solar support is shrinking and wind power payments are expected to cease at the end of next year. The government's stated reason is to ensure that green energy is sustainable, and competitive with fossils fuels.But economic pressures are also a catalyst, said BOCOM International Holdings Co. analyst Louis Sun, as China doesn't want to raise the subsidy surcharge it slaps on electricity bills at the same time as it's promoting cheaper electricity to help its embattled companies.Still, as renewable power firms join the ranks of the beleaguered, the fight against coronavirus could actually forestall the assault on subsidies, as the industry lobbies the government for extensions to compensate for losses and installation delays.Carbon MarketEconomic headwinds and the coronavirus response could make the plan to establish a national carbon market this year "politically difficult," according to Fitch Solutions.It would be the world's largest, covering more than 3 billion tons of CO2 a year, using market forces to incentivize investment in emissions reductions and offsets. But that would be to the detriment of coal, the most carbon-intensive fuel, on which China relies for most of its electricity and to keep vast numbers of people employed.Logistics could also slow development, according to SinoCarbon's Qian. The national market will combine seven regional pilots, including one in Hubei, which has effectively been quarantined for many weeks. And the Hubei pilot is supposed to handle participant registration for the entire nation.Future PlansAt the last count, China was on track to reach or exceed its 2030 emissions targets under the 2015 Paris agreement. But it's yet to give an update on progress; nor has it established the more aggressive goals required before this year's climate conference in Glasgow in November. Coronavirus and a severely weakened economy "make the call for enhancing China's climate targets tougher than before," said Li Shuo, a policy adviser for Greenpeace China.Beijing is in the process of compiling its 14th five-year plan, which will cover development from 2021 to 2025. The 13th plan set ambitious targets to revamp the country's energy mix, and it's likely to hit most of them.But for the next five years, analysts are less optimistic that the government will aim as high again. Premier Li Keqiang in November cited shoring up the economy as one of the government's major goals, and that was before the current health crisis. Beijing is instead likely to adopt a more flexible approach and avoid hard targets that could put it in a bind, said Michal Meidan, China director for the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies."That doesn't mean that China doesn't care about the environment anymore," she said. "It just needs to prioritize growth in the near term."\--With assistance from Jing Yang.To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Dan Murtaugh in Singapore at dmurtaugh@bloomberg.net;Feifei Shen in Beijing at fshen11@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Ramsey Al-Rikabi at ralrikabi@bloomberg.net, Jason Rogers, Alexander KwiatkowskiFor 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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| UN envoy: South Sudan government faces daunting challenges Posted: 04 Mar 2020 12:55 PM PST |
| 'Category Hell:' 6 months after Dorian, where do things stand? Posted: 04 Mar 2020 12:37 PM PST  Six months ago, Hurricane Dorian, one of the most destructive storms in recorded history and the worst storm in the history of the Bahamas, turned lives upside down.The Category 5 behemoth wasn't just devastating because of its size, but also its slow-moving nature. The storm sat for nearly two full days over the northern part of the archipelago, moving at a glacial speed of 1.3 mph. All the while, it thrashed the islands with its extraordinary force. Dorian funneled a devastating storm surge over 20 feet high in spots and unleashed punishing winds with 200-mph gusts that wiped out thousands of homes and businesses.The official death toll stands at 74, but at least 280 people are still considered missing. AccuWeather estimated that the storm would be responsible for damages around $8-9 billion, with $5 billion of that in the Bahamas.Nearly two weeks after the storm's first landfall, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said he'd "never seen such a level of systemic devastation" after visiting Abaco Island and referred to Dorian not as a Category 5 but rather "category hell." U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres surveys the devastation on Abaco Island in the Bahamas about 10 days after Hurricane Dorian struck in September 2019. (United Nations) Today, some parts of the battered Bahamas are back and open for business and other areas still face a lengthy recovery. AccuWeather spoke to multiple relief organizations who have coordinated recovery and rebuilding operations in some of the most devastated areas to get a sense of what life is like half a year later."Send help now" Matt Winslow, a resident of Rochester, New York, wasn't on the island during the storm's assault from Sept. 1-3, but he knew he had to help. His family owns Constellation Brands, a Fortune 500 company, and has been involved with previous disaster responses including in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria in 2017 and the 2010 Haiti earthquake.Winslow, 44, had been closely monitoring the weather forecasts in the days prior to landfall, hoping a shift in the storm track would spare the barrier island of Elbow Cay, and the community of Hope Town, where his family had been building a vacation home. A damaged home in Elbow Cay. (Photo/Hope Town United) As it became evident that Elbow Cay would suffer a direct strike from the monstrous hurricane, Winslow communicated to several community members and let them know he and his family would help however they could.During the eye of the storm, Winslow received a call from the wife of one of the town's council members saying roads were destroyed, people were injured, the airport was underwater and there was no way off the island."Send help now," she said.Bringing hope back to Hope TownRealizing the gravity of the situation, Winslow and a group of others from the U.S. and Canada that owned homes or had relatives on the island organized a conference call to coordinate a rescue effort. Among those was Brian Malone, a Tampa resident and native of the Bahamas who formerly served as Hope Town fire chief.Within a matter of days, the group managed to lead an evacuation of 250 Elbow Cay residents via ferry while also coordinating medical response, search and rescue efforts and deliveries of needed supplies.Several weeks later, the rescue effort evolved into Hope Town United (HTU), a community-led nonprofit organization. Since its creation, the group has led the charge to rebuild the island and remove more than 12,300 cubic tons of debris while also best positioning the island for resiliency against future storms.Winslow, HTU's co-founder, said he has visited the island four times since Dorian struck. The island still doesn't have electricity, he said, and there is a real need for temporary housing, skilled labor and reconstruction. About 70 percent of the homes were lost and many residents are living in homes powered by diesel generators or in houses owned by people who own multiple residences.Even with the debris cleaned up, piles of wreckage sit in three large staging areas and need to be hauled away by barges. It's unclear when the boats will arrive."The devastation was unlike anything anyone had ever seen," Winslow told AccuWeather in a phone interview.Hope Town United recently announced it was shifting the focus of its recovery from cleaning up debris to building five "priority projects" which include rebuilding the Hope Town Primary School, constructing new public docks and establishing a new medical clinic.To date, HTU has raised more than $3 million through private donations and is aiming for a goal of $15 million as it ramps up the recovery effort."From a new school and clinic to utilities, housing and public docks, these projects will help the Hope Town community return, grow, and thrive," Malone, Hope Town United's executive director, said in a statement.Winslow praised the work of fellow relief organization Samaritan's Purse. The non-government organization has been an "amazing partner," he said, and has been entrenched on Elbow Cay since the beginning, bringing in heavy machinery and assisting with debris removal and rebuilding homes."Those types of things are just enormously helpful," Winslow.HTU is hoping to serve as a model for storm recovery for other small islands that may suffer from future natural disasters. The group says it's working to build lasting solutions like solar power, microturbine power generation and waste-to-energy technologies."What began as an emergency response has truly evolved into a major community effort that will restore this island that we love so deeply, while paving the way for other communities to benefit from the solutions we're developing," said Malone. "If you had told me we'd have this much momentum only six months after Hurricane Dorian, I never would not have believed it."Making health a priority Eric Jovan, a member of the Americares team performs a visit and damage assessment at Abaco Island. (Photo/Alejandro Granadillo/Americares) Very few buildings were left unscathed from Dorian's damage on Abaco. Among the damaged buildings were five Ministry of Health clinics and three community-supported clinics. That's produced a substantial challenge for those in need of medical care and clinicians tasked with delivering health services.Americares has been one of the numerous relief organizations distributing aid. The non-profit, which is working directly alongside the Bahamas Ministry of Health, specializes in delivering essential health services for people affected by disaster.Americares volunteers and staff members arrived in the country on Sept. 4, as many evacuations were still underway. The team initially set up in the capital of Nassau, treating evacuated storm victims from Grand Bahama and Abaco.Their medical team, now headquartered on Abaco, is providing primary care as well as mental health and psychosocial services, Cora Nally, team leader in the Bahamas for Americares, told AccuWeather in an email.The biggest ongoing health issue is patients going without care, she explained."Often hurricane survivors don't have transportation to get to a health center or pharmacy," Nally said. "Many cars in Abaco were flooded in the hurricane and have not been replaced. And public transportation has not been restored."Americares teams have been going out through the communities telling residents about the free health services being offered via mobile clinics. But for storm victims who have lost everything, seeing a doctor may not be the first priority."Making health a priority is difficult when hurricane survivors are spending most of their time and energy and looking for work and rebuilding their homes," Nally said.Going forward, the biggest challenge ahead is ensuring patients with chronic conditions receive the necessary treatment, Nally explained. In some cases, diabetic patients are rationing insulin and patients with hypertension are going without blood pressure medication.Last month, Americares announced it would be expanding its access to critical primary care and mental health services and lengthening its stay through June.CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APPSigns of progress, but much still to be doneEarlier in February, the Bahamas government said it had restored the normal water supply to a number of settlements on mainland Abaco, but a number of challenges to water supply systems persisted elsewhere.Temporary housing units in the form of domes continue to be erected across Abaco and Grand Bahama. In the meantime, government officials say they will continue to research "the best affordable permanent solution" for residents whose homes were impacted.Nally said after more than 1,200 people were staying in the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium -- the largest shelter in Nassau -- at the onset of the recovery, but since then, the shelter has closed as the affected residents have been able to find more suitable housing arrangements."In Abaco, families are beginning to rebuild, but many businesses, resorts and restaurants are still closed, and many people are out of work," Nally said.The American Red Cross also remains in the Bahamas. The Red Cross has helped manage shelters, hand out basic aid items such as blankets and hygiene kits and distribute millions in financial aid.Katie Wilkes, a Red Cross spokesperson, recently appeared on the AccuWeather TV Network to discuss the storm's aftermath."I've seen many families start to go back home to Abaco, to Grand Bahama," Wilkes said. "Many are still restarting their lives here on Nassau after the storm."Wilkes said it is a "monumental" recovery process, and some people are still traumatized."They are still trying to go through the motions of everyday life, and part of The Red Cross' role here is to be right by their side," she said.As Bahamians steadily rebuild, they're particularly mindful of future storms, with the start of the next hurricane season less than three months away."Everybody here is still thinking about hurricane season, which does start early June," Wilkes said, referring to how the people in the Bahamas are coping after the storm. "Something on everybody's minds is still to be prepared for what's to come.""As much as people really need that tangible relief, they also need somebody to remind them that's it's going to be OK," she said. "At this point, many may feel forgotten. They've gone through so much the past six months reliving that unimaginable nightmare from the hurricane. Many Bahamians state that they are just 'thankful to be alive' after the storm."Additional reporting by Doug Hicks. Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
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| How to Prepare for the Coronavirus Posted: 04 Mar 2020 12:30 PM PST  The coronavirus continues to spread in Asia, Europe and the Middle East, with dozens of cases and nine deaths confirmed in the United States.While the Food and Drug Administration announced this weekend that testing in the United States would be greatly expanded, health experts have been warning that the virus's spread in the country is inevitable. That means it's time to prepare your home and family in case your community is affected.Most important: Do not panic. While the outbreak is a serious public health concern, the majority of those who contract the coronavirus do not become seriously ill, and only a small percentage require intensive care.By following some basic steps, you can help reduce your risk and do your part to protect others.Keep your hands clean, and keep your distance from sick people. Wash your hands. It's not sexy, but it works.It's worth repeating, over and over again: Wash your hands. Wet your hands with clean running water and then lather them with soap; don't miss the backs of your hands, between your fingers and under your nails. Make sure to scrub for at least 20 seconds (or about the time it takes to sing "Happy Birthday" twice), and dry them with a clean towel or let them air dry.Alcohol-based hand sanitizers, which should be rubbed in for about 20 seconds, can also work, but the gel must contain at least 60% alcohol.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends you avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands (tough one, we know).Meanwhile, if someone else is showing flulike or coldlike symptoms, try to stay 6 feet away. If that's not possible, even a little distancing is helpful, according to experts, as the virus seems to spread through droplets in the air from a cough or sneeze.Sneezing or coughing yourself? Direct it into your elbow so as to avoid leaving germs on your hands, which can then quickly spread to other surfaces. Other ways to be smart include using the "Ebola handshake," where you greet others with elbow bumps, and pushing elevator buttons with a knuckle instead of a fingertip.Unless you are already infected, face masks won't help you. But if you're infected, masks can help prevent the spread of a virus.Face masks have become almost synonymous with the coronavirus outbreak overseas, but they don't do much to protect you; most surgical masks are too loose to prevent inhalation of the virus.The CDC and infectious disease specialists do not recommend face masks if you're healthy.But if you're a health care worker or are caring for sick people at home or in a health care facility, you should wear one.If you're infected, masks can help prevent the spread of a virus. The most effective are the so-called N95 masks, which block 95% of very small particles.On Saturday, the surgeon general urged the public to stop buying masks, warning that it won't help against the spread of the coronavirus but will take away important resources from health care professionals.Stock up on home supplies, medicine and resources. Skip the masks, but don't skimp on your household supplies -- and that goes for prescription and over-the-counter medicine, too.Experts suggest stocking at least a 30-day supply of any needed prescriptions, and you should consider doing the same for household items like food staples, laundry detergent and diapers, if you have small children.Remember, alcohol is a good disinfectant for coronaviruses, so make sure to keep surfaces in your home clean. Throw out those tissues in a wastebasket after you blow your nose.The CDC also recommends cleaning "high-touch" surfaces, like phones and tablets.Beyond physical items, prepare your home for a potential outbreak in the United States by staying up to date with reliable news resources, such as the website of your local health department.Prepare your family, and communicate your plan. Create a family emergency checklist that answers basic questions about evacuations, resources and supplies.Make sure every member of the family is up to date on any and all emergency plans.Be sure to be in communication with your child's school on what types of plans are established for any sort of schedule change, including early dismissals or online instruction. And if you have elderly parents or relatives or family members with any special health concerns, make sure you have a plan for caring for them if they get sick.There's also some reassurance that could be had by creating a family emergency checklist, which could answer basic questions about evacuations, resources and supplies -- especially if you have any preconditions or illnesses. The CDC provides a checklist on its website.With your children, keep calm and carry on -- and get the flu shot. The good news is that coronavirus cases in children have been very rare.Protect your child by taking the same precautions you would during cold and flu season: encourage frequent hand washing, move away from people who are coughing or sneezing and get the flu shot.Experts recommend getting the flu vaccine, noting that vaccinating children is the best protection for older people against bacterial pneumonia.Right now, there's no reason for parents to worry, experts said, and the good news is that coronavirus cases in children have been very rare.When talking to your children about an outbreak, make sure you first assess their knowledge of the virus and that you process your own anxiety. It's important that you don't dismiss their fears and speak to them at an age-appropriate level.So keep calm, and if there's an outbreak in your community, practice what's known as "social distancing," which means more TV bingeing at home and fewer trips to the park.About to go on vacation? Consider your destination and how you feel about risk. "Cancel for any reason" travel insurance could protect you, but it will cost you.Experts said that people currently should feel "very comfortable" traveling to destinations in the United States like California and Florida, "but that could quickly change."For travel outside the country, check travel warnings from the CDC, which is recommending that travelers avoid all nonessential travel to China, South Korea, Italy and Iran. The CDC is also asking older adults or those with compromised immune systems to consider postponing nonessential travel to Japan."Cancel for any reason" travel insurance could protect you, but it will cost you. Be sure to read all the fine print to understand the terms.Expect that your travel might be disrupted or that popular sites or attractions may be closed or offer restricted hours.Still, if you are sick, don't travel. Pregnant women and others with compromised immune systems should also think twice about nonessential travel.Take a deep breath when thinking about the stock market. There's little reason to be alarmed long term, even with the declines this past week.Despite financial markets falling all week, Times financial columnist Ron Lieber said there's little reason to be alarmed long term. After all, "stocks are how your savings fight inflation, the market is not an absolute proxy for your personal finances, and you're playing a long game."This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company
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| U.S. Stymies Chinese Bid to Run Intellectual Property Agency Posted: 04 Mar 2020 12:24 PM PST  (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. defeated a Chinese bid to run the United Nations intellectual property agency, a victory in the Trump administration's push to convince countries of the threat posed by China taking a more assertive role on the global stage.The U.S.-backed candidate, Daren Tang of Singapore, won by a vote of 55-28 over Chinese candidate Wang Binying among the governments voting for the leadership of the World Intellectual Property Organization, which helps develop cross-border policies on intellectual property.While the agency is relatively obscure, the leadership fight had become a crucial battleground in the bid by President Donald Trump's administration to counter what it has seen as China's growing influence and assertiveness in international agencies and the U.N. The State Department had made it a top priority to stop China's candidate from winning the election.The fight underlines the growing intensity of the U.S.-China rivalry even after the two countries reached a phase-one trade agreement. That tariff war has already sapped global trade, choked supply chains and boosted worries of a new Cold War as competition between the nations intensifies in a range of different forums.It was also a reversal of fortunes after the U.S. suffered a humiliating defeat when it failed to stop a Chinese candidate from taking leadership of another UN specialized agency, the Food and Agricultural Organization. That prompted a new focus by the Trump administration to make its voice heard in multilateral organizations after what critics had said was scorn and neglect over its first three years.'Effective Advocate'"Mr. Tang is an effective advocate for protecting intellectual property, a vocal proponent of transparency and institutional integrity and a leader who can unify WIPO member states by forging consensus on difficult issues," Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said in a statement Wednesday. Earlier, Pompeo had made clear the Trump administration's stand that a Chinese citizen must not be allowed to take the job.U.S. officials China's history of intellectual-property theft. And Andrew Bremberg, who recently took up the post of ambassador to the UN in Geneva, had made the WIPO fight a top priority.Writing in the Financial Times last week, White House trade adviser Peter Navarro argued that China shouldn't lead WIPO because its commitment to protect intellectual property doesn't match Western standards. He also accused China of wanting greater influence over the UN to advance political objectives such as isolating Taiwan.Several candidates were running to lead WIPO and succeed Francis Gurry, an Australian who has led the organization since 2008. The U.S. had backed Tang, the chief executive of Singapore's intellectual property office who has a master's degree from Georgetown University in Washington.The fight between the U.S. and China over the job got nasty, with Chinese officials arguing that the U.S. was trying to suppress its rise. China accused the U.S. of threatening to withhold World Bank and International Monetary Fund money to countries that voted for the Chinese candidate, a claim the U.S. denied.(Updates with Pompeo statement in sixth paragraph)To contact the reporter on this story: Nick Wadhams in Washington at nwadhams@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Bill Faries at wfaries@bloomberg.net, Elizabeth Wasserman, Larry LiebertFor 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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| Airline mechanic gets 3 years for sabotaging jetliner Posted: 04 Mar 2020 12:11 PM PST |
| Huawei pleads not guilty to new U.S. criminal charges in 2018 case Posted: 04 Mar 2020 11:30 AM PST  China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, the world's largest telecommunications equipment maker, on Wednesday pleaded not guilty in a New York federal court to new charges in a 2018 case against the company. The latest indictment accused Huawei of conspiring to steal trade secrets from six U.S. technology companies for two decades, lying about its business in North Korea and helping Iran track protesters during the 2009 anti-government demonstrations in that country. Huawei had previously been charged by the U.S. government with bank fraud and violating sanctions against Iran by using Skycom Tech Co, a suspected front company, to obtain U.S. goods and move money via the international banking system.
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| Iraq announces two coronavirus deaths Posted: 04 Mar 2020 11:25 AM PST  The Iraqi preacher had been quarantined in the northeastern city of Sulaimaniyah before his death, a spokesman for the Kurdish autonomous region's health authority said. According to local sources, he had recently met with Iraqis returning from neighbouring Iran, which has recorded the third deadliest outbreak outside China, the epidemic's epicentre. A second death from the new coronavirus was announced later in the day by Iraq's health ministry, which said in a statement that the deceased was in Baghdad and suffered from "immune deficiencies".
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| Saudi Arabia announces second coronavirus case for a citizen coming from Iran through Bahrain Posted: 04 Mar 2020 11:20 AM PST |
| China's virus slowdown offers hope for global containment Posted: 04 Mar 2020 11:04 AM PST  The slowdown in coronavirus cases out of China offers a sliver of hope that the global outbreak can be controlled, but whether that can happen anytime soon without drastic measures remains to be seen, public health authorities say. With China accounting for the overwhelming majority of the world's 94,000 infections and 3,200 deaths since the virus first surfaced there in late December, it's hard to see the country as a success story. World Health Organization outbreak expert Maria Van Kerkhove, who recently traveled to China as part of a team from the U.N. health agency, said the international experts noted a drop in cases there since the end of January.
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| Iran says UN nuke watchdog requests must have legal basis Posted: 04 Mar 2020 11:01 AM PST |
| Millions of Haitians are facing famine. U.N. appeals for $253 million to address crisis. Posted: 04 Mar 2020 10:45 AM PST  With millions of Haitians potentially facing famine, the United Nations on Wednesday launched an emergency humanitarian appeal seeking $253 million to help the most vulnerable and in need of assistance.
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| Defense contractor charged with giving up military secrets Posted: 04 Mar 2020 10:41 AM PST |
| Why Does Every Coronavirus Story Show An Image Of Chinatown? Racism. Posted: 04 Mar 2020 10:23 AM PST  On Monday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio gave a joint press conference to discuss the first confirmed case of coronavirus in the city: a healthcare worker from Manhattan, who had contracted the illness in Iran. The 39-year-old woman had behaved in a "textbook way" according to Cuomo. In order to keep from contaminating others, she avoided public transportation and immediately sought out testing in a hospital. While the arrival of coronavirus in New York was alarming, it was also clear that this wasn't an irresponsible patient zero who'd trigger a breakout. The diagnosis was widely reported, and publications like the New York Post and New York Times provided helpful information about containment of the virus, but the stock photography was anything but helpful. Despite the fact that the patient in question had been exposed to the virus in Iran, the photos used for the articles showed Asian men and women in masks and had been taken in Chinatown. (Refinery29 reached out to the New York Post and New York Times for comment but did not receive a reply). > View this post on Instagram> > Slick move changing out that picture, @nytimes . If you're gonna bother reporting on coronavirus-impacted xenophobia/anti-Chinese sentiment, then maybe don't be guilty of the same lol. This virus doesn't discriminate based on race, so why use a picture of Chinese locals in Flushing's Chinatown for an article about a woman who may have contracted the virus from traveling in Iran? Y'all should know better. • xenophobia racism nytimes newyorktimes nyc newyorkcity newyork coronavirus covid19 virus journalism wtf sketchy reporter reporting photography streetphotography news worldnews manhattan quarantine dietprada> > A post shared by Diet Prada ™ (@diet_prada) on Mar 2, 2020 at 12:45pm PSTOn Tuesday, news surfaced of a second New York diagnosis (an attorney who works in Midtown Manhattan and lives in Westchester County), The Hill reported the information alongside an image of an Asian man in a mask on a subway. The photo was taken in Hong Kong, not New York. (The photo has been taken down, and a tweet that used the photo was deleted.)At best, this kind of practice is lazy journalism. "It's extremely disappointing that ubiquitous news sources, such as the New York Times and the New York Post, are perpetuating coronavirus-related hysteria and discrimination against Asian American and Pacific Islanders due to lack of oversight. Something as simple as double checking a stock photo to accurately depict breaking news should be elementary," Rita Pin Ahrens, the Executive Director of OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates, told Refinery29 in an email.But at worst, it serves as racist fear-mongering that can provoke incidents of physical violence against Asian people in America. New York State Assemblymember, Yuh-Line Niou, whose district includes Manhattan's Chinatown, told Refinery29 that using images of Asian people in articles that aren't related in any way to China reinforces xenophobia. There have been no cases of coronavirus reported in her district, but Niou says that businesses in Chinatown are suffering. In response, she's joined with other community leaders to encourage people to eat and shop in her district, taking part in events like dim sum crawls with the hashtag dineinchinatown.> Love you two for coming by. And thank you for this powerful statement. Folks. dineinchinatown https://t.co/aVpp8g0Q1P> > — Yuh-Line Niou (@yuhline) February 18, 2020> There have still (for now) been zero confirmed cases of Coronovirus in NYC. But prejudice & panic continue to inflict serious economic harm to Chinatown business. > > If this upsets you, than do something about it. DineInChinatown https://t.co/eURRAXZO9I> > — Mark D. Levine (@MarkLevineNYC) March 1, 2020Still, Niou says, she hears about racist encounters from her constituents daily, and gets them herself. "After I publicized the Lunar New Year celebration in Chinatown, we got a lot of hate. People began calling my office and saying 'you eat bats' and hanging up," she says. "So the problem with using stock imagery of Asians in an article that is otherwise informative is that it perpetuates very dangerous stereotypes without getting the proper information out there." Kris Chen, a 48-year-old who works in the music industry, has had multiple racist encounters since the news of coronavirus broke. "Twice last week," he told Refinery29 on Tuesday, "I was walking down Broadway in Midtown Manhattan when someone stared at me, grabbed the person next to them and literally jumped back several feet. One of them actually said 'CHINESE PERSON' loudly enough for me to hear." Michelle Lin, 23, a contract manager, says the images in the Post and New York Times felt very much like the past repeating itself. As a volunteer at the Museum of the Chinese in America, she's seen evidence of the ways in which imagery of Chinatowns across America have been manipulated going back more than a century. "Chinatowns being depicted as dirty and 'other' have existed for a long time in American history," Lin told Refinery29. "At the museum, we have a photo titled 'An Unsuspecting Victim' by Arnold Genthe, where he alters and stages a photo of the San Francisco Chinatown to make it look dirty and dangerous." Lin was recently waiting in a crowded line at a Duane Reade to buy shampoo and razors when, "the lady in front of me shooed me and told me to stay two feet away from her because 'who knows what diseases I may have.' When I told her she was being racist, she told me she's not being racist, it's called being 'cultured.'" This type of attitude – the idea that it's okay to shun Asian people (a group that encompasses many different ethnicities, religions, and cultural identities) out of fear of "contamination" – reinforces hundreds of years of dangerous exoticizing. Writing about coronavirus and racism for Forbes, Marshall Shepherd explored the scientific roots of why infectious disease exposure can give rise to racial tension. Citing a 2019 study published in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science, Shepherd found that a sense of tribalism is an important contributing factor. "We see it in politics, sports, conspiracy theories, and more…" writes Shepherd. "It is often easier to create a narrative that fits one's comfort zone, intellectual capacity, or ideology. Therefore, it is not surprising to me that racist or xenophobic views would arise from fear and self-preservation tendencies, even if flawed." The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) posted this message on its "Share Facts Not Fear" website to rein in ignorance: "People of Asian descent, including Chinese Americans, are not more likely to get COVID-19 than any other American. Help stop fear by letting people know that being of Asian descent does not increase the chance of getting or spreading COVID-19."It's worth noting that the CDC also currently advises avoiding travel to Italy, Iran, and South Korea, in addition to China, but we have yet to see any cases of hysteria-induced boycotts of Little Italys across the country or images of red-checkered tablecloths used alongside a story about the virus. Imagery matters in our very visual, fast-paced world. And careful consideration of how imagery affects the messaging around a potential pandemic is necessary to keep people informed. Photography, even stock photography, is so important because it is meant to convey the heart of a story instantly. Photos can change the course of history – think of Vietnam War imagery, or the photos from Abu Ghraib prison. Photos can stand as the ultimate truth. They also have the power to manipulate a narrative, for instance, a narrative that says coronavirus is an exotic disease brought here by scary, bat-eating, diseased strangers. In a recent episode of NPR's Code Switch, listeners shared their stories of xenophobic harassment, and, perhaps more disturbingly, the unwillingness of onlookers to intervene. "You can attempt to excuse behaviors like people getting out of their subway seat when I sit next to them and then standing for the next six stops," says Chen. "But, if you do, guess what? You're racist." Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?How U.S. Healthcare Affects Coronavirus TestingWhat Asian Fusion Says About Asian AmericansCloseness In The Age Of Coronavirus
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| ‘Putin’s Chef’ Speaks for First Time in Mueller Probe Case Posted: 04 Mar 2020 10:13 AM PST |
| Noose placed on Wisconsin brewery shooter's locker in 2015 Posted: 04 Mar 2020 10:10 AM PST  Someone placed a noose several years ago on the locker of a Wisconsin brewery employee who opened fire on his co-workers last week, the brewery operator said Wednesday. Anthony Ferrill, an electrician at the sprawling Molson Coors brewery in Milwaukee, fatally shot five co-workers before killing himself on the campus last week. Ferrill was black.
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| Russia-Turkey talks a last chance to avert Idlib calamity Posted: 04 Mar 2020 09:54 AM PST  A summit between the Turkish and Russian leaders on Thursday may be the last chance to work out a deal that avoids further calamity in Syria's northwest. Faced with mounting losses for his troops in Syria's Idlib province and a potential wave of refugees fleeing the fighting, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is eager for a cease-fire, and Vladimir Putin is ready to bargain. With a looming new migration crisis at Europe's borders, all eyes will be on Moscow, where the two main power brokers in Syria will see if they can hammer out yet another deal carving up northern Syria, tailored to their own agendas.
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| Shortage of Chinese parts caused $50 billion fall in February's global exports: U.N. Posted: 04 Mar 2020 09:18 AM PST  China's exports of vital parts and components for products ranging from automobiles to cellphones are estimated to have shrunk by an annualized 2% in February, costing other countries and their industries $50 billion, a United Nations agency said on Wednesday. The world's second-largest economy - and epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak that has spread to 75 nations - accounts for a fifth of global trade in intermediate products. "There is a ripple effect throughout the global economy to the tune of a $50 billion fall in exports across the world," Pamela Coke-Hamilton, director of UNCTAD's division of international trade, told a Geneva news briefing.
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| Shortage of Chinese parts caused $50 bln fall in February's global exports - UN Posted: 04 Mar 2020 09:00 AM PST |
| Brawl erupts in Turkey's parliament over Syria involvement Posted: 04 Mar 2020 08:43 AM PST  A fight broke out in the Turkish parliament between lawmakers from opposing parties Wednesday during a tense discussion about Turkey's military involvement in northwest Syria. Video images showed dozens of legislators from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's party and from the main opposition party pushing each other. Some lawmakers fell to the ground during the fray, Turkey's Haberturk television reported.
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| Brexit Bulletin: We Need to Talk About Northern Ireland Posted: 04 Mar 2020 08:42 AM PST  (Bloomberg) -- What's happening? Businesses are exasperated over the future of Northern Ireland, one of the most contentious, sensitive and politically toxic elements of Brexit.The future of Northern Ireland is among the thorniest and most difficult challenges of Brexit, with companies still at a loss as to how they'll trade in the region once the Brexit transition period ends in 2021.In law, the U.K. has signed up to enforcing an effective customs border in the Irish Sea, with goods crossing from Great Britain to Northern Ireland requiring new paperwork and potentially paying tariffs. In practice, despite EU protestations of back-sliding, the U.K. government continues to insist there will be no such border.These contradicting lines spark exasperation in industry. There will be 'massive legal chaos' in Northern Ireland if Boris Johnson's government doesn't uphold the protocol, said Stephen Kelly, chief executive of Manufacturing NI, speaking at an Institute for Government event in London on Wednesday. Kelly said there's been no engagement between government and businesses in Northern Ireland on the issue.Meanwhile companies seeking clarity on the situation are having no luck, said Anna Jerzewska, an independent trade expert. Businesses are asking their logistics providers what will happen, who are in turn asking the port operators, who in turn don't know, she said. And if the U.K. defaults on its legal obligations by not upholding the border, it would damage its international credibility when negotiating future trade deals, she said.Even more so than fishing, this could be the issue that provokes the first big bust-up between the U.K. and EU during the trade talks. Without a clear public declaration from the U.K. on its intentions for Northern Ireland, it will 'poison the well' of the negotiations, said Denis Staunton, the London editor of the Irish Times newspaper.Beyond BrexitMichael Bloomberg has ended his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination and endorsed Joe Biden. Italy is considering closing all schools and universities as it redoubles efforts to curb the spread of the coronavirus epidemic. The stockpiling crisis that has hit supermarkets across Asia has spread to Europe as consumers start hoarding groceries and hygiene products amid fears of a pandemic.Brexit in BriefSea Change | U.K. Environment Secretary George Eustice said he is "optimistic" Britain and the European Union will reach an agreement on fishing rights by July 1, removing a key obstacle to a wider trade deal. Spreading Sickness | The coronavirus outbreak is disrupting the U.K.'s nascent economic recovery in the wake of Boris Johnson's election win.Hey, Big Spender | Johnson should look beyond large transport projects to ensure the billions of pounds of planned extra spending in the upcoming budget boosts the whole U.K. economy, according to the Resolution Foundation.Lessons Learned | In some parts of the world people are used to unpredictability, but Europeans are not. Brexit has made them aware of the importance of staying together, writes Caroline de Gruyter in the EUobserver. Brexit Bank Holiday | 'United Kingdom Day' is one step closer to becoming a reality after clearing its first parliamentary hurdle.Want to keep up with Brexit?You can follow us @Brexit on Twitter, and listen to Bloomberg Westminster every weekday. To contact the authors of this story: Joe Mayes in London at jmayes9@bloomberg.netCaitlin Morrison in London at cmorrison59@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Guy Collins at guycollins@bloomberg.netFor 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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| Feds investigate nursing home as U.S. death toll hits 11 Posted: 04 Mar 2020 08:39 AM PST  The U.S. death toll from the coronavirus climbed to 11 on Wednesday with a patient succumbing in California — the first reported fatality outside Washington state — as federal authorities announced an investigation of the Seattle-area nursing home where most of the victims were stricken. Officials in California's Placer County, near Sacramento, said an elderly person who tested positive after returning from a San Francisco-to-Mexico cruise had died. California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a statewide emergency.
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| Merkel party sidelined as far-left wins closely watched vote Posted: 04 Mar 2020 08:36 AM PST  Lawmakers in eastern German state Thuringia re-elected its state premier Wednesday, with Chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling CDU party sitting out the vote after a first try sank it into a deep crisis. Popular former premier Ramelow of the radical-left Die Linke party was returned to power, despite falling four votes short of an absolute majority after the centre-right CDU abstained. It was the second attempt in a month to form a working government in the former East German state, after CDU MPs there set off an earthquake in national politics by voting with the far-right AfD in the first vote on February 5.
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| Virus Threatens to Unleash Lawsuits Against Global Business Posted: 04 Mar 2020 08:24 AM PST  (Bloomberg) -- The coronavirus has upended markets, disrupted supply chains and forced quarantines. It's all fertile ground for lawsuits.Hospitals, restaurants, day care centers, nursing homes and hotels may face claims that they didn't take adequate steps to protect people. Shareholders can sue if companies fail to act effectively in response to the epidemic. Businesses are scrambling to see if their insurance policies cover disruptions caused by the virus. Governments are reviewing their quarantine powers."The impact on the global supply chain, I think, is going to be dramatic," said Paul White, a partner with Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker who represents insurers.Some cases have already been filed: The pilots' union at American Airlines Group Inc. sued the carrier to stop it from serving China, while the city of Costa Mesa, California, sued the U.S. government to halt the transfer of quarantined cruise passengers to a state-owned facility there.Here's a survey of the likely legal landscape.'Act of God'The fallout from business disruptions is going to be "very significant in a way we haven't seen before," said Joe Balice, a litigator with Brutzkus Gubner in Los Angeles who represents clients in the textile and apparel industry, many of them hit by factory shutdowns in China.Manufacturers may sue over missed deadlines, while suppliers could sue energy companies, which have already stopped taking some shipments as transportation demand dwindles.Michael Hurst, a partner at Lynn Pinker Cox & Hurst in Dallas, expects to see a surge in disputes over whether force majeure clauses, which frees a contract's parties from their obligations in the event of an "act of God," apply to the outbreak."Someone can say they can't perform under a contract because they can't get supplies from China or their people wouldn't come to work," Hurst said. "The other side might say you're being too cautious or you're just using that as an excuse."QuickTake: What It Means If the Coronavirus Is Called a PandemicInsurers are likely to find themselves in court. Balice said businesses are poring over their policies to see if they're insured against the coronavirus fallout. "And a lot will find out that they are not," he said.Business disruption insurance claims typically deal with physical damage, like a factory that has burned down, not closures ordered to control a virus, Balice said. "This could be an area of insurance litigation for many years to come," he said."Companies which already faced business challenges in the Chinese market could get hit hard if they have limited resources," said Philipp Senff, head of compliance at the law firm CMS in China.Worker ProtectionsSome companies have already limited business travel and encouraged employees to work from home. Several industry conferences have been scrapped to prevent large gatherings from spreading the virus.Now some fear they may be held liable for workers' participation in meetings or corporate events where employees are exposed. At the same time, efforts to protect staff could run afoul of privacy rules."What can they and can't they ask their workforce about their potential exposure to the virus, travel activities and medical history?" said David Newman, a partner at Morrison & Foerster in Washington, who is leading the firm's task force on advising clients about the outbreak.Domenique Camacho Moran, a partner with Farrell Fritz who represents employers, said she has been contacted by clients with these very concerns, including one who said an employee caused a brief panic after disclosing a diagnosis of coronavirus -- but not the one that's raising the global alarm."This is a fluid situation," Camacho Moran said. "The right answer on Monday may be different by the time we get to Friday."Companies "may need to be more flexible in allowing employees to take sick leave and providing sick pay to motivate them to stay home," said Sloane Ackerman, a labor and employment lawyer with O'Melveny & Myers in New York.Read More: The World Catches a Dangerous Virus of the MindBusinesses that have daily contact with the public or who deal with captive populations are also at risk of getting sued, said Carl Tobias, a University of Richmond law professor who teaches mass torts. He cited nursing homes, like the one in Washington state whose residents account for many of the U.S. casualties so far."The claim could be they didn't move quickly enough to protect residents once it was clear the virus was a danger, or that they didn't have proper contingency plans in place," Tobias said.Airlines have spent years in European Union courts battling and shaping rules on when they should compensate passengers. The EU's Court of Justice might again have to weigh in on whether the companies could claim extraordinary circumstances beyond their control to avoid new payouts, EU Transport Commissioner Adina Valean said at a press conference Monday.In Germany, the season for annual general meetings is about to start. These meetings -- which must be held within the first eight months of the year -- can be big, filling Olympic stadium halls. While it's still early to gauge what will happen, lawyers are already exploring what can be done with virtual participation and voting.Quarantine PowerGovernment efforts to fight the virus through mandatory quarantines and other such steps are another potential source of litigation, if members of the public push back.Henry Greenberg, president of the New York State Bar Association and a former general counsel of the state's health department, said officials have "tremendous authority" to trace and isolate virus carriers, based on a "vast body of law" over communicable diseases. The trick for government officials is to weigh public health against individual rights and avoid excesses, he said, citing "some overreaction and stigmatizations" that occurred when health workers who treated Ebola patients in Africa returned to the U.S. in 2014.On Tuesday, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo confirmed the state's second case of coronavirus: a 50-year-old lawyer who works in Manhattan and lives in Westchester County, a suburb of New York City. The lawyer, who has an underlying respiratory condition, has been hospitalized, Cuomo said at a news conference.The first case was a 39-year-old health care worker who traveled in Iran, which has had a serious outbreak, and who is isolated at home with what Cuomo called mild symptoms. Unlike her case, the lawyer's presents no clear source of transmission, suggesting the possibility of a new community of person-to-person infection. New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio said the lawyer's wife and two children have tested positive for the virus and are isolated at home. Claims involving the government have already arrived. In addition to Costa Mesa's suit over the proposed transfer of the cruise passengers, San Antonio has sued U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and other officials over the government's quarantine of a cruise passenger in the area after she was cleared by two tests for the virus. A third test came back positive -- after her release.A dozen passengers from the ship, the Diamond Princess, have contacted Miami-based Lipcon, Margulies, Alsina & Winkleman to explore litigation against Princess Cruises parent company Carnival Corp., and several have retained the firm, partner Michael Winkleman said."It's a very difficult situation for the company, but they should have been familiar from handling previous norovirus cases on board," he said, adding that the question is "whether they pursued all reasonable and proper care."The cruise line said it did.Governments must also protect captive populations from infection. Dan Cogdell, a veteran Texas criminal defense attorney, said he has discussed with a state judge the viral threat posed by prisoners in a Houston lockup."The real danger is that the jails have terrible resources, and the coronavirus will likely spread like wildfire in the jail," he said. "And they'll bring it straight to the courthouse."Prisoners in the Harris County system, which houses the fourth-largest U.S. inmate population, are being screened, and the facility has quarantine experience from managing previous infectious disease outbreaks, said Jason Spencer, a spokesman for the system.Everything ElseOther lawsuits popping up around the U.S. include claims indirectly related to coronavirus.A medical staffing agency claims U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services dragged its feet in reviewing applications for H-1B visas for skilled foreigners and that the delays threaten the supply of medical professionals needed to deal with the outbreak.A suit seeking class-action status alleges that the maker of the hand sanitizer Purell exaggerates its product's powers to prevent illness.And then there's the Manhattan lawyer who asked a court to excuse a delay in suing Consolidated Edison Co. for a trip-and-fall over a manhole cover. It was "due to the extraordinary and unforeseen circumstance" of his being stuck in China for six weeks, he explained.(Updates with case of Manhattan lawyer under Quarantine Power)\--With assistance from Ellen Milligan, Jef Feeley, Tom Korosec, Laurel Calkins, Christian Berthelsen, Joel Rosenblatt, Karin Matussek, Stephanie Bodoni, Henry Goldman and Aoife White.To contact the reporters on this story: Bob Van Voris in Federal court in Manhattan at rvanvoris@bloomberg.net;Chris Dolmetsch in Federal court in Manhattan at cdolmetsch@bloomberg.net;Edvard Pettersson in Los Angeles at epettersson@bloomberg.net;Hugo Miller in Geneva at hugomiller@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: David Glovin at dglovin@bloomberg.net, Peter JeffreyFor 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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| German State That Triggered Political Chaos Reverses Course Posted: 04 Mar 2020 07:56 AM PST  (Bloomberg) -- The eastern German state that triggered political chaos last month reversed course, undoing a vote for the state premiership four weeks after Chancellor Angela Merkel's party joined the far right to elect a rogue candidate.Lawmakers in Thuringia elected Bodo Ramelow of the anti-capitalist Left Party, whose ouster in a Feb. 5 parliamentary ballot shocked Germany's political establishment. Ramelow, who had governed the state since 2014, was backed by the Social Democrats and the Greens and will lead the rural state in a minority government.The vote defuses a political drama that sent shockwaves to Berlin and beyond, contributing to the resignation of Merkel's heir-apparent and a fresh leadership race in her Christian Democratic Union. Merkel, who had been traveling to Africa during the vote, called her party's alignment with the AfD "unforgivable."Ramelow's election on Wednesday proceeded as it had been meant to a month ago. Lacking an absolute majority, he was installed in the third round of voting with a plurality of ballots. Merkel's CDU and the AfD either voted no or abstained, while the Free Democrats -- which fielded the rogue candidate -- boycotted the vote.On Feb. 5, the third ballot took a different course. The FDP's Thomas Kemmerich was the surprise winner with backing from the CDU and AfD. Under withering pressure from the political establishment, he resigned in a matter of days.To contact the reporter on this story: Patrick Donahue in Berlin at pdonahue1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Ben Sills at bsills@bloomberg.net, Chris ReiterFor 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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| New York City Lawyer, Family, Neighbors Infected with Coronavirus Posted: 04 Mar 2020 07:48 AM PST  A Manhattan lawyer who contracted the 2019 novel coronavirus was in critical condition Wednesday, and his wife, son, daughter, and several neighbors were infected, too.Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that the new cases—bringing New York's total number of confirmed patients to 11—were all linked to attorney, who lives in Westchester County. Cuomo has said that the man had an underlying health condition, putting him at increased risk for severe infection.The infected lawyer checked into a suburban hospital on Feb. 27 with respiratory problems and was reportedly diagnosed four days later. He remained in critical condition at the New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center in Manhattan, according to health officials. The firm was said to be a boutique seven-lawyer practice in Manhattan located across 42nd Street from Grand Central Terminal, where the initial patient reportedly commuted on the Metro-North Railroad from a home in New Rochelle."We're dealing with a coronavirus epidemic," said Cuomo. "We have a bigger problem, which is a fear pandemic, and the anxiety here is outpacing the reality of the situation."At a news conference on Wednesday, Cuomo said the man's 20-year-old son and 14-year-old daughter were also confirmed cases and that they would remain quarantined at their home in New Rochelle."I am shocked about this news," said Hilary Kolodin, a former client of the infected attorney, whose identity has not been released by authorities. "[He] is a wonderful family man and person and treated what was a very emotional and personal case with amazing care and insight. He got me through the worst time in my life, and my heart is broken that he and his family are going through this.""I am heartbroken for him and his wife and kids," she added.Another woman, the first case in New York, was previously reported to be in self-isolation at home after returning from travel abroad in Iran. Officials at Yeshiva University confirmed early Wednesday that the lawyer's college-age son had tested positive for the virus, and that they had begun their own countermeasures. "We have unfortunately received news this morning that our student has tested positive for COVID-19," the private university announced on Wednesday morning in a press release. "Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family as well as to all those affected." The school said it would cancel all classes on Wilf Campus in Washington Heights on Wednesday but that no other operations would change."We understand that the recent news is concerning, and we wanted to reassure you that we have been working closely with NYC health officials and outside specialists, all day and through this evening, to take every necessary precaution to ensure the safety of our community," said a statement from the school. Meanwhile, the attorney's teenage daughter reportedly attends SAR Academy and High School in the Bronx, which has been shut down out of an abundance of caution, according to the city's health authority."The source of the COVID-19 infection is unknown," said a release from New York City's Health Department. "The Health Department has provided onsite guidance at all three locations and will be tracking close contacts of the family. Disease detectives from the Health Department are identifying anyone who had close contact with these three individuals for coronavirus testing."Westchester County Health Commissioner Dr. Sherlita Amler on Tuesday directed Young Israel of New Rochelle, the synagogue the lawyer's family reportedly attended, to halt all services immediately "and for the foreseeable future" over potential exposure. "Congregants of the Temple who attended services on February 22, and a funeral and a bat mitzvah at the temple on February 23 must self-quarantine until at the very earliest March 8," said a press release from the county department. "Those who do not self-quarantine will be mandated to by the county department of health to do so."Cuomo reiterated on Wednesday that officials expect many more confirmed cases in New York, but that was no reason to panic. "By definition, the more you test, the more people you will find who test positive," he told reporters.As Oren Barzilay, President of FDNY EMS Local 2507, told The Daily Beast on Wednesday: "Everybody knows that New York City is the capital of the world." "We have a lot of people on our transit system day-in and day-out, so the probability of cross-contamination is very high," said Barzilay. "Should this not be controlled in the near future, we are anticipating that more people will be infected with this."As of Wednesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had reported 129 cases in the United States, of which 80 were picked up through the public health system in 13 states. (The agency has noted states may be able to confirm additional cases before reporting them to the federal government.) The remainder of cases were related to State Department-chartered planes from the virus's epicenter in Wuhan, China, or the disastrous Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan. Ten people had died in the United States as of early Wednesday, and public health emergencies were declared this week in Washington State; Florida; Bexar County, Texas; and Los Angeles County, California.Local health officials in New York, for their part, promised transparency in the days to come."Now, more than ever, New Yorkers must come together as a city to limit the spread of COVID-19. If you have symptoms like cough, fever, or shortness of breath, call your health-care provider," NYC Health Commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot said in a statement. "The Health Department will do everything in our power to minimize the disruption caused by this evolving situation, and we will continue to communicate openly and honestly with New Yorkers."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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| UK bullying row exposes government tensions Posted: 04 Mar 2020 07:22 AM PST  Three months after his triumphant re-election, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is battling to save one of his top ministers from a bullying scandal that has exposed tensions at the heart of his government. Interior minister Priti Patel has faced calls to resign over allegations that she mistreated staff in both her present and previous roles -- claims she strongly denies. Johnson on Wednesday offered his full support for Patel, a fellow veteran of the Brexit campaign in the 2016 EU referendum, telling MPs she was doing an "outstanding job".
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| China Readies Deal With Washington’s Closest Latin American Ally Posted: 04 Mar 2020 07:07 AM PST |
| Amid virus outbreak, mother demands son's release from Iran Posted: 04 Mar 2020 07:03 AM PST |
| Haiti Health Town Hall Calls for Progress Against Malaria Posted: 04 Mar 2020 06:00 AM PST |
| In Major Upset, Texas Oil Regulator Loses Republican Primary Posted: 04 Mar 2020 05:42 AM PST  (Bloomberg) -- A member of the top energy regulator in Texas lost his place on November's ballot to a Republican challenger, a major upset for an incumbent who has attracted criticism for his handling of natural gas flaring and occasionally split with his fellow commissioners.Ryan Sitton, whose six-year term ends in January, conceded to Jim Wright as the party's nominee for a spot on the Texas Railroad Commission. Despite the name, the powerful agency regulates the state's massive oil fields, including issuing permits for flaring, in which oil producers burn off unwanted natural gas."Congratulations to Jim Wright," Sitton wrote in a tweet late Tuesday night in Texas. "It's been an honor and incredibly rewarding to put my experience to work for Texas."Sitton has occasionally broken with the other two Republicans on the commission. Most recently, Sitton independently released a report on gas flaring that both tried to address criticism of the issue while defending the agency's practice of granting every permit that comes its way. He pointed at Iraq and Iran as examples of oil producers that burn off much more of their gas and could more easily cut flaring.The report was applauded by industry groups but panned by environmental groups and criticized by academics for trying to minimize the problem. Still, an executive at Royal Dutch Shell Plc last month called on regulators to craft better policies to reduce flaring in the Permian."The pressure from Texas' major operators must compel some kind of leadership from the RRC," said Katie Bays, co-founder of Washington-based Sandhill Strategy LLC. "Sitton staked out a role as an opponent of change, even if the industry was calling for it."Wright, a rancher and chief executive of an oilfield services company, will face the Democrat challenger for the seat currently held by Sitton, who had also clinched endorsements for the Republican primary from the editorial boards of the Houston Chronicle and the Dallas Morning News.Wright has said that the Railroad Commission should do a better job of encouraging oil producers to get their gas to market, though he doesn't support actions that would reduce oil output."Wright is thoughtful, shares our concerns about flaring and seismicity, and wants to increase transparency at the commission," the Dallas Morning News' editorial board wrote last month in its endorsement of Sitton. "However, he isn't a viable candidate. He did not complete our Voter Guide questionnaire and his campaign lacks a meaningful website or social media presence."Dallas lawyers Chrysta Castañeda and Roberto Alonzo, a former state representative, will compete in a May runoff to challenge Wright."Wright's victory adds uncertainty to key Texas issues such as flaring, as he is now the frontrunner for the position," said Ethan Bellamy, an analyst at Robert W. Baird & Co. who covers oil and gas pipeline operators. "His official positions on his website don't offer much in the way of specific policy, but as an owner of multiple energy service companies he clearly is in a position to understand the commercial impacts of the RRC's decisions."(Updates with analyst comment in last paragraph)To contact the reporter on this story: Rachel Adams-Heard in Houston at radamsheard@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Simon Casey at scasey4@bloomberg.net, Christine BuurmaFor 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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| Iran says 92 dead as virus reaches all but one province Posted: 04 Mar 2020 05:32 AM PST  Coronavirus has killed 92 people in Iran, officials said Wednesday, as the world's deadliest outbreak outside China spread to all but one of the country's provinces. Iran's President Hassan Rouhani meanwhile dismissed a US offer to help it fight the novel coronavirus outbreak, charging that Washington hides behind a "mask of sympathy" while sanctions are depriving the country of medicine. The provinces of Tehran and Qom were the worst-hit with 253 and 101 new cases of COVID-19 respectively, according to the spokesman.
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| U.K. Environment Secretary ‘Optimistic’ EU Fishing Deal Will Be Reached Posted: 04 Mar 2020 05:24 AM PST |
| Top Tories Pressure Johnson Over U.K.’s ‘Addiction’ to Huawei Posted: 04 Mar 2020 05:15 AM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Boris Johnson faces a growing rebellion from leading members of his Conservative Party over the decision to allow Huawei Technologies Co. to help build the U.K.'s next-generation telecommunications networks.Former party leader Iain Duncan Smith led a chorus of prominent Tories demanding the government commit to reducing the Chinese company's involvement in 5G networks to zero by 2023, and said failing to do so would be like allowing the Nazis to build Britain's national radio system during wartime.Ministers plan to legislate to restrict so-called high-risk vendors, including Huawei, to non-core parts of the network and to 35% overall."It's like getting somebody off the addiction to heroin," Duncan Smith said during a debate Wednesday on the security implications of Huawei. "The establishment in the U.K. has found itself somehow locked in this Huawei process and we need to break them free."Though the outcome of the debate, in a side chamber of Parliament, is non-binding, the strength of feeling among the upper echelons of Johnson's party will be worrying for the prime minister. Getting his wider legislative program through may be more difficult if there is Tory disunity, though an 80-seat majority in the House of Commons gives him a lot of leeway.The angry backlash also comes as Johnson faces growing pressure from the U.K.'s security allies, especially the U.S., over the Chinese company. Officials from President Donald Trump's administration have urged Johnson to reverse his decision over claims that Huawei is an arm of the Chinese Communist Party and its involvement in 5G could enable spying.A group of U.S. senators also wants to remove preferred investment status for countries that use the Chinese company's equipment.U.S. Senators Push Investment Scrutiny of Allies Using HuaweiOn Wednesday, senior Conservatives accused the government of "kowtowing" to the Chinese government, saying the decision threatens the U.K.'s alliance with the U.S. at the very time they need to strike a trade deal after Brexit."Whatever we think about our security preparations, if our allies don't trust us, that undermines the alliance," said Tom Tugendhat, who also leads Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee. "I fail to understand why government from Beijing is better than from Brussels."In response, the government reiterated its position that Huawei and other high-risk vendors could be incorporated without jeopardizing network security, though it shares the overarching goal of reducing their involvement to zero -- subject to the availability of alternatives in the supply chain."We are not naive about Huawei nor its relationship to the Chinese state," digital minister Matt Warman said. "We are not and we will never put anything other than national security at the top of our agenda."To contact the reporter on this story: Olivia Konotey-Ahulu in London at okonoteyahul@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Tim Ross at tross54@bloomberg.net, Stuart Biggs, Thomas PennyFor 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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| If you want to help after the Nashville tornadoes, give cash, not clothing and other stuff Posted: 04 Mar 2020 03:57 AM PST  Powerful storms and tornadoes left a trail of devastation as they ripped through Nashville on March 3, killing 25 people, injuring dozens more and leaving hundreds homeless. As first responders and residents of the Tennessee city searched for the missing, assessed the damage and began to pick up the pieces, relief efforts started taking shape right away. In the aftermath of such tragedies, the urge to help is laudable. Some organizations and community groups don't want to wait before organizing donation drives. Yet, as someone who has studied how professionals and local communities respond to emergencies, I've seen time and again how well-intentioned efforts to donate goods to distant disasters can go wrong.Donations of food, clothing, toiletries and diapers are often the last thing that is needed in disaster-affected areas. Delivering things that people need on the ground simply doesn't help disaster-struck communities as much as giving them money to buy what they need. What's more, truckloads of blue jeans and cases of Lunchables can actually interfere with official relief efforts.If you want to do the greatest good, send money. Transportation troubleDisaster relief efforts repeatedly provide lessons in good intentions gone wrong.At best, donating bottled water, blankets and other stuff can augment official efforts and provide the locals with some additional comfort, especially when those donations come from nearby. When various levels of government failed to meet the needs of Hurricane Katrina victims, for example, community, faith-based and private sector organizations stepped in to fill many of the gaps.How can these donations cause more harm than good? By raising the cost of the response cycle. Everything from collecting, sorting, packaging and shipping bulky items across long distances to sorting, warehousing and distributing them upon arrival costs a lot of money. Delivering this aid is tough in disaster areas since transportation infrastructure, such as airports, roads and bridges, are likely to be damaged by the disaster or busy with the surge of incoming first responders, relief shipments and equipment.This is true in Nashville, where the storms and tornadoes caused massive power outages, filled roads with debris and severely damaged Tennessee's biggest airport. Dumping groundsAt worst, disaster zones become dumping grounds for a lot of junk that can delay actual relief efforts and harm local economies.After the 2004 South Asian tsunami, shipping containers full of ill-suited items such as used high-heeled shoes, ski gear and expired medications poured into the affected countries. This junk clogged ports and roads, polluting already ravaged areas and diverting personnel, trucks and storage facilities from actual relief efforts.After the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, many untrained and uninvited American volunteers bringing unnecessary goods ended up needing assistance themselves.One study led by José Holguín-Veras, a Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute expert on humanitarian logistics, found that 50% to 70% of the goods that arrive during these emergencies should never have been sent and interfere with recovery efforts. After the 2011 Joplin, Missouri, tornado and the Tōhoku, Japan, earthquake, for example, excessive donations of clothing and blankets tied up relief personnel.Relief workers consider these well-meaning but inconvenient donations as a "second-tier disaster" due to the disruption they cause. What else can you do?Instead of shipping your hand-me-downs, donate money to trusted and established organizations with extensive experience and expertise and local ties.Give to groups that make it clear where the money will go. Choose relief efforts that will procure supplies near the disaster area, which will help the local economy recover. You can also consult organizations like Charity Navigator that evaluate charities' financial performance.Many humanitarian aid organizations themselves have increasingly adopted cash-based approaches in recent years, though money remains a small share of overall humanitarian aid worldwide.Evaluations of the effectiveness of such programs vary and are context-dependent. Nonetheless, emerging evidence suggests that disbursing cash is often the best way to help people in disaster zones get the food and shelter they need.What's more, the World Food Program and the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees say that people affected by disasters tend to prefer cash over in-kind aid due to the dignity, control and flexibility it gives them. Some exceptionsThere are a few notable exceptions to this advice on avoiding in-kind donations. If you live in or near the affected area, it is helpful to consider dropping the specific items victims are requesting at local food banks, shelters and other community organizations. Just make sure that nothing you're giving away will spoil quickly.For instance, the Community Resource Center Nashville has said it is accepting donations of personal hygiene items, bleach, trash bags, gloves and box cutters. The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee has activated the Middle Tennessee Emergency Response Fund to support the affected communities, and is accepting donations. So is the local United Way. Other organizations, including Hands On Nashville, are seeking volunteers.When disaster strikes, the urge to help is admirable. Yet this impulse should be channeled to do the greatest good. So please, if you would like to help from afar, let the professionals procure goods and services. Instead, donate money and listen to what people on the ground say they need.And don't stop giving after the disaster stops making headlines. A full recovery will take time and support long after the emergency responders and camera crews have moved on.This is an updated version of an article published on Sept. 13, 2018.This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts.Read more: * It takes years to fully recover from big storms like Sandy * Want to help after a disaster? Consider waiting a bitJulia Brooks does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
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| 10 things you need to know today: March 4, 2020 Posted: 04 Mar 2020 03:54 AM PST |
