| UN adopts 4 resolutions, voting by email because of COVID-19 Posted: 30 Mar 2020 06:21 PM PDT |
| US extends Iran nuclear cooperation sanctions waivers Posted: 30 Mar 2020 05:21 PM PDT  The Trump administration on Monday renewed several waivers on U.S. sanctions against Iran, allowing Russian, European and Chinese companies to continue to work on Iran's civilian nuclear facilities without drawing American penalties. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo signed off on the waiver extensions but couched the decision as one that continues restrictions on Iran's atomic work. Current and former officials familiar with the matter said Pompeo had opposed extending the waivers, which are among the few remaining components of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal that the administration has not cancelled.
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| UN aid chief says Syrian COVID-19 cases are `tip of iceberg' Posted: 30 Mar 2020 04:10 PM PDT  The U.N. humanitarian chief warned Monday that the 10 cases of COVID-19 and one death confirmed in Syria are just "the tip of the iceberg," and judging from other countries "a devastating impact" can be expected on vulnerable communities. Mark Lowcock told the U.N. Security Council that "all efforts to prevent, detect and respond to COVID-19 are impeded by Syria's fragile health system," noting that only around half the country's hospitals and primary health care facilities were fully functional at the end of 2019. With the Syrian conflict entering its 10th year this month, Lowcock said, over half the population has been forced to flee their homes, more than 11 million people in the country including nearly 5 million children need humanitarian assistance, almost eight million people don't have reliable access to food, over 20 percent more than last year, and 500,000 children are chronically malnourished.
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| In first, UN Security Council approves resolutions remotely Posted: 30 Mar 2020 03:49 PM PDT  The UN Security Council on Monday for the first time approved resolutions remotely after painstaking negotiations among diplomats who are teleworking due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Security Council unanimously voted for four resolutions, including one that extended through April 2021 the expiring mandate of UN experts who are monitoring sanctions on North Korea, diplomats said. The UN mission in Somalia was also prolonged, until the end of June, and the mission in Darfur until the end of May -- two short periods decided due to uncertainty over the spread of the pandemic.
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| Pastor arrested for violating rules amid virus outbreak Posted: 30 Mar 2020 03:45 PM PDT  According to jail records, Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne turned himself in to authorities Monday afternoon in Hernando County, where he lives. Hillsborough Sheriff Chad Chronister said in a news conference Monday that he negotiated with the attorney of Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne to turn himself in to authorities in Hernando County. "Not only did the church comply with the administrative order regarding six-foot distancing, it went above and beyond any other business to ensure the health and safety of the people," said a statement from Liberty Counsel, Howard-Browne's law firm.
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| Countries crack down on basic rights amid virus pandemic Posted: 30 Mar 2020 03:30 PM PDT  Soldiers patrol the streets with their fingers on machine gun triggers. Since President Aleksandar Vucic announced an open-ended state of emergency on March 15, parliament has been sidelined, borders shut, a 12-hour police-enforced curfew imposed and people over 65 banned from leaving their homes — some of Europe's strictest measures to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Rodoljub Sabic, a lawyer and former state commissioner for personal data protection, says that by proclaiming a state of emergency, Vucic has assumed "full supremacy" over decision-making during the crisis, although his constitutional role is only ceremonial.
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| FBI reaches out to Sen. Burr over stock sales tied to virus Posted: 30 Mar 2020 03:17 PM PDT |
| How dire projections, grim images dashed Trump's Easter plan Posted: 30 Mar 2020 02:06 PM PDT  The projections were grim: Even if the U.S. were to continue to do what it was doing, keeping the economy closed and most Americans in their homes, the coronavirus could leave 100,000 to 200,000 people dead and millions infected. One model showed that deaths could have soared past 2 million had there been no mitigation measures.
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| U.S. spies find coronavirus spread in China, North Korea, Russia hard to chart Posted: 30 Mar 2020 02:00 PM PDT |
| U.S. Base Workers Set for Furlough in Blow to South Korea Alliance Posted: 30 Mar 2020 02:00 PM PDT |
| Gas is cheap, but for many motorists there's nowhere to go Posted: 30 Mar 2020 01:51 PM PDT  U.S. gasoline prices have dropped to their lowest levels in four years, and they are almost sure to go lower as oil prices plunge. "For most Americans who are home practicing social distancing and not driving to work or taking their children to school, you are only filling up maybe once a week, maybe every couple of weeks," said Jeanette Casselano, a spokeswoman for the AAA auto club.
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| Trump administration rules gun shops 'essential' amid virus Posted: 30 Mar 2020 01:19 PM PDT  The Trump administration has ruled that gun shops are considered "essential" businesses that should remain open as other businesses are closed to try to stop the spread of coronavirus. Gun control groups are balking, calling it a policy that puts profits over public health after intense lobbying by the firearms industry. In Los Angeles, for example, County Sheriff Alex Villanueva has twice ordered gun shops in his territory to close, leading to legal challenges from gun rights advocates.
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| Trump, Putin discuss oil price plunge, coronavirus Posted: 30 Mar 2020 01:16 PM PDT  President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin discussed plunging oil prices and the coronavirus pandemic Monday, as Trump said Moscow is pressing for an end to US sanctions. The White House said in a separate statement Trump and Putin had "agreed to work closely together through the G20" against the virus and the economic shock resulting from travel bans and social distancing. Both statements reported that the oil market turmoil was discussed, with the White House version stating agreement on the "importance of stability in global energy markets."
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| North Korea slams Pompeo and says will 'walk our way' Posted: 30 Mar 2020 01:09 PM PDT  Nuclear-armed North Korea on Monday warned it could cut off dialogue with the United States, but Washington's top diplomat said the US still looked forward to talks, even after the North called his insistence on sanctions "ludicrous". Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last week told nations to "stay committed to applying diplomatic and economic pressure" over the North's nuclear and ballistic missile programmes while calling on it to return to talks. "Listening to Pompeo's ludicrous language made us give up on any hopes for dialogue," an unnamed official in charge of negotiations with the US said in a statement released by the North's official Korean Central News Agency.
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| Orban Takes Sole Command of Hungary With Emergency Law Posted: 30 Mar 2020 12:33 PM PDT |
| Moscow begins lockdown during tougher push to curb virus Posted: 30 Mar 2020 12:14 PM PDT  Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday urged Moscow's 12 million residents to respect a strict new lockdown, as other parts of the country began to introduce similar steps to curb the coronavirus outbreak. The enforcement of the new rules, which Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin suddenly announced late Sunday, coincided with the beginning of a "non-working" week Putin declared last week. "I ask you to take these forced but absolutely necessary measures... very seriously and completely responsibly," Putin told Muscovites.
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| Pentagon May Keep Paratroopers in Mideast to Counter Iran Posted: 30 Mar 2020 12:13 PM PDT  Defense Secretary Mark Esper is looking at extending the deployment of a reaction force sent to the Middle East to counter Iran's militia network, according to three sources and documents provided to The Daily Beast. The 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 82nd Airborne Division arrived in the Mideast in January after Iranian-backed militias attacked the U.S. embassy in Baghdad. The roughly 3,000 paratroopers operate as an immediate reaction force, built to deploy on short notice to global hotspots. The extended deployment, said to be requested by U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) chief Gen. Kenneth "Frank" McKenzie, would signal that the military does not believe the spread of the novel coronavirus has reduced the risk of violent escalation with Iran's Iraqi militia network. But it's causing confusion and alarm within the brigade, which is currently in Kuwait while Esper has ordered a 60-day freeze on troop movements overseas. Sources told The Daily Beast that seeking the deployment extension was McKenzie's call, not a result of the freeze, although the extension would last through the end of the freeze. Trump, Iran, and Where 'The Forever War' Was Always Headed"We hate that this was an unplanned deployment and that it's impossible to have any certainty about when we will get home," a soldier in the brigade told The Daily Beast."Even if it's stupid and we have to deal with Iranian militias, it's part of the job. But we just hate the uncertainty." It's unclear when the brigade was supposed to return home. One source said their deployment was open-ended and at the pleasure of McKenzie. But a different source said that before Esper's stop-movement order, the brigade had prepared for redeployment home. Ahead of a decision, the brigade is operating on the expectation that it will remain in the region until the end of May, which would roughly coincide with the anticipated end of the COVID-19 movement freeze. On Monday, a notice from the brigade commander, Col. Andrew Saslav, said the decision on the brigade's tour was in Esper's hands after CENTCOM requested the extension. "I know this is a crazy time, thanks for all you are doing. I know it is frustrating for you and your families, but we will get through it," Saslav wrote in a message shared with The Daily Beast. Representatives for the brigade and CENTCOM deferred comment to the Pentagon. "For operational security reasons, we are not going to discuss internal deliberations, planning factors or redeployment timelines of specific units," said Cmdr. Sean Robertson, a Pentagon spokesperson. McKenzie, in remarks earlier this month, has said he believes the public-health crisis acutely afflicting Iran makes the Islamic Republic more likely to escalate, not less. Following a rocket attack that killed two U.S. service members and a British ally, U.S. warplanes targeted weapons caches associated with Iraqi militias backed by Iran on Mar. 12, while Iraqi officials protested that the U.S. had killed Iraqi soldiers and policemen. Tensions with Iran are one thing. There are tensions within the military about Iran as well. The U.S. commander in Iraq, Lt. Gen. Robert "Pat" White, has warned McKenzie and the Pentagon that American escalation against what's known as the "Iran threat network" in Iraq jeopardizes the entire U.S. mission in Iraq. That warning was first reported by The New York Times and confirmed by The Daily Beast. The background for the decision on the brigade, according to the Times, is a Pentagon directive on options for a broad campaign across Iraq against the militia network. That prompted Lt. Gen. White's objections on the costs of such a campaign. The Times reported that its leading proponents are Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and national security adviser Robert O'Brien. Esper and the senior U.S. military officer, Army Gen. Mark Milley, are reportedly wary.Targeting the Iranian "threat network" in Iraq represents mission creep. The U.S. has operated in Iraq since 2014–the latest installation of a U.S. involvement in Iraq stretching back to 1991–to attack the so-called Islamic State, not Iran. Since the U.S. in January assassinated Iranian external security chief Qassem Soleimani, Iraqi officials have rejected the use of its territory for a war by both Washington and Tehran.The policy debate is less urgent to brigade service members than the disruption to their lives it has caused. "With normal 9-12 month deployments, where you have months of notice beforehand, you know when you're getting home," the soldier said. "We still have no goddamn idea when. Next week, June, 6 months? Who knows." 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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| Moscow goes into lockdown, rest of Russia braces for same Posted: 30 Mar 2020 11:03 AM PDT  The Russian capital, Moscow, on Monday woke up to a lockdown obliging most of its 13 million residents to stay home, and many other regions of the vast country quickly followed suit to stem the spread of the new coronavirus. A stern-looking President Vladimir Putin warned his envoys in Russia's far-flung regions that they will be personally responsible for the availability of beds, ventilators and other key equipment. "We have managed to win time and slow down an explosive spread of the disease in the previous weeks, and we need to use that time reserve to the full," Putin said.
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| Hay fever or virus? For allergy sufferers, a season of worry Posted: 30 Mar 2020 10:30 AM PDT  The spring breezes of 2020 are carrying more than just tree pollen. For millions of seasonal allergy sufferers, the annual onset of watery eyes and scratchy throats is bumping up against the global spread of a new virus that produces its own constellation of respiratory symptoms. Forecasters are predicting a brutal spring allergy season for swaths of the U.S. at the same time that COVID-19 cases are rising dramatically.
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| Merkel Continues Quarantine After Third Test Negative Posted: 30 Mar 2020 10:26 AM PDT |
| Judges slow abortion bans in Texas, Ohio, Alabama amid virus Posted: 30 Mar 2020 10:13 AM PDT |
| How Germany is managing its coronavirus epidemic, and reacting with disdain to Trump's policies Posted: 30 Mar 2020 10:12 AM PDT  A recent work visit to Germany, where I grew up, stretched from one week to three. Those weeks coincided with the spread of the coronavirus in Germany as well as across Europe. What I saw while there is that Germany's population is in a state of shock and still can't quite grasp how this sudden turnaround of their lives happened. Only some two weeks ago, life seemed to proceed in a fairly normal way despite the looming crisis which appeared to be unreal and far away. I'm back now at my home in the U.S. From my perspective as a scholar of history and international affairs, what is happening in Germany right now is notable both as a lesson in how to prepare for and manage a pandemic as well as a reflection of the poor state of relations between Germany and the U.S. Escalating infections, low mortality rateSo far, there have been almost 65,000 known cases of COVID-19 in Germany, with the populous state of North Rhine Westphalia and the city of Hamburg particularly badly hit. So far just under 600 deaths in total have occurred from the virus in the country. Compare that to Italy and Spain, for instance, which have much higher rates of infections and a devastating death rate. Recently there were almost 1,000 deaths a day in Italy and 800 in Spain that were caused by the virus (and in total almost 11,000 deaths in Italy and 7,000 in Spain so far). This is largely due to a different vulnerability: The age structure of the populations in each country is different from the German one, especially in the most badly affected areas, such as the Lombardy and Bergamo regions in Italy. The populations there are much older.The solid and publicly funded German health system is also credited for Germany's relatively low death rate. There are over 28,000 intensive care beds with sufficient respirators available at German hospitals, more than in most other parts of the world. Even so, the German government is working to increase these numbers to prepare for what the coronavirus may bring. If infections spread in Germany at the speed at which they spread in China, Italy and now Spain and France, the country's medical system would also be overwhelmed. Face masks and protective clothing for medical staff are already running out. Concern about democratic rightsGerman leaders have mounted a powerful drive to convince the public to adopt social-distancing rules, self-isolate at home and leave their homes only for absolutely essential reasons. Restaurants, bars and most stores have been closed, with the exception of supermarkets and pharmacies. Some of the particularly affected regions and cities have imposed almost total lockdowns; few local authorities allow more than two people to go out together. As everywhere, the idea is to "flatten the curve" and stretch out the rate of infections over a longer time span. And as in the U.S., in the early part of the crisis, young people still gathered in parks and city centers to enjoy the warm spring weather and get together for so-called "corona parties" – having fun while ignoring the danger of infection when doing so. Serious warnings from the government, accompanied by stiff fines, stopped this kind of behavior. Now, most Germans are staying at home and have started hoarding food and toilet paper. German politicians and the public, however, remain deeply concerned about the infringement of personal freedoms and democratic rights which the lockdown and effective confinement of German citizens to their homes constitute. In an earnest and forthright speech to the nation, Chancellor Angela Merkel asked the German people for their understanding and claimed that the current situation was the most serious crisis the German nation had faced since the end of World War II. 'Short time'Similar to other affected countries, with the closing of most stores and businesses, Germany's economy has almost ground to a standstill. A formidable effort is being made to prevent it from collapsing. A huge state credit and subsidy program of initially over 750 billion euro (the equivalent of US$834 billion) has been launched for the self-employed, small employers and large corporations. Special programs that help employees pay rent and maintain benefits have been put into place as well. Even the partial government ownership – or effective nationalization – of many companies, such as airlines, is being considered. A "short time" system, which proved highly successful during the Great Recession of 2008-2012, is being used to prevent a wave of unemployment. The system allows companies to pause the employment of workers, who then get up to 67% of their wages paid by the state unemployment agency. Once the crisis is over, these same workers are entitled to return to their old jobs at their former salaries. Companies can ultimately get back to work quickly because they can rely on an experienced workforce and do not need to look for and train new staff. The German public health system covers everyone, whether or not people are employed or have been laid off. A solid, state-funded social security system, despite severe cuts a few years ago, provides regular monthly subsistence payments to prevent people from going hungry or becoming homeless. Relations degradedDemocratic liberties and personal freedoms have been the political victims of the coronavirus crisis, and so have German-American relations. Trump's uncertain leadership in the crisis is viewed with disdain in Europe and no more so than in Germany. Instead of attempting to work out a common trans-Atlantic strategy of how to jointly manage and overcome the global health crisis, Trump pursues a strategy of every nation for itself. The ban on Europeans traveling to the U.S., imposed in mid-March 2020 at short notice and without prior consultation with the European Union, further deepened the trans-Atlantic rift. Most Europeans saw it as a gesture of contempt and disdain by the Trump administration toward its closest allies. The high point so far of mutual suspicion and mistrust came on March 15 when it became known that Trump had attempted to buy a majority stake in the German pharmaceutical company CureVac, based in Tübingen. CureVac has been working intensively on a promising vaccine against the virus. Reliable media sources reported that the U.S. president dangled a price tag of $1 billion of taxpayer money to CureVac's Boston-based CEO Dan Manichelli during a meeting at the White House between Trump and pharmaceutical executives. The Trump administration also tried to lure CureVac scientists to move their research to the U.S. The German newspaper Die Welt quoted a German government source saying that the Trump administration was busy trying to obtain a vaccine "but only for the United States."A German Economy Ministry spokesperson even referred to a German law where the government can investigate takeover bids from non-EU countries "if national or European security interests are at stake." Berlin clearly felt that Trump was undermining German and European security with his overtures to CureVac.The coronavirus is proving to be devastating to the health and democratic rights of many people around the world. It may also prove destructive of U.S.-German relations – though Germany still longs for American solidarity, leadership and constructive cooperation in a pandemic that is threatening everyone. [Get facts about coronavirus and the latest research. Sign up for our newsletter.]This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts.Read more: * 5 reasons the coronavirus hit Italy so hard * Why defeating coronavirus in one country isn't enough – there needs to be a coordinated global strategyKlaus W. Larres 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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| Sierra Leone overturns ban on pregnant schoolgirls Posted: 30 Mar 2020 09:26 AM PDT  The ban was introduced in 2015 as schools reopened after the Ebola crisis.
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| G-20 Trade Chiefs Defend Open Supply Chains Amid Virus Fight Posted: 30 Mar 2020 09:18 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Group of 20 trade chiefs pledged to try to keep supply chains open as the world fights to contain the coronavirus pandemic and limit the economic fallout.The G-20 commerce ministers also vowed to "guard against profiteering and unjustified price increases" during a conference call on Monday devoted to the trade and investment implications of the health scare."We will continue to work together to deliver a free, fair, non-discriminatory, transparent, predictable and stable trade and investment environment, and to keep our markets open," the ministers said in a joint statement released by Saudi Arabia, current holder of the G-20's rotating presidency. "We will explore ways for logistics networks via air, sea and land freight to remain open."The pandemic is exposing rifts between countries' traditional pledges to uphold free trade and their actions to meet the short-term needs of domestic populations facing lockdowns meant to stop the spread of the virus, which has killed 35,000 globally.Russia, for example, last week proposed limiting shipments of its grain abroad. The European Union criticized such moves on Monday by warning against food-export restrictions."There is no global supply shortage at this time and such measures are completely unjustified," EU Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan told his G-20 counterparts.The EU, the world's most lucrative single market, has itself faced criticism for a mid-March decision temporarily to require an authorization for the sale outside the 27-nation bloc of personal protective equipment needed to fight the virus, known as Covid-19.In their joint statement, the G-20 trade chiefs appeared to offer scope for such moves by saying they can be compatible with World Trade Organization rules."We agree that emergency measures designed to tackle Covid-19, if deemed necessary, must be targeted, proportionate, transparent, and temporary, and that they do not create unnecessary barriers to trade or disruption to global supply chains, and are consistent with WTO rules," the ministers said.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Coronavirus crisis creating new models of leadership, kindness for the future | Opinion Posted: 30 Mar 2020 09:00 AM PDT  Crisis tends to produce more compelling leaders than do peaceful times. No wonder that, in ancient China, crises were always synonymous with opportunities. The current coronavirus pandemic is a case in point. In China, President Xi Jinping inspired a despaired nation by stating that the role of his government is "to do whatever it takes to save lives."
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| From Orban to Kaczynski, Wannabe Autocrats Love the Pandemic Posted: 30 Mar 2020 08:51 AM PDT |
| From Orban to Kaczynski, Wannabe Autocrats Love the Pandemic Posted: 30 Mar 2020 08:51 AM PDT |
| AP PHOTOS: Virus overwhelms health workers, marches westward Posted: 30 Mar 2020 08:49 AM PDT  Tales of grim scenes have emerged from Italian and Spanish hospitals, where the sick have sometimes been left to crowd hallways and doctors and nurses have worked beyond the point of exhaustion to respond to the coronavirus pandemic. The virus continued its march westward, and the United States overtook China in recent days as the country with the most reported infections. Restrictions have begun to be put in place in Mexico, but shutting down the Latin American country, where many people live day-to-day off what they earn in the streets, is going to be harder than in Europe or the United States.
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| 'Calling all scientists': Experts volunteer for virus fight Posted: 30 Mar 2020 08:18 AM PDT  Michael Wells was looking for a chance to use his scientific training to help fight the coronavirus when — on the same day the pandemic forced his lab to temporarily close — he decided to create his own opportunity. Organizations and governmental departments in a dozen states, as well as the Federal Emergency Management Agency, have tapped into the information. Wells is also working with EndCoronavirus.org, a project of the research-focused New England Complex Systems Institute, to help maximize the usefulness of the volunteer scientist cavalry he has assembled.
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| Saudi-led forces hit Yemen’s capital after missile attack Posted: 30 Mar 2020 07:58 AM PDT |
| Iran virus cases top 40,000 Posted: 30 Mar 2020 07:57 AM PDT  The number of declared coronavirus infections in Iran topped 40,000 Monday, as the government warned the outbreak could run for several more months and cost over 10,000 lives. With the tally climbing, President Hassan Rouhani stood accused of failing to take prompt action by some of his political opponents. The row came as a report by Iran's anti-coronavirus committee said the country may struggle with the outbreak until at least early summer.
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| Coronavirus hits rich and poor unequally in Latin America Posted: 30 Mar 2020 07:52 AM PDT  PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — From Mexico City to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and Santiago, Chile, the coronavirus is taking root in the world's most unequal region, where many of Latin America's first cases arrived with members of the elite returning from vacations or work trips to Europe and the United States. Singer Roody Roodboy, who's real name is Roody Pétuel Dauphin, quarantined himself when he got back to avoid infecting others and sent his entourage to be tested, manager Narcisse Fievre said.
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| Ill man seeks return to US amid West Bank virus restrictions Posted: 30 Mar 2020 07:45 AM PDT  Ismail "Sam" Mousa is very worried. The 48-year-old Uber driver and Subway worker from Delaware has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which means contracting the coronavirus could be deadly for him. With the help of U.S. diplomatic officials, Mousa and his 12-year-old daughter, Anisa, have been granted permission to fly home later this week from Tel Aviv, Israel — if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doesn't lock down the country to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
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| Trump defends extending virus guidelines as spread continues Posted: 30 Mar 2020 07:37 AM PDT  Siding with public health experts' dire projections, President Donald Trump on Monday defended his decision to extend restrictive social distancing guidelines through the end of April, while bracing the nation for a coronavirus death toll that could exceed 100,000. "Challenging times are ahead for the next 30 days," Trump said during a Rose Garden press conference. The comments came a day after Trump made a dramatic course reversal and announced that he would not be moving to ease the guidelines and get the economy back up and running by Easter, as he said last week he hoped to do.
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| President Trump Insists New York Will Be ‘Fine,’ Won’t Need Extra Ventilators Posted: 30 Mar 2020 07:15 AM PDT  Just hours after it was confirmed that New York's coronavirus death toll has shot up to over 1,000 people, President Donald Trump has predicted that the state will be "fine" because he's heard "stories" that it has more than enough ventilators to go around.The president appeared on Fox & Friends on Monday, a day after he officially abandoned his hope of reopening the U.S. economy by Easter after his aides successfully persuaded him to keep federal guidelines on social distancing in place through the end of April. In a 54-minute phone call broadcast on air, the president dismissed concerns that New York could be overwhelmed, and took credit for the rising popularity of its governor, Andrew Cuomo."I think New York should be fine based on the numbers that we see. They should have more than enough [ventilators]," Trump told the Fox News morning hosts. "I'm hearing stories that they're not used or not used them right. We find anywhere from 2 to 4,000 that have been sent and aren't used. We've done a job. Now, we're still getting more ventilators... after this is over they'll be selling ventilators for a dollar a piece, we'll have a lot of them."Cuomo and Trump have repeatedly clashed over ventilators, with Cuomo telling CNN last Friday that Trump's assessment of New York's situation was "incorrect and grossly uninformed." Cuomo has called for 30,000 ventilators, explaining that state hospitals had only 4,000 in the system at the beginning of the outbreak. Trump has previously said that he didn't believe the state would need anywhere near that number, and clearly hasn't yet been persuaded otherwise.Asked specifically about Cuomo, whose popularity has shot up during the outbreak, Trump told Fox & Friends that it was down to him. "One of the reasons his numbers are high on handling it is because of the federal government," Trump said. "We give him ships, we give him ventilators, we give him all the things that we're giving him... One of the reasons he's been successful is because we've helped make him successful."Trump was also asked about the nationwide pandemic situation, and why he has suddenly decided to step back from his plan to loosen social-distancing guidelines and reopen the economy. In a chilling answer, the president said it only dawned on him Sunday how many people might die if lockdown measures were lifted, even though that has been known for weeks."If we didn't shut it down... I used to say, a lot of people said, could you just have kept it going? Like the flu, a bad case of the flu, a really bad case," Trump said. "And the answer came in yesterday through Dr. Fauci and Deborah Birx... If we did that, if we just kept business as usual and didn't do anything to stop or impede it, 2.2 million people could have died."Trump went on to say: "The federal government has done far more than if anybody else was president. If Sleepy Joe was president, he wouldn't even know what's going on. You know that. I mean everybody knows that."At the end of the interview, before Trump headed off for a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the hosts begged permission to ask one last question. "How can we pray for you?" Ainsley Earhardt asked. "The Bible is clear, we need to pray for our leaders and we are praying for you. Many in this country are clinging to God right now."Trump said receiving Earhardt's prayers was a "great honor."Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Kremlin Fights U.S. Sanctions, Backs Maduro in Rosneft Deal Posted: 30 Mar 2020 07:03 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- The Kremlin's sudden shift of ownership of multi-billion-dollar oil projects in Venezuela shields oil giant Rosneft PJSC from further U.S. sanctions but keeps Moscow firmly behind embattled President Nicolas Maduro amid a wider stand-off with Washington."Russia is not walking away from Maduro and will seek to thwart U.S. efforts to depose him," said Vladimir Frolov, a former diplomat and foreign policy analyst in Moscow. "Moscow is just shielding Rosneft from sanctions which could result in a blanket embargo on all Rosneft exports."Fears of broader sanctions have grown after the U.S. in recent months slapped restrictions on Rosneft trading companies for handling business with Venezuela. More recently, the U.S. has hinted that it might step up pressure on the Russian oil sector to reduce production. That followed Moscow's decision early this month not to deepen output cuts agreed with OPEC led Saudi Arabia to boost output, flooding the market and pushing prices to the lowest levels in decades.The administration of President Donald Trump has already reached out to Saudi leaders to reconsider their strategy, which has battered producers in the U.S. with low prices. Trump said Monday he plans to speak by phone with Putin later in the day to talk about the oil market and may discuss sanctions and Venezuela.Read: Putin and MBS Draw Trump Into Grudge Match for Oil SupremacyRosneft late Saturday announced it's turning over its Venezuelan projects to an unnamed state-owned company in what it called an effort to protect its shareholders' interests.Sechin AutonomyAs part of the deal, Rosneft gets 9.6% of its own shares previously held by state holding company Rosneftegaz, bringing direct government ownership to just over 40%, according to two people familiar with the transaction. While Rosneft will remain firmly under Kremlin control, the shift in ownership could give Igor Sechin, who as chief executive and a longtime Putin ally is already one of Russia's most influential people, even more autonomy, these people said."Sechin gets Rosneft shares and Putin gets the chance to trade with Trump," said Konstantin Simonov, head of the National Energy Security Fund in Moscow.Neither the company nor the government would comment on whether the deal will bring state ownership below 50%.Rosneft, which produces 40% of Russian oil and 5% of world output and has substantial exposure in the western financial system, can't afford the risk of broad U.S. sanctions that could cripple its operations. Earlier this month, a Chinese company said it wouldn't buy crude from Rosneft because of the risks caused by the sanctions on the trading companies."As recently as February, the Venezuelan business was profitable, which offset the sanctions risk," said Ivan Timofeyev, an analyst at the Kremlin-founded Russian International Affairs Council. "Now the desire to avoid sanctions coincided with the need to avoid losses" after oil prices plunged, he added.The Russian giant has already cut its exposure under multi-billion-dollar prepayment deals reached several years ago. Venezuela's oil producer PDVSA owes Rosneft only $800 million at the end of the third quarter of 2019, according to the last available data, down from $4.6 billion at the end of 2017.Sanctions ProtectionThe latest Russian maneuver mirrored its strategy in 2018 when it used Promsvzyabank to set up a new banking vehicle to serve the defense industry after state-owned weapons producers came under U.S. sanctions, thereby shielding the country's two largest banks, government-controlled Sberbank and VTB. Unlike those big lenders, which have significant exposure to western financial institutions and thus are at risk from sweeping U.S. sanctions, the new special entity operated largely out of Washington's reach.While Rosneft may even push to have the recently imposed sanctions on the trading units lifted, risks remain."Rosneft is trying to stay out of the firing-line but nothing stops the Americans from finding another pretext to sanction it," said Fyodor Lukyanov, who heads the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, a research group in Moscow that advises the Kremlin."Russia understands that Maduro is in an awful situation, especially with oil prices at rock bottom," he said. "But Putin's psychology is that you should stick with partners in difficulty."Frolov said, "Moscow thinks that Maduro is actually winning the fight with the opposition and is likely to split it to the point where he would be able to win parliamentary elections this year." Russia has backed Maduro even as the U.S. and its allies back opposition leader Juan Guaido.Maduro said on state TV on Saturday evening that "President Putin sent me a message through his ambassador reaffirming their strategic and integral support to Venezuela in all areas."(Updates with Rosneft stake shift in sixth paragraph)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| How would overwhelmed hospitals decide who to treat first? Posted: 30 Mar 2020 06:13 AM PDT  A nurse with asthma, a grandfather with cancer and a homeless man with no known family are wracked with coronavirus-induced fevers. Health care workers are dreading the prospect of such dire scenarios as U.S. hospitals brace for a looming surge in patients who need breathing machines and other resources that could soon be in critically short supply. "I pray for their good judgment and their capacity as they make very difficult choices," said Erik Curren, whose 77-year-old father died this month from respiratory complications related to the virus after becoming infected at an assisted living home in Florida.
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| 'Staggering': New York virus death toll rises above 1,200 Posted: 30 Mar 2020 04:56 AM PDT  A Navy hospital ship with 1,000 beds arrived Monday in New York City as the number of deaths in the state from the coronavirus outbreak climbed quickly. The disease continued to claim the lives of health care workers. Mayor Bill de Blasio said President Donald Trump's suggestion that thousands of medical masks are disappearing from New York City hospitals is "insulting" to front-line medical workers.
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| Taiwan Hits Back at WHO Over Collaboration Claims in Virus Fight Posted: 30 Mar 2020 04:40 AM PDT |
| Activists say IS prison riots break out again in Syria Posted: 30 Mar 2020 04:09 AM PDT  Imprisoned Islamic State militants rioted again on Monday at a jail in northeastern Syria, hours after the Kurdish-led forces running the site said they had restored order, activists said. Gunfire could be heard in the area as ambulances rushed the wounded from inside the prison to hospitals and clinics in the nearby city of Hassakeh, activists on the ground said. U.S.-led forces flew overhead dropping light bombs illuminate the area for the Kurdish forces while drones hovered over the facility, they added.
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| Top U.K. Aide Cummings Self-Isolates With Coronavirus Symptoms Posted: 30 Mar 2020 04:07 AM PDT |
| China Clashes at Virus Epicenter Show Risks Facing Xi Jinping Posted: 30 Mar 2020 04:06 AM PDT |
| North Korea says US clearly doesn't want nuclear talks Posted: 30 Mar 2020 04:03 AM PDT  North Korea said Monday that "reckless remarks" by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made it clear that Washington has no intention of resuming nuclear talks, and warned that it is now compelled to pay back "the pains the U.S. has imposed on our people." After a teleconference of foreign ministers of the Group of Seven leading industrial nations last week, Pompeo told reporters the international community must remain united in urging North Korea to return to nuclear talks and in continuing to apply pressure on its nuclear and missile programs. Pompeo's remarks showed the U.S. has no strategy to stop "a countdown of confrontation," North Korea said in a statement attributed to its new Foreign Ministry department director general in charge of negotiations with Washington.
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| Protectionism Goes Local in Towns, States Battling Virus Posted: 30 Mar 2020 04:00 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- The Covid-19 pandemic has already precipitated nationalist calls to repatriate supply lines for everything from masks and surgical gowns to ventilators. But we may be about to see protectionism going local. In the U.S., the competition for new gear in the face of a surge of cases has state and municipal governments scrambling to obtain all of those things and officials complaining that the federal government is making things worse. The barriers to internal travel are also going up. President Donald Trump, who has clashed with state governors, backed away from a plan to impose a federal quarantine on the states of New York, and parts of New Jersey and Connecticut over the weekend. But some states are already taking things into their own hands. Florida reportedly set up roadblocks on Interstate 95 to turn away New Yorkers at the state border. Rhode Island threatened to do the same before backing away and deciding simply to hunt down New Yorkers on its beaches for failing to self-isolate when they entered the state.It's not just a state-level phenomenon. The New York Post last week reported that year-round residents in the Hamptons have revolted against a new influx of part-time refugees from New York City. The same push against the privileged apparently is being seen in Europe, according to the New York Times.For its part, the European Union is trying to lean against internal trade curbs. In return for restricting the export of personal protective equipment outside the EU in mid-March, the bloc's member nations were asked to ease restrictions on the sale of such gear inside the 27-nation economy.There are good public health reasons for localism. No one wants to see the virus spread from urban centers to rural areas with few hospital beds and far more tenuous food-supply chains, as one local politician from Oregon pointed out last week in the Washington Post.But there may be economic consequences for all of this. What if we experience a further fracturing of supply lines as the pandemic grows? What if it's not just international commerce that shuts down, but intra-national trade as well? There have been moments when G-7 and G-20 leaders have come together in recent weeks to proclaim the need for a common front to take on Covid-19. Everywhere, world leaders are appealing for national unity. A G-20 call with trade ministers Monday is a good place to start.There are signs also that for all the nationalism now in the air, governments are cooperating. A shipment of medical equipment from China landed in New York over the weekend. The federal government in the U.S. is shipping ventilators and protective equipment to state and local governments. But it's not unreasonable these days to imagine a day when a need for ventilators in Michigan or Indiana provokes a push by local politicians to compel carmakers like Ford and GM — now venturing into the business of making the machines — to prioritize local communities. Or a local government in Bavaria or Baden-Württemberg from pressuring BMW or VW from doing the same. There is no doubt that globalization and international supply chains are under assault during this pandemic. Fear is a real thing. But before long, federalism and nationalism could be as well. All politics are local, the saying goes. Pandemics may by definition be anything but local. That doesn't mean, though, the urges of politicians and their constituents won't be. Charting the Trade TurmoilUrgent demand for medical equipment to fight the coronavirus has sent the cost of chartered aircraft skyrocketing, turning a usually humdrum process into a competitive auction.Today's Must Reads Chain links | The pandemic is playing out in ways that few companies could have prepared for. But despite the shocks, the system should continue to function even under heavy strain, according to researchers of supply-chain logistics. Maine problem | Republican Senator Susan Collins called on Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to temporarily defer tariffs for U.S. companies that are suffering economic hardship. Food security | The Philippines identified additional measures to ensure sufficient food supply amid a month-long lockdown of the country's main island. Meanwhile, empty shipping containers are piling up in Manila. Machine orders | The Pentagon's logistics agency has modified an existing contract and will spend $84.4 million to buy 8,000 ventilators from four vendors, with first delivery of 1,400 by early May. Inside look | Newly revealed details show that General Motors has been continuously engaged in the effort to build emergency ventilators. It'll take about a month to ramp up. Grain hoarding | Russia, the world's biggest wheat exporter, proposed limiting grain shipments to protect its own food security in the face of the spreading pandemic.Bloomberg AnalysisWork week | Bloomberg Economics says China's back-to-work rate edged up to around 90%. Supply shortages | Disinfectants and sanitizers that help fight the virus may be absent from store shelves for weeks. Use the AHOY function to track global commodities trade flows. See BNEF for BloombergNEF's analysis of clean energy, advanced transport, digital industry, innovative materials, and commodities. Click VRUS on the terminal for news and data on the coronavirus and here for maps and charts.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Will sky-high unemployment lead to authoritarianism or progress? Posted: 30 Mar 2020 03:30 AM PDT  The fallout from coronavirus could help undermine Reagan-era principles and renew a sense of national interdependence * Coronavirus – live US updates * Live global updates * See all our coronavirus coverageDoes the huge surge in US unemployment claims announced on Thursday mean that we are doomed to endure the 30% unemployment of which the Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis has warned?The answer is no. How high unemployment rises will depend on how quickly we ramp up testing and the provision of protective equipment, enabling us to determine when and where it is safe to return to work.But early evidence on the ability of countries like the US and UK to roll out tests and protective gear is not heartening. It's not too early, therefore, to start worrying about how sky-high unemployment will affect our economies and societies.In one scenario, the crisis will foster support for strong leaders who can issue strict directives and enforce them by any means necessary. We have seen how China, under President Xi Jinping, was able to lock down Wuhan, limit mobility and contain the coronavirus (for now). We have also seen how the crisis encourages identity politics – how President Trump uses it to justify his xenophobic tendencies. We have seen how the crisis breeds nationalism, as countries close their borders and prohibit exports of medical equipment, and as international groupings like the G20 blow hot air.These same reactive instincts were evident in the 1930s, the last time unemployment approached 30%. The role of unemployment in the rise of authoritarian figures like Hitler is disputed, but the most recent research suggests a link. There was economic nationalism, in the form of trade wars, and the political nationalism of the American aviator and aspiring presidential candidate Charles Lindbergh, now conveniently visible on the small screen. There was Oswald Mosley's antisemitism. There was the harassment and deportation of Mexican Americans, including even hospital patients, by the Los Angeles welfare department and US Department of Labor.> If ever there was a circumstance suited to rehabilitate experts and encourage respect for politicians who defer to them, this is itBut there is also a more hopeful scenario. Authoritarian leaders don't like bad news, which they tend to suppress, sometimes at cost to themselves. One hears about rumblings of a backlash against Xi and his minions for having clamped down on news of the virus, thereby putting China at risk. Trump may similarly end up paying a price for having suppressed warnings from his own Department of Health and Human Services. If ever there was a circumstance suited to rehabilitate experts and encourage respect for politicians who defer to them, this is it.In the extreme, one can imagine the crisis pounding the last nails into the coffin of the Thatcher-Reagan revolution. The idea that government should divest itself of its equity stake in essential infrastructure has already been abandoned, in Britain in the case of the railways and in the US, prospectively, the airlines. Old shibboleths about the need for budget balance and austerity have gone by the board. We are experiencing the most vivid possible reminder that the private sector, charitable bodies and local government alone can't be relied on for essential services. They can't even be relied on for an adequate supply of testing swabs, the Trump White House, no less, having organized a military airlift of these last week.These are the same realizations, it can be argued, that gave rise to the New Deal in the 1930s and the Beveridge Report in 1942, which created a very different social, economic and political order than existed before.The transformation may not be as dramatic this time. Even if unemployment rises to Depression levels, it can come back down quickly with medical mitigation and support from fiscal and monetary policies. The latter have been primed much more rapidly than in the 1930s. Measures to prevent bankruptcies and bank failures are being rolled out faster. Basic support for households is being provided through direct payments to taxpayers, expanded unemployment benefits, and grants to employers who avoid layoffs. All this might be thought to diminish the likelihood of a radical social and political realignment.> Ultimately, it was national security that begat social securityBut it was not just high unemployment that led to the welfare state, the mixed economy and more expansive government. In addition, it was the second world war and the realization that national security, even national survival, required shared sacrifice, and that public support for those who sacrificed was a necessary and appropriate quid pro quo. The Beveridge Report that created the British welfare state was a product of not just the 1930s but also of the second world war. The GI bill that expanded opportunities for education and homeownership for Americans was similarly a legacy of the war. Ultimately, it was national security that begat social security.Boris Johnson has vowed that "we must act like a wartime government". Donald Trump insists that he is a wartime president. If fighting the virus is indeed a battle tantamount to war, then the legacies of these politicians and the attitudes and values of their successors may turn out rather differently than they currently expect. * Barry Eichengreen is the George C Pardee and Helen N Pardee professor of economics and professor of political science at the University of California, Berkeley
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| 10 Things to Know for Today Posted: 30 Mar 2020 03:00 AM PDT  Bracing the U.S. for a coronavirus death toll that could exceed 100,000 people, the president bows to public health experts who presented him with even more dire projections for the expanding pandemic, while Italy and Spain, which have seen more than half the world's deaths from the virus, hoped that relief was coming as infection rates drop each day. Fearing a widespread outbreak after nine confirmed cases, Gaza's Hamas leaders are racing to build two massive quarantine complexes and prepare the overcrowded territory that is not equipped to deal with a new health crisis. State and local leaders are struggling to navigate inconsistent federal guidance and fierce political tribalism that is complicating their responses to the coronavirus outbreak.
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| The Virus Could Force a New Reality on Gaza Posted: 30 Mar 2020 02:43 AM PDT |
| Iran's coronavirus death toll reaches 2,757 -health official Posted: 30 Mar 2020 02:34 AM PDT |
| In Zimbabwe, 'you win coronavirus or you win starvation' Posted: 30 Mar 2020 02:04 AM PDT  The World Health Organization's recommended virus precautions seem far-fetched for many of Zimbabwe's 15 million people. Last year a United Nations expert called the number of hungry people in Zimbabwe "shocking" for a country not in conflict. Harare, like most cities and towns across Zimbabwe, has an acute water shortage and residents at times go for months, even years, without a working tap.
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