USA - China actually reported to the World Health Organization on New Year’s Eve that it was facing a novel coronavirus. It was on January 3rd when US health officials offered assistance to China. They renewed the offer two days later, according to the president’s team.

TAIWAN - Johns Hopkins University had predicted that Taiwan would have the second most COVID-19 cases in the world, due to its close proximity to Mainland China. But astonishingly, in spite of being only 80 miles from the coast of China with over 400,000 of its 24 million citizens working in China, as of mid-April, the country only had 400 cases of COVID-19, and only 6 deaths. And the vast majority of their 400 cases came into the country from abroad. All of this has happened without shutting down the country with lock downs, and with almost all of its businesses continuing to operate. Is Taiwan doing something else the rest of the world is largely missing?

EUROPE - Eleven European ambassadors to Israel on Thursday warned Jerusalem of severe consequences if it moves ahead with plans to annex parts of the West Bank as part of a government coalition deal. The envoys from the UK, Germany, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Belgium, Denmark, Finland and the EU issued a formal objection to the Foreign Ministry against the move, Channel 13 reported. The ambassadors made the protest during a video conference with the Foreign Ministry’s Europe deputy, Anna Azari. “We are very concerned about the clause in the coalition agreement that paves the way for annexing parts of the West Bank. The annexation of any part of the West Bank constitutes a clear violation of international law,” the ambassadors said. “Such unilateral steps will harm efforts to renew the peace process and will have grave consequences for regional stability and for Israel’s standing in the international arena.”

USA - Six months ago, the global tourism industry was celebrating a record year for travel. Now, it’s decimated and facing a recovery that could take years. Tourism Economics, a data and consulting firm, predicts global travel demand won’t resume its normal pace until 2023. When tourists do finally return, they will face a changed landscape that incorporates social distancing and other measures to calm residual fears over COVID-19, the disease that has so far killed more than 244,000 people worldwide and infected millions more. “It takes time to shake fear from the hearts of people, not to mention the economy,” said Mahmoud Hadhoud, founder of Egypt Knight Tours, who doesn’t expect foreign tourists to start trickling back into Egypt until September.

USA - In all of US history we have never seen anything like this. I have been sitting at my desk for quite a while searching for the proper words to convey the gravity of what we are facing, and to be honest it has been quite a struggle. On Thursday, we learned that another 3.8 million Americans filed initial claims for unemployment benefits last week. That was much higher than many experts were anticipating, because by now the initial surge of unemployment caused by the coronavirus lockdowns should have started to fade quite a bit. But instead, the job loss tsunami continues to roll on, and at this point a total of 30.3 million Americans have filed new claims for unemployment benefits over the past six weeks. According to numbers that come straight from the Federal Reserve, more than 152 million Americans were working in February, and that was an all-time high. So losing 30.3 million jobs in six weeks means that nearly one-fifth of all jobs in the United States have officially vanished in just a month and a half.

USA - Many Americans have been absolutely shocked by the meat shortages that have started to happen around the nation, but what most of them don’t realize is that the worst is yet to come. More workers keep getting sick, more processing plants keep getting shut down, and Time Magazine is now warning that the meat shortages “could last for months”. And even if meat is available at your local grocery store, you may be limited to one or two of a particular item on each trip. For those not familiar with the concept, this is what is known as “rationing”. Eventually, it is likely that we will get to a point where many Americans are forced to cut back on their consumption of meat because they simply can’t afford as much of it anymore. I hope that you did what you could to get prepared in advance, because it appears that these shortages may be quite painful. If you can believe it, McDonald’s has already implemented a system of “controlled allocation” for their restaurants…

USA - Hillary Clinton suggested that pro-abortion politicians should use the coronavirus crisis to push for more abortions during a conversation Tuesday with Joe Biden. Clinton, the two-time failed Democratic presidential candidate, endorsed Biden for president during a virtual town hall. During the announcement, both she and Biden emphasized their support for the killing of unborn babies in abortions. At one point, Biden claimed abortions are “essential health care that cannot be delayed.” According to PJ Media, Clinton encouraged the likely Democratic presidential nominee to support a “universal health care” plan that would include taxpayer-funded abortions. That’s not where most Americans stand. Polls consistently show that most support strong limits on abortion, especially in the third trimester when babies are viable outside the womb. A recent Gallup poll found that 60 percent of Americans want abortion legal “only in a few circumstances”.

GERMANY - Establishment voices in Berlin warn that the EU could disintegrate in the corona crisis and call for economic concessions to Italy and Spain. Both countries would "never forget in a hundred years, if Europe and we, in particular, would forsake them now," former foreign ministers Joseph Fischer and Sigmar Gabriel wrote in an appeal published yesterday. This should not happen because it would endanger the EU. But "our country" is the Union's "biggest economic and financial winner." Studies show, in fact, that with €86 billion annually, Germany profits more from the EU's single market than any other EU member. Since its introduction up until 2017, the single currency has provided Germany nearly €1.9 trillion, whereas it has cost France €3.6 and Italy even €4.3 trillion. Fischer and Gabriel are pushing for an urgent EU aid program to dampen the rapidly growing EU criticism in Rome and Madrid. According to a recent opinion poll, 67 percent of Italy's population thinks that the EU harms their interests.

UNITED NATIONS - Some 1.6 billion workers in the informal economy, representing nearly half of the global labour force, are in immediate danger of losing their livelihoods due to the coronavirus pandemic, the International Labour Organization (ILO) said on Wednesday. The UN agency's latest report sharply raised its forecast for the devastating impact on jobs and incomes of the COVID-19 disease, which has infected more than 3.1 million people globally, killed nearly 220,000 and shut down economies.

ISRAEL - Israel’s new minister for Jerusalem affairs, Bezalel Smotrich takes aim at the Holy Sanctuary. Israel’s right-wing poster boy has been slated for the role of Minister for Jerusalem Affairs, giving him both the position and power to carry out his apocalyptic vision of building a Jewish Temple on the site of the Dome of the Rock. Smotrich is part of a group that was once considered on the fringe of Israeli politics and which calls for building a Jewish Temple on the site of the Dome of the Rock. No longer fringe, now this group has people like Smotrich in positions of power that threaten the very existence of Jerusalem’s most important religious and historical space, the Holy Sanctuary.

ISRAEL - Despite the Muslim community working diligently to deny the very existence of an historic link between the modern Jewish state and ancient Judea, work continues toward a Third Temple, including the creation of Temple vessels and the training of the Levites, who are appointed for Temple service, and Kohanim (Priests). According to Chaim Richman, the director of the Temple Institute in Jerusalem, whose headquarters is a short distance away from the Western Wall in the Old City, a “Temple in waiting” has essentially already been created. “The Temple Institute is actively engaged in the research and preparation of the resumption of service in the Holy Temple to the extent of actually preparing operational blueprints for the construction of the Temple according to the most modern standards,” Richman told CBN News’ Chris Mitchell.

GERMANY - Chancellor Angela Merkel and Health Minister Jens Spahn have been leading Germany’s national response to the coronavirus pandemic. But Germans would be forgiven for thinking that they were taking direction from a provincial governor: Bavaria’s imposing, straight-talking premier, Markus Söder. Since the pandemic broke out, Söder’s decisive crisis management in his home state — especially his imperious pronouncements on lockdowns, testing, and other public health measures — has captured national attention.

GERMANY - People love to hate Germany — but the country is doing far more than most nations to help its European neighbors fight the coronavirus.

VATICAN - Pope Francis urged obedience to state lockdown measures Tuesday, just 36 hours after Italian bishops reproached the government for refusing to allow public worship. “At this time, as indications emerge for a way out of quarantine, we pray that the Lord will grant us the grace of prudence and obedience to these indications, so that the pandemic does not return,” the pontiff said in a daily tweet. Late Sunday, the Italian Bishops’ Conference issued a sternly worded rebuke to Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte over an “arbitrary” decision to exclude public worship from the activities permitted under new COVID-19 lockdown rules.

RUSSIA - The eruption of the Klyuchevskaya Sopka volcano in Russia's Kamchatka has created spectacular scenes, producing rivers of lava and massive smoke clouds – but scientists worry that the resulting ash cloud could disrupt air traffic. The latest activity within the steep symmetrical cone of the volcano – the highest in Eurasia – blew ash some 7,000 meters into the air on Monday, the Emergencies Ministry said.