East Africa locust swarms: coronavirus curbs delay pesticides
AFRICA - Coronavirus-linked flight restrictions are hampering efforts to wipe out locust swarms on the verge of devastating crops in eastern Africa, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said. The curbs have delayed deliveries of pesticides and, at the current rate of spraying, stocks in Kenya will run out within four days, Cyril Ferrand, FAO's head of resilience for Eastern Africa, told Reuters on Thursday. "If we fail in the current (regional) control operations, because of lack of pesticides, then we could see 4 million more people struggle to feed their families," Ferrand said.
Total Cost of Coronavirus Shutdowns and Lockdowns
USA - Total Cost of Coronavirus Shutdowns and Lockdowns Estimated at $34 Trillion - More than the US GDP!
Stock market loss in valuation: $10.5 TRILLION
Direct Losses to US Economy (GDP) $2.39 TRILLION
Losses in wages to unemployed workers: $5.264 TRILLION...
How Catholic church 'will FALL'
VATICAN - Pope Francis must be careful and stop Pope Benedict's traditionalist moves if he wants to protect the future of the Catholic church, an expert has grimly warned. Francis and Benedict have endured a difficult relationship during their time at the Vatican, with observers claiming the more liberal views of Francis have been stifled by the traditional sensibilities of Benedict. In the past, many have felt that Francis would have pushed a more progressive agenda to make the church more accessible to modern day worshippers. The recent relaxing of confession laws as Italy is gripped by the coronavirus were seen by some as a move that showed Francis’ liberalism and many had hoped aspects of Catholicism such as celibacy and contraception could be next on his agenda.
The Unthinkable May Soon Become Reality
USA - As the US economy collapses, authorities warn that the unthinkable may soon become reality. With each passing day, it seems like the forecasts for the rest of 2020 are just getting worse. Initially, most of the “economic experts” on television were warning that the coronavirus pandemic may push our country into a recession, but now we are being warned that we could soon see economic numbers that we haven’t seen since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
And initially we were told that the death toll in the United States would probably not be that high, but now that the death toll has already surpassed the number of Americans that died on 9/11 the message has changed. At this point, our national officials are warning us that up to 240,000 Americans could die “by the end of the year”…
Members of President Donald Trump’s administration laid out dire estimates Tuesday to underscore the potential impact of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States, a grim prediction they said was at the center of the president’s decision to extend strict social distancing guidelines through the end of April.
Federal public health officials said that between 100,000 and 240,000 could succumb to the virus by the end of the year – making it one of the nation’s worst public health crises – said Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator. As I write this article, the US death toll is closing in on the 4,000 mark. That means that the number of dead bodies in the US could get almost 60 times higher by the end of 2020. If that projection is anywhere close to accurate, do you think that there is any possibility that America will “reopen for business” any time soon?
Gas prices dip below $1
USA - Gasoline prices at some Cleveland gas stations have dipped below one dollar per gallon over the past 24 hours, reaching as low as 67.9 cents Monday night at one station on Cleveland’s West Side. The Gas USA station at West 117th Street and Bellaire Road, at the Cleveland-Linndale border, had raised prices to 99.9 cents per gallon for the Tuesday morning commute, said Malika Dayani, a cook who was tending Gas USA’s food counter on Tuesday morning.
Gas prices across the world continue to fall as countries battle a slowdown in commerce prompted by the spread of COVID-19 coronavirus, and a price war between oil-producers Saudi Arabia and Russia. The American Automobile Association (AAA) on Monday reported a 12-cent-per-gallon drop in gas prices in Northeast Ohio, bringing average prices to $1.68. Local prices at the end of March represent a 54-cent decline from the beginning of the month, according to AAA.
The goal behind the low prices? Dayani told cleveland.com the gas station wants to lure in customers, who may pick up a container of fried chicken, or other items while filling their tanks. Even with the low prices, only three cars were filling up Tuesday morning when a cleveland.com reporter stopped by.
UK - Prime Minister Boris Johnson tests positive
UK - Prime Minister Boris Johnson has tested positive for coronavirus and is self-isolating in Downing Street. He said he had experienced mild symptoms over the past 24 hours, including a temperature and cough, but would continue to lead the government.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said he had also tested positive while England's Chief Medical Officer, Prof Chris Whitty, has shown symptoms.
Prince Charles tests positive but 'remains in good health'
UK - The Prince of Wales has tested positive for coronavirus, Clarence House has announced. Prince Charles, 71, is displaying mild symptoms "but otherwise remains in good health", a spokesman said, adding that the Duchess of Cornwall, 72, has been tested but does not have the virus.
London and Madrid now face WORSE coronavirus outbreaks than Italy's Lombardy region but New York's mortality rate is outpacing them all
UK - Lombardy, Italy, replaced Wuhan in China, as the most badly impacted region in the world, with authorities in the European country announcing that 743 more people had died in the country on Tuesday, bringing the total dead to 6,820. The trajectory of the rapidly spreading virus shows that Madrid and London could become the next hotspots of the disease, with deaths now doubling every two days in the respective capital cities.
Outside of Europe, in the United States, the death toll has risen quite slowly compared to other nations so far, but the trajectory for New York's mortality curve is much steeper, suggesting it could overtake Madrid.
Will the Coronavirus End Globalization as We Know It?
USA - The new coronavirus is shaping up to be an enormous stress test for globalization. As critical supply chains break down, and nations hoard medical supplies and rush to limit travel, the crisis is forcing a major reevaluation of the interconnected global economy. Not only has globalization allowed for the rapid spread of contagious disease but it has fostered deep interdependence between firms and nations that makes them more vulnerable to unexpected shocks. Now, firms and nations alike are discovering just how vulnerable they are.
But the lesson of the new coronavirus is not that globalization failed. The lesson is that globalization is fragile, despite or even because of its benefits. Lack of fail-safe manufacturing alternatives can cause supply chains to break down, as they have in some medical and health-related sectors as a result of the new coronavirus. Producers of vital medical supplies have been overwhelmed by a surge in global demand, pitting countries against one another in a competition for resources.
The conventional wisdom about globalization is that it created a thriving international marketplace, allowing manufacturers to build flexible supply chains by substituting one supplier or component for another as needed. But globalization also created a complex system of interdependence. Companies embraced global supply chains, giving rise to a tangled web of production networks that wove the world economy together.
As policymakers around the world struggle to deal with the new coronavirus and its aftermath, they will have to confront the fact that the global economy doesn’t work as they thought it did. Globalization calls for an ever-increasing specialization of labor across countries, a model that creates extraordinary efficiencies but also extraordinary vulnerabilities. Shocks such as the COVID-19 pandemic reveal these vulnerabilities. Single-source providers, or regions of the world that specialize in one particular product, can create unexpected fragility in moments of crisis, causing supply chains to break down. In the coming months, many more of these vulnerabilities will be exposed.
Covid-19 has exposed just how broken American economy & society are
USA - The coronavirus pandemic has exposed some uncomfortable truths about the state of America today. First and foremost is the fragility of the American economy. After years of outsourcing manufacturing, the United States has constructed an economy where services industries comprise some 55 percent of overall economic activity. In the age of globalization, with interconnectivity functioning seamlessly, this model has been able to generate the appearance of prosperity, with a booming stock market and increased GDP.
The reality, however, is that the American economy lacks resilience in time of crisis. The ongoing trade war with China, combined with a depressed global oil market, were in the process of exposing this reality before the coronavirus pandemic. The national lockdown, and resulting economic stoppage, only accelerated what was a gradual economic recession in progress. Even if the US economy could be taken off stimulus-driven life support, the conditions that preceded the shutdown still exist and, if anything, have only been exacerbated by the impact of the pandemic on global economic health.
Trump is wrestling with the horrible reality that in order to take the American economy off government life support, he must lift the restrictions on socializing that were imposed to slow down and reduce the human-to-human transmission of the coronavirus disease. Whether this move is economically sound, medically advisable or politically viable has yet to be seen. But one thing is for certain – the US is at a crossroads in its history.
The Coronavirus Could Reshape Global Order
USA - With hundreds of millions of people now isolating themselves around the world, the novel coronavirus pandemic has become a truly global event. And while its geopolitical implications should be considered secondary to matters of health and safety, those implications may, in the long term, prove just as consequential — especially when it comes to the United States’ global position.
The status of the United States as a global leader over the past seven decades has been built not just on wealth and power but also, and just as important, on the legitimacy that flows from the United States’ domestic governance, provision of global public goods, and ability and willingness to muster and coordinate a global response to crises. The coronavirus pandemic is testing all elements of US leadership. So far, Washington is failing the test.
As Washington falters, Beijing is moving quickly and adeptly to take advantage of the opening created by US mistakes, filling the vacuum to position itself as the global leader in pandemic response. It is working to tout its own system, provide material assistance to other countries, and even organize other governments. The sheer chutzpah of China’s move is hard to overstate. After all, it was Beijing’s own missteps — especially its efforts at first to cover up the severity and spread of the outbreak — that helped create the very crisis now afflicting much of the world. Yet Beijing understands that if it is seen as leading, and Washington is seen as unable or unwilling to do so, this perception could fundamentally alter the United States’ position in global politics and the contest for leadership in the twenty-first century.
Strict new curbs on life in UK announced by PM
UK - Strict new curbs on life in the UK to tackle the spread of Coronavirus have been announced by the Prime Minister. From this evening people must stay at home except for shopping for basic necessities, daily exercise, any medical need and travelling to and from essential work.
Shops selling non-essential goods are being told to shut and gatherings in public of more than two people who do not live together are to be prohibited.
Other premises including libraries, playgrounds and outdoor gyms, and places of worship must also close immediately. Parks will remain open for exercise but gatherings will be dispersed.
The government is also stopping all social events, including weddings, baptisms and other ceremonies - but funerals will be allowed.
Mr Johnson said the restrictions would be kept under constant review. "We will look again in three weeks, and relax them if the evidence shows we are able to," he added.
Two earthquakes rock the Croatian capital Zagreb
CROATIA – A strong quake of 5.5 magnitude has hit Zagreb and its surroundings at 6:24 am on Sunday morning, the strongest in over 140 years. The tremor lasted a few seconds with the epicentre seven kilometres north of Zagreb, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) reported on its website.
One more strong earthquake shook Zagreb at 7 am. Material damage on buildings in the centre of the city was visible, including the top of Zagreb’s Cathedral. There was an electricity outage in some residential areas.
Israel's PM Benjamin Netanyahu offers to step down next year in proposed unity deal with chief rival Benny Gantz
ISRAEL - Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he is ready to step down next year as part of a proposed power-sharing agreement with his chief rival Benny Gantz. The move is intended to steer the country through the coronavirus crisis and end a year-long political deadlock.
Mr Netanyahu made his proposal during a television interview, calling for the formation of a three-year 'emergency' unity government with the rival Blue and White Party. With the public largely confined to their homes, the economy appears to be in great danger, with tens of thousands of people losing their jobs.
Israel this month held its third inconclusive election in under a year. Mr Netanyahu's Likud emerged as the largest single party, but fell short of securing a required parliamentary majority.
US debt crisis wasn’t supposed to happen until at least 2035. Covid-19 is rapidly pushing it closer
USA - The overall price tag of the fiscal stimulus package in the US could be around one trillion dollars. With record budget deficits and its national debt at $23 trillion, is the US hastening toward a fiscal reckoning? The Trump administration wants to send direct cash payments to Americans in the coming weeks to help them cope with the economic ravages of coronavirus, part of a massive relief package developed between the White House and Capitol Hill.
The overall price tag of the package is more than $1 trillion, making it one of the largest federal emergency fiscal packages ever assembled.
The US debt is soaring, and the country has kicked the can down the road so many times on entitlement spending. It may be entering into unprecedented and dangerous territory, and hastening a reckoning it has been trying to avoid.
Disclaimer:
The views expressed in this section are not our own, unless specifically stated, but are provided to highlight what may prove to be prophetically relevant material appearing in the media.
