Bloomberg President Donald Trump warned that deaths from the coronavirus in the US will escalate over the next one to two weeks, and could be on par with the number of fatalities seen in world wars. “There’s going to be a very, very deadly period, unfortunately,” Trump told reporters at the White House. The president said that as the number ...

Bloomberg Queen Elizabeth II was expected to strike an optimistic note about Britain’s response to the global coronavirus crisis in an address to be broadcast on Sunday, according to excerpts from the speech reported by the BBC and others. “I hope in the years to come everyone will be able to take pride in how they responded to this challenge,” ...

Bloomberg There are signs that the death rate in Sweden is growing faster than elsewhere in Scandinavia, raising pressure on the government to abandon its controversial hands-off approach in tackling Covid-19. The Swedish experiment has drawn international bewilderment as schools, restaurants and cafes have remained open. And while other countries passed laws restricting movement, Sweden’s prime minister Stefan Lofven relied ...

Bloomberg The Philippine government said an emerging consensus is for the lockdown on the main island of Luzon to be extended for two weeks. “There is an emerging consensus coming from medical experts, businessmen, government officials and other well meaning individuals that an extension of two weeks for the enhanced community quarantine or lockdown is necessary,” presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo ...

Bloomberg President Donald Trump is stepping up his campaign to oust Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro with the coronavirus pandemic and plunging oil prices threatening to worsen a humanitarian disaster years in the making. The Trump administration says its restrictions don’t prohibit humanitarian aid from flowing to Venezuela, the same argument it makes when pressed about sanctions on Iran. As a result, ...

Bloomberg Spain saw a decline in the number of new deaths from the coronavirus for the third consecutive day, raising hopes that the worst of the country’s outbreak may be over. The Health Ministry reported 674 fatalities in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 12,418. The number of confirmed cases rose to 130,759, from 124,736 a day earlier. ...

Bloomberg Record low interest rates are tempting some retail investors in Singapore to load up on debt to buy shares, just as the coronavirus outbreak creates the most volatile markets since the global financial crisis. Earlier this year, 31-year-old insurance agent Heng Kai Sheng got advances on three separate credit cards to the tune of S$150,000 ($105,000). With the money, ...

Bloomberg For the longest time, Canadian real estate investment trusts were a stalwart for income investors. Now, dividend payments hang in the balance as commercial and residential tenants struggle to pay rent during a pandemic that has shut down much of the economy. Typically seen as a place to get a high, safe payout in a world of low bond ...

Bloomberg The bad-asset bank created when a group of Russia’s biggest private lenders collapsed sees the twin shocks of plunging oil prices and global economic pain wrought by the coronavirus pandemic as a chance to expand. “There’s every reason to believe that the amount of problem assets in 2020 will grow significantly,” Bank Trust Chief Executive Officer Mikhail Khabarov said ...

Bloomberg Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s biggest, lost a record $113 billion in the first quarter after the economic shock caused by the coronavirus pandemic triggered a sell-off in global stock markets. The loss comes at an historic moment for the fund, as it may soon need to liquidate assets for the first time to cover Norway’s emergency spending ...