Politics

Bloomberg The biggest cyclonic storm over the Bay of Bengal in about two decades has slightly weakened before hitting the coasts of India and Bangladesh on Wednesday, with authorities making preparations to evacuate more than 5 million people to safer places. Cyclone Amphan, equivalent of a category 4 hurricane at present, was expected to have a sustained wind speed of ...

Bloomberg The number of acutely food insecure people in East Africa and the Horn of Africa is likely to increase to between 34 million and 43 million from May through July due to the socio-economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, according to the World Food Programme. “The most vulnerable and at risk are poor, urban communities living hand-to-mouth in informal ...

Bloomberg Mumbai, India’s financial hub and the epicenter of the nation’s coronavirus outbreak, is converting several of its iconic structures into quarantine facilities as it races to prepare for a predicted peaking of infections this month. From a new hospital being built just a short stroll away from the US Consulate building and the India offices of Citigroup Inc to ...

Bloomberg Some 108 million people in China’s northeast region are being plunged back under lockdown conditions as a new and growing cluster of infections causes a backslide in the nation’s return to normal. In an abrupt reversal of the re-opening taking place across the nation, cities in Jilin province have cut off trains and buses, shut schools and quarantined tens ...

Bloomberg Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the army to send military staff and medical equipment to help the country’s largest gold miner, Polyus PJSC, fight the Covid-19 outbreak at its Siberian unit. Personnel and more than 2 tons of medical equipment, including respirators, masks, gloves and protective suits, were delivered by aircraft to the city of Krasnoyarsk, the defense ministry ...

Bloomberg There is a mystery that hangs over Giuseppe Conte, of how an unassuming professor few expected to last became a political survivor and, at the height of the Covid pandemic, had more power than any Italian leader since Benito Mussolini. It’s all the more intriguing when you consider he has no power base of his own and looked out ...

Bloomberg After initially being lauded for his decisive response to the coronavirus crisis, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has been forced onto the defensive over his administration’s handling of one of the world’s most severe lockdowns. Some of the most stinging criticism came from Glenda Gray, a member of a panel that’s advising the government on the pandemic, who said ...

Bloomberg Indonesian President Joko Widodo ruled out an immediate easing of social distancing rules and ordered officials to strictly enforce a ban on travel during the busy holiday season to prevent a spike in new coronavirus cases. With new infections soaring 80% so far in May, Jokowi, as the president is known, asked officials at a cabinet meeting to increase ...

Bloomberg The UK has pushed back the roll-out of its coronavirus-tracing mobile phone application, in a potential setback for its bid to ease the nation’s lockdown. While Health Secretary Matt Hancock said last week that the app would be ready in mid-May, it is now planned to be released nationally within “weeks,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s spokesman James Slack said. ...

Bloomberg At the first meeting of the World Health Organization’s governing body since Covid-19 stormed the globe, China is set to be challenged on two of its most sensitive issues: The Communist Party’s initial handling of the virus and the status of Taiwan’s participation. While the US has launched a daily barrage of attacks on China, including suggesting the virus ...