Politics

Bloomberg Medical device makers and scientists around the world are waiving their intellectual property rights to encourage companies to restore depleted stockpiles of emergency equipment and develop new tests and treatments for the Covid-19 pandemic. But it might not be enough. Some researchers and lawmakers are calling on President Donald Trump to follow the lead of Germany in restricting patent ...

Bloomberg Iraqi intelligence chief Mustafa Al-Kadhimi was picked to form a government, as the country sought to end months of damaging political deadlock with the slump in oil prices and coronavirus outbreak adding to a list of urgent challenges. President Barham Salih turned to Al-Kadhimi after major Shiite parties blocked his previous choice for prime minister — former Najaf governor ...

Bloomberg India has further tightened lockdown measures and enhanced surveillance at hundreds of areas designated as virus hotspots, as PM Narendra Modi described the epidemic as a “social emergency.” Authorities have sealed settlements, lanes and apartment complexes in the financial capital of Mumbai, as well as in Delhi and the neighboring state of Uttar Pradesh, allowing in only medical services, ...

Bloomberg Every night at 8 pm, Spaniards head to their balconies and windows to clap for the healthcare workers risking their lives to save others from the coronavirus pandemic. An hour later, there’s a second wave of noise in some neighbourhoods as people come out with pots and pans. This time it’s not in praise, but in protest at the ...

Bloomberg Italy is advancing plans to gradually lift restrictions to contain the coronavirus as Europe’s exit from stringent lockdown measures takes shape. Amid tense discussions weighing political and economic pressures against public-health concerns, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte’s government is hammering out an approach that foresees the full return to normal life taking months, according to people directly involved in the ...

Bloomberg President Donald Trump said he’s considering putting a “hold” on US funding for the World Health Organization (WHO) after the agency “blew it” by failing to sound the alarm sooner about the coronavirus. “I’m not saying I’m going to do it, but we’re going to look at it,” the president said at a White House briefing on the coronavirus. ...

Bloomberg In the early days of Canada’s response to the coronavirus, before the crisis captured the full attention of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government, it was still business as usual on at least one front: immigration. On March 12, the day before the Canadian parliament was suspended on concern about the spread of Covid-19, Trudeau’s immigration minister, Marco Mendicino, unveiled ...

Bloomberg Ireland handed its police sweeping powers to limit travel as part of its efforts to slow the spread of coronavirus as the nation heads into the Easter holiday. The government gave the police powers to arrest people traveling more than 2 kilometers from their home or on non-essential business. If convicted, they could face as long as six months ...

Bloomberg Zeng Xiao couldn’t stop taking her temperature, or thinking about her cat. After getting caught up 76 days ago in the government-ordered lockdown of Wuhan, the Chinese city where the coronavirus pandemic began, she was finally going home. With travel restrictions lifted on Wednesday, she was taking the very first train out of town: the 12:50 am to Guangzhou, ...

Bloomberg The UK is facing a leadership crisis as it heads into the peak of the coronavirus pandemic, with Boris Johnson in intensive care and his government under pressure to get a grip on the outbreak. The 55-year-old prime minister was taken to the hospital on April 05 for routine tests after struggling to shake off Covid-19, but his condition ...