Bloomberg President Donald Trump said he would stop using the term “Chinese virus,†the latest indication that the US and China are seeking to deescalate their blame game over the deadly pandemic. “I don’t regret it, but they accused us of having done it through our soldiers, they said our soldiers did it on purpose, what kind of a thing ...
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IS claims bold raid on Mozambique town
Bloomberg IS claimed responsibility for an attack in northern Mozambique near an area where natural-gas projects worth billions of dollars are being developed, SITE Intelligence Group said. The March 23 raid on the town of Mocimboa da Praia in Cabo Delgado province was carried out by members of IS’s Central Africa Province unit (SITE) which monitors militant groups, the group ...
Read More »Bolsonaro channels Trump in call for Brazil to shrug off virus
Bloomberg President Jair Bolsonaro followed Donald Trump’s playbook as he urged Brazilians to resume normal life to protect the economy even as cases of coronavirus swell. Defying the medical advice to pursue social distancing, the Brazilian president lashed out at state governors who have ordered shops and schools closed to slow down the pandemic that threatens to overwhelm the health ...
Read More »UK parliament faces four-week shutdown
Bloomberg The British government is planning to shut down Parliament for four weeks from Wednesday night in the latest attempt to slow the spread of coronavirus. The UK outbreak is most advanced in London and several politicians have fallen ill, including a health minister. Parliament had been scheduled to break for Easter on March 31, but the House of Commons ...
Read More »Greta Thunberg isolated on coronavirus concerns
Bloomberg Climate activist Greta Thunberg says she has recovered after being infected with the coronavirus on a trip to central Europe. In an Instagram post, the Swedish teenager said she’s isolated herself in a borrowed apartment after returning to her home country. She says she started feeling mild symptoms of the disease around the same time her father became more ...
Read More »S’pore minister says polls not impossible amid virus
Bloomberg Holding a general election in Singapore before April 2021 is not “impossible†although the present situation may not be ideal as the country tackles the coronavirus outbreak, Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean said. Singapore needs a government that the people have confidence in “to take us through this unprecedented situationâ€, Teo told parliament on Wednesday. He added that the ...
Read More »Trump says US isn’t ‘built to be shut down’ over coronavirus
Bloomberg President Donald Trump said the American economy can’t remain slowed for too long to fight the coronavirus, declaring that the country “was not built to be shut down.†“America will again, and soon, be open for business. Very soon,†Trump said. “A lot sooner than three or four months.†The president of the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank, James ...
Read More »Julian Assange to apply for bail on virus concerns
Bloomberg Lawyers for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will make an application for bail on Wednesday, on grounds he is vulnerable to the virus pandemic while in prison. The Australian is being held at Britain’s most notorious prison, Belmarsh in southeast London, which holds around 800 prisoners. His US extradition trial began in February and was adjourned until May 18. The ...
Read More »US to slash Afghan aid after unity government failure
Bloomberg The US said it will cut assistance to Afghanistan by $1 billion this year and threatened more cuts could come as a breakdown in talks over forming a unity government threatened to derail a US-engineered peace deal. Hours after departing Kabul on March 23, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo issued a statement saying the US “deeply regrets†the failure ...
Read More »Democratic committee explores convention ‘contingency options’ amid virus outbreak
Bloomberg The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is looking at contingency options for its July convention amid a growing expectation that the coronavirus crisis will not have abated by the time the parties are ready to nominate their presidential candidates. “As we navigate the unprecedented challenge of responding to the coronavirus, we’re exploring a range of contingency options to ensure we ...
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