April, 2020

• 27 April

  Germany’s Rhine River is running dry amid drought

  

  Bloomberg Germany’s spring showers haven’t materialised this year, and that’s drying out the country’s most important river, prompting concerns that key industrial goods might have trouble making it to their destination. Typically one of the wettest months, Europe’s biggest economy has received just 5% of its normal April rainfall so far, according to Germany’s federal weather service. It’s on course ...

  Read More »
• 27 April

  Donald Trump faces test of power in court clash

  

  Bloomberg The Trump administration will square off against House Democrats on Tuesday over a crucial question: Is a congressional subpoena of White House officials a formidable weapon or an empty threat? The battle, which is likely to reach the Supreme Court, could shape legal fights ranging from the quest for President Donald Trump’s tax returns to a conflict over his ...

  Read More »
• 27 April

  Pelosi endorses Joe Biden for president

  

  Bloomberg US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden’s presidential bid on Monday, citing the fellow Democrat’s role in helping to manage the federal response to the 2008 financial crisis and in passing Obamacare. In a video published on Biden’s YouTube page, Pelosi said that the presumptive Democratic nominee “has been a voice of reason and resilience, ...

  Read More »
• 27 April

  North Korea’s silence keeps world in dark

  

  Bloomberg Kim Jong-un has not been seen in public for more than two weeks. If he’s hale and hearty, to dispel the frenzied speculation to the opposite, it should be a simple matter of having him pop up somewhere to have his photo taken. Officials in South Korea say they think Kim is fine. The regime’s ally China is trying ...

  Read More »
• 27 April

  Assange’s extradition trial delayed by virus

  

  Bloomberg Julian Assange’s extradition trial, set to begin next month, has been delayed amid the coronavirus pandemic. The three-week trial was due to begin on May 18 in London, but was postponed until July or even November, because of the extension of the UK lockdown. Assange faces extradition to America on charges that he conspired to disclose documents passed to ...

  Read More »
• 27 April

  Johnson returns to work urging UK to maintain lockdown

  

  Bloomberg Prime Minister Boris Johnson returned to work and moved to stamp his authority on a government under pressure over its handling of the UK coronavirus outbreak, warning that to lift a nationwide lockdown now would risk both a health crisis and an “economic disaster.” Speaking exactly one month after he went into isolation with a case of Covid-19 that ...

  Read More »
• 27 April

  ‘Lockdown can’t be cover for human rights abuses’

  Bloomberg Emergency measures invoked used to enforce lockdowns during the coronavirus pandemic can’t be used to abuse detainees, the United Nations’ top human rights official warned. Locking up curfew breakers who were simply looking for food in already overcrowded prisons is just one example, Michelle Bachelet, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said on Monday. Reports of police enforcing lockdowns ...

  Read More »
• 27 April

  Covid-19: Chinese secrecy elicits conspiracy theories

  

  There’s a booming market in conspiracy theories about the origins of the novel coronavirus in Wuhan, China. But the Chinese government has no one to blame but itself for this explosive debate. They have put the truth on lockdown. China has an obligation here: For its own sake and the world’s, it should promptly begin a serious, credible investigation into ...

  Read More »
• 27 April

  Skipping mortgage loans isn’t for all

  

  Almost 6% of mortgage loans are in forbearance, meaning about 3 million homeowners have delayed payments, according to data released this week by the mortgage bankers’ trade group. That’s a 60% jump from the prior week, and industry observers estimate that the number of loans in forbearance could eventually climb to as high as 15%. So who’s postponing their mortgage ...

  Read More »
• 27 April

  A major roadblock is liability from Covid-19

  If America is going to restart its economy, at whatever pace, it needs to think about a major roadblock: liability from Covid-19. If a university or workplace reopens, and some employees or students get sick, should they have the right to sue? In the absence of clarity on this question, many risk-averse institutions will simply wait, as their lawyers will ...

  Read More »