Бізнес

No region in the world is spared from the devastating health and economic consequences of COVID-19.  Among those most affected are the forcibly displaced, including more than 25 million refugees, most of whom are being sheltered in some of the world’s poorest countries.The U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) warns the more than 70 million people forcibly displaced by conflict and violence throughout the world are facing unprecedented hardships due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
For example, the UNHCR says it has been receiving desperate appeals for financial aid from hundreds of thousands of refugees across the Middle East and North Africa, who have been unable to work since lockdowns came into force in March.
 
It says more than 5.6 million Syrians who have taken refuge in neighboring countries, as well as six million people forcibly displaced within Syria are in urgent need of money, health care and necessities.   
 
UNHCR spokesman Andrej Mahecic says an alarming number of refugees in Lebanon, Egypt, Iraq and Jordan have lost their livelihoods because of the pandemic.  He says many refugees are forced to skip meals, while others are threatened with evictions because they cannot pay the rent.
 
“Groups at particular risk include female heads of households, unaccompanied and separated children, elderly people, LGBTI persons.  Their situations can be improved through emergency assistance, notably through cash grants.  Across this region, many are at risk of losing shelters and they are running out of means to support themselves,” he said.
 
Mahecic notes millions of Afghan refugees, including those in Iran and Pakistan, are facing a similar situation.  He notes Afghanistan itself is facing the prospect of having its medical and social services overwhelmed due to the spread of COVID-19. This, as an increasing number of Afghans return home.
 
Elsewhere in the world, the UNHCR spokesman says the numbers of homeless and destitute Venezuelans throughout Latin America are increasing as jobs dry up because of COVID-19 lockdown measures.
 
“Some are now resorting to survival sex, begging or hawking on the streets. Others are at risk of being prey to smugglers and illegal armed groups.  With growing fears of social unrest, xenophobia and discrimination across the region are also on the rise,” Mahecic said.
 
The UNHCR reports it is working to provide emergency aid, including cash-based assistance and shelter across all major refugee operations.  It notes the coronavirus crisis is worsening existing dire humanitarian needs globally.  It says an infusion of cash is urgently needed to support these crucial aid operations.
 
 
…

As China re-emerges from more than two months of quarantines and lockdowns, its government is relying on a familiar playbook during times of crisis.Critics are being detained and silenced online. The government has tightened controls over communications, banning whistleblowers and critics from online forums while state-backed media champions Beijing’s actions.U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says it’s a typical response for an autocracy facing a crisis: Become more aggressive and deny people their rights.”While they may in some instance solve a particular problem in a particular way that facially resolves the crisis that’s in front of them, in the end they do enormous harm to the people of their own nation and put the rest of the world at risk as well,” he said in early April.But China leaders are also adding a new chapter in their playbook – taking suppression to pandemic-level heights against even high-ranking insiders.Hours before Pompeo spoke, Beijing announced an investigation into an influential critic of President Xi Jinping. The detention of Ren Zhiqiang, a retired business tycoon and “princeling,” or child of top party officials, shocked longtime China observers who saw it as a significant signal within China’s leadership.And Ren wasn’t alone. Two weeks later, Sun Lijun, vice minister of public security, also was placed under investigation. Sun handled domestic security and is among the very few of trusted keepers of China’s most sensitive secrets, which include information on the personal lives of senior leaders.In this April 1, 2020, photo, a QR code is set up for passengers to check their green pass status at a subway station in Wuhan in central China’s Hubei province. Life in China post-coronavirus outbreak is ruled by a green symbol on a smartphone…Containment by QR  What became the biggest quarantine in human history began in China.
Cities here were sealed off, transportation between them stopped. For more than two months, people were not allowed to be outside. Hundreds of millions of people were placed under quarantine after the virus was discovered in Wuhan.Today in many cities, barriers erected during the quarantine have not been demolished, and residents are not allowed to come and go freely.It is a new normal: “The largest public health experiment in the history of humankind,” Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University told VOA. China was well-positioned to police it.With hundreds of millions of high-tech surveillance cameras installed across the country, biometric facial recognition can identify even people wearing masks, while artificial intelligence systems can spot them by their walking postures.Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic talks in front of medical experts from China after they arrived with medical supplies to help country’s fight against coronavirus (COVID-19) outbrake in Belgrade, Serbia, March 21, 2020.Charm offensiveSo did China spread the virus – or the remedies?Critics of President Xi aren’t persuaded that he can ward off all blame.”Xi is trying to forestall these (negative) outcomes through a charm offensive, trying to posture China as a leader in the world’s crisis,” said Miller, the international affairs professor.”His overtures are frankly incredible and laughable to most western audiences and risk making Xi’s problem worse through the sheer chutzpah,” he said.  Internally, Xi faces a different set of challenges. The moves against Sun and Ren are seen as telling. Ren had survived political storms before thanks to a carefully cultivated network of communist party allies.But in a February essay, he blamed Xi for covering up the truth about the extent of outbreak, for failing to make critical information public and for allegedly lying to cover up his mismanagement.”By placing Ren Zhiqiang under investigation, Xi Jinping sent a powerful message that he will not tolerate his power being questioned openly,” Wu Qiang, a political analyst in Beijing, told VOA. 
 
“With Ren in custody, few dissident voices are left within the party,” Wu said. “The party members, intellectuals and entrepreneurs who had supported him are now in trouble, too.”They have no choices but to remain silent.”VOA State Department reporter Nike Ching contributed to this report.
…

Two of India’s most beloved movie stars, Irrfan Khan and Rishi Kapoor, died within a day of each other this week, and though they came from two very different worlds and two very different schools of acting, both leave behind a treasure of cinematic work and millions of grieving fans.
This double whammy for India’s Hindi-language film industry, known as Bollywood, comes amid a crippling coronavirus lockdown that has brought the entertainment business — along with so much else — to a complete halt.
“It seems we are in the midst of a nightmare,” popular actor Akshay Kumar tweeted.
In normal times, the funerals for two of Bollywood’s most-admired actors would mean tens of thousands of fans gathering to bid them goodbye. Instead, their ceremonies were held in the presence of a handful of family and friends, surrounded by police.
The 54-year-old Khan died Wednesday after battling a rare cancer, while the 67-year-old Kapoor had leukemia and died Thursday.  
The career trajectories of both actors reflect the changing contours of Bollywood, which in the past traversed two parallel streams of arthouse cinema and commercial films. The growing acceptance and box-office viability of content-driven films over the last two decades gave the two a chance to cross paths and act in movies that were both critically acclaimed and popular.
 
A trained stage actor, Khan started his career with television and found work in new-age Bollywood, which was experimenting with visceral themes reflecting India’s social and political fault lines in the 1990s.  
It took years of roles in small films before Khan made it to the Bollywood big leagues. Balancing arthouse movies with popular commercial fare, Khan went on to play a wide array of roles including an intensely tormented lover in “Maqbool,” an adapation of “Macbeth,” and a gentle immigrant in Mira Nair’s “The Namesake.”
Unlike other Bollywood superstars with mega-stylized personas, the versatile Khan brought a rare intelligence and empathy to his characters over his 30-year career.
“He managed to walk off the screen and come home with us,” wrote film critic Shubhra Gupta in the Indian Express newspaper.
One of the best-known Indian faces in world cinema, Khan crossed over to Hollywood with ease, playing a variety of parts in movies like “Slumdog Millionaire,” “Life of Pi” and “The Amazing Spider Man.”
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said in a tweet that Khan was an ” incredible talent” and “left his imprint on global cinema.”  
“Gone too soon. When he is on screen, you can’t take your eyes off of him. He lives on in his films,” tweeted Hollywood filmmaker Ava Duvernay.
Kapoor’s cinematic journey could not have been more different.
Kapoor was a third-generation actor, born with showbiz in his blood. His grandfather Prithiviraj Kapoor and father Raj Kapoor were legendary actors of their time.  
Rishi Kapoor started young, receiving the National Award, India’s preeminent film award, for his role as a child artist in his father’s 1970 film “Mera Naam Joker.”
“Acting was in my blood and there was simply no escaping it,” Kapoor wrote in his 2017 autobiography.
The runaway success of the teenage romance “Bobby” in 1973 made him a Bollywood heartthrob and a string of romantic, musical blockbusters followed.  
The charming lover boy of the 1970s and 1980s went on to become one of the most dependable actors of his time and appeared in some of Bollywood’s most-loved films, including “Amar Akbar Anthony” and “Chandni.”  
To be in sync with contemporary filmmakers moving away from melodrama and mining plot-driven stories, Kapoor refashioned his career in later years to play a variety of strong character roles. His portrayal of an old man in the 2016 movie “Kapoor & Sons” and as a Muslim man forced to prove his patriotism in “Mulk” in 2017 won him great acclaim. His most recent movie “The Body” was released last year.
“There may not be another actor who grew up and grew old on camera,” tweeted film critic Uday Bhatia.
In his final years, Kapoor became a popular presence on social media, and was refreshingly honest about his opinions. In his last tweet on April 2, he appealed to people to respect the work frontline health workers were doing.
“We have to win this Coronavirus war together,” Kapoor wrote.
Altogether Kapoor acted in more than 100 movies in a career spanning more than 40 years.
“He smiled on screen and the world outside became a little bit lighter,” film critic Baradwaj Rangan wrote in a tribute. “He gave us joy.” 
…

The World Health Organization (WHO) said Thursday that it has not been invited by China to join the investigation into the cause of the coronavirus pandemic.WHO’s representative in Beijing Dr. Gauden Galea said he expected China would discuss collaborations with the organization in the “near future.””We know some national investigation is happening but at this stage we have not been invited to join. We are expecting to get, in the near future, a briefing on where that is and to discuss possible collaboration,” Galea said.The coronavirus disease COVID-19, which originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan, has taken over 230,000 human lives worldwide, according to a collection of data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, and confirmed infection cases have reached 3.2 million.Beijing has been criticized for lack of transparency in its handling of the pandemic, with the United States investigating whether the virus might have gotten out from a Wuhan biosecurity laboratory.The official tally of infections in Wuhan has been questionable from the very beginning with the government frequently changing its counting criteria at the peak of the outbreak.Meanwhile, China has dismissed the possibility that the coronavirus pandemic originated in that lab and it was not transmitted from animals to humans in Wuhan as commonly believed.Although the origin of COVID-19 is yet to be determined, some scientists suspect the virus was transmitted to humans from animals at a wet market in Wuhan.
…

Assessing the security situation in Afghanistan is getting increasingly difficult now that Western military officials have started withholding some data on militant attacks across the country, according to a key U.S. government watchdog.The warning from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, also known as SIGAR, comes as hopes for an end to decades of war appear to be fading following February’s agreement between the United States and the Taliban, due to political infighting in Kabul and a steady increase in Taliban-initiated violence since the deal was signed.Only according to SIGAR, the full extent of the Taliban’s offensive remains something of a mystery because coalition forces monitoring the violence are keeping the intelligence to themselves.“NATO Resolute Support (RS) restricted from public release data on the number of enemy-initiated attacks (EIA) that took place this quarter,” Inspector General John Sopko wrote in the quarterly report issued Friday.“This EIA data was one of the last remaining metrics SIGAR was able to use to report publicly on the security situation in Afghanistan,” he added, noting it was the first time the NATO-led mission had refused to provide the figures since 2018.NATO officials defended their decision, telling SIGAR data on enemy-initiated attacks “are now a critical part of deliberative interagency discussions regarding ongoing political negotiations between the U.S. and the Taliban.”Afghans clear glass from a broken window of a house after a suicide bomb attack on the southern outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan, April 29, 2020.However, they also said that while the Taliban generally refrained from attacking coalition forces after signing the agreement with the U.S. in late February, “they increased attacks against ANDSF [Afghan National Defense and Security Forces] to levels above seasonal norms” during March.The last available data for enemy attacks, covering the last three months of 2019, before the U.S.-Taliban deal was signed, showed enemy attacks trending significantly higher.“Both overall enemy-initiated attacks and effective enemy-initiated attacks [resulting in casualties] during the fourth quarter of 2019 exceeded same-period levels in every year since recording began in 2010,” SIGAR’s January report said.This is not the first time SIGAR has criticized the U.S.-led mission in Afghanistan for hiding or manipulating data.SIGAR also chastised U.S. defense officials in May 2019 after Resolute Support Afghan special forces stand guard near the site of a suicide bomber attack on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan, April 29, 2020.”We have incentivized lying to Congress,” SIGAR’s John Sopko told lawmakers this past January. “The whole incentive is to show success and to ignore the failure. And when there’s too much failure, classify it or don’t report it.”For now, the security situation remains murky.Officials with the U.S.-led Resolute Support mission told SIGAR the Afghan government maintains control of Kabul, provincial capitals, major population centers and most district centers but that Taliban forces are vying for control in some areas even while reducing attacks against Afghan forces in provincial capitals.But Afghan officials have accused the Taliban of killing more than 100 Afghan security forces, while also killing or wounding up to 800 civilians, since signing the February peace-building deal with the U.S.And while both U.S. officials and the United Nations found overall civilian casualties decreased during the first three months of 2020, the United Nations said civilian deaths due to anti-government forces, mainly the Taliban, rose by 22 percent, including the deaths of 150 children.Late last month, the Taliban also rejected calls for a cease-fire for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.There is also growing uncertainty about the impact the coronavirus pandemic will have on Afghanistan.So far, the government has reported just under 2,200 confirmed cases and 64 deaths, but the SIGAR report warns the worst is yet to come.“Afghanistan’s numerous unique vulnerabilities — a weak health care system, widespread malnutrition, porous borders, massive internal displacement, proximity to Iran (where the disease has spread widely), and ongoing conflict — raise the possibility of significant social and economic disruption in the coming months,” it said.Afghanistan & Pakistan Bureau Chief Ayesha Tanzeem contributed to this story.
…

Argentinians staged loud protests in Buenos Aires on Thursday evening, banging pots from balconies in a show of opposition to the government’s release of prisoners to slow the spread of the coronavirus.The protests across the capital were promoted by lawmakers critical of the government of President Alberto Fernández.Since Monday, more than 1,000 prisoners have been released in Argentina after Fernández said the government should consider granting house arrest to inmates who are at risk of contracting COVID-19.A week ago, the first confirmed COVID-19 cases inside an Argentine prison included prisoners and guards.Shortly afterwards, local media say prisoners at Devoto prison in Buenos Aires set fires, demanding the release of some prisoners over fears of contracting the coronavirus.Argentina has confirmed at least 4,415 COVID-19 cases and 215 deaths linked to the virus. 
…

U.S. stock prices were slightly down Thursday following a day of optimism raised by an experimental drug that could help beat down the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.If successful, remdesivir, the drug developed by California-based Gilead Sciences, could help countries emerge from lockdowns and reopen businesses.  The losses at the end of the trading day also reversed April’s positive trend.The Dow Jones industrial average was down 1.17%, or 288 points, to end the day at 24,345.72. The S&P 500 was down almost 1%, losing 27 points and ending at 2,912.43. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 0.28%, or 25.16 points, to end at 8,889.55.European markets also ended in negative territory Thursday. London’s FTSE posted a 3.5% loss, the DAX in Frankfurt had a 2.22% loss and Paris’ CAC 40 lost 2.12%.   Asian markets fared better, with Japan’s Nikkei index gaining 422 points, or 2.14%. Australia’s S&P/ASX ended the day 2.45% higher, while Shanghai’s index gained 1.3%. The indexes in Hong Kong and Seoul were closed for public holidays.Oil markets continued to recover, with the price of West Texas intermediate crude, the U.S. benchmark, trading at $19.09 per barrel, while the international benchmark Brent crude was trading at $26.70 per barrel.But analysts said the future of the oil after the coronavirus pandemic was far from secure.Shell, a British-Dutch oil company, slashed its dividend Thursday for the first time since World War II to secure some stability in a highly uncertain environment, with oil prices making wild swings.Shell’s chief executive, Ben van Beurden, said that “the global economic decline and uncertain outlook may have a significant impact on our profitability, cash flow and our balance sheet.”Oil demand has collapsed globally as most traffic came to a standstill amid lockdowns implemented to halt the spread of the coronavirus.
…

Three of the country’s best-known lawyers are asking the U.S. Justice Department to investigate whether President Donald Trump broke the law when the Treasury Department put his name on coronavirus relief checks for Americans.Lawyers Bruce Fein, Louis Fisher and Ralph Nader have sent a letter to Attorney General William Barr. They allege that Trump may be guilty of violating the Hatch Act, which bans government employees and public officials from taking part in partisan political activities while on the job.“President Trump is actively seeking re-election. The signature of President Trump on United States Treasury checks is superfluous to their value, legality or authenticity. The signature serves no official government purpose,” the letter says. “It does serve Mr. Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign by making it appear that he is responsible for a monetary windfall to tens of millions of voters.”The lawyers argue that a special prosecutor should look into the matter, calling it an improper use of government workers and equipment to promote Trump’s reelection.Nader is an iconic voice of liberal and progressive policies. Fisher has worked in the administrations of both parties, and Fein is a longtime Republican.Neither the White House nor Justice Department has responded to the letter.Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says it was his idea to put Trump’s name on the checks.Trump initially denied wanting his signature on them, but apparently did not make a major effort to stop it, saying he didn’t “imagine it’s a big deal.”“I’m sure people will be very happy to get a big, fat, beautiful check and my name is on it,” he said.Some congressional Democrats call the Trump signature a political stunt, while Republicans say they agree with the president in believing it’s no big deal.  
…

Ten Egyptian army members including an officer were killed or wounded on Thursday when a bomb exploded in an armored vehicle south of Bir al-Abd city in the Northern Sinai region, a military spokesman said in a statement.He did not specify how many had been killed in the attack, which not immediately claimed by any group. Militants loyal to Islamic State are active in the strategic border region.Egypt has been fighting Islamist insurgents who have killed hundreds of police and soldiers in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula since the ousting of Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood in 2013 following mass protests against his rule.Militants have also carried out attacks elsewhere in the country.An Egyptian policeman and seven suspected militants were killed on April 14 in an exchange of gunfire after the ministry of interior received information about potential Easter attacks against Coptic Christians, the ministry said, adding that three other policemen had also been wounded.The military and police launched a major campaign against militant groups in 2018, focusing on the Sinai Peninsula as well as southern areas and the border with Libya. 
…

After a slow start, the coronavirus pandemic is picking up speed across Africa with more than 37,000 reported cases. Like elsewhere in the world, it has forced drastic behavioral changes and wreaked havoc on economies and jobs. But COVID-19 threatens to be particularly devastating on a continent battling poverty, weak health infrastructure, conflict and a spate of other deadly diseases.  For African journalists, this means big stories to cover — but also big challenges. Voice of America is featuring three of them, and their thoughts about covering COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.  Covering two conflicts in Burkina Faso: Kalidou Sy, France 24As the Burkina Faso correspondent for international TV channel France 24, Kalidou Sy is no stranger to covering crises. The country’s escalating fight against Islamist terrorism is regular story fare.  Now he has shifted his attention to this newest threat. Instead of protecting himself against attacks, he’s equipped with masks, gloves and disinfectant gel.  FILE – Kalidou Sy, France 24 correspondent in Burkina Faso, is pictured during pre-coronavirus days. (Courtesy of Kalidou Sy)“Both are dangerous subjects to cover, so you prepare before going out,” Sy said, adding that his conflict experience helps him cover COVID-19. “You do your homework on the area you’re going, decide the people you’re going to interview ahead of time. You do the maximum preparation to be efficient on the ground.”As of Saturday afternoon EDT, Burkina Faso had 641 confirmed coronavirus cases and 43 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University coronavirus dashboard. It’s a tally higher than those of many other sub-Saharan African countries, but dwarfed by those from such nations as Djibouti, Cote d’Ivoire and South Africa.The coronavirus is straining an already weak health infrastructure, and further threatening access to education in a country where jihadi attacks have shuttered hundreds of schools.And it has pushed out other important news stories.Terrorism persists“The terrorism and attacks continue,” Sy said. ‘But it’s no longer a priority, and we have less access to information.”Sy himself is self-isolating, venturing from his home only for work or shopping. He opts for Skype interviews only as a last resort, preferring coverage in the field, although he avoids large crowds.One plus: Interviewing people has become much easier, he said, especially since the country eased lockdown rules last week.“It’s difficult to find witnesses willing to speak to you when you report on terrorism,” Sy said. “That’s not the case with coronavirus. People talk about it very easily.”“They’ve experienced terrorism and poverty,” he added. “They take coronavirus seriously, but it’s not going to stop them living their lives.”Poverty and press freedom threats in Zimbabwe: Thomas Sithole, Zimbabwe Center for Media and Information LiteracyThe coronavirus has turned Thomas Sithole into a refugee of sorts. In Kampala for a conference in late March, the Zimbabwean journalist found himself unable to return home after Uganda imposed a lockdown that continues to this day.Even so, he is covering the news back home, working with a team of citizen-journalists on the ground.Paris-based Malian journalist Moise Mounkoro works on stories for his new online website. (Courtesy of Moise Mounkoro)On a recent day he was interviewing leading African experts and businessmen on the fallout of COVID-19 and how the continent can rebound. The videos and podcasts to be streamed on Upendo will target a young audience.  Based in Paris, Mounkoro covers his stories remotely, using the internet and his smartphone for his reporting. There are few precautions to take, unless he heads out to snap photos of a locked-down French capital.  He tunes into webinars for expert insight on the crisis, scouring Facebook and Twitter for story ideas and the fake news that’s trending. He makes calls to Africa to cross-check and dig further.“In many African countries, governments don’t want to publish news that’s not coming from them” about the pandemic, Mounkoro said, ticking off several accused by media watchdog groups of press freedom violations in recent weeks. He fears they will only become worse.Digging for newsBut he also pushes African colleagues to go beyond the official news.”Generally, journalists in Africa face the same problem as those in the U.S. and France,” Mounkoro said. “Do you just swallow what the government says, or do you dig for the news?”  Like France 24’s Sy, Mounkoro is worried about the many stories that go unreported in Africa these days.  “We’re no longer covering the big wars in Mali and elsewhere,” Mounkoro said. “We’re just focused on COVID-19, and that’s a big problem for me. I think we also need to focus on these other issues, even if COVID-19 is a big one.”
…

Russia’s top diplomat on Thursday angrily dismissed media reports alleging a Russian plot to poison the mayor of Prague and another official in the Czech capital. Prague’s mayor Zdenek Hrib and Zhanna Nemtsova, daughter of Russian opposition figure Boris Nemtsov smile after unveiling a sign renaming the square where the Russian Embassy is located in Prague, Feb. 27, 2020.Respekt weekly said in its latest edition published on Monday that Czech intelligence services suspected a Russian agent was sent to Prague three weeks ago to poison Prague Mayor Zdenek Hrib and Prague 6 mayor Ondrej Kolar. The story was based on anonymous sources.  Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov ridiculed the claims, saying that the notion that Czech authorities spotted a Russian man with powerful poison ricin and let him through doesn’t make any sense. Czech officials didn’t comment, but Kolar said in a television interview Tuesday that he has been under police protection because of “some facts that have been found, the fact that there’s a Russian here whose goal is to liquidate me.” He added that the alleged assassin was also targeting Hrib and Pavel Novotny, Prague’s Reporyje district mayor. Lavrov scoffed at the allegations. “They found a deadly poison and let him into the country?” he said at Thursday’s briefing. “Would any sound person believe in these fabrications.” Moscow and Prague have been at loggerheads for weeks after Kolar’s district removed the statue of Soviet World War II commander Ivan Konev whose armies liberated Prague from Nazi occupation. Officials in Prague 6 said the statue will be moved to a museum and a new monument honoring the city’s liberation will be installed in its place. The statue’s removal caused outrage in Russia, which has angrily lashed out at any attempts to diminish the nation’s decisive role in defeating the Nazis. Lavrov charged Thursday that the Prague authorities’ action violated a 1993 friendship treaty that carried a Czech pledge to protect memorials to Russian World War II heroes. 
 
…

An extraordinary diplomatic dispute is intensifying between Australia and China over the new coronavirus. Canberra wants an international investigation into the source of COVID-19 and its spread, a move that has infuriated Beijing.China has rejected criticism from other governments about how it handled the outbreak of COVID-19. The highly contagious and deadly new coronavirus is thought to have originated at an animal market in Wuhan, a large city in China’s Hubei province.Australia is pushing for an international investigation into the origins of the disease, and how and why it became a global pandemic.While the idea is likely to have support from U.S. President Donald Trump, France and Britain have said now is the time to fight the virus, not to look for who to blame.Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, though, says the world deserves answers on the deadly COVID-19 outbreak.“Australia will continue to, of course, pursue what is a very reasonable and sensible course of action,” he said. “It has shut down the global economy. It would seem entirely reasonable and sensible that the world would want to have an independent assessment of how this all occurred so we can learn the lessons and prevent it from happening again.”China sees the inquiry as a political witch hunt, orchestrated by the U.S. and designed to humiliate Beijing. Its ambassador to Canberra has hinted at retaliation and a boycott of Australian products and universities, described by a senior Australian government minister as “threats of economic coercion.”However, Long Zhou, China’s consul general in the state of Victoria, said Beijing has acted in good faith over the COVID-19 pandemic.“China has attached great importance to international health cooperation,” he said. “The Chinese government has released information related to the COVID-19 in (an) open, transparent and responsible manner.”Some experts believe Australia’s relationship with China, already strained with allegations of political meddling and cyber espionage, is now at its lowest point since diplomatic ties were established in 1972.Australia has much to lose. China is its biggest trading partner, and its demand for natural resources has helped to underpin its recent prosperity. Before Australia closed its borders because of the COVID-19 outbreak, Chinese travelers and students were also important to the success of its tourism and higher education sectors.
…

European markets are mixed in midday trading Thursday. London’s FTSE was trading slightly lower, while both the DAX in Frankfurt and Paris’ CAC-40 had made slight gains. White House coronavirus response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx listens as Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci, left, speaks at the White House, April 29, 2020, in Washington.Meanwhile, the S&P 500, Dow Jones and Nasdaq were all in positive territory in futures trading, indicating that Wall Street would continue Wednesday’s big rally sparked by news that initial tests of an experimental drug, remdesivir, helped coronavirus patients recover rapidly from the disease. The results were praised by Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, as “very optimistic.”  More good news came from Britain, where researchers at Oxford University say a vaccine for the coronavirus, currently being tested on people, could be widely available as early as September.  A man walks past an electronic stock board showing Japan’s Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm in Tokyo, April 30, 2020.The rally on Wall Street spilled over into Asia Thursday, with Japan’s Nikkei index gaining 422 points, or 2.4%, to close out the trading day at 20,193.69.  Australia’s S&P/ASX ended the day 2.4% higher, while Shanghai’s index gained 1.3%. The indexes in Hong Kong and Seoul were closed for public holidays.     Oil markets continued to recover, with the price of West Texas Intermediate crude, the U.S. benchmark, trading at $17.46 per barrel, a gain of 15.9%, while the international benchmark Brent crude was trading at $24.87 per barrel, up 10.3%.   
…

The Trump administration is not planning to extend federal coronavirus social distancing guidelines that expire Thursday, instead focusing on working with states to reopen the country.Individual state governors are deciding when and at what pace to relax restrictions on non-essential businesses and group gatherings and calls for people to stay home.Trump said Wednesday that the federal guidelines first issued in mid-March will be “fading out,” while his administration consults with governors on their plans.Health officials have cautioned about moving too quickly toward Trump’s desired “return to normal,” saying that doing so risks new waves of infections.Many states are either already starting to allow more businesses to operate with social distancing guidelines such as extra space between restaurant tables, while others have announced plans to begin easing lockdown orders in the coming weeks.California Governor Gavin Newsom is set to order his state’s beaches and parks to close on Friday after tens of thousands of people defied stay-at-home orders last weekend.Newsom has said he will only consider relaxing statewide restrictions when a number of milestones are met, such as declining case numbers for two weeks and the widespread availability of testing so officials can quickly isolate the infected and test those who have been in close contact.Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said Wednesday that the city is expanding its testing sites to welcome anyone who wants a test.”If you think you might have COVID-19, want the reassurance that you don’t, you’ve been around people that you have seen with symptoms, get a test. We can do it,” Garcetti said.Trouble in SyriaDiscussions about relaxing lockdown orders are taking place in many other countries, including Japan, where Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Thursday his government is consulting experts about whether to extend a state of emergency that is set to expire next week.Japan has about 14,000 confirmed cases, and Abe said the situation remains “severe.”Finland is the latest European country to announce plans to reopen schools.  Beginning May 14, students will return with new rules that include fewer students in a classroom and avoiding groups in communal areas.While parts of the world focus on emerging from the worst of their coronavirus outbreaks, there remains great concern about parts of the world that are just beginning to see worse effects, especially those already hampered by conflict.U.N. humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock told the Security Council there are 44 confirmed cases and four deaths in Syria, a country he said cannot be expected “to cope with a crisis that is challenging even the wealthiest nations.”In Yemen, health officials reported the country’s first two coronavirus deaths as well as a cluster of new cases in the southern port city of Aden that has been a focal point in a five-year civil war.The number of COVID-19 cases worldwide stood at 3.2 million Thursday with more than 227,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University statistics. 
…

The head of Lesotho’s ruling party turned down Prime Minister Thomas Thabane’s demands for immunity from prosecution in connection with the shooting death of his former wife in the southern African kingdom.The decision by the leader of the All Basotho Convention (ABC) party is the latest in a week of setbacks for the 80-year-old embattled leader, who is facing pressure to resign before the end of July, as he promised.Earlier this week, a magistrate ruled that Lesotho’s high court will decide if Thabane can claim immunity from a charge that he murdered his former wife.Also this week, the Senate modified the constitution, limiting the prime minister’s powers to dissolve parliament and call fresh elections.A leader of the opposition party, the Democratic Congress (DC), Motlalentoa Letsosa, told the French News Agency (AFP ) that Thabane has run out of options and the only thing that’s left for him is to leave.Thabane recently rejected an offer by Lesotho’s coalition government and South African mediators to step down with a dignified retirement.Police charged Thabane’s wife, first lady Maesaiah Thabane, with the murder of his previous wife, Lipolelo Thabane, outside her home in Maseru, Lesotho’s capital, just before his June 2017 inauguration.
…

President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he believes China’s handling of the coronavirus is proof that Beijing “will do anything they can” to make him lose his reelection bid in November.In an interview with Reuters in the Oval Office, Trump said he was looking at different options in terms of consequences for China over the virus. “I can do a lot,” he said.Trump has been heaping blame on China for a global pandemic that has killed at least 60,000 people in the United States according to a Reuters tally and thrown the U.S. economy into a deep recession, jeopardizing his hopes for another four-year term.The Republican president, often accused of not acting early enough to prepare the United States for the spread of the virus, said he believed China should have been more active in letting the world know about the coronavirus much sooner.Asked whether he was considering the use of tariffs or even debt write-offs for China, Trump would not offer specifics.”There are many things I can do,” he said. “We’re looking for what happened.””China will do anything they can to have me lose this race,” said Trump. He said he believes Beijing wants his Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, to win the race to ease the pressure Trump has placed on China over trade and other issues.Trump went on to say during the interview Wednesday that he does not believe opinion polls that show Biden leading in the 2020 race for the White House.He said he did not expect the election to be a referendum on his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and added he was surprised the former vice president was doing well.”I don’t believe the polls,” Trump said. “I believe the people of this country are smart. And I don’t think that they will put a man in who’s incompetent.”Finally, Trump also said South Korea has agreed to pay the United States more money for a defense cooperation agreement but would not be drawn out on how much. 
…