The Netherlands - US Relations: Florida governor: sick passengers on cruise ship cannot be 'dumped' here "as a result Fort Lauderdale could be branded world-wide as an inhumane tourist destination"

The Florida Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, has said passengers on a coronavirus-stricken cruise trip cannot be “dumped” in his state, casting further doubt over where two vessels carrying hundreds of people will be a two vessels carrying hundreds of people will be allowed to dock.

Two people have tested positive for the disease and dozens are ill with flu-like symptoms on the Zaandam luxury cruise liner, which has not been able to dock after several Latin American countries closed their ports in response to the global pandemic.

Hundreds of North American, Australia, Dutch and British citizens are in isolation in their rooms and a boat-to-boat operation is underway to move some healthy travellers to a sister ship, the Rotterdam, over the weekend.

But there are fears that sick, elderly passengers and crew members will be left stranded at sea during a global pandemic, with some on board isolating in small, humid cabins with no natural light or fresh air.
Holland America Line, which owns the cruise ship, confirmed on Friday that four elderly passengers had died onboard. It is not clear whether they died after catching Covid-19.

“Unfortunately, four of our fellow guests have passed away – one last night, two yesterday and one a few days ago,” the ship’s captain Captain Jan Smit said in an announcement, which was obtained by The Guardian. “We are still seeing both guests and crew with symptoms reporting to the medical center. The situation continues to grow more challenging each day.”

Both ships are presently on their way to Fort Lauderdale.

Note EU-Digest: Both Ships - the Zaandam and the Rotterdam use Fort Lauderdale as their cruise base and all passengers on the ships boarded in Fort Lauderdale before any US travel restriction were issued. 

Florida  Governor Ron DeSantis better realize that if he does not allow all passengers of these cruise ships to disembark in Fort Lauderdale, so they can be properly taken care of and treated, that Florida will be branded around the world as an inhumane tourist destination.  

EU-Digest

The Netherlands extends anti-corona measures to April 28, at least

Special measures to stop the spread of coronavirus in the Netherlands are to be extended until April 28 at least, prime minister Mark Rutte told a press conference on Tuesday. This means cafes, restaurants, museums and schools will remain shut for the next four weeks. The decision has been taken on the basis of expert advice, the prime minister said. ‘We realise we are asking a lot of people, but it is really necessary,’ Rutte said. ‘The capacity in hospitals and intensive care units leaves us with no other choice.’ ‘The good news is that we don’t have to bring in extra measures,’ the prime minister said. Measures currently in

Read more at DutchNews.nl:

Special measures to stop the spread of coronavirus in the Netherlands are to be extended until April 28 at least, prime minister Mark Rutte told a press conference on Tuesday. This means cafes, restaurants, museums and schools will remain shut for the next four weeks.

The decision has been taken on the basis of expert advice, the prime minister said. ‘We realize we are asking a lot of people, but it is really necessary,’ Rutte said. ‘The capacity in hospitals and intensive care units leaves us with no other choice.’ ‘The good news is that we don’t have to bring in extra measures,’ the prime minister said.

Measures currently in  effect, these measure means that schools will be closed until May 3, because the May school holidays start on April 25. Parents considering booking a holiday during the Easter or May break should not do so, the prime minister said.

‘There is a very real chance that we will have to extend the measures past April 28,’ Rutte said. ‘We don’t want people to travel all over the country, and after April 28 we certainly won’t be back the way we were.’ All sports events, including premier league football, are also cancelled until at least June 1, the current deadline for the ban on organized events.

Read more at: The Netherlands extends anti-corona measures to April 28, at least - DutchNews.nl

EU Corononavirus Pandemic: Italy and Spain: worst - or just first?- by Elena Sánchez Nicolás

Italy and Spain, the most-affected countries in the EU, have tightened their response to the coronavirus outbreak as the pair together now account for more than half of the world's coronavirus death toll.

As the number of fatalities from coronavirus in Italy increased again on Monday (30 March), the nationwide lockdown due to expire on Friday (3 March) will likely soon be officially extended until 18 April, according to Italian media.

Reaf more: Italy and Spain: worst - or just first?

USA - Corona virus: Trump vs. Cuomo, Round 2 - by Robert Farley

President Donald Trump continued his misleading attacks on Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic as it ravages the state.

• With mask use spiking at one New York hospital, Trump speculated that masks may be “going out the back door,” suggesting they are being stolen. He has provided no evidence, however, that theft is driving the increase. A bioresponse expert told us that during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is “reasonable” for hard-hit hospitals “to see its mask use increase by an order of magnitude.”
• The president said that 4,000 ventilators delivered to New York from the federal stockpile are being kept in a “warehouse which happens to be located – which is interesting — in Edison, New Jersey,” and so “maybe they didn’t need them so badly.” Cuomo said the ventilators are being stored in anticipation of peak demand in the coming weeks.

Trump also repeated his misleading claim that “New York had a chance to get 16,000 ventilators a few years ago and they turned it down.” We wrote about that in our March 26 story “Trump’s Misleading Ventilator Counter-Punch at Cuomo.”

New York has borne the brunt of much of the early explosion of the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S. Nearly 43% of the more than 156,000 confirmed cases nationwide were located in New York, as of the afternoon of March 30.

During a “Fox & Friends” phone interview on March 30, Trump was asked about polls showing high approval for Cuomo’s handling of the pandemic, and speculation in an opinion piece in the New York Times about Cuomo’s presidential potential.

“Well one of the reasons his numbers are high on handling it is because of the federal government, because we give him ships and we give him ventilators and we give him all of the things that we’re giving him,” Trump said. “One of the reasons he’s successful is because we’ve helped make him successful.”

During the interview, Trump took several shots at the New York Democrat. The president claimed that despite Cuomo appealing to the federal government to provide more masks, ventilators and other equipment from federal emergency stockpiles, New York has not used the 4,000 ventilators the federal government has provided.

As for the shortage of masks, during a press conference the night before, Trump suggested a spike in the number of masks being used at one New York hospital seemed suspicious, and he implored reporters to look into whether masks may be “going out the back door.”

In his public comments, Trump also questioned why thousands of ventilators sent by the federal government to New York were being held in storage, even as Cuomo pleads for more.
At a press conference on March 29, Trump said that with thousands of ventilators sitting in storage in New York, “maybe they didn’t need them so badly.”

Read more at: Trump vs. Cuomo, Round 2 - FactCheck.org

Airbus: Meet "Merkel One": The New German Air Force Airbus A350 - by Chris Loh

The Executive Transport Wing of the German Government (Flugbereitschaft) will soon have one of three Airbus A350s. These aircraft would be considered the German equivalents to Air Force One. According to FlugRevue, the first Airbus A350 has already been painted. Last week, the aircraft rolled out of the paint shop at the Airbus facility in Hamburg-Finkenwerder – only to fly back to Toulouse shortly after.

We reported just over a year ago that the government of Germany was ordering three Airbus A350 aircraft to replace its aging Airbus A340 aircraft. Reportedly, the German Government was trying to decide between the A330 and the A350.

Over a month ago, the first A350 ordered by the Flugbereitschaft took its maiden flight in Toulouse. At the time, however, it was without its distinctive governmental livery. Now we have a glimpse of the new aircraft “fully dressed” and it looks great! Below is some rare video of the new bird: (to view the video clich on the link below.

Read more at: Meet "Merkel One": The New German Air Force Airbus A350 - Simple Flying

Stock market : Data: Rings a Warning – The Stock Market Crash Isn't Over

Google Trends data shows huge interest from retail investors looking to learn how to buy stocks, and that's bad news for the Dow Jones

Read more at:
https://www.ccn.com/google-trends-data-rings-a-warning-the-stock-market-crash-isnt-over/

Global Economy: Massive social disaster looms as worldwide job losses from coronavirus pandemic expected to reach 25 million - by Jerry White

Millions of workers throughout the world are being thrown out of work due to the coronavirus pandemic, creating the conditions for an unprecedented economic and social crisis.

The International Labor Organization (ILO) has warned that 25 million workers could join the ranks of the unemployed over the next several months. By comparison, the 2008-09 global financial crisis increased global unemployment by 22 million.

The spread of the COVID-19 disease has already exacted a terrible human toll, with nearly 250,000 cases and more than 10,000 fatalities across the globe. The economic and social crisis, which began with the shutdown of a significant portion of China’s economy and the disruption in the global supply chain, has now spread around the world as restaurants, retailers, airlines, public schools and factories close or sharply curtail operations.

While pouring trillions into the stock markets and preparing bailouts of the airline and other industries, the Trump administration in the US and capitalist governments around the world are doing little or nothing to protect workers from economic disaster.

Read more at: Massive social disaster looms as worldwide job losses from coronavirus pandemic expected to reach 25 million - World Socialist Web Site

Global leadership: US awol from world stage as China tries on global leadership for size | World news | The Guardian

Mike Pompeo labelling the virus ‘Chinese’ has added to lack of international cooperation.

Read more at:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/29/us-awol-from-world-stage-as-china-tries-on-global-leadership-for-size?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Add_to_Firefox

The US Political Scene: The Bernie Sanders Delusion - by David Frum

As Biden advances to the nomination, he advances also toward an exquisite problem: How to reconcile the irreconcilable? In 2016, Hillary Clinton failed to reach such an accommodation. Bernie Sanders was not seeking consolation prizes: a policy concession, an appointment for himself or for his people. Sanders does not bargain for what he wants, because no bargain can give him what he wants. A sympathetic article in The Daily Beast explained why Sanders has such a negligible record of accomplishment in his three decades in Congress. He did not aspire to “accomplish things” in the usual congressional way of accomplishing things. His vision of change rejected deal making by insiders. It rested instead on a dream of inspiring a mass movement that could change government from the outside.

The revolutionary mass movement itself is the thing that Sanders wants. Just as the prophet Habakkuk instructed the people of Israel to await the Messiah even if he should tarry, so Sanders has patiently awaited his revolution. The revolution may come. It may not come. But no conventional politician can make it come. And since they cannot, there is nothing for Sanders to talk about with such politicians.

Read more at: The Bernie Sanders Delusion - The Atlantic

EU: The coronavirus crisis has brought the EU's failings into sharp relief - by Larry Elliot

Europe is being ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic. There have been more than 10,000 deaths in Italy. In the grimmest of league tables, Spain comes second. Normal life has been suspended across the continent and the hit to the economy is immense. France’s output is running at two-thirds of what it was last year. Germany has abandoned fiscal rectitude and – along with the rest – adopted a “whatever it takes” approach.

Border controls have been erected to stop the flow of people even though this contravenes one of the founding principles of the single market. Rules on state aid to struggling companies have been relaxed. The European Central Bank has embarked on a gigantic asset purchase scheme in an attempt to flood the eurozone economy with cheap money.

If ever there was a time for the EU to act as one, for the richer countries to show solidarity with those less fortunate, then this is it. Yet when Italy pleaded for fellow countries to send it medical equipment such as masks, France and Germany not only failed to respond, they placed export bans (since lifted) on the export of the kit Italian hospitals were crying out for. In the end it was left to China to show EU how to respond to a country in dire need.

Another problem for Italy is that because of its slow growth and high levels of public debt it has to pay a higher rate of interest on the money the government borrows than is the case for Germany and, when the hospitals in the cities of Lombardy started to fill up with Covid-19 cases, this gap – or spread – started to widen. It was therefore deeply unhelpful for Christine Lagarde, the president of the ECB, to say that it was not the job of her institution to “close bond spreads”.

Lagarde, to her credit, quickly recanted and the ECB is now doing its utmost to help Italy and the wider eurozone economy. But the crisis has highlighted the weaknesses of the eurozone: the lack of coordination between monetary policy run by the ECB from Frankfurt and fiscal policy under the control of member states; the lack of a sizeable, single budget; the absence of financial tools that would make a collective approach easier.

Last week’s virtual meeting of EU leaders was supposed to come up with a joint approach to the crisis but was instead a complete car crash. One group of countries – including Italy, Spain and France – wanted the creation of corona bonds, which would be issued collectively by all eurozone countries.

The thinking behind a corona bond is simple. By pooling risk, hard-pressed countries such as Italy and Spain would benefit from the reputation for financial probity of countries like Germany and the Netherlands. Of the money raised, the lion’s share would go to the countries at greatest need and at lower rates of interest than they would have to pay if they were issuing their own national bonds.

Read more at: The coronavirus crisis has brought the EU's failings into sharp relief | Larry Elliott | Business | The Guardian

Time versus Age: Physics Explains Why Time Passes Faster As You Age

Mind time and clock time are two totally different things.

They flow at varying rates. The chronological passage of the hours, days, and years on clocks and calendars is a steady, measurable phenomenon. Yet our perception of time shifts constantly, depending on the activities we’re engaged in, our age, and even how much rest we get. An upcoming paper in the journal European Review by Duke University mechanical engineering professor Adrian Bejan, explains the physics behind changing senses of time and reveals why the years seem to fly by the older we get.  (The paper, sent to Quartz by its author, has been peer-reviewed, edited, and has been approved for publication but a date has not yet been set.) 

Bejan is obsessed with flow and, basically, believes physics principles can explain everything. He has written extensively about how the principles of flow in physics dictate and explain the movement of abstract concepts, like economics. Last year, he won the Franklin Institute’s Benjamin Franklin Medal for “his pioneering interdisciplinary contributions…and for constructal theory, which predicts natural design and its evolution in engineering, scientific, and social systems.” 

In his latest paper, he examines the mechanics of the human mind and how these relate to our understanding of time, providing a physical explanation for our changing mental perception as we age.

Read the complete report at: Physics Explains Why Time Passes Faster As You Age

U.S.-Europe Travel Ban: The Most Impacted Airlines, Countries And Airport Hubs In Trump’s Fight Against Coronavirus - by Will Horton

Aviation’s most important international market, travel between Europe and North America, will be severely impacted, at least in the short-term, from U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement of a 30-day restriction on travel between the U.S. and most of Europe. The measure is an effort to limit the spread of coronavirus in the U.S.

The restriction applies to foreign nationals who, within the last 14 days, have been to one of the 26 countries in the Schengen Area, a European bloc with open border agreements. The United Kingdom and Ireland are not part of Schengen, and are so far excluded from the restrictions. There was initial confusion of the details due to conflicting information between President Trump, his aides and other government departments.

U.S. citizens, and others with exemptions, can continue travel but will be re-directed through certain U.S. airports, as has been done for passengers from Mainland China and Iran.

Aviation will be directly impacted from passengers unable to travel, and indirectly affected as the travel restriction sends negative connotations and sees consumers lose market confidence.

The situation is dynamic, in its early days, and difficult to precisely predict. Airlines were already taking different measures on trans-Atlantic flight capacity with changes being rolled out or evaluated in headquarters. The flow of passengers between the U.S. and Europe is not easily delineated. Europe’s strong international airlines and airport hubs mean that Ireland and the U.K., exempt from the ban, will be impacted as passengers use those countries to connect between the U.S. and other European destinations. The Netherlands, which is covered in the ban, has passengers transfer between the U.K. and U.S. Canada is also a hub.

Countries most impacted: Germany, France and Netherlands. The U.K., which is exempt from the ban, is the single largest European market from the U.S., accounting for 31% of flights – 137 a day carrying 31,000 passengers in April 2019. This is almost as big as the next three largest countries combined: Germany (13%), France (11%), and the Netherlands (9%) for a total of 33% or 143 flights a day carrying 35,000 passengers.

The ban directly impacts 266 daily flights from Europe to the U.S. Indirect impacts will affect 173 other daily flights to the U.S. from European countries not covered by the ban, mainly the U.K. as well as Ireland, which had 5-6% of flights and passengers.

Read more at: U.S.-Europe Travel Ban: The Most Impacted Airlines, Countries And Airport Hubs In Trump’s Fight Against Coronavirus

New Global Order Ranking: Power, equality, nationalism: how the pandemic will reshape the world

The global impact of the coronavirus pandemic poses a fundamental question: is this one of those historic moments when the world changes permanently, when the balance of political and economic power shifts decisively, and when, for most people, in most countries, life is never quite the same again?

Put more simply, is this the end of the world as we know it? And, equally, could the crisis mark a new beginning?

Genuinely pivotal global moments, watersheds or turning points (pick your own terminology) are actually quite rare. Yet if the premise is correct – that there can be no return to the pre-Covid-19 era – then it poses many unsettling questions about the nature of the change, and whether it will be for better or worse.

Some analysts see grounds for optimism, for example in beneficial environmental effects in northern Italy and China. Countries hitherto at odds, such as Iran and the UAE, are cooperating, at least temporarily. In the Philippines, the crisis prompted a ceasefire with Communist rebels. Global interdependence and the importance of collective, multilateral approaches have been vividly underscored.

After early blunders, China’s government is working hard to turn Covid-19, first detected in Wuhan in November, into a national success story. It claims draconian measures to suppress the disease have largely worked. Now, by offering assistance to Italy and other badly affected countries, China is reinforcing its credentials as a global leader. The virus has become a soft power tool to overtake its superpower rival, the US.

Read more at: Power, equality, nationalism: how the pandemic will reshape the world | World news | The Guardian

USA: Trump's press conferences are filled with self-congratulation and deflecting blame. Of course

At The Washington Post, Aaron Blake was motivated to go through Donald Trump's COVID-19 press event from yesterday to see how much content was included and how much was fluff. The answer was obvious from the get-go, but Blake took the time to color code the transcript and do a word count. Of the words Trump word-burped, about 25% were self-promoting or blaming others.

For example: "We’re the ones that gave the great response, and we’re the ones that kept China out of here, and if I didn’t do it, you’d have thousands and thousands of people died—who would have died that are now living and happy."

Read more at:
Trump's press conferences are filled with self-congratulation and deflecting blame. Of course

Turkey - Coronavarus: Turkey’s coronavirus death toll rises to 108 as confirmed cases total 7,402

A total of 70 patients have recovered from COVID-19 and discharged from hospitals since the beginning of the outbreak on March 11, according to the ministry's data, which said 445 patients remained in treatment at intensive care units.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan late on Friday announced new measures to combat the spread of the virus, including the suspension of all overseas flights have been and intercity travel  by permit obtained from governorates.

Recreational sites will be closed during weekends, and large groups will not be allowed in on weekdays. The governors of Turkey’s 30 largest cities, including Istanbul and Ankara, were granted greater powers to implement the limitations, Erdoğan announced.

Erdoğan also said that the public and private sectors will switch to a flexible working system with minimum personnel. Soldiers coming in or leaving the army will have to comply with the 14-day quarantine rule, he said.

Read more at: Turkey’s coronavirus death toll rises to 108 as confirmed cases total 7,402 - live blog | Ahval

USA:`Trump is more popular than ever, but there's more to the story

 Donald Trump is enjoying his best poll numbers ever. His opponents may fume in frustration, but the public gives the U.S. president decent marks for his handling of the COVID-19 crisis. Here are four takeaways on what those poll numbers say, what they don't, and what's next.

Read more at:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/trump-popularity-spike-1.5512983

USA: Coronavirus Pandemic Exposes the Drastic Absence of U.S. Global Leadership – Homeland Security Today

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has exposed fundamental weaknesses in many Western countries, including the United States and its European allies, as they struggle to stem the tide of new cases and respond to existing ones. Even though a significant portion of the blame lies with China for covering up the early signs of what grew into a pandemic, Beijing is now seeking to portray itself as a savior, providing masks and testing kits to countries throughout the world. China’s media has highlighted the country’s outreach to Europe, Africa, and Asia, juxtaposing China’s benevolence with the United States. Meanwhile, the United States is suffering from a lack of testing kits, open hospital beds, and even basic necessities like personal protective equipment for doctors, nurses, and medical workers as COVID-19 cases surge. In previous times of crisis—the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the Ebola crisis of 2014—the United States helped lead an international response.

With COVID-19, Washington’s dearth of leadership is glaring, and will have long-lasting implications well beyond the current crisis. 

By delivering much needed supplies and sending Chinese scientists and medical experts to offer advice, China is using diplomacy and soft power to recreate the narrative surrounding COVID-19. And from early indications, it seems to be working. Countries that would normally look to the United States in a time of crisis have observed Washington’s own failure to deal with the coronavirus.

 Europe has also been shunned in favor of help from China. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic declared that, when it came to assistance in battling the coronavirus, ‘the only country that can help us is China,’ while obliquely referring to European solidarity as a ‘fairy tale’ that never existed. Russian disinformation efforts have exacerbated existing tensions and complicated government responses.

The reality is, the United States has been declining as a global power for some time now. The coronavirus has merely exposed this hard truth. By abdicating leadership on the most pressing challenges of our time, from combating climate change to championing human rights, the United States has allowed an authoritarian country like China to dominate the narrative of the coronavirus response, as Beijing gains access and influence through the provision of generous aid packages and foreign assistance. European countries were neither consulted nor informed before the Trump administration imposed a travel ban on their citizens. China is effectively exploiting this rift in transatlantic relations.

Germans were furious when a story was published allegations reporting that U.S. President Donald Trump was aggressively pursuing the purchase of a German biopharmaceutical company, CureVac, in order to obtain ‘exclusive access’ to a potential coronavirus vaccine. To President Trump’s supporters, this is simply ‘America First’ operationalized. To the rest of the world, it shows an America out of touch with reality, no longer a symbol of hope that it has been for hundreds of millions of people throughout the world for decades on end.

Read more at: Coronavirus Pandemic Exposes the Drastic Absence of U.S. Global Leadership – Homeland Security Today

USA: Economy vs. human life is not a moral dilemma - those proposing it are sick in their head

As the coronavirus brings the global economy to a halt, some leaders are seriously suggesting that a few should die so the many can live. Such a suggestion is nothing less than moral bankruptcy, says Martin Gak.

Read more at:
https://www.dw.com/en/opinion-economy-vs-human-life-is-not-a-moral-dilemma/a-52942552

EU -The Netherlands: Dutch Exceptionalism: Will Holland's Looser Corona Policies Pay Off?

One EU country after the other is moving to restrict public life. The Dutch government has opted for less drastic measures, hoping for herd immunity and relying on the common sense of its people. But the country has still had to make adjustments to its policies.

The Big Bazar in Winterswijk is, as usual, full of "Big Deals!" despite the coronavirus. Plastic footballs, clothespins for hanging laundry, flower pots and various other things are for sale at the store in the Dutch border town. There’s a stand with jackets in front of the clothing shop next door and the drug store Kruidvat across the street has a special offer on creme. People seem relaxed as they stroll through the pedestrian zone and there's not a face mask to be seen. If you visited Winterswijk last Saturday, you could have been forgiven for thinking that the pandemic doesn’t even exist here. But just 10 kilometers away, in the town of Vreden on the German side of the border, almost all the stores have been closed for several days.

Opposition politicians in the Netherlands have been highly critical of the strategy. "Many Dutch people feel like they are being made part of a big experiment,” Lodwijk Asscher, the head of the country’s center-left Social Democratic Party has said. Right-wing radical politician Geert Wilders has said: "Rutte is playing Russian roulette with our people. Many people will get sick as a result. People will die.” Scientists believe that 60 to 70 percent of the population would have to come into contact with the virus to achieve herd immunity, the equivalent of more than 10 million Dutch people. Even with a low mortality among the young and the fittest, this would mean thousands of deaths. And the health system would soon be at its limits.

Read more: Dutch Exceptionalism: Will Holland's Looser Corona Policies Pay Off? - DER SPIEGEL

EU-Belgium: cat 'infected by coronavirus' in Belgium

Belgian virologist Steven Van Gucht said during Friday's daily national coronavirus press conference that for the first time a cat was found infected by the coronavirus, Belgian national broadcaster VRT reports.

He added that so far this is a isolated case. So far only three pets are known to be infected, two dogs in Hong Kong, and now one cat in Belgium.

Read more at: Belgian cat 'infected by coronavirus'

Russia-US Relations: Taibbi on Russiagate and the Effort to Derail Sanders Campaign

The latest act in the comedy began just before voting opened in the Nevada Democratic caucus. The Washington Post ran a story — sourced, I’m not joking, to “people familiar with the matter” — explaining that Bernie Sanders had been briefed that “Russia is attempting to help his presidential campaign as part of an effort to interfere with the Democratic contest.”

Intelligence officials and pundits have been screeching for years that patriotism demands voters reject the foreign agent Donald Trump and the Russian asset Bernie Sanders, and support a conventional establishment politician. Voters responded by moving toward Trump in national approval surveys and speeding Sanders to the top of the Democratic Party ticket. A more thorough disavowal of official propaganda would be difficult to imagine.

But the biggest red flag of all was the way in which “Russia” over the past few years became shorthand to describe any brand of political deviance. I wrote this two years ago:

“Since Trump’s election, we’ve been told Putin was all or partly behind the lot of it: the Catalan independence movement, the Sanders campaign, Brexit, Jill Stein’s Green Party run, Black Lives Matter, the resignations of intraparty Trump critics Bob Corker and Jeff Flake …

”

Unnamed “officials” have since added the Corbyn movement in England, the gilets jaunes, protesters in Chile, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Colombia, militias in Africa, pro-government disinformation campaigns in Hong Kong, the presidential campaign of Tulsi Gabbard, and countless other undesirables to what has amounted to an ongoing, cumulative blacklist.

Note EU-Digest: "The problem is not Rusia and Putin, the problem is that the US political system has become twisted in their thinking and always puts the blame on a foreign politician they can use as a whipping boy".

Read more on: Taibbi on Russiagate and the Effort to Derail Sanders Campaign - Rolling Stone

US Stimulus Bill: Defeating Republican stunt, House passes $2 trillion in coronavirus stimulus - if it fails US Economy will be on life support

The House passed the third stage of coronavirus response, despite the antics of Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie. It took great deal of legislative maneuvering, with Massie insisting that he was going to demand a recorded vote, rather than allowing it to pass—which was inevitable—by voice vote. That meant that at least 216 members, enough to provide a quorum, had to be in the chamber simultaneously to defeat his demand, and allow the bill to pass by voice. Which it did, as the House had planned on from the beginning.

They had members sitting in the gallery, an unusual if not unprecedented situation, so that they could maintain social distancing. All the same, Massie put all those colleagues—who had already had to travel from all over the country—in the same room. The staff did their best to keep everyone safe, but they all had to be in that room together. They all had to come to D.C. It will be a miracle if no member among the dozens who had to be there falls ill as a result of this stunt from Massie. If nothing else, this episode demonstrates that leadership has to take the health of Congress much more seriously. Speaker Pelosi and Minority Leader McCarthy, as well as Senate Leaders McConnell and Schumer, HAVE to figure out how to allow the Congress to function remotely.

Note EU-Digest: Trump tweeted : " I just signed the CARES Act, the single biggest economic relief package in American History – twice as large as any relief bill ever enacted. At $2.2 Trillion Dollars, this bill will deliver urgently-needed relief for our nation’s families, workers, and businesses". #CARESAct https://twitter.com/senategop/status/1243613618186465280 …

And by doing so added $2,2 Trillion Dollars to the US Deficit. If it helps to get the US out of the doldrums  great, but if this quickly put together aid package fails to do what Trump believes it will, it could also be the beginning of a US economic meltdown. 


Read more: Defeating Republican stunt, House passes $2 trillion in coronavirus stimulus

The U.S. - Trump is making America great again: Now Leads the World in Confirmed Coronavirus Cases

America now leads the world in confirmed Corona cases.

Read more a: The U.S. Now Leads the World in Confirmed Coronavirus Cases - The New York Times

USA: The Hidden Depression Trump Isn’t Helping - by Nicholas Kristof

The economy may get the president re-elected, but not everyone is sharing in its strength.

Read more at:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/08/opinion/sunday/trump-economy.html

USA: - Donald Trump's Poor Presidential skills and lies score well with Republican voters in America as Trump approval rating wih them highest since early 2017

President Trump’s job approval rating has soared to new heights since the coronavirus outbreak began.

A new Pew Research Center survey found Mr. Trump’s approval rating scored its highest marks since March 2017. Mr. Trump’s approval rating has risen 5 percentage points since January, to 45%, while 52% of Americans disapprove of his job performance.

“Trump’s approval rating has improved among both Republicans and Democrats,” according to the Pew Research Center. “Among Republicans and Republican learners, 85% now approve of Trump’s job performance, compared with 80% in January.

Among Democrats and Democratic learners, the share approving increased from 7% to 12% over the same period.”

Read more at: Trump approval rating highest since early 2017: Pew poll - Washington Times

USA: Virus, Not Humans, 'Makes The Timeline,' Fauci Warns As Trump Mulls Easing Restrictions - by Dominique Mosbergen

President Donald Trump may want to reopen the U.S. economy by Easter — but the novel coronavirus wreaking havoc across the globe may have other plans.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s top infectious disease expert, pointed out Wednesday that the virus is determining “the timeline” for the pandemic.

“You’ve gotta be realistic,” Fauci told CNN’s Chris Cuomo when asked when states, including hard-hit California and New York, could expect to see a reduction of infections. “You’ve got to understand that you don’t make the timeline, the virus makes the timeline.”

States need to respond to what’s happening in real-time, he continued. “If you keep seeing this acceleration, it doesn’t matter what you say. One week, two weeks, three weeks ― you’ve got to go with what the situation on the ground is.”

“You can’t make an arbitrary decision until you see what you’re dealing with. You need the data,” added Fauci, who ― like other medical professionals ― has urged Americans to “hunker down” and practice social distancing to mitigate the spread of the virus.

Read more at: "Virus, Not Humans, 'Makes The Timeline,' Fauci Warns As Trump Mulls Easing Restrictions

US Politics and Coronavirus - a poisonous mexture: Trump knows economic meltdown brings political pain

The record-breaking amount reflects a US economy put into deep-freeze almost overnight. The government-ordered shutdown hasn't just shuttered businesses temporarily, it has vaporised the jobs of millions of Americans - many of whom are the particularly vulnerable hourly service workers who live paycheque to paycheque.

The stock market free-fall and early reports of layoffs foreshadowed Thursday's grim news, prompting Congress to craft its largest-ever aid package, which passed the US Senate Wednesday night. The test now will be whether the multi-trillion-dollar relief will do enough, quickly enough, to staunch the bleeding.

What's clear at this point, however, is the physical disease that is afflicting tens of thousands of Americans and growing will be accompanied by an economic ailment that adversely affects the lives of millions.

 Read more: Coronavirus: Trump knows economic meltdown brings political pain - BBC News

USA Unemployment: US unemployment skyrockets as coronavirus crashes economy

However, the figures were recorded before Congress signed off on a $2 trillion stimulus package that seeks to help businesses and workers as coronavirus ravages the economy.

Yet it is unlikely that even the biggest government stimulus package in history can stop unemployment from soaring to record highs and the US entering a deep recession.

Commerzbank economist Christoph Bolz said: “The lockdown of the economy is likely to cost more jobs in the coming weeks. We fear that the US unemployment rate will reach a post-war record by mid-year.”

Bolz predicted the US unemployment rate could rise from 3.5 per cent to 11.5 per cent, putting roughly 19m Americans out of a job. That would be higher than the previous post-war record of 10.8 per cent at the end of 1982.

Read more at: US unemployment skyrockets as coronavirus crashes economy : CityAM

Food Shortages - Coronavirus measures could cause global food shortage, UN warns

Protectionist measures by national governments during the coronavirus crisis could provoke food shortages around the world, the UN’s food body has warned.

Harvests have been good and the outlook for staple crops is promising, but a shortage of field workers brought on by the virus crisis and a move towards protectionism – tariffs and export bans – mean problems could quickly appear in the coming weeks, Maximo Torero, chief economist of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, told the Guardian.

“The worst that can happen is that governments restrict the flow of food,” he said. “All measures against free trade will be counterproductive. Now is not the time for restrictions or putting in place trade barriers. Now is the time to protect the flow of food around the world.”

Read more at: Coronavirus measures could cause global food shortage, UN warns | Global development | The Guardian

Germany and the Netherlands: Corona Virus: Germany and the Netherlands seem to fight off the virus better than most. Here’s why - by Rupert Steiner

The Netherlands and Germany both showed glimmers of hope in the battle to combat coronavirus on Wednesday, as the numbers of cases in New York rose rapidly.

Data from Germany shows just 0.4% of people who tested positive for the virus have passed away, much less than the 9.5% in Italy and 4.3% in France. In the Netherlands growth in transmissions of the virus have slowed significantly.

Giving evidence in front of the Dutch Parliament Jaap van Dissel, boss of the Netherlands National Institute of Health, said: “The exponential growth of the outbreak has in all probability been brought to a halt,” with the infection only being passed on at a rate of one infected person to another.

If proven, this would be a significant achievement. In some countries, the spread from one infected person has been to as many as five or more. In the U.S., the state of New York had 5,146 new cases
confirmed on Wednesday, and more than 30,000 have tested positive.

The low death rate in Germany has confounded experts, and it could be due to different causes. The possible explanation is that doctors aggressively screened citizens who were either fit or sick early on at the time they took the test, at a rate not seen in other countries, who only had the resources to test the very sick. This have skewed the compaarison with other countries, because those who were fit when tested and had caught the virus were more likely to suffer from a mild case and survive.

Germany also was more effective than most countries at tracking and tracing contacts of infected patients before the spread took hold, effectively containing it better than other countries.

Another more random theory is that the first Germans to contract the virus caught it mixing with other nationalities while skiing, which suggested that they were fit and active, and less likely to succumb to the disease.

Read more at: Germany and the Netherlands seem to fight off the virus better than most. Here’s why - MarketWatch

US Deficit to Double: Coronavirus: US Senate snag holds up $2tn disaster aid bill

A row over jobless benefits holds up the largest government economic stimulus in US history.

Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52033863

USA-Coronavirus: One case lays bare America's testing failure

"Open your eyes, we have to do something." A retired doctor's quest to discover if she has the virus.

Read more at:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-52019509

EU: Social protection pays off – by Shahra Razavi

Governments must use the momentum created by the COVID-19 pandemic to make rapid progress toward collectively financed, comprehensive social protection.

Read more:
https://www.socialeurope.eu/social-protection-pays-off

USA - the economy in the doldrums: 'There Is Genuine Panic': Fears of Global Financial Meltdown as Human Toll of Coronavirus Grows

President Donald Trump described as "the worst person to be in charge in this moment" as the number of known coronavirus cases in the U.S. topped 500 over the weekend.

Read more at:
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/03/09/there-genuine-panic-fears-global-financial-meltdown-human-toll-coronavirus-grows

USA - The meltdown has begun with Monopoly money sprinkled over the Nation as Fed’s Money-Printing Presses Are Fired Up and Ready to Go

Its actions Monday show it will do anything necessary to address a glaring shortage of dollars across the economy.

Read more at:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/23/upshot/coronavirus-fed-extraordinary-response.html

EU - Corona Virus:: 200,000+ coronavirus cases in Europe

The number of coronavirus cases in Europe has surpassed 200,000, AFP reports citing its own tally. Italy and Spain have been hit worst by the pandemic on the continent.

Earlier the World Health Organization warned that the pace of the disease spread was increasing worldwide. It took just four days for the number of global cases to grow from 200,000 to over 300,000.

Read more at: 200,000+ coronavirus cases in Europe - AFP tally — RT World News

USA: The dollar is too strong for the recession that just began, Mr. President - by Mr. Robert Romano

The cornerstone of President Donald Trump’s plan to defeat the Chinese coronavirus and save potentially millions of lives, and to salvage what can be of the U.S. economy, is a massive expansion of the Treasury’s Exchange Rate Stabilization Fund from about $93 billion to $500 billion.

These funds will be used to underwrite the economic relief plan, which includes $300 billion for covering payroll for small businesses, $200 billion for critical industries and a gigantic expansion of unemployment benefits that amount to paid sick leave for every American who had a job when the virus struck.

These lending and grant programs are essential to incentivize millions of Americans to stay home to combat the virus, and to help the U.S. economy to survive the effects of being shut down during the outbreak response effort. If done correctly, tens of millions of businesses and hundreds of millions of jobs can be saved.

But the Exchange Stabilization Fund has other important, economy-sustaining uses.

Normally, the U.S. Treasury operates the Exchange Stabilization Fund to “purchase or sell foreign currencies, to hold U.S. foreign exchange and Special Drawing Rights (SDR) assets, and to provide financing to foreign governments. All operations of the ESF require the explicit authorization of the Secretary of the Treasury (‘the Secretary’),” according to Treasury’s website.

Read more at: The dollar is too strong for the recession that just began, Mr. President

US Economy - Voodoo Economics: Even though Stocks jump on hopes for a coronavirus stimulus package - "reality of positive effect is still very nebulous - by Jessica Menton

U.S. stocks advanced Tuesday on hopes that Congress would pass a stimulus bill to shield the economy from the coronavirus pandemic.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied more than 1,600 points after slumping to a three-year low a day earlier. The Standard & Poor’s 500 jumped 7.5%. Stock futures had briefly surged 5%, triggering an automatic shock absorber.

Stocks stabilized overnight after a turbulent start to the week as Congress was nearing a rescue plan that could inject $2 trillion into the economy. The measure is designed to provide direct payments of $1,200 to most Americans, help small businesses shuttered across the country and aid the hard-hit travel industry.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday morning a deal on an economic stimulus package may be reached in the "next few hours."

Read more at: Dow: Stocks jump on hopes for a coronavirus stimulus package

USA economy: Trump wants to restart the US economy whatever it takes ASAP because he's afraid the tanking stock market will hurt his reelection chances, report says

 Trump is growing anxious that the plummeting stock market could cost him his re-election bid, according to the Washington Post. The president ha...

Read more at:
https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/trump-us-economy-afraid-tanking-stock-market-coronavirus-report-reelection-2020-3-1029024616

Spain: Spanish army discover bodies of abandoned elderly in care homes

Spanish soldiers deployed to help fight the new coronavirus outbreak have found elderly patients abandoned, and sometimes dead, at retirement homes, as an ice rink inside a Madrid shopping mall was turned into a temporary morgue to cope with a surge in cases.

Read more  at:
https://www.thelocal.es/20200324/spanish-army-discover-corpses-of-abandoned-elderly-in-care-homes

USA - Coranavirus - Republican solutions to end crises : Texas lieutenant governor says grandparents are willing to risk dying from coronavirus to save economy

The lieutenant governor of Texas thinks "lots of grandparents" may be willing to die of the coronavirus to stop a possible economic recession that could affect their grandchildren's lives.

Read more at :
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/texas-lieutenant-governor-says-grandparents-are-willing-to-risk-dying-from-coronavirus-to-save-economy

USA: Coronavirus puts a spotlight on the moral compass of America

No country has invested as heavily as the U.S. in the idea of itself as a land where freedom to pursue opportunity is paramount. But in a time of crisis, that creed can stray into the desperate territory of "every man for himself," writes Keith Boag.

Read more at:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/keith-boag-coronavirus-moral-character-1.5505963

European Aircraft Industry: Airbus cancels €1.5 billion in dividends over coronavirus

European planemaker Airbus is canceling a stakeholder payment to cope with the financial stress of the global coronavirus outbreak. The manufacturer called for federal support as it is hit by travel restrictions.

Read more at:
https://www.dw.com/en/airbus-cancels-15-billion-in-dividends-over-coronavirus/a-52884866

Trump signals change in coronavirus strategy that could clash with health experts | World news

Trump tweets White House will ‘make a decision’ after 15-day period ends as Senate Democrats block relief package

Read more at:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/23/trump-social-distancing-coronavirus-rules-guidelines-economy?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Add_to_Firefox

India: 1.3 billion under curfew: India ramps up coronavirus response

The normally packed streets of India’s cities were virtually deserted Sunday as the government ordered a 14-hour curfew in its efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic, asking the country’s populat…

Read more at"
https://www.france24.com/en/20200323-1-3-billion-under-curfew-india-ramps-up-coronavirus-response

USA: Unemployment was rising even before coronavirus crisis - by Russell Lynch

Unemployment was already rising even before the impact of coronavirus on the jobs market, official figures revealed on Tuesday.

The Office for National Statistics said there were 1.34 million people unemployed in the quarter to January, 5,000 more than a year earlier. That marked the first rise in annual unemployment for more than seven years, statisticians said.

Economists warned of worse to come and said that unemployment may stay at an “elevated” level until the end of the year as a result of the virus – with as big an impact on the jobs market as the financial crisis.

Read more at: Unemployment was rising even before coronavirus crisis

USA: ‘Wartime President’? Trump Rewrites History in an Election Year - The New York Times

With the US economy faltering and the political landscape unsettled as the coronavirus death toll climbs, a stark and unavoidable question now confronts President Trump and his advisers: Can he save his campaign for re-election when so much is suddenly going so wrong?‘

After three years of Republicans’ championing signs of financial prosperity that were to be Mr. Trump’s chief re-election argument, the president has never needed a new message to voters as he does now, not to mention luck. At this point, the president has one clear option for how to proceed politically, and is hoping that an array of factors will break his way.

The option, which he has brazenly pushed in recent days, is to cast himself as a “wartime president” who looks in charge of a nation under siege while his likely Democratic opponent, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., is largely out of sight hunkered down in Delaware. This gambit, however, requires a rewriting of history — Mr. Trump’s muted approach to the virus early on — and it’s far from clear if many voters will accept the idea of him as a wartime leader.

Then there are other variables that he and his allies hope will fall in their favor: that the outbreak of the virus will slow and, in the warmer months, dissipate; that the states will get it under control; that the federal government’s steps taken so far will flatten the curve; that Mr. Biden and the Democrats will look impotent and inconsequential by comparison; and that enough voters will move past his initial efforts to play down the virus’s dangers

Read more at:
Wartime President’? Trump Rewrites History in an Election Year - The New York Times

Europe Is Unprepared for the COVID-19 Recession by Yanis Varoufakis - by Yanis Varoufakis

The Eurogroup of eurozone finance ministers is struggling to agree on a macroeconomically significant coordinated fiscal response to the enormous recessionary effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The result, I fear, will be heroic announcements heralding impressive numbers that disguise the irrelevance and timidity of the agreed policies.

The first indication of this comes from the recent announcement of the German government’s financial aid package to the private sector. While the international media referred to it as a €550 billion ($600 billion) bazooka, close inspection suggests it is no more than a water pistol.Comprising tax deferments and large credit lines, the German package reveals a serious misunderstanding of the nature of the crisis.

And it is the same misunderstanding that turbocharged the euro crisis a decade ago. Now, as then, companies and households are facing insolvency, not illiquidity. To arrest the crisis, governments must go “all in” with stupendous fiscal expansion. But that is exactly what the German package was meant to avoid.

Finance ministers from countries in deeper economic trouble than Germany (for example, Italy and Greece) will undoubtedly try to push for the necessary fiscal expansion. But they will hit the brick wall of opposition from the German finance minister and his loyal supporters within the Eurogroup.

Soon the “southerners” will fold their tent, their acquiescence sealing yet another fiscally insignificant Eurogroup package that the oncoming recession will steamroll.How can I be so sure?

Because I’ve been there. I represented Greece at the Eurogroup meetings in 2015, where the defeat of our government’s desperate struggle to avoid more loans at the expense of deeper recession was decided. The methodical manner in which those Eurogroup meetings closed down any avenue to a rational debate on the appropriate fiscal policies holds the key to understanding why the Eurogroup will also fail to mount an effective fiscal defense against the pandemic-induced shock.

One insight from those crucial Eurogroup meetings five years ago stands out: any finance minister from a struggling country who dares oppose the Berlin line, or to propose solutions that benefit the majority of Europeans rather than the financial sector, is in for a hard ride.

Read more at: Europe Is Unprepared for the COVID-19 Recession by Yanis Varoufakis - Project Syndicate

EU: Tensions rise as face masks sent to Italy from China end up in the Czech Republic

Thousands of face masks sent by China for Italy's beleaguered hospitals have ended up in the Czech Republic in an apparent cross-border imbroglio as Europe, now the epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic, faces a shortage of masks.

Read more at
https://www.thelocal.it/20200322/tensions-rise-as-coronavirus-masks-sent-to-italy-from-china-end-up-in-the-czech-republic

Corporate immorality : It is morally repulsive how large corporations are exploiting this crisis. Workers will suffer-by Robert Reich

Using power and privilege to exploit the weak and vulnerable in the face of a common threat is morally repugnant. Call it ‘Burring’ after Richard Burr’s stock sell-off

Read more at:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/mar/22/large-corporations-exploiting-coronavirus-crisis?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Add_to_Firefox

Croatia: Earthquake rocks Croatia's capital Zagreb

The 5.3-magnitude tremor sent chunks of buildings falling into the streets in Zagreb.

Read more at:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/opinion/opinion-universal-basic-income-1.5501938

Economics and and the Coroma virus: A universal basic income could help counter COVID-19's economic damage

If we are to consider radical and fast action in medical terms, we should also consider radical and fast action in economic terms, writes Tim Ford.

Read more at:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/opinion/opinion-universal-basic-income-1.5501938

EU-Coronavirus: EU Commission to stockpile strategic medical gear and equipment - by Eszter Zalan

The EU commission on Thursday (19 March) said it will set up a stockpile of face masks, intensive care equipment and other essential medical gear to tackle shortages in member states.

The move comes after EU countries at the centre of the coronavirus outbreak have faced shortages of crucial medical equipment.

“It will benefit all our member states and all our citizens. Helping one another is the only way forward.”

The medical equipment part of the stockpile will include intensive care medical equipment such as ventilators; personal protective equipment such as reusable masks and laboratory supplies.

Also commenting, EU Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič, added, "The EU is taking action to get more equipment to member states. We are setting up a rescEU stockpile to rapidly get the supplies needed to fight Coronavirus. Our plan is to move ahead without delay.”

Lenarčič added that the stockpile will be used to support EU Member States that are facing shortages of equipment needed to treat infected patients as well as for protecting health care workers.

Meanwhile, EU transport ministers together with the Commission have agreed to join forces to minimise traffic disruptions, especially for essential freight. They say the transport sector is being severely affected by a wide range of national measures aimed at containing the pandemic.

On 1 January 2019, the population of the European Union (EU) was estimated at almost 513.5 million, compared with 512.4 million on 1 January 2018.and has a GDP of $18.3 trillion.  After Bitain officially leaves the EU the population will be reduced by 66.44 million. But untill Brexit goes into official effect Britain is still a full member of the EU and participates in all the inter-governmental projects and benefits the EU membership provides.

EU-Digest

EU Unity Needed More than Ever: EU leaders need to be communicating a shared vision to get us through the coronavirus crisis

The role of the European institutions has been seriously questioned during the past two weeks. As a passionate European, this hurts to see. Despite the efforts of the European Commission to help and to intervene in the crisis, member states have decided rather to take a national approach and to focus less on coordination and solidarity. The fact that the European institutions are not being seen as problem solvers tells a relevant and consequential story. Moreover, recent developments speak volumes about how much trust national leaders actually place - undeservingly - in the President of the European Commission, the commissioners and their teams.

The Commision has the opportunity to step up its communications game, since nobody else is really standing up for Europe (locally as well as globally) in these critical times. Before we achieve “Global Europe,” let us secure “Community Europe.” The Commission should act without expecting any further mandate since Europe is, as Emmanuel Macron put it on Monday in regard to France, "at war." The continent is now, after all, the new global "epicentre" of COVID-19, so communication will be paramount and the way the EU does so on key issues will matter.

First, they should concentrate on EU values and delivery amid health concerns. More important than the political relations between member states and the European institutions is the sentiment that European solidarity is as scarce as medical masks and scrubs. The initial response to the Italian call for help is not something Europe should be proud of. The option overwhelmingly embraced by national governments to close borders also highlights the difficulty of coordination at the EU level: when panic comes, we go national. Maybe expectations are too high and the crisis too deep, but, at the end of the day, what remains is the perception that every country is on its own. Perhaps this impression is wrong or will be changed as events unfold. But this should be part of a serious conversation about what European solidarity means in good and, more importantly, bad times. Here again, the European Commission - and empathically, its leader - should lead in the months to come. In times of crisis, people follow examples: think Churchill (alas, Brexit!) not chilling out.

Second, the economy. More broadly, the entire debacle over medical products and equipment brings a key question about economic globalisation and global value chains. The COVID-19 pandemic brings to the fore the idea that Europe cannot externalise everything - a reframing of strategic autonomy to include this is in order. Maintaining production capacity and facilities for essential products is fundamental, and here the strategic interest is more important than the generous principles of open trade and free markets. It is hard to say what will be the dominant view at the end of the crisis, but, at this moment, everyone is asking for expansion of the State and for more state interventions, putting the EU and more widely, the liberal democratic economic model, under stress.

Read more at: EU leaders need to be communicating a shared vision to get us through the coronavirus crisis ǀ View | Euronews

USA: Trump did not heed to early warnings about impending dangers of Coronavirus

What a difference a real leader makes if you watch Andrew Cuomo holding his daily press conference about the Coronavirus.  The man is cool, intelligent, to the point, and informative.

Donald Trump Press meetings : rambling, self adulation, lying

Now compare Cuomo's performance with the rambling and self adulation of Trump at his press conferences.

Always blaming everyone else but himself.

To make matters worse, we have also learned recently that Trump was warned about the Coronavirus already in January and February, by US Intelligence Services, but did nothing about it, except denying the potential threat that the virus posed to the country.

Consequently , it is fair to assume, that those families of Coronavirus patients, who lost their lives, as a result of the negligence by the Trump Administration to act upon these early warnings, should consider legal action against those ,who were negligent by not providing advance warning of the Coronavirus danger to the US nation.

Reprint of this article only allowed if EU-Digest is referred to as the source

EU-Digest

China rejects US ‘stigma’ over coronavirus, winks at EU

Beijing strongly condemned US President Donald Trump’s latest habit to call the coronavirus a “Chinese virus” and urged everyone to follow the science instead.

At the same time, China has stepped up efforts to send equipment and experts to Europe, now the epicentre of the pandemic, in what AFP described as ‘mask diplomacy’. Despite growing criticism, Trump repeated on 18 March that the coronavirus is a “Chinese virus” saying it was not racist at all.

“It comes from China, that’s why,” the US president said. “Stigma directed at a certain country should be rejected,” a spokesperson of the Chinese Mission to the EU told EURACTIV.com. “The WHO named the virus as COVID-19 in order not to link the virus with a certain country or territory. Opinions of specialists should be fully respected,” the Chinese diplomat added.

The relations between the two countries have escalated recently, after Chinese foreign affairs spokesperson Lijian Zhao claimed that the US army might have brought the epidemic to China’s Wuhan region.

“When did patient zero begin in US? How many people are infected? What are the names of the hospitals? It might be US army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan. Be transparent! Make public your data! The US owes us an explanation!” he said.

China rejects US ‘stigma’ over coronavirus, winks at EU – EURACTIV.com

USA: An American political "Low Life": Senate Intel chair sold up to $1.6 million in stock before market crash

Burr wrote in an op-ed days earlier that he was  "better prepared than ever before "to face a health crisis.

Read more at:
https://www.axios.com/richard-burr-coronavirus-stock-7bd10426-de87-43d7-9939-8241d2ab08db.html?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=organic&utm_content=1100&fbclid=IwAR1SXKz7BNqEwphHhvNusG30EfmiKdQ4n_MR2vDWoyVn8xu5eDVTgvm90pk

Russia: Thanks to Sanctions, Russia Is Cushioned From Coronavirus' Economic Shocks - by Andrew E. Kramer

Six years ago, the United States and the European Union slammed the door on Western bank loans for Russian companies, starving the country’s oil and banking industries of financing. The harsh measures were intended to punish Russia for military interventions in Ukraine and Syria and for meddling in the 2016 American election to help Donald J. Trump.

Paradoxically, however, those sanctions and the policies Russia enacted in response prepared the Kremlin for what came this month: a universal dislocation of the global economy from the coronavirus pandemic and an oil price war that led to a collapse in oil prices and the revenues that Russia relies upon to support social spending.

Far from being a basket case, Russia enters the crisis with bulging financial reserves, its big companies nearly free of debt and all but self-sufficient in agriculture. After Russia was hit with the sanctions, President Vladimir V. Putin’s government and companies adapted to isolation and were virtually forced to prepare for economic shocks like the one hammering the global economy today.

Read more: hanks to Sanctions, Russia Is Cushioned From Coronavirus' Economic Shocks - The New York Times

USA Bankrupt: The government’s multitrillion-dollar problem

As forecasts darken with estimates for huge spikes in unemployment and sharp drops in economic growth, economists and Wall Street analysts are warning that even the huge stimulus package now under consideration on Capitol Hill may only make a small dent. Some suggest the number needs to be at least $2 trillion or perhaps far more.

“They should be doing much more than they are thinking about and doing it much quicker, at least $2 trillion with the promise of more to come,” said Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics. “We have whole industries like the restaurant industry that have been obliterated already. Jobless claims next week could be two or three million.”

Shepherdson added that “we could see a drop of 5 million jobs in April. We are going to see numbers we never thought possible. This will be the biggest economic hit that any developed economy has ever seen outside wartime.”

Read more at: The government’s multitrillion-dollar problem - POLITICO