British Prime Minister Boris Johnson set out a cautious plan on Monday, for how the UK's lockdown measures would slowly be lifted.

UK PM Boris Johnson unveils 50 page lockdown exit plan

Saudi Arabian state oil giant Aramco on Tuesday reported a 25% fall in first-quarter net profit

Saudi Aramco Q1 net profit slides 25% as oil prices fall

Saudi Arabia on Monday announced a slew of austerity measures as the country grapples with the combination of low oil prices and the COVID-19 impact on the world economy.

Saudi Arabia triples VAT, cuts state allowances amid pandemic

It is now well realised by the world community that COVID-19 originated from Wuhan in China, though Beijing has denied this.

The world community further believes that China has not informed the world about the seriousness of COVID-19 issue when it happened in Wuhan and did not share information about the challenges it faced in dealing with the problem.

Certainly, the rest of the world would have taken some precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19, if China had forewarned the world.

In this process, China has let down the world community and a number of people seem to think that WHO too has let down the world community, as it has not insisted that it should visit Wuhan region to study the problem. WHO should have visited the Wuhan region and must have taken the initiative to launch world-wide efforts to prevent the spread of virus and develop an appropriate vaccine/drug to treat the disease.

While the world community is suffering due to COVID-19 with loss of thousands of lives and many more thousands of people infected and the numbers going further at an alarming level, China claims that it has solved the problem and is now free of the virus. &nbsp;If it is really so, China should have shared information with the rest of the world, as to how it solved the problem, so that the world community would be benefited. By not doing so, China has exhibited irresponsible behaviour, obviously implying that it has the least concern about the health of the world community.

It appears that China is trying to give an impression that while it has solved the problem, the other countries like the USA and those in Europe and rest of the world have not been able to do so, implying that China is far more advanced in the field of medical science and technology.

Countries like USA, Japan, Singapore and countries in Europe, which are supposed to be technologically and scientifically advanced, certainly feel sad, depressed and diminished, that they are not able to achieve so far, what China claims to have achieved by combating the virus.

The worst scenario is that these advanced countries in Europe, USA do not even have an adequate manufacturing facility for masks, sanitisers, test kits, ventilators etc. and have to face the humiliating situation of having to import personal protection equipment from China.

In such scenario, one cannot but get a feeling that countries in Europe, as well as USA, Japan and others, feel humiliated, even as they are battling the virus without any firm clue as to how to overcome the crisis and when they could do.

 
Like a wounded tiger, European countries, America and Japan are bound to look for ways and means to undo the loss of reputation due to the inability to handle the COVID-19 crisis vis a vis China’s claim that it has sorted out the issue and China implicitly trying to convey an impression that it has superior technical and scientific expertise.

The suspicion is growing not only amongst these “wounded tigers” but also in the rest of the world that China must have enacted a game plan to spread the virus and the virus could have been generated from Wuhan lab, though there is no conclusive evidence to prove this so far.

China seems to be throwing stones sitting in the glasshouse, without realising that it is vulnerable on several fronts to international pressure, in spite of it’s impressive economic and industrial growth achieved during the last few decades and the strength that it has gained in the process.

China seems to be preparing the ground for the scenario of confrontation with several countries in the world, as is evident from its recent moves in the South China Sea, without being concerned about the COVID-19 crisis that has caused serious unrest all over the world.

Though China has systematically gained vice-like grip and sort of control over several weak countries such as Pakistan by extending loan and participating in projects, it is unlikely that such strategies would help China, if and when it would be confronted by several other countries.

It is astonishing that China does not have the wisdom to realise about the need to gain good global image by cooperating with the rest of the world in combating COVID-19 and not creating territorial disputes with the nearby countries like Vietnam, India and others.

It is now realised by many countries that China has expansionist ambition and wants to dominate the world. Therefore, an impression is gaining around the world that China has to be controlled at any cost.

&nbsp;

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL) 
&nbsp;

It is now well realised by the world community that COVID-19 originated from Wuhan in China, though Beijing has denied this. The world community further believes that China has not informed the world about the seriousness of COVID-19 issue when it happened in Wuhan and did not share information about the challenges it faced in dealing with the problem.

It is now well realised by the world community that COVID-19 originated from Wuhan in China, though Beijing has denied this. The world community further believes that China has not informed the world about the seriousness of COVID-19 issue when it happened in Wuhan and did not share information about the challenges it faced in dealing with the problem. Certainly, the rest of the world would have taken some precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19, if China had forewarned the world. In this process, China has let down the world community and a number of people seem to think that WHO too has let down the world community, as it has not insisted that it should visit Wuhan region to study the problem. WHO should have visited the Wuhan region and must have taken the initiative to launch world-wide efforts to prevent the spread of virus and develop an appropriate vaccine/drug to treat the disease. While the world community is suffering due to COVID-19 with loss of thousands of lives and many more thousands of people infected and the numbers going further at an alarming level, China claims that it has solved the problem and is now free of the virus. If it is really so, China should have shared information with the rest of the world, as to how it solved the problem, so that the world community would be benefited. By not doing so, China has exhibited irresponsible behaviour, obviously implying that it has the least concern about the health of the world community. It appears that China is trying to give an impression that while it has solved the problem, the other countries like the USA and those in Europe and rest of the world have not been able to do so, implying that China is far more advanced in the field of medical science and technology. Countries like USA, Japan, Singapore and countries in Europe, which are supposed to be technologically and scientifically advanced, certainly feel sad, depressed and diminished, that they are not able to achieve so far, what China claims to have achieved by combating the virus. The worst scenario is that these advanced countries in Europe, USA do not even have an adequate manufacturing facility for masks, sanitisers, test kits, ventilators etc. and have to face the humiliating situation of having to import personal protection equipment from China. In such scenario, one cannot but get a feeling that countries in Europe, as well as USA, Japan and others, feel humiliated, even as they are battling the virus without any firm clue as to how to overcome the crisis and when they could do. Like a wounded tiger, European countries, America and Japan are bound to look for ways and means to undo the loss of reputation due to the inability to handle the COVID-19 crisis vis a vis China’s claim that it has sorted out the issue and China implicitly trying to convey an impression that it has superior technical and scientific expertise. The suspicion is growing not only amongst these “wounded tigers” but also in the rest of the world that China must have enacted a game plan to spread the virus and the virus could have been generated from Wuhan lab, though there is no conclusive evidence to prove this so far. China seems to be throwing stones sitting in the glasshouse, without realising that it is vulnerable on several fronts to international pressure, in spite of it’s impressive economic and industrial growth achieved during the last few decades and the strength that it has gained in the process. China seems to be preparing the ground for the scenario of confrontation with several countries in the world, as is evident from its recent moves in the South China Sea, without being concerned about the COVID-19 crisis that has caused serious unrest all over the world. Though China has systematically gained vice-like grip and sort of control over several weak countries such as Pakistan by extending loan and participating in projects, it is unlikely that such strategies would help China, if and when it would be confronted by several other countries. It is astonishing that China does not have the wisdom to realise about the need to gain good global image by cooperating with the rest of the world in combating COVID-19 and not creating territorial disputes with the nearby countries like Vietnam, India and others. It is now realised by many countries that China has expansionist ambition and wants to dominate the world. Therefore, an impression is gaining around the world that China has to be controlled at any cost. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

China must be made to pay for its role in coronavirus spread

Libya has an estimated 654,000 migrants – more than 48,000 of them registered asylum seekers or refugees - many of them living in cramped conditions with little access to healthcare.

Migrants left with no food in Libya

Like the combat against SARS years ago, the ongoing fight against Covid-19 is showcasing to the world the Chinese government’s capabilities in deploying and allocating resources across the whole country.

China to revamp public health care system

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said on Saturday it would allow state health departments to distribute Gilead Sciences Inc’s remdesivir drug to fight COVID-19

White House to distribute Remdesivir to American people

With the way this pandemic is playing out, India could especially be hit hard simply because we don’t have a sizeable economy to service 1.4 billion people. The last twenty years of economic development in the country has been substantial; we pulled nearly 240 million people out of poverty. Unfortunately, if we do not handle things right in the next two years' time, we may push them straight back below the poverty line. &nbsp;

But in all this, there are bright spots. Without a strong investment from outside the country, we will not have the capability to put the markets and industry back in place and move populations back to their workplaces.&nbsp;

There is a great opportunity for India as the trust that people had in the Chinese economy has been seriously eroded. Already Japan has offered over $500 billion dollars to move their industry out of China, and the United States could do something even more drastic. Over 300 top companies in the world may start partially moving out of China.&nbsp;

India is eminently positioned to benefit if they come here even for partial production. This will need a very determined effort from the industry lobby, the businesses, and the government has to pitch in. We must set up a single-point clearance without any bureaucratic process – for land, electricity, and all clearances. If necessary, pass an Economic Emergency bill to empower states to execute the facilitation of big investments. A billion-dollar-plus investment must be given immunity from PILs and cost litigation for a period of five years. If we do this, we can get the economy buzzing. It all depends on how efficiently and hungrily we grab this opportunity.&nbsp;

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL) 
&nbsp;

With the way this pandemic is playing out, India could especially be hit hard simply because we don’t have a sizeable economy to service 1.4 billion people. The last twenty years of economic development in the country has been substantial; we pulled nearly 240 million people out of poverty.

With the way this pandemic is playing out, India could especially be hit hard simply because we don’t have a sizeable economy to service 1.4 billion people. The last twenty years of economic development in the country has been substantial; we pulled nearly 240 million people out of poverty. Unfortunately, if we do not handle things right in the next two years' time, we may push them straight back below the poverty line. But in all this, there are bright spots. Without a strong investment from outside the country, we will not have the capability to put the markets and industry back in place and move populations back to their workplaces. There is a great opportunity for India as the trust that people had in the Chinese economy has been seriously eroded. Already Japan has offered over $500 billion dollars to move their industry out of China, and the United States could do something even more drastic. Over 300 top companies in the world may start partially moving out of China. India is eminently positioned to benefit if they come here even for partial production. This will need a very determined effort from the industry lobby, the businesses, and the government has to pitch in. We must set up a single-point clearance without any bureaucratic process – for land, electricity, and all clearances. If necessary, pass an Economic Emergency bill to empower states to execute the facilitation of big investments. A billion-dollar-plus investment must be given immunity from PILs and cost litigation for a period of five years. If we do this, we can get the economy buzzing. It all depends on how efficiently and hungrily we grab this opportunity. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

To get the  economy buzzing, India should woo foreign industry

The narrative promoted by China as to the origin of COVID-19 and the one quickly adopted by the scientific establishment and the media has always been that COVID-19, while circulating in a bat population, mutated, acquiring the ability to infect humans, which was then transmitted to people either visiting or working in the Wuhan Seafood Market

On February 3, 2020, Chinese researchers led by Zheng-Li Shi of the Wuhan Institute of Virology published an article in the prestigious journal Nature, which became the basis of the naturally-occurring narrative by identifying a previously unknown bat coronavirus, RaTg13, as a close relative to COVID-19.

A month later, using RaTG13 as a linchpin of its argument, Western scientists published “The Proximal Origin of SAR-CoV-2,” which became the single most widely-cited article by scientists and the media to support the contention that COVID-19 came from nature.

Thus, originated the “wide scientific consensus” claimed even by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in the United States in its April 30, 2020 statement that COVID-19 “was not manmade or genetically modified.”

It did not take long for doubts about the validity of the RaTG13 argument or even its existence to appear, as the <a href="https://ccnationalsecurity.org/is-bat-coronavirus-4991-a-smoking-gun-in-chinas-covid-19-cover-up/">April 25, 2020 article</a> “Is Bat Coronavirus 4991 a Smoking Gun in China’s COVID-19 Cover-up?” will attest.

We have now learned that RaTG13 existed only on paper. RaTG13 and BtCoV/4991 are the <a href="https://twitter.com/schnufi666/status/1259035090811846661">same virus</a>.

How long has this been known by the scientists involved and has it been part of a deliberate deception?

"Although sequenced earlier, the entire RaTG13 genome was later uploaded to the National Institutes of Health GenBank with an updated timestamp of March 24, 2020 and an accession number <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore/MN996532">MN996532.1</a>."

In that filing, there is no mention of BtCoV/4991.

Yet, in a Chinese virus <a href="http://www.mgc.ac.cn/cgi-bin/DBatVir/main.cgi?func=accession&amp;acc=MN996532">database</a>, dated March 7, 2020 in the <a href="http://www.mgc.ac.cn/DBatVir/update.xml">source code</a>, RaTG13 and BtCoV/4991 are listed as equivalent and links to the NIH GenBank.

What else has China been hiding?

The numerous inconsistencies in the theory that COVID-19 is naturally-occurring are <a href="https://ccnationalsecurity.org/author/lawrence-sellin/">well-documented</a>.

A thorough, objective investigation of the true origin of COVID-19 is long overdue. 
 
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL) 
&nbsp;

The narrative promoted by China as to the origin of COVID-19 and the one quickly adopted by the scientific establishment and the media has always been that COVID-19, while circulating in a bat population, mutated, acquiring the ability to infect humans, which was then transmitted to people either visiting or working in the Wuhan Seafood Market On February 3, 2020, Chinese researchers led by Zheng-Li Shi of the Wuhan Institute of Virology published an article in the prestigious journal Nature, which became the basis of the naturally-occurring narrative by identifying a previously unknown bat coronavirus, RaTg13, as a close relative to COVID-19.

The narrative promoted by China as to the origin of COVID-19 and the one quickly adopted by the scientific establishment and the media has always been that COVID-19, while circulating in a bat population, mutated, acquiring the ability to infect humans, which was then transmitted to people either visiting or working in the Wuhan Seafood Market On February 3, 2020, Chinese researchers led by Zheng-Li Shi of the Wuhan Institute of Virology published an article in the prestigious journal Nature, which became the basis of the naturally-occurring narrative by identifying a previously unknown bat coronavirus, RaTg13, as a close relative to COVID-19. A month later, using RaTG13 as a linchpin of its argument, Western scientists published “The Proximal Origin of SAR-CoV-2,” which became the single most widely-cited article by scientists and the media to support the contention that COVID-19 came from nature. Thus, originated the “wide scientific consensus” claimed even by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in the United States in its April 30, 2020 statement that COVID-19 “was not manmade or genetically modified.” It did not take long for doubts about the validity of the RaTG13 argument or even its existence to appear, as the April 25, 2020 article “Is Bat Coronavirus 4991 a Smoking Gun in China’s COVID-19 Cover-up?” will attest. We have now learned that RaTG13 existed only on paper. RaTG13 and BtCoV/4991 are the same virus. How long has this been known by the scientists involved and has it been part of a deliberate deception? "Although sequenced earlier, the entire RaTG13 genome was later uploaded to the National Institutes of Health GenBank with an updated timestamp of March 24, 2020 and an accession number MN996532.1." In that filing, there is no mention of BtCoV/4991. Yet, in a Chinese virus database, dated March 7, 2020 in the source code, RaTG13 and BtCoV/4991 are listed as equivalent and links to the NIH GenBank. What else has China been hiding? The numerous inconsistencies in the theory that COVID-19 is naturally-occurring are well-documented. A thorough, objective investigation of the true origin of COVID-19 is long overdue. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

China’s narrative about the origin of COVID-19 is starting to unravel

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) reported 34 new infections, the highest since April 9, after a small outbreak emerged around a slew of nightclubs

COVID-19 cases surge in South Korea

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has become the articulate, compassionate political face of government competence in fighting a pandemic.

That’s quite an achievement for a man who as late as early March 2020 trumpeted: “Excuse our arrogance as New Yorkers… We think we have the best healthcare system on the planet right here in New York. So, when you’re saying what happened in other countries versus what happened here, we don’t even think it’s going to be as bad as it was in other countries. We are fully coordinated; we are fully mobilised.”

New York was neither fully coordinated, nor was it fully mobilised.

In fact, it became the pandemic’s prime hotspot in the United States, accounting for the highest number of infection cases and the highest mortality rate. Its hospitals were overwhelmed, its stockpiles depleted, its frontline workers perilously exposed to risk of contagion. Many of the deaths could have been prevented had Cuomo opted to lock down the Big Apple earlier.

For now, recent history has largely been forgotten. Cuomo thrives in his element, a rising star on America’s political ferment. His sober but empathetic, fact-based daily briefings project him as a man in command with a mission to ensure the health, safety, and wellbeing of his state.

If Cuomo, a veteran of dealing with the aftermaths of disasters like Hurricane Sandy, learnt anything from his delayed response to the coronavirus pandemic, it was that “an outbreak anywhere is an outbreak everywhere.”

Unlike other epidemics in recent years such as the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome or SARS in the early 2000s, the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in 2012 or the eruption of Ebola in West Africa in 2014, the coronavirus, dubbed COVID-19, left no corner of the globe untouched.

It is a lesson that goes to the heart of all that is wrong with global, regional, and national healthcare governance. It is a lesson that calls into question social and economic policies that have shaped the world for decades irrespective of the political system.

It is also a lesson that goes to the core of the relationship between government and the people. It positions social trust as a pillar of effective healthcare policy in a time of crisis.

In an era of defiance and dissent as a result of a breakdown in confidence in political systems and political leadership that kicked off with Occupy Wall Street and the 2011 Arab popular revolts and led to the rise of populists, mass anti-government demonstrations and in 2019 the toppling of leaders in Algeria, Sudan, Lebanon and Iraq, lack of trust complicated government efforts to counter the virus.

Distrust persuaded many Iranians to initially refuse to heed public health warnings to maintain social distancing, stay at home and install an Android app designed to help people self-diagnose and avoid rushing to the hospital.

Pakistanis put their faith in religious leaders who rejected government demands for a halt to congregational prayers. So did many Russians as bans on mass gatherings split the clergy and threatened to undermine the Russian Orthodox Church’s key support for President Vladimir Putin.

Post-mortems of governments’ handling of the crisis once the coronavirus has been contained could increase the trust deficit.

Moreover, in an indication of pent-up anger and frustration that could explode, the imposition of curfews and stay-at-home orders failed to prevent incidental outbursts, including protests in mid-American states, quarantined Egyptian villages and poorer Tunisian and Moroccan hamlets.

In an echo of the Tunisian vendor who sparked the 2011 Arab revolts, 32-year-old unemployed and physically disabled Hammadi Chalbi set himself alight in a town 160 kilometres southwest of Tunis after authorities’ refused to license him as a fruit seller. In Lebanon, a taxi driver set his vehicle on fire while fruit vendors dumped their goods in the streets in expressions of mounting discontent. The protests suggest a universal corollary with the pandemic: an outbreak anywhere is an outbreak everywhere.

Protesters in 2019 went beyond demanding the fall of a leader. They sought the fall of political elites and radical overhaul of failed political systems. The pandemic called an abrupt halt to the protests. Protesters like the rest of the population went into temporary hibernation.

When they re-emerge, they are likely to put government leaders who prioritised political advantage above their health and economic well-being at a cost that surpasses that of the 1929 Great Depression on par with crimes committed against humanity during times of war.

Social, economic, ethnic, and sectarian fault lines are likely to be hardened in countries like Pakistan and Iraq where militants stepped in with healthcare and other social services to fill voids created by lack of government capacity.

The pandemic further painfully illustrated the economic cost of not only failing to confront a health crisis in a timely fashion but also the risk inherent in policies that do not ensure proper healthcare infrastructure in every corner of the globe, guarantee equal access to healthcare, make sure that people irrespective of income have proper housing and nutrition, turn a blind eye to the destruction of healthcare facilities in conflict situations like Syria, Yemen, Libya, Ukraine, Nagorno-Karabakh, Myanmar, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, tolerate millions of refugees existing in sub-standard living and hygiene conditions, and disregard environmental degradation and climate change.

The pandemic casts a spotlight on the deprivation of populations of proper healthcare as a result of politically motivated discriminatory social and economic policies.

The non-discriminatory nature of the coronavirus forced the Israeli government to ramp up testing in communities of Israeli Palestinians which had been described by public health experts as a ticking time bomb.

The experts warned that Israeli Palestinians, who figured prominently among frontline doctors and nurses treating Jews and Palestinians alike, were an at-risk group, many of whom suffer from chronic diseases, live in crowded conditions, and are socially and economically disadvantaged.

Ramping up testing to prevent the spread of COVID-19 constitutes an immediate effort to stem the tide but does little to structurally prepare Israeli and Palestinian society for the next pandemic.

Pre-dominantly Palestinian “East Jerusalem is gravely neglected in every possible way in terms of the infrastructure. Most neighbourhoods of East Jerusalem don’t have sewage systems. Just about every possible public service you can think of is underbudgeted and lacking in East Jerusalem. The only thing they get a lot of is parking fines and (punitive) housing demolition orders, said” &nbsp;left-wing member of the Jerusalem municipal council Laura Wharton.

A Monopoly board centred on Jerusalem given to her by Moshe Lion, the city’s mayor and a former economic advisor and director-general of prime minister Benyamin Netanyahu’s office, illustrates the political calculus that potentially puts not only Jews and Palestinians but populations elsewhere at risk in a future pandemic.

“You have here the City of David, the Mount of Olives, the Knesset (the Israeli parliament), the Montefiore windmill, the markets, (the ultra-orthodox Jewish neighbourhood of) Mea She’arim. Al Aqsa (the third holiest Muslim site) is not here, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is not here. Basically what you have is a bunch of Jewish sites and various illusions to other things. It’s not a very balanced picture of Jerusalem,” Wharton noted pointing at various landmarks on the board.

African Americans, Hispanics and Native Americans tell the story, They have fallen disproportionately victim in the United States to the coronavirus.

US surgeon general Jerome Adams, a 45-year old African American vice admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, one of America’s eight uniformed services, pulled out his inhaler at a White House press briefing in April 2020, saying he's carried it around for 40 years, "out of fear of having a fatal asthma attack."

Looking fit and trim in his dark uniform, Adams said he also had a heart condition and high blood pressure. "I represent that legacy of growing up poor and black in America. And I, and many black Americans, are at higher risk for COVID."

The surgeon general said that “It's alarming but not surprising that people of colour have a greater burden of chronic health conditions. African Americans and Native Americans develop high blood pressure at much younger ages… and (the virus) does greater harm to their organs. Puerto Ricans have higher rates of asthma and black boys are three times (more) likely to die of asthma than their white counterparts…. People of colour are more likely to live in densely packed areas and multi-generational housing, situations which create a higher risk for the spread of a highly contagious disease like COVID-19. We tell people to wash their hands, but a study shows that 30 per cent of homes of the Navajo Nation don’t have running water, so how are they going to do that?”

What goes for one of the wealthiest nations on earth goes for the rest of the world too, particularly with the last two decades suggesting that pandemics occur more frequently and are likely to do so going forward.

What started in Wuhan in China in December 2019 had, by April 2020, brought the world to a virtual standstill. Millions across the globe were infected, tens of thousands did not survive, economies shut down and the prospects for recovery and return to what was normal seemed a mere hope in a distant future.

Andrew Cuomo may be the exception that confirms the rule. There is little in the response of leaders from China’s Xi Jinping to Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan and US President Donald J. Trump that suggests that the lesson that an outbreak anywhere is an outbreak everywhere has persuaded them to think in terms of structural change.

If the first six months of the coronavirus are anything to go by, the name of the game has been jockeying for political positions, ideology trumps science, and everyone for him or herself in a race to the bottom rather than apolitical banding together globally, regionally and nationally to fight a dangerous and debilitating common enemy.

The response to the pandemic reflected the crumbling of the post-World War II international order that is in the grips of a struggle by big and medium-sized powers to shape global governance in the 21st century.

The struggle has already crippled the United Nations and politicisation of the coronavirus and healthcare threatens to undermine the World Health Organisation, the one, albeit flawed, a structure capable of coordinating a global response.

Complicating the response, was the rise of civilizationalists like Xi, Hungarian prime minister Victor Orban and Trump who think in civilizational rather than national terms.

They conceive of their nations as civilizations in which Hans, Hindus or Christians rule supreme and there is no equal place for minorities rather than nation-states defined by legally recognised borders, population, and language.

Theirs is a world of neglect for international law, increased conflict, political violence, and mass migration that promises to be even less prepared for the next pandemic. It is also a world in which early warning systems are weakened by the muzzling of a free press.

Former US president Barak Obama, in his opening blast against Trump in the run-up to the November presidential election, put his finger on the pulse.

“What we are fighting against is these long-term trends in which being selfish, being tribal, being divided and seeing others an enemy, that that has become a stronger impulse in American life. And by the way, you know, we are seeing that internationally as well. And it’s part of the reason why the response to this global crisis has been so anaemic and spotty… It has been an absolute chaotic disaster when that mindset of what’s in it for me and to heck with everybody else – when that mindset is operationalized in our government,” Obama told a virtual gathering of his former staffers.

The pandemic demonstrates the need for coordinated policies ranging from global, regional, and national stockpiling, international cooperation in medical research and development, conflict mediation, protection of minority rights, environment, absorption of refugees and robust but diversified supply chains.

It also highlights the importance of eradication of poverty and proper social security nets, housing, hygiene, and access to water in a world in which an outbreak anywhere is an outbreak everywhere.

The pandemic positions an approach towards healthcare that is integrated into sustainable social and economic policies as a matter of global and national security on par with regional and national defence and security policies and investments.

It also raises the question of what role major non-governmental institutions like the Clinton Initiative, George Soros and the Gates Foundation can play.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has become the articulate, compassionate political face of government competence in fighting a pandemic. That’s quite an achievement for a man who as late as early March 2020 trumpeted: “Excuse our arrogance as New Yorkers… We think we have the best healthcare system on the planet right here in New York.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has become the articulate, compassionate political face of government competence in fighting a pandemic. That’s quite an achievement for a man who as late as early March 2020 trumpeted: “Excuse our arrogance as New Yorkers… We think we have the best healthcare system on the planet right here in New York. So, when you’re saying what happened in other countries versus what happened here, we don’t even think it’s going to be as bad as it was in other countries. We are fully coordinated; we are fully mobilised.” New York was neither fully coordinated, nor was it fully mobilised. In fact, it became the pandemic’s prime hotspot in the United States, accounting for the highest number of infection cases and the highest mortality rate. Its hospitals were overwhelmed, its stockpiles depleted, its frontline workers perilously exposed to risk of contagion. Many of the deaths could have been prevented had Cuomo opted to lock down the Big Apple earlier. For now, recent history has largely been forgotten. Cuomo thrives in his element, a rising star on America’s political ferment. His sober but empathetic, fact-based daily briefings project him as a man in command with a mission to ensure the health, safety, and wellbeing of his state. If Cuomo, a veteran of dealing with the aftermaths of disasters like Hurricane Sandy, learnt anything from his delayed response to the coronavirus pandemic, it was that “an outbreak anywhere is an outbreak everywhere.” Unlike other epidemics in recent years such as the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome or SARS in the early 2000s, the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in 2012 or the eruption of Ebola in West Africa in 2014, the coronavirus, dubbed COVID-19, left no corner of the globe untouched. It is a lesson that goes to the heart of all that is wrong with global, regional, and national healthcare governance. It is a lesson that calls into question social and economic policies that have shaped the world for decades irrespective of the political system. It is also a lesson that goes to the core of the relationship between government and the people. It positions social trust as a pillar of effective healthcare policy in a time of crisis. In an era of defiance and dissent as a result of a breakdown in confidence in political systems and political leadership that kicked off with Occupy Wall Street and the 2011 Arab popular revolts and led to the rise of populists, mass anti-government demonstrations and in 2019 the toppling of leaders in Algeria, Sudan, Lebanon and Iraq, lack of trust complicated government efforts to counter the virus. Distrust persuaded many Iranians to initially refuse to heed public health warnings to maintain social distancing, stay at home and install an Android app designed to help people self-diagnose and avoid rushing to the hospital. Pakistanis put their faith in religious leaders who rejected government demands for a halt to congregational prayers. So did many Russians as bans on mass gatherings split the clergy and threatened to undermine the Russian Orthodox Church’s key support for President Vladimir Putin. Post-mortems of governments’ handling of the crisis once the coronavirus has been contained could increase the trust deficit. Moreover, in an indication of pent-up anger and frustration that could explode, the imposition of curfews and stay-at-home orders failed to prevent incidental outbursts, including protests in mid-American states, quarantined Egyptian villages and poorer Tunisian and Moroccan hamlets. In an echo of the Tunisian vendor who sparked the 2011 Arab revolts, 32-year-old unemployed and physically disabled Hammadi Chalbi set himself alight in a town 160 kilometres southwest of Tunis after authorities’ refused to license him as a fruit seller. In Lebanon, a taxi driver set his vehicle on fire while fruit vendors dumped their goods in the streets in expressions of mounting discontent. The protests suggest a universal corollary with the pandemic: an outbreak anywhere is an outbreak everywhere. Protesters in 2019 went beyond demanding the fall of a leader. They sought the fall of political elites and radical overhaul of failed political systems. The pandemic called an abrupt halt to the protests. Protesters like the rest of the population went into temporary hibernation. When they re-emerge, they are likely to put government leaders who prioritised political advantage above their health and economic well-being at a cost that surpasses that of the 1929 Great Depression on par with crimes committed against humanity during times of war. Social, economic, ethnic, and sectarian fault lines are likely to be hardened in countries like Pakistan and Iraq where militants stepped in with healthcare and other social services to fill voids created by lack of government capacity. The pandemic further painfully illustrated the economic cost of not only failing to confront a health crisis in a timely fashion but also the risk inherent in policies that do not ensure proper healthcare infrastructure in every corner of the globe, guarantee equal access to healthcare, make sure that people irrespective of income have proper housing and nutrition, turn a blind eye to the destruction of healthcare facilities in conflict situations like Syria, Yemen, Libya, Ukraine, Nagorno-Karabakh, Myanmar, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, tolerate millions of refugees existing in sub-standard living and hygiene conditions, and disregard environmental degradation and climate change. The pandemic casts a spotlight on the deprivation of populations of proper healthcare as a result of politically motivated discriminatory social and economic policies. The non-discriminatory nature of the coronavirus forced the Israeli government to ramp up testing in communities of Israeli Palestinians which had been described by public health experts as a ticking time bomb. The experts warned that Israeli Palestinians, who figured prominently among frontline doctors and nurses treating Jews and Palestinians alike, were an at-risk group, many of whom suffer from chronic diseases, live in crowded conditions, and are socially and economically disadvantaged. Ramping up testing to prevent the spread of COVID-19 constitutes an immediate effort to stem the tide but does little to structurally prepare Israeli and Palestinian society for the next pandemic. Pre-dominantly Palestinian “East Jerusalem is gravely neglected in every possible way in terms of the infrastructure. Most neighbourhoods of East Jerusalem don’t have sewage systems. Just about every possible public service you can think of is underbudgeted and lacking in East Jerusalem. The only thing they get a lot of is parking fines and (punitive) housing demolition orders, said” left-wing member of the Jerusalem municipal council Laura Wharton. A Monopoly board centred on Jerusalem given to her by Moshe Lion, the city’s mayor and a former economic advisor and director-general of prime minister Benyamin Netanyahu’s office, illustrates the political calculus that potentially puts not only Jews and Palestinians but populations elsewhere at risk in a future pandemic. “You have here the City of David, the Mount of Olives, the Knesset (the Israeli parliament), the Montefiore windmill, the markets, (the ultra-orthodox Jewish neighbourhood of) Mea She’arim. Al Aqsa (the third holiest Muslim site) is not here, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is not here. Basically what you have is a bunch of Jewish sites and various illusions to other things. It’s not a very balanced picture of Jerusalem,” Wharton noted pointing at various landmarks on the board. African Americans, Hispanics and Native Americans tell the story, They have fallen disproportionately victim in the United States to the coronavirus. US surgeon general Jerome Adams, a 45-year old African American vice admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, one of America’s eight uniformed services, pulled out his inhaler at a White House press briefing in April 2020, saying he's carried it around for 40 years, "out of fear of having a fatal asthma attack." Looking fit and trim in his dark uniform, Adams said he also had a heart condition and high blood pressure. "I represent that legacy of growing up poor and black in America. And I, and many black Americans, are at higher risk for COVID." The surgeon general said that “It's alarming but not surprising that people of colour have a greater burden of chronic health conditions. African Americans and Native Americans develop high blood pressure at much younger ages… and (the virus) does greater harm to their organs. Puerto Ricans have higher rates of asthma and black boys are three times (more) likely to die of asthma than their white counterparts…. People of colour are more likely to live in densely packed areas and multi-generational housing, situations which create a higher risk for the spread of a highly contagious disease like COVID-19. We tell people to wash their hands, but a study shows that 30 per cent of homes of the Navajo Nation don’t have running water, so how are they going to do that?” What goes for one of the wealthiest nations on earth goes for the rest of the world too, particularly with the last two decades suggesting that pandemics occur more frequently and are likely to do so going forward. What started in Wuhan in China in December 2019 had, by April 2020, brought the world to a virtual standstill. Millions across the globe were infected, tens of thousands did not survive, economies shut down and the prospects for recovery and return to what was normal seemed a mere hope in a distant future. Andrew Cuomo may be the exception that confirms the rule. There is little in the response of leaders from China’s Xi Jinping to Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan and US President Donald J. Trump that suggests that the lesson that an outbreak anywhere is an outbreak everywhere has persuaded them to think in terms of structural change. If the first six months of the coronavirus are anything to go by, the name of the game has been jockeying for political positions, ideology trumps science, and everyone for him or herself in a race to the bottom rather than apolitical banding together globally, regionally and nationally to fight a dangerous and debilitating common enemy. The response to the pandemic reflected the crumbling of the post-World War II international order that is in the grips of a struggle by big and medium-sized powers to shape global governance in the 21st century. The struggle has already crippled the United Nations and politicisation of the coronavirus and healthcare threatens to undermine the World Health Organisation, the one, albeit flawed, a structure capable of coordinating a global response. Complicating the response, was the rise of civilizationalists like Xi, Hungarian prime minister Victor Orban and Trump who think in civilizational rather than national terms. They conceive of their nations as civilizations in which Hans, Hindus or Christians rule supreme and there is no equal place for minorities rather than nation-states defined by legally recognised borders, population, and language. Theirs is a world of neglect for international law, increased conflict, political violence, and mass migration that promises to be even less prepared for the next pandemic. It is also a world in which early warning systems are weakened by the muzzling of a free press. Former US president Barak Obama, in his opening blast against Trump in the run-up to the November presidential election, put his finger on the pulse. “What we are fighting against is these long-term trends in which being selfish, being tribal, being divided and seeing others an enemy, that that has become a stronger impulse in American life. And by the way, you know, we are seeing that internationally as well. And it’s part of the reason why the response to this global crisis has been so anaemic and spotty… It has been an absolute chaotic disaster when that mindset of what’s in it for me and to heck with everybody else – when that mindset is operationalized in our government,” Obama told a virtual gathering of his former staffers. The pandemic demonstrates the need for coordinated policies ranging from global, regional, and national stockpiling, international cooperation in medical research and development, conflict mediation, protection of minority rights, environment, absorption of refugees and robust but diversified supply chains. It also highlights the importance of eradication of poverty and proper social security nets, housing, hygiene, and access to water in a world in which an outbreak anywhere is an outbreak everywhere. The pandemic positions an approach towards healthcare that is integrated into sustainable social and economic policies as a matter of global and national security on par with regional and national defence and security policies and investments. It also raises the question of what role major non-governmental institutions like the Clinton Initiative, George Soros and the Gates Foundation can play.

Coronavirus pandemic is far more than a global health emergency

Walt Disney Co reopened its Shanghai Disneyland park on Monday to a reduced number of visitors, ending a roughly three-month closure caused by the coronavirus outbreak. 
 
This marks a milestone for Walt Disney and provides a glimpse of how it might recover from the pandemic that has forced it to shut parks in Asia, the United States, and France, as well as operations at its retail stores and cruise ships. 
 
At the Shanghai park, Walt Disney has put in place measures, including social distancing, masks and temperature screenings for visitors and employees, and is for now keeping visitor numbers "far below" 24,000 people, or 30% of the daily capacity, a level requested by the Chinese government. 
 
Tickets for the earliest days of Shanghai Disneyland`s re-opening sold out rapidly on Friday. 
 
"We hope that today`s reopening can serve as a beacon of light across the globe, providing hope and inspiration for everyone, and can demonstrate that we can overcome any challenge together," Joe Schott, president and general manager of Shanghai Disney Resort, said at a ceremony. 
 
Prior to the park`s reopening, roughly thirty annual pass holders in Mickey Mouse outfits waited outside its gates where, to enforce social distancing, yellow squares had been drawn on the ground for people queuing to stand in. 
 
One of them, who gave her English name as Kaira, said prior to the outbreak she typically visited Disneyland once every week. "It`s relaxing here, it`s kind of magical," she said. 
 
Disney executives estimated last week the global closures will cost the company $1.4 billion in profits.

Walt Disney Co reopened its Shanghai Disneyland park on Monday to a reduced number of visitors, ending a roughly three-month closure caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

Walt Disney Co reopened its Shanghai Disneyland park on Monday to a reduced number of visitors, ending a roughly three-month closure caused by the coronavirus outbreak. This marks a milestone for Walt Disney and provides a glimpse of how it might recover from the pandemic that has forced it to shut parks in Asia, the United States, and France, as well as operations at its retail stores and cruise ships. At the Shanghai park, Walt Disney has put in place measures, including social distancing, masks and temperature screenings for visitors and employees, and is for now keeping visitor numbers "far below" 24,000 people, or 30% of the daily capacity, a level requested by the Chinese government. Tickets for the earliest days of Shanghai Disneyland`s re-opening sold out rapidly on Friday. "We hope that today`s reopening can serve as a beacon of light across the globe, providing hope and inspiration for everyone, and can demonstrate that we can overcome any challenge together," Joe Schott, president and general manager of Shanghai Disney Resort, said at a ceremony. Prior to the park`s reopening, roughly thirty annual pass holders in Mickey Mouse outfits waited outside its gates where, to enforce social distancing, yellow squares had been drawn on the ground for people queuing to stand in. One of them, who gave her English name as Kaira, said prior to the outbreak she typically visited Disneyland once every week. "It`s relaxing here, it`s kind of magical," she said. Disney executives estimated last week the global closures will cost the company $1.4 billion in profits.

Shanghai Disneyland re-opens after three-month closure due to coronavirus

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W.H.O. takes a u-turn on wet markets, rejects call to ban wet markets

FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn, a member of the White House coronavirus task force, is in self-quarantine for the next two weeks after coming in contact with a person who has tested positive for COVID-19.

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Libya has an estimated 654,000 migrants – more than 48,000 of them registered asylum seekers or refugees - many of them living in cramped conditions with little access to healthcare. Restrictions on movement are driving them further into hardship.

Libyan migrants trapped between war and COVID-19

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to announce limited changes to coronavirus lockdown measures that have been in place for nearly seven weeks.

UK PM Boris Johnson to launch COVID-19 alert system | World News

A study has found new link between vitamin D and mortality rates. Watch this video to know more

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Watch today in 'WION In Focus': Some stories related to coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

WION In Focus: Some stories related to coronavirus pandemic | COVID-19 | Coronavirus News

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said on Saturday it would allow state health departments to distribute Gilead Sciences Inc's remdesivir drug to fight COVID-19, and the United States would receive about 40% of the drug maker's global donation.

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Former President Barack Obama described President Donald Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic as "chaotic" in a conference call with former members of his administration, news agency Reuters reported quoting a source on Saturday.

Obama describes Trump handling of COVID-19 as chaotic

Hair salons and barbershops re-open in Texas as some lockdown rules relax. Watch story of one of the iconic barbershop in Houston.

Coronavirus Pandemic: Hair salons and barbershops re-open in Texas

Hospitals in Trinidad, Bolivia are struggling with limited resources due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Watch this video to know more.

Coronavirus Pandemic: Doctors struggle in makeshift hospital in Bolivia

Hundreds of people defied Los Angeles County lockdown orders and beach closures to watch glowing neon blue waves crash to shore at El Segundo beach.

Los Angeles defies lockdown to watch waves crash to shores

North Korea's Kim Jong Un has sent a "warm greetings" to Chinese leader Xi Jinping in a "verbal message", state news agency of North Korea reported Friday, after weeks of speculation about his health.

Xi Jinping responds to Kim Jong-un's 'warm' message

In Canada, a devout Sikh doctor has put service before belief. Dr. Sanjeet Singh Saluja shaved his beard to continue serving his patients. WION's Palki Sharma gets you his story.

Gravitas: Sikh Medic puts service before belief

Cricket Australia (CA) has received a major reprieve as India’s tour of Australia later in the year is likely to go ahead after the board received a nod from the BCCI for the much-talked-about series. BCCI treasurer Arun Dhumal has said that Indian players will go into isolation for two weeks if they are asked to do so by the Australian board.

As per the rules amid COVID-19 pandemic, those travelling to Australia have to go into isolation for a couple of weeks. The quarantine rules could have seen BCCI postponing the tour but the Indian cricket board is willing to play the scheduled four-match Test series.&nbsp;

Dhumal has said that there is no choice as everyone wants to resume cricket.&nbsp;

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/i-dont-feel-ipl-will-be-possible-this-year-india-and-kxip-pacer-mohammed-shami-297275" hreflang="en">"I don’t feel IPL will be possible this year": India and KXIP pacer Mohammed Shami</a>

“There is no choice – everyone will have to do that. You would want to resume cricket. Two weeks is not that long a lockdown. That would be ideal for any sportsman because when you are in quarantine for such a long period, then going to another country and having a two-week lockdown it would be a good thing to do. We’ll have to see what the norms are post this lockdown,” Dhumal told an Australian daily.

While Cricket Australia is yet to confirm the news, reports suggest that CA may lock the Indian team in a new hotel for the two-week isolation period. The hotel is likely to open in September and will have all training facilities and nets for the Indian players to gear up for the series. The venue could further host a warm-up match before the return of the international calendar.&nbsp;

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/i-too-feel-the-pressure-ms-dhoni-opens-up-on-the-issue-of-mental-health-297216" hreflang="en">"I too feel the pressure": MS Dhoni opens up on the issue of mental health</a>

However, with more than six months remaining for the series, the development surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic in the next months could prove to be crucial. A lot will depend on the ICC T20 World Cup, scheduled to be hosted by Australia in October-November.

Cricket Australia (CA) has received a major reprieve as India’s tour of Australia later in the year is likely to go ahead after the board received a nod from the BCCI for the much-talked-about series.

Cricket Australia (CA) has received a major reprieve as India’s tour of Australia later in the year is likely to go ahead after the board received a nod from the BCCI for the much-talked-about series. BCCI treasurer Arun Dhumal has said that Indian players will go into isolation for two weeks if they are asked to do so by the Australian board. As per the rules amid COVID-19 pandemic, those travelling to Australia have to go into isolation for a couple of weeks. The quarantine rules could have seen BCCI postponing the tour but the Indian cricket board is willing to play the scheduled four-match Test series. Dhumal has said that there is no choice as everyone wants to resume cricket. ALSO READ: "I don’t feel IPL will be possible this year": India and KXIP pacer Mohammed Shami “There is no choice – everyone will have to do that. You would want to resume cricket. Two weeks is not that long a lockdown. That would be ideal for any sportsman because when you are in quarantine for such a long period, then going to another country and having a two-week lockdown it would be a good thing to do. We’ll have to see what the norms are post this lockdown,” Dhumal told an Australian daily. While Cricket Australia is yet to confirm the news, reports suggest that CA may lock the Indian team in a new hotel for the two-week isolation period. The hotel is likely to open in September and will have all training facilities and nets for the Indian players to gear up for the series. The venue could further host a warm-up match before the return of the international calendar. ALSO READ: "I too feel the pressure": MS Dhoni opens up on the issue of mental health However, with more than six months remaining for the series, the development surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic in the next months could prove to be crucial. A lot will depend on the ICC T20 World Cup, scheduled to be hosted by Australia in October-November.

Team India ready for two-week quarantine phase before Australia Test series: BCCI official

After President Trump's military aide tested positive for coronavirus, US President Donald Trump on Thursday said he would undergo the COVID-19 test every day. A military aide of Trump, whom officials described as a personal vale, tested positive for coronavirus. The president said he had very little contact with him.

Nearly 1.3 million COVID-19 cases in the United States

Up to 6.3 million more people are predicted to develop TB between now and 2025 and 1.4 million more people are expected to die as cases go diagnosed and untreated during the lockdown.

Over 6.3 million predicted to develop Tuberculosis by 2025

Minorities are being hit harder by COVID-19. In United States 58% deaths in counties with more black residents. Watch report.

US: 58% deaths in counties with more black residents

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