Friday, March 20, 2020

Six In The Morning Friday 20 March 2020

Coronavirus: California issues state-wide 'stay at home' order

California has issued a "stay at home" order to residents as it tries to stem the march of the coronavirus across the most populous US state.
Governor Gavin Newsom told Californians they should only leave their homes when necessary during the pandemic.
He earlier estimated more than half of the 40 million people in his state would contract Covid-19 in just the next two months.
The virus has claimed 205 lives in the US and infected more than 14,000.


Trump peddles unsubstantiated hope in dark times

Updated 0528 GMT (1328 HKT) March 20, 2020


To fight the coronavirusPresident Donald Trump is adopting the audacity of false hope.
For the past two days, Trump has said he is dispensing "game changer" breakthroughs on treatments and a wartime-style effort to mass produce medical supplies that appear as rays of light amid America's darkening battle against the coronavirus pandemic.
His eagerness for remedies no doubt reflects a sincere desire to deliver Americans from the nightmare of lockdowns, fear for loved ones and atmosphere of national trauma.

Locust crisis poses a danger to millions, forecasters warn

Experts fear swarms like those seen in Africa will become more common as tropical storms create favourable breeding conditions

The locust crisis that has now reached 10 countries could carry on to endanger millions more people, forecasters have said.
Climate change created unprecedented conditions for the locusts to breed in the usually barren desert of the Arabian gulf, according to experts, and the insects were then able to spread through Yemen, where civil war has devastated the ability to control locust populations.
It was Cyclone Mekunu, which struck in 2018, that allowed several generations of desert locusts the moist sand and vegetation to thrive in the desert between Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Oman known as the Empty Quarter, breeding and forming into crop-devouring swarms, said Keith Cressman, locust forecasting expert for the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Delhi bus gang rapists executed before dawn as victim's mother says 'justice has been done'

Hundreds of spectators turn out to celebrate hangings of four convicted men - but activists question whether death sentences for rape have really acted as an effective deterrent

Adam WithnallDelhi @adamwithnall


Four men have been executed in India for the gang rape and murder of a woman on a Delhi bus in 2012, in a case which drew unprecedented focus to the prevalence of sexual assault in India.
“The four convicts were hanged together at 5.30am,” announced Sandeep Goel, head of the Tihar jail on the outskirts of the capital where the men were being held.
Despite the early hour, hundreds gathered outside the jail to celebrate the men’s deaths, holding placards that read “Justice for women” and “Hang the culprits”.
Balancing act between Russia and the West

Serbia’s strongman tightens his grip

Aleksandar Vučić’s Serbia is firmly under his authoritarian command, and year-long protests are now flagging for lack of hope and outlets. He wants to join the EU, and may one day succeed.

by Jean-Arnault Dérens & Laurent Geslin

Since December 2018 Serbs have been protesting in their thousands every Saturday against the government of President Aleksandar Vučić, which exerts tight control over the justice system and the media. The demonstrations began after Borko Stefanović, then leader of the Serbian Left party, was assaulted at an opposition meeting in Kruševac in November. They soon spread from Belgrade to other cities, amplified by local groups resentful of Vučić’s Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) taking control of power at all levels. Since the 2012 election, the SNS, which has an absolute majority in the national parliament and the assembly in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, has strengthened its grip on Serbian society and institutions. At municipal level, through a network of alliances, it is in complete or partial control of all but four of Serbia’s 170 local authorities.

Germany coronavirus lockdown imminent if people don’t reel in social activities

Saturday is a key day as officials battle on whether to lock the nation down. The government will closely monitor people’s behavior to see if they are taking the measures implemented this week seriously.
The decision of whether to lock down Germany entirely hinges on the behavior of its citizens, the Chancellor’s office announced Friday.
Angela Merkel’s Chief of Staff, Helge Braun, described Saturday as a crucial day in deciding on possible lockdowns because of the coronavirus. 


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