International News: 11/09/2020

 ASIA

-Coronavirus

Total Cases: Cross 8 million

Total Deaths: About 155K

-Iran: Iran has opened the new school year after nearly seven months of closure. In a video conference, President Hassan Rouhani said the education of 15 million student is as important as the health system. "Education will not be closed in our country even under the worst situation", he said urging authorities to implement health measures in schools to the level of those in military garrisons.

(Note: The country has the first and worst outbreak of coronavirus in the Middle East.)

-India: For the first time in five months, subway trains are slowly beginning to come back into service in India. Despite the rising numbers of infections, the government announced on August 29 that subway trains would resume in cities from September 7 in a "graded manner". India now has 4,559,725 confirmed cases of coronavirus, including at least 76,300 deaths.

(Note: All public transport, including sub-urban trains, was suspended when the country announced a nation wide lockdown on March 24, amid a growing coronavirus pandemic.)

-Japan: The postponed Tokyo Olympic Games will go ahead next year with or without Covid, the vice president of the IOC (International Olympic Committee) says. John Crates confirmed that Olympics would start on 23 July next year, calling them the "Games that conquered Covid".

(Note: Tokyo Olympics were originally scheduled to start in July 2020, but were postponed due to COVID-19 fears. More than 11,000 athletes from around 200 countries were scheduled to take part in 2020 games. It is not clear how travel restrictions might impact their participation as Japan's borders are now currently largely closed to foreign visitors.)

NORTH AMERICA

-Coronavirus

Total Cases: Cross 7.8 million

Total Deaths: About 285K

-Mexico: The coronavirus has hit Mexico so hard that the government of several states have run out of death certificates. Officials said on Friday the federal reforms started running out about 15 to 20 days ago in at least three states- Baja California, the State of Mexico and Mexico City. Authorities say a new forms have been printed and are being distributed. The certificates are printed with special characteristics because falsification has been a problem in the past.

SOUTH AMERICA

-Coronavirus

Total Cases: Cross 6.9 million

Total Deaths: About 223K

-Venezuela: Venezuela nurse Flor Perez works a exhausting night shift at a public children's hospital in Caracas, where the coronavirus is a constant risk. In exchange, she takes home a monthly salary that barely buys a day's worth of groceries. Perez, 47, says that of the eight nurses who are supposed to be on the night shift, only three consistently show up. The rest have left the country or taken other jobs to make more money. "Unfortunately, it hurt sometimes because our salary is between 3.5 and 4 dollars," said Perez in her home on the out-skirts of Caracas, as she got ready for a shift at the JM de los Rios hospital.

    Perez is one of more than 100,000 nurses in Venezuela who are struggling to make an end meet on salaries while also facing a heightened risk of contracting the coronavirus in a country where medical staff lack protective equipment and even running water.

(Note: So far, Venezuela has confirmed 57,823 cases of coronavirus and 460 deaths from this disease.)

EUROPE

-Coronavirus

Total Cases: Cross 3.9 million

Total Deaths: About 211K

-Vatican City: Pope Francis urged the faithful on Sunday to stay away from gossip, calling it worse than the coronavirus and saying it could be used to divide the Roman Catholic Church. "Please, brothers and sisters, let's make an effort not to gossip. Gossiping is a worse plague than Covid," the Pope said during his weekly address from a window above St. Peter's Square. "The devil is the great gossip. He is always saying bad things about others because he is the liar who tries to split the Church", Francis added in the off-the-cuff comments.

        The pope has regularly warned of the risks of gossiping and has also railed against Internet trolls. "If something goes wrong, offer silence and prayer for the brothers and sisters who make a mistake, but never gossip", he said on Sunday.

AFRICA

-Coronavirus

Total Cases: Cross 1.3 million

Total Deaths: About 32K

-Mauritius: Mauritian Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth said on Monday he is thankful for the Japanese government's assistance over a major oil spill despite it is not being responsible for the accident. Jugnauth asked Japan for continued support to restore the Indian Ocean island nation's economy and nature following the spill. Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said he promised to provide long-term assistance to Mauritius, including steps to enhance safety at sea and re-vitalize local fishing communities.

             A Mauritian government document has shown it is proposing that Japan pay a total of 1.34 billion Mauritian rupees, equivalent to around 3.6 billion Yen ($34 million), to assist the local fishing community affected by the spill. Separately, Mauritius is set to seek compensation over the spill from the Japanese ship owner, Nagashiki Shipping Co, and has called for the submission of claims by those who have sustained losses or damage due to contamination.

(Note: Motegi spoke by phone with Mauritian Prime Minister for the first time since the oil leakage from a Japanese ship in July. Mauritius declared a state of emergency on Aug. 7, citing fears over the impact on endangered species such as birds and sea-turtles.)

OCEANIA

-Coronavirus

Total Cases: Cross 29K

Total Deaths: About 800

-Australia: The coronavirus pandemic has officially pushed Australia into its first recession, in nearly three decades. The country's GDP contracted 7% in the second quarter compared to the prior one, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said on Wednesday. GDP shrank 0.3% in the first quarter. It marks the second quarter of declines for Australia and the largest drops since records began in 1959.

      The country was ravaged earlier this year by the worst wildfires it had seen in decades which hampered consumer spending and tourism, according to the Australian Tourism Export Council. In the most recent quarter, the closure of hotels, restaurants and other services because of the pandemic clearly took a hit. Household consumption plunged more than 12%, while spreading on services cratered nearly 18%.

      There's likely more pain to come. The Reserve Bank of Australia has said the pace of recovery is uncertain depending on how long the outbreak persists. The recession is a remarkable turn for Australia's economy, which had enjoyed 29 year run of economic growth.