International News: 2020/10/10

 ASIA

-Coronavirus

Total Cases: Cross 11.6 million

Total Deaths: At least 209K

-Turkey  [Source: DW]

     New regulation came into effect on October 1 in Turkey stipulating that social media providers must open offices or appoint a legal representative in the country. If companies do not comply with the new rules, they face major fines. The rules, which were pushed through Parliament by the Justice and Development Party of Prime Minister Recep Toyyip Erdogan, threaten major social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter having over a million Turkey daily users. While at first glance the regulations appear bureaucratic, critics say that in practice they encroach upon company rights and freedom of speech.

     Yaman Akdeniz, who teaches law at Istanbul's Bilgi University, told that regulations would have major consequences. "In the worst-case scenario, a court ruling could lead to platform being removed", he said. Akdeniz added that companies who fail to comply with the regulations risk incurring fines of over $4.6 million by December 2021. Akdeniz said that if Facebook and other social media platforms were to open up offices in Turkey, they would "risk becoming part of the Turkish judiciary's long arm", because their content would have to comply with every officially ordered restriction or blockade.

     He said the companies would subsequently also risk having to face "a whole flood of hundreds of slander and libel complaints in the courts". Moreover, they would likely "be accused of private censorship since they would be required to deal with each complaint immediately".

-India  [Source: HindustanTimes]

     Resident doctors at Delhi's Hindu Rao Hospital protested over pending salaries. Protestors said that their salaries have been due since the last four months. "We have not received our salary for the last four months. They are still saying that it will take two more months to clear our dues. They are renovating hospital's administration block but have no money for us. We are frontline workers yet no facilities are given to doctors", one of the protesters said. 

     Protesters held placards and raised slogans demanding their due salaries. The protest was staged at the main gate of the facility. "We are frustrated now, have not got salaries for four months. No one listening to us and that is why we are protesting", another protestors said.

(Note: Hindu Rao Hospital is the largest municipal hospital in Delhi with 900 beds. The state-run hospital is currently a dedicated COVID-19 facility.)

NORTH AMERICA

-Coronavirus

Total Cases: Cross 9.4 million

Total Deaths: At least 324K

-USA  [Source: BrazilNewsNet]

     When he set out to plants his crops earlier this year, Illinois farmer Ron Moore was preparing for another years of trade uncertainty with China, one of the largest purchaser. The year 2020 would prove to be unlike any growing season Moore had witnessed. A global pandemic upended the food supply chain, pushing down the wholesale prices for livestock and the foodstuffs they consume. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)  reported a 35% drops in soybean prices that coincided with a multiyear trade war with China. The pandemic reduced Chinese purchases even further.

     Despite such hardships in recent years, polls show a majority of American farmers remain royal to President Donald Trump. While Trump has slipped in recent national surveys, he retains core support among farmers who praise his administration for aggressive federal measures that have helped them survive adversity.

     Keeping farmers afloat, payments are given since 2018 from the USDA's Market Facilitation Program to compensate them for losses suffered as a result of foreign tariffs and the erosion of export markets. "While it wasn't make or break, it was a big help", Moore told. "I'm sure there are people that wouldn't have had anything to eat if it didn't happen."

SOUTH AMERICA

-Coronavirus

Total Cases: Cross 8.5 million

Total Deaths: At least 269K

-Argentina  [Source: Aljazeera]

     Argentina recorded its more severe economic contraction in 16 years in the three months ending June, when the economy shrank 19.1 percent compared with same period a year earlier. The country is in the third year of recession, which means its people were sinking under high unemployment, sky-rocketing inflation and soaring poverty even before the pandemic.

     The 44 year old single mother is learning to sew miniature tents for children as well as picnic blankets she plans to hawk from the roadside on the outskirts of the Argentina capital. "It's only thing I can come up with right now", she says of her latest venture. "There is no work. With the age that I have, it is very hard." It is her second attempt to establish a solid income footing. Initially, she was a chef but she turned into taxi driver in the midst of reinvention. After Argentina went into lockdown in March, and the airports, she depended on for taxi customers, closed she created a new business -purchasing cheese for resale and delivering them to customers around Buenos Aires. But the work soon dried up as the people's orders shrank alongside the South American nation's economy. Finding new sources of income has become a well-honed skill in Argentina.

(Note: Some 840,000 Argentinians have been infected with COVID-19 while more than 22,000 have lost their lives to the disease, according to Johns Hopkins data.)

EUROPE

-Coronavirus

Total Cases: Cross 5.8 million

Total Deaths: At least 229K

-Germany  [Source: DW]

The Germany parliament has made it compulsory for politicians to wear masks, as cases of COVID-19 rise in the capital. Members of the German parliament, the Bundestag, will be required to wear mouth and nose coverings beginning on Tuesday morning. The requirement will be in place until at least January 17, 2021 and fine of up to €5,000 ($5,890) can be handed out to those law makers, who ignore the regulations. The rules apply in every room of the building, not just the main chambers, and masks can only be removed when people have taken their seats, 1.5 m apart from one another.

AFRICA

-Coronavirus

Total Cases: Cross 1.5 million

Total Deaths: At least 37K

-Kenya  [Source: africanews]

     The COVID-19 pandemic has led to job losses globally and Kenya is no exception. According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, unemployment doubled from 5.2 percent in March when the first Kenyan case was reported to 10.4 percent on 1st September 2020. Kazuri Beads, company specialises in handicrafts, employs 235 vulnerable, single mothers to whom it also offers free medical care. One hundred and thirty-five women lost their jobs from the economic shock dealt by the pandemic. "Usually we have 235 single mothers working in the factory but right now we only have 35 women working. Mostly, we depend on tourists but right now we are struggling to get orders to maintain the 35 single mothers. From May to September is usually our peak season. We usually have traffic in the shop, but right now we have no customers coming at the moment", says marketing manager Rose Ayuma.

     Some had even applied for loans that they hoped it would enable them to realise their entrepreneurial dreams. Now the women can barely pay their tents let alone finance their bank loans. "It has become difficult to feed and clothe our children. We feel like our lives are really deteriorating", says Beth Wachira, who has four children and has worked here at Kazuri Beads for 20 years. "We have loans that we have taken from the banks but we are unable to pay for them even though they continue to accumulate interest. We are fearing for the worst. When we took the loans, we hoped we would have something that we would call our own in the future."

(Note: Kenya has reported 40,620 confirmed coronavirus cases so far along with 755 deaths from this disease.)

OCEANIA

-Coronavirus

Total Cases: Cross 32K

Total Deaths: At least 940

-Australia  [Source: news.com.au]

     Authorities have discovered 'concerning' results when testing wastewater for coronavirus in Townsville, Queensland Deputy Premier Steven Miles says, prompting a please for residents with even mild symptoms to get tested. "For the first time, we have had positive results in the sewage being tested in Townsville, and so we will be working with the Townsville Hospital and health service to just increase our testing rate there, try to work out if there is a case or cases in or around Townsville that we are unaware of, and that have been picked up in that wastewater testing ", Mr. Miles said.

     The state's chief health officer, Jeannette Young said the findings were a worry, especially given there hadn't been a single case of coronavirus recorded in Townsville for months. "I ask every person who lives in Townsville to please, if you are unwell today, if you have got any symptoms, please come forward and get tested", she told reporters Saturday morning.