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International News (601)

06
March

 

 

Global stock markets have fallen sharply as investors continue to worry about the broader economic effects of the coronavirus. London's FTSE 100 share index fell more than 3% and there were similar declines in other European markets. Earlier on Friday, markets in Asia had seen big falls, with Japan's Nikkei share index dropping by 2.7%. On Thursday, US stock markets recorded steep declines, with all three main indexes down by more than 3%. The 3% drop in the FTSE 100 wipes out the gains seen earlier this week on the index. Shares in travel companies saw some of the steepest falls once again. Cruise operator Carnival fell 5.8% to hit its lowest price since 2012. Other big losers in the sector included EasyJet, Tui and British Airways owner IAG, which each fell more than 4%. Elsewhere in Europe, shares in budget carrier Norwegian fell 26.2% and Air France KLM, which owns the French and Dutch flag carriers, fell 14.6%. Banks were another group that took a hit, as investors anticipate that interest rates might be cut in order to make borrowing cheaper for companies and consumers to keep the economy buoyant. 

"The markets didn't even bother with the pretence of a calm start on Friday, bringing another rough week to a close," said Connor Campbell, analyst at financial spread better Spreadex.

"The week's various central bank rate cuts only served to reinforce the seriousness of the situation." 

Earlier this week, the Federal Reserve, the US's central bank, cut its benchmark interest rate by 0.5 percentage points to a range of 1% to 1.25% in an attempt to ease investor concerns. Government bond prices are rising in the UK as traders seek safer assets. The bond market - which is many times larger than the stock market - includes tradable loans to governments and businesses. Yields - how much investors will recoup in interest from the loans - drop as the price of the loan rises. Benchmark 10-year UK government debt now only offers a 0.26% return - a record low//BBCnews

06
March

A cruise ship carrying 3,500 people is waiting off the coast of California while tests for coronavirus are carried out on about 100 of them. One passenger died and at least four others became infected on a previous voyage by the ship, the Grand Princess. Test kits were delivered by military helicopter on Thursday as the vessel sat off San Francisco. The US has now recorded about 200 cases and 12 deaths as the global struggle with the virus continues. More than 92,000 cases have been recorded worldwide, with 80,552 in China, where the virus originated. China also accounts for the vast majority of deaths - 3,042 to date. Stocks in Asia and the UK fell sharply on Friday as investors continued to worry about the broader economic effects of the virus//BBCnews

05
March

 

 

UK airline Flybe has gone into administration, putting 2,000 jobs at risk after a bid for fresh financial support failed. The carrier said the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on demand for air travel was partly to blame for its collapse. As quoted by BBC.com (05/3)Its website now advises customers to "not travel to the airport" unless they have arranged an alternative flight. Exeter-based Flybe narrowly avoided going bust in January. In a letter to the airline's staff, chief executive Mark Anderson said: "Despite every effort, his side now has no alternative - having failed to find a feasible solution to allow us to keep trading. In response to the collapse, the UK government said it was ready to help Flybe's workers find new jobs and will work with other airlines to replace services: //bbc.com // ===

05
March

The International Monetary Fund has announced $50bn (£39bn) in funding for countries hit by the coronavirus. The organisation also warned that the outbreak had already pushed this year's global economic growth below last year's levels. As quoted by BBC.com (05/3) the emergency measure came after the virus has spread rapidly outside China to more than 70 countries. This week governments and central banks around the world have taken action to ease the impact of the virus. The IMF said it is making the money available to help poor and middle-income countries with weak health systems respond to the epidemic. At the same time the fund said the spread of the coronavirus has erased expectations of stronger economic growth this year, and will push 2020 global output gains to their slowest rate since the financial crisis in 2008. //bbc.com//===

05
March

Almost 300 million students worldwide faced weeks at home on Thursday with Italy the latest country to shut schools over the deadly new coronavirus, as the IMF urged an all-out, global offensive against the epidemic. As quoted by afp.com ( 05/3) more than 95,000 people have been infected and over 3,200 have died worldwide from the virus, which has now reached some 80 countries and territories.The vast majority of global deaths and infections are in China, where the virus first emerged late last year, prompting the country to quarantine entire cities, temporarily shut factories and close schools indefinitely. As the virus spread, other countries have also implemented extraordinary measures, with UNESCO saying Wednesday that 13 countries have closed schools, affecting 290.5 million children, while nine others have implemented localised closures. //afp.com//===

05
March

Thousands were stranded on a cruise ship off the California coast Wednesday over fears of the new coronavirus after passengers and crew members on board developed symptoms. As quoted by afp.com ( 05/3)  officials delayed the return of the Grand Princess to San Francisco on Wednesday night from Hawaii in order to carry out testing on board for those potentially infected. The operator Princess Cruises and California Governor,  Gavin Newsom stated that a 71-year-old man who had been aboard the same vessel during its previous voyage to Mexico died after contracting the COVID-19 illness, becoming the first fatal case in California. Gavin Newsom in a press conference stated that  the ship's return from its current voyage was being delayed to allow "ample timing" for testing of "a number of passengers and crew members that have developed symptoms. //afp.com//===

05
March

WASHINGTON - US Vice President Mike Pence told reporters that he was planning a meeting with the cruise industry representatives to discuss later this week consequences of a coronavirus outbreak.
"There are unique challenges… in a closed environment of a cruise liner. We are going to talk about best practices​​​. I thought it was time to spend some time with the people in that industry as we are meeting with others in industries around the country," Pence said during a White House briefing on Wednesday.
Pence was appointed to coordinate US administration efforts to combat the disease that has already killed 11 Americans.
The meeting with the cruise industry companies is expected to take place on Saturday in Florida. Pence wants to discuss the Diamond Princess case – a cruise liner placed on a lengthy quarantine in Japan with over 700 coronavirus patients on board.
The meeting in Florida will be preceded by Pence’s visits to 3M chemical company in Minnesota, a top contractor to manufacture millions of face masks for medics, and to the state of Washington, the locality worst hit by the coronavirus in the United States. (Sputnik)

05
March

OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia needs oil to fetch around $80 a barrel to balance its state budget while cartel ally Russia needs much lower prices of around $42 per barrel [File: Ahmed Jadallah/Reuters]

OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia needs oil to fetch around $80 a barrel to balance its state budget while cartel ally Russia needs much lower prices of around $42 per barrel [File: Ahmed Jadallah/Reuters]

VIENNA – The OPEC and the group of non-OPEC countries, which are part of the oil production cut deal, over the next two days will come up with a response to the outbreak of the new coronavirus that has brought the oil prices down.
On Thursday, the 178th (Extraordinary) Meeting of the OPEC member states will be held in Vienna, while on Friday a meeting of the OPEC+ group, which includes major oil producers such as Russia and Mexico, will take place in the Austrian capital. The participants will decide whether to extend the existing caps on oil production and if additional cuts are needed in order to boost oil prices or at least keep them at a certain level profitable for the energy producers​​​.
The OPEC+ Technical Committee, which convened on Tuesday, has reportedly recommended introducing extra cuts of between 600,000–1 million barrels per day (bpd). On the next day, it was followed by a meeting of the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC), tasked with assessing the oil output cut deal’s implementation and providing recommendations to keep the market balanced. Even though the final JMMC’s recommendations have not been disclosed yet, a source told Sputnik that the ministers had discussed the option of cutting the production by up to 1.5 million barrels per day on top of the existing cap of 1.7 million bpd. 
Oil producers are gravely alarmed by the outbreak of the new coronavirus as it sparked expectations of a slowdown in oil demand. As a result, Brent futures fell from a peak of $71.75 per barrel in January to a 32-month low of $48.41 per barrel on Monday. On February 12, OPEC downgraded its 2020 global oil demand growth forecast by almost 20 percent to 990,000 barrels per day.
Reaching a final decision on reducing oil production is likely to be an uneasy job for the OPEC+. The signs of internal disagreements first emerged in late January, when it was reported that some members were pushing for an earlier OPEC+ meeting in light of the coronavirus. However, it was ultimately decided to stick to the initial schedule of March 5-6. 
Saudi Arabia, a leader of the oil cartel, is reportedly in favor of reducing production by more than 1 million barrels per day as the country’s economy and state budget heavily rely on the oil prices. Russia, on the contrary, as a principal non-OPEC country, is believed to be satisfied with oil trading at some $40 to $50 per barrel as it does now.
Many experts have claimed that the Russian-Saudi relations suffered a breakdown, but Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak dismissed the claims and said that Moscow and Riyadh “have never had these differences.”
A source in the Russian delegation told Sputnik that at the JMMC meeting, Moscow proposed to extend the OPEC+ oil production cuts deal beyond June, without any additional caps for the second quarter of the year. After that, the Russian energy minister was seen leaving the OPEC headquarters while the meeting was still ongoing. However, he is expected to return Friday for the OPEC+ Ministerial Meeting.
NO HANDSHAKES AND HUGS
As the number of coronavirus infections continues to grow worldwide, OPEC had to introduce strict safety measures for this week’s meetings. First, the cartel has barred all journalists from entering the OPEC headquarters during the events. As a result, media professionals had to hunt down the energy officials at the entrance to the building, but the cartel was kind enough to provide some food and hot drinks to the journalists.
All participants of the JMMC meeting on Wednesday were screened for high temperature upon arrival, including the ministers themselves. The cartel has also installed a banner at the entrance calling on the visitors to “avoid handshakes and hugs.”
A video posted by OPEC on Twitter depicts the Cartel’s Secretary General Mohammed Barkindo jokingly greeting the Russian energy minister with “a leg”  shake even though both of them were seen doing a handshake the same day. (Sputnik)

04
March

 

 

The World Meteorological Organization Statement on the State of the Climate in 2019 will be released on Tuesday 10 March 2020 at a press conference with United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres and WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas at United Nations headquarters, New York. This key UN multi-agency statement provides authoritative information on climate indicators and extreme weather, as well as impacts on socio-economic development, human health, migration and displacement, food security and land and marine ecosystems. It is based on contributions from national meteorological and hydrological services, leading international experts, scientific institutions and United Nations agencies. It is the twenty-sixth WMO Statement on the State of the Global Climate. The annual report was first issued in 1993. The 2019 edition marks sustained international efforts dedicated to measuring, analyzing and understanding the year to year variations and long-term trends of our changing climate.The report informs Member States, the United Nations system and decision-makers about the status of the climate system. It complements the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reporting cycle in producing updated information for the UN Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC) and other climate policy frameworks. It elaborates on information contained in a Provisional Statement issued at the UN Climate Change Conference in Madrid on 3 December 2019//NK(PR)

 

04
March

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, will discuss next steps to take in Syrian Idlib to prevent crisis. It was stated by Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov Wednesday. The two leaders are set to meet in Moscow on Thursday. Peskov told reporters the plans are to discuss the crisis in Idlib​​​. He added the expectations are to reach understanding about what led to the crisis, the reasons for this crisis, the harmful impact of this crisis and a set of necessary joint steps to further prevention. (Sputnik)