Stories for March 17th 2020

Tuesday, March 17th 2020 - 08:21 UTC
Several officials tested coronavirus positive after Trump/Bolsonaro meeting in Mar-a-Lago resort

Brazilian Foreign Trade Secretary Marcos Troyjo, who was part of the Brazilian delegation that recently visited Florida, has tested positive for the coronavirus, his office said in a statement on Monday.
Tuesday, March 17th 2020 - 08:20 UTC
Beijing furious with Vargas Llosa for saying combating the coronavirus outbreak would be different if China was a democracy

China hit out on Monday at Peru's Nobel literature laureate Mario Vargas Llosa for allegedly expressing “irresponsible and prejudiced opinions” over the origins of the coronavirus pandemic.
Tuesday, March 17th 2020 - 08:19 UTC
Rio do Janeiro authorities order people out of the beaches and closed Christ the Redeemer statue

Anyone hoping to escape wall-to-wall coronavirus coverage with a day at the beach can forget about it in Rio de Janeiro, where authorities armed with megaphones blared out messages on Monday ordering everyone home.
Tuesday, March 17th 2020 - 08:15 UTC
Brazil US$ 30bn fiscal boost to prop the economy and soften Covid-19 impact

Brazil’s government on Monday announced emergency measures to inject nearly 150 billion reais (US$ 30 billion) into the economy to soften the blow from the coronavirus pandemic.
Tuesday, March 17th 2020 - 08:15 UTC
Trump urges to halt social activities for 15 days and not congregate in groups larger than ten people

President Donald Trump urged Americans on Monday to halt most social activities for 15 days and not congregate in groups larger than 10 people in a newly aggressive effort to reduce the spread of the coronavirus in the United States.
Tuesday, March 17th 2020 - 08:10 UTC
Dispatch from Uruguay: “Democracy or Bureaucracy & Mediocrity”

By David P. Michaels (*) - Luis-Alberto Lacalle Pou, Uruguay’s recently inaugurated President, faces one of the most significant challenges in Uruguay’s recent history.
Tuesday, March 17th 2020 - 08:02 UTC
British supermarkets appeal to consumers to be more considerate after shelves were plundered: “we have adequate supplies”

British supermarkets have called on consumers to be more considerate and reiterated they have adequate supplies, as the coronavirus saw shelves plundered and a surge in online orders. The country's leading grocery retailers, including Tesco, Sainsbury's and Waitrose, penned a joint letter to customers, which ran in newspapers on Sunday and Monday appealing for calm.
Tuesday, March 17th 2020 - 07:58 UTC
Hundreds flee in a major break out of four Sao Paulo jails

Hundreds of prisoners broke out of four Brazilian jails on Monday, the day before their day-release privileges were due to be suspended over the coronavirus outbreak, Sao Paulo state prison authorities and local media reported.
Tuesday, March 17th 2020 - 07:53 UTC
Boris asks UK industry to manufacture health equipment, and considers using hotels as hospitals if needed for the pandemic

Britain has asked manufacturers including Ford, Honda and Rolls Royce to help make health equipment including ventilators to cope with the coronavirus outbreak and will look at using hotels as hospitals.
Tuesday, March 17th 2020 - 07:49 UTC
Argentine researchers find fossilized wing skin of a 43 million year old penguin in Antarctica

Argentine researchers have announced the discovery of fossilized skin on the remains of the wing of a 43-million-year-old penguin on Marambio Island in the Antarctic.