
By Nicholas Clapham (*) – The UK government has introduced legislation as part of attempts to manage the coronavirus outbreak, handing the government wide-ranging powers to respond to a variety of emergency situations.

Argentina on Monday said it had reached out to Britain`s ambassador in Buenos Aires to offer material support to the inhabitants of the Falkland Islands hit by the coronavirus outbreak.

In light of the developing situation with COVID-19, the Falkland Islands King Edward Memorial Hospital, KEMH in Stanley is suspending the Monday – Friday walk-in blood clinic with immediate effect until further notice.

The Falkland Islands Government announced on Monday it is assisting a number of cruise vessels seeking to repatriate their passengers to other countries through air charter flights. Working with our partners at the British Forces South Atlantic Islands, a policy has been put in place that allows this humanitarian operation, while still protecting our population from COVID-19.

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe admitted Monday that the 2020 Olympic Games may not go as planned due to the Covid-19 pandemic crisis, it was reported.

Argentine vice president Cristina Fernandez is back in Buenos Aires from Cuba with her daughter who has been under medical treatment in Havana for a year. The two immediately left for their home where they will comply with the mandatory fourteen day self isolation for any passengers arriving in Argentina from overseas because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Gibraltar government could borrow up to 500 million pounds for Coronavirus aid if the community requires it in the coming months. This news came before parliament unanimously passed the emergency budget bill which will help cushion the negative economic effects the virus will have on the peninsula.

The world’s water resources are under unprecedented threat. Today, some 2.2 billion people lack safe drinking water and 4.2 billion people live without access to adequate sanitation. Unless we act with urgency, the impacts of climate change are projected to exacerbate these figures. By 2050, between 3.5 and 4.4 billion people will live with limited access to water, with more than 1 billion of them living in cities.

On World Water Day, the United Nations launched a flagship report which says that reducing both the impacts and drivers of climate change will require major shifts in the way we use and reuse the Earth’s limited water resources.

The 54th Special General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) on Friday re-elected Luis Almagro as Secretary-General and Nestor Mendez as Assistant Secretary-General of the Organization.