Switzerland Imposes Sweeping Measures to Contain Coronavirus

SWISS INFO: Switzerland has closed schools throughout the country and imposed a ban on public gatherings of more than 100 people. The government pledged CHF10 billion ($10.6 billion) in emergency aid to support the economy and re-introduced in principle border checks with neighbouring countries.

The package of measures was announced at a news conference attended by four of the seven government ministers on Friday.

The ban on gatherings will last until at least the end of April while schools will be closed until April 4 (some cantons have bans until April 30). The border with Italy will remain open but further restrictions will be applied. Furthermore, border controls with other European countries have been tightened with a suspension of the single border agreement. Switzerland is not a member state of the European Union but is included in the Schengen zone.

The CHF10 billion ($10.6 billion) aid package is aimed at helping companies survive the economic downturn caused by coronavirus. » | Urs Geiser and Matthew Allen | Friday, March 13, 2020

Coronavirus: US Travel Ban on Europe Begins as Many Countries Step Up Containment

THE GUARDIAN: Saudi Arabia suspends all international flights, New Zealand introduces quarantine for almost all arrivals

The travel ban from Europe to the United States has come into force, as a growing number of countries across the world ramp up their efforts to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

President Trump’s travel ban on the 26 countries of the Schengen area began as part of stepped up efforts by his administration to tackle the growing Covid-19 outbreak, including the declaration of a national emergency, freeing up $50bn in federal funding and promising a screening website and drive-through tests.

The travel ban excludes the UK and Ireland, but Donald Trump has said the UK could be added to the list of European countries included.

Many other countries also stepped up their fight against the virus, including Saudi Arabia which suspended all international flights for two weeks, starting on Sunday. The period will be considered as an exceptional official holiday for citizens and residents who are unable to return due to the suspension of flights or if they face quarantine after their return to the Kingdom, state news agency, SPA, cited the official as saying. The country has reported 86 coronavirus cases.

In New Zealand, the prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, announced that she would introduce “the widest-ranging and toughest border restrictions of anyone in the world”, also from midnight on Sunday. » | Rebecca Ratcliffe | Saturday, March 14, 2020

Will the Coronavirus Pandemic Cause a Global Recession? I Inside Story

Stock markets around the world have had a turbulent week with some of the worst losses in over 30 years. It's the world's biggest health emergency. The coronavirus outbreak is now a pandemic, and there are fears it can lead to a catastrophic global economic crisis.

Sweeping containment measures have disrupted markets around the world - including in the US. A travel ban on 26 European countries came into effect on Friday and the unprecedented move sent stocks crashing to their worst losses in over 30 years.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 10 percent on Thursday -- its biggest plunge since the Black Monday crash of 1987. While European markets showed some signs of recovery on Friday. So, what's the economic fallout?

Presenter: James Bays | Guests: Pedro Da Costa - Senior Reporter at Market News International; Hosuk Lee-Makiyama - Director of the European Centre for International Political Economy; Gareth Leather - Senior Economist who specialises in Asian and emerging markets at the firm Capital Economics

Coronavirus: WHO Accuses Governments of 'Alarming Levels of Inaction' | DW News

The World Health Organisation has declared the coronavirus a pandemic and accused governments of "alarming levels of inaction". The WHO says it hopes using the word 'pandemic' will shock lethargic governments into taking more decisive measures. One of the worst-hit countries, Italy, has announced another wave of restrictions. Now, all shops, except food stores and pharmacies, will be closed to try to halt the spread of the disease. US President Donald Trump has banned nearly all travel from Europe to the United States starting at midnight on Friday. The ban will last for 30 days, but excludes the UK and Ireland and a few other countries outside the Schengen passport-free travel area. Trump said clusters of coronavirus infections in the US were traceable to people coming from Europe. He blamed the European Union for failing to act quickly enough to prevent the spread of the disease.

Emmanuel Macron : Adresse aux Français

Gleich richtet sich die Kanzlerin an alle Deutschen | BILD Live

In der Corona-Krise kommt jetzt eine Ansprache von Kanzlerin Merkel an alle in Deutschland.

Trump Calls COVID-19 “Foreign Virus” as Lack of Universal Healthcare Makes the Pandemic Worse

After downplaying the threat of coronavirus for days, President Donald Trump addressed the nation Wednesday from the Oval Office, calling COVID-19 a “foreign virus” and announcing an unprecedented travel ban from most of Europe to the U.S. He also said he will expand sick leave. This comes as Senate Republicans blocked paid sick leave legislation. Robert Pollin, distinguished university professor of economics and co-director of the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, says the lack of universal healthcare in the U.S. is exacerbating the coronavirus crisis due to “the absurdity that people cannot feel confident that they are going to get medical treatment” when they need it most. In 2018, Pollin co-authored a paper titled “Economic Analysis of Medicare for All.” His forthcoming book, co-authored with Noam Chomsky, is “The Climate Crisis and the Global Green New Deal: The Political Economy of Saving the Planet.”

Everyone Questioning Biden's Mental Fitness

Joe Biden’s mental fitness is a huge concern. Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian, hosts of The Young Turks, break it down.

Trump’s Re-election Chances Suddenly Look Shakier

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Weeks ago, his advisers were counting on a strong economy and a Democratic opponent easily portrayed as too far left. But the political landscape has sharply shifted.

President Trump faces the biggest challenge yet to his prospects of being re-elected, with his advisers’ two major assumptions for the campaign — a booming economy and an opponent easily vilified as too far left — quickly evaporating.

After a year in which Mr. Trump has told voters that they must support his re-election or risk watching the economy decline, the stock market is reeling and economists are warning that a recession could be on the horizon because of the worsening spread of the coronavirus.

And instead of elevating Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, as Mr. Trump made clear was his hope, Democrats have suddenly and decisively swung from a flirtation with socialism to former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., who has run a primary campaign centered on a return to political normalcy.

“Biden’s success in the suburbs makes him an acceptable alternative to Trump,” said Scott Reed, the top political adviser for the United States Chamber of Commerce. “His turnout in the suburbs threatens the Republican Senate.” » | Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Martin | Thursday, March 12, 2020

Sanders Presses Biden on Key Issues

Trump Delivers National Address on Coronavirus (Full Video)

Richard Wolff: Banks Are Trembling!

Economist and founder of Democracy at Work Dr. Richard Wolff and broadcasting legend Larry King join Rick Sanchez to weigh in on Wall Street's terrifying Monday plunge, the worst since 2008. They explain the link between oil exploration and extraction and the debt that fuels it. They also discuss the role of the coronavirus outbreak in the economic crisis and its likely influence on US politics.

A Fumbled Global Response to the Virus in a Leadership Void

THE NEW YORK TIMES: While world leaders are at last speaking out about the gravity of the pandemic, their voices are less a choir than a cacophony, with the United States absent from its traditional conductor role.

LONDON — In Frankfurt, the president of the European Central Bank warned that the coronavirus could trigger an economic crash as dire as that of 2008. In Berlin, the German chancellor warned the virus could infect two-thirds of her country’s population. In London, the British prime minister rolled out a nearly $40 billion rescue package to cushion his economy from the shock.

As the toll of those afflicted by the virus continued to soar and financial markets from Tokyo to New York continued to swoon, world leaders are finally starting to find their voices about the gravity of what is now officially a pandemic.

Yet it remains less a choir than a cacophony — a dissonant babble of politicians all struggling, in their own way, to cope with the manifold challenges posed by the virus, from its crushing burden on hospitals and health care workers to its economic devastation and rising death toll.

The choir also lacks a conductor, a role played through most of the post-World War II era by the United States.

President Trump has failed to work with other leaders to fashion a common response, preferring to promote his border wall over the scientific advice of his own medical experts. » | Mark Landler | Wednesday, March 11, 2020, updated Thursday, March 12, 2020

A Room With a View • O Mio Babbino Caro • Kiri Te Kanawa

Soundtrack/theme music from the 1985 James Ivory film "A Room With A View" with Helena Bonham Carter, Daniel Day-Lewis, Julian Sands, Maggie Smith, Denholm Elliot, Judi Dench, Simon Callow & Rupert Graves. Based on the novel by EM Forster. "O Mio Babbino Caro" ("Oh My Beloved Father") is a soprano aria from the opera Gianni Schicchi (1918) by Giacomo Puccini.

US Primary Election Results: Game Over for Sanders? | DW News

Joe Biden appears to have cemented his position as the front-runner in the US Democratic presidential race. The former vice president has scored big wins in four of six states holding contests in the race to select the Democratic nominee, including the largest prize Michigan. The results are a blow to Biden's rival for the nomination, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.

Joe: It Is Critical Trump Get His Arms around This Virus | Morning Joe | MSNBC

The panel discusses the president's bids to downplay the severity of the coronavirus outbreak and the need for the president to be realistic about the dangers from the virus. Aired on 03/09/2020.

Prince Andrew Won't Voluntarily Cooperate in Epstein Inquiry, Prosecutor Says

THE GUARDIAN: Despite public offer to help with investigation Andrew has ‘completely shut the door’, and New York attorney general is now considering other options

Prince Andrew has “completely shut the door” on cooperating with US investigators in the Jeffrey Epstein case and they are now “considering” further options, a New York prosecutor said on Monday.

Andrew was a friend of Epstein, the wealthy financier and convicted sex offender whose death in custody while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges in New York last year was ruled a suicide.

Andrew denies all claims of sexual misconduct relating to the Epstein case but has stepped back from public duties as a result of his connection to it.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Manhattan US attorney Geoffrey Berman said: “Contrary to Prince Andrew’s very public offer to cooperate with our investigation into Epstein’s co-conspirators, an offer that was conveyed via press release, Prince Andrew has now completely shut the door on voluntary cooperation and our office is considering its options.” » | Martin Pengelly and Kenya Evelyn in New York | Monday, March 9, 2020

Saudi Crackdown Widens amid Reports of Further Arrests of Royals

A fourth senior prince is reported to have been detained in Saudi Arabia. US media reports say the former head of army intelligence, Prince Nayef bin Ahmed, is among those now being held. But there has not been any official response from the government. Al Jazeera's Alexi O'Brien reports.

Is Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Consolidating Power? – Inside Story

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman has had a controversial rise to power, and he appears to be tightening his grip even further.

Media reports suggest at least 20 Princes, officials and army officers have been arrested in the Kingdom's latest purge. They include former Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Nayef and the King's last-surviving full brother, Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz.

The Saudi government hasn't officially responded to reports that the princes were accused of a coup plot. In just three years, Mohammed Bin Salman has silenced nearly all voices of dissent at home, with critics jailed, even killed. So, what are the implications of this crackdown?

Presenter: Jonah Hull | Guests: Roxane Farmanfamaian - Lecturer on Middle East Politics at the University of Cambridge; David Hearst - Editor in Chief of the online publication ‘Middle East Eye’; Ali Al-Ahmed - Director of the Gulf Affairs Institute and a former Saudi political prisoner.

Saudi Crackdown: King Salman's Brother and Nephew Detained

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has reportedly detained high-profile members of the royal family. That includes former crown prince Mohammed bin Nayef, as well as Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the younger brother of the Saudi King.

Reports suggest that they have both been accused of treason. Saudi guards have also arrested one of Mohammed Bin Nayef's brothers. They are now likely under threat of life imprisonment or possible execution. Both could have been rivals to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the throne when King Salman dies.

Al Jazeera’s Jamal Elshayyal explains what these detentions mean for the kingdom and their impact on Saudi politics. We are also joined by Khalil Jahshan, the executive director of Arab Center Washington, DC.