Coronavirus: World must prepare for pandemic, says WHO – BBC News

The World Health Organization has said the world should do more to prepare for a possible coronavirus pandemic.

The WHO said it was too early to call the outbreak a pandemic but countries should be “in a phase of preparedness”.

A pandemic is when an infectious disease spreads easily from person to person in many parts of the world.

More cases of the virus, which causes respiratory disease Covid-19, continue to emerge, with outbreaks in South Korea, Italy and Iran causing concern.

However, most infections are in China, the original source of the virus, where more than 77,000 people have the disease and over 2,600 have died.

More than 1,200 cases have been confirmed in about 30 other countries and there have been more than 20 deaths. Italy reported four more deaths on Monday, raising the total there to seven.

Worldwide stock markets saw sharp falls because of concerns about the economic impact of the virus.

China said it would postpone the annual meeting of the National People’s Congress next month, to “continue the efforts” against the coronavirus.

The body, which approves decisions made by the Communist Party, has met every year since 1978.

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Coronavirus outbreak empties streets in Italy

CBC News: The National

Published on Feb 24, 2020

A coronavirus outbreak in Italy has emptied streets and closed some tourist attractions even though experts say those measures may not be effective

Health Air Travel Virus WEB

VOA News

Published on Feb 24, 2020

The coronovirus outbreak has upended air travel and caused people to question the safety of cruises. Travelers have canceled trips to Asia and gone so far as to refrain from eating Chinese food prepared in countries that don’t have a widespread outbreak of the virus called COVID-19. VOA’s Carol Pearson reports on the most important safety measure when traveling.]] Originally published at – https://morigin.voanews.eu/a/5302546….

Coronavirus Global Economy WEB

VOA News

Feb 24, 2020

The growing spread of the coronavirus has rattled stock markets with indexes experiencing sharp losses in every continent ((insert close-of-day figures of NYSE)). Authorities in China and other hard-hit countries have enforced lockdowns that have paralyzed production, interrupted supply chains, and disrupted tourism and other key service sectors. VOA’s Ardita Dunellari examines risks to the global economy if the coronavirus becomes a pandemic, as some health experts fear it might. Originally published at – https://morigin.voanews.eu/a/5302562….

“A Stupendous Victory”: Bernie Sanders Wins Nevada After Heavy Organizing in Latinx Communities

Democracy Now!

Feb 24, 2020

Senator Bernie Sanders scored a decisive victory Saturday in the Democratic presidential caucuses in Nevada, riding a wave of support from young voters, union members and Latinx voters, who strengthened his status as front-runner. His win shows the potential for the nation’s largest minority group to reshape the next stage of the Democratic presidential race. In the next four weeks, six more of the 12 states with a large Latinx population will vote in the Democratic primary. On Super Tuesday, Texas, California and Colorado go to the polls. Arizona, Florida and Illinois will vote on March 17. We speak with Erika Andiola, chief advocacy officer for RAICES Action, the advocacy arm for the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, and Cristina Beltrán, associate professor and director of graduate studies at New York University’s Department of Social and Cultural Analysis. Her latest book is “The Trouble with Unity: Latino Politics and the Creation of Identity.”

Can Chase Bank’s Lending to Fossil Fuel Companies Be Stopped? – Rolling Stone

Bankers like numbers. Numbers tell the story. No emotion gets in the way. So let’s look at the numbers: Over the past three years — that is, in the years after the world came together in Paris to try to slow climate change — JPMorgan Chase lent $196 billion to the fossil-fuel industry.

Over the past three years, JPMorgan Chase lent more money to the fossil-fuel industry than any bank on Earth — 29 percent more. And over the past three years, JPMorgan Chase lent more money to the most expansionary parts of the fossil-fuel industry (new pipelines, Arctic drilling, deep-sea exploration) than any other bank — 63 percent more.

That’s not to say that other banks don’t do plenty of damage: Citi, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America are all in the hundred-billion-dollar club. But Chase is in a league of its own. It’s the First National Bank of Flood and Fire. It’s Hades Savings and Loan. It is the Doomsday Bank.

It’s possible that could start to change as early as Tuesday, Chase’s annual investor day, when CEO Jamie Dimon comes out to greet the public. The bank has been under unrelenting pressure from activists — just last week, on successive days, they besieged the company’s Pacific Northwest headquarters in Seattle, leading to more than two dozen arrests. And on Friday, a private memo to high-end clients from company economists, in which they explained that climate change could produce “catastrophic outcomes where human life as we know it is threatened,” was leaked to the British press. Perhaps Chase management will follow the recent lead of other players like giant asset manager BlackRock or investment bank Goldman Sachs and make at least some concessions. Perhaps it won’t.

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What the 2030 Climate Deadline Really Means

Climate One

Started streaming 13 minutes ago

For years, scientists and politicians have been saying that the climate battle will be won or lost in the next decade. That narrative was boosted by the IPCC, which contends global emissions must be halved by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050 to avoid climate catastrophe. Politicians moved quickly to incorporate the 2030 deadline into their speeches and advocates started using it in their fundraising pleas.

After a tepid global response to a decades-long climate saga, urgent action is imperative — but does a ten year deadline oversimplify the science and overall situation? What is the best way to communicate in a way that mobilizes people at home and in the workplace? Join us for a conversation on communicating climate urgency with Chris Field, faculty director at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, David Fenton, founder of Fenton Communications, and Renee Lertzman, climate engagement strategist and author