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.

…(read more).

 

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

Sea level rise is speeding up | Beyond Nuclear International

Posted on February 23, 2020 by beyondnuclearinternational

By Paul Brown

With sea level rise accelerating faster than thought, the risk is growing for coastal cities − and for nuclear power stations.

The latest science shows how the pace of sea level rise is speeding up, fuelling fears that not only millions of homes will be under threat, but that vulnerable installations like docks and power plants will be overwhelmed by the waves.

New research using satellite data over a 30-year period shows that around the year 2000 sea level rise was 2mm a year, by 2010 it was 3mm and now it is at 4mm, with the pace of change still increasing.

The calculations were made by a research student, Tadea Veng, at the Technical University of Denmark, which has a special interest in Greenland, where the icecap is melting fast. That, combined with accelerating melting in Antarctica and further warming of the oceans, is raising sea levels across the globe.

…(read more).

 

Greta Thunberg joined by 60,000 at Hamburg climate protest

Global News

Feb 21, 2020

Teen climate activist Greta Thunberg addressed a crowd of over 60,000 people at a Fridays for Future protest in Hamburg, Germany on Friday, where she marched with the demonstrators to push local governments for climate change policy.

“I’m just so happy that we are here together despite the horrible events that took place the other day,” she told the crowd, referring to Wednesday’s deadly shooting in Hanau.

Thunberg began protesting on Fridays outside of the Swedish parliament when she was 15 to push her government to curb carbon emissions. Her campaign gave rise to a grassroots movement that has gone global, inspiring millions of people to take action.

Sanders & Socialism: Debate Between Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman & Socialist Economist Richard Wolff

Democracy Now!

Feb 24, 2020

As Bernie Sanders’s runaway win in Nevada cements his position as the front-runner for the Democratic nomination, the Democratic Party establishment and much of the mainstream media are openly expressing concern about a self-described democratic socialist leading the presidential ticket. His opponents have also attacked his ambitious agenda. Last week during the primary debate in Las Vegas, Bernie Sanders addressed misconceptions about socialism. Invoking the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Sanders decried what he called “socialism for the very rich, rugged individualism for the poor.”

For more, we host a debate on Bernie Sanders and democratic socialism, featuring two well-known economists. Paul Krugman is a New York Times op-ed columnist and author of many books, including his latest, “Arguing with Zombies: Economics, Politics, and the Fight for a Better Future.” One of his recent columns is headlined “Bernie Sanders Isn’t a Socialist.” Richard Wolff is professor emeritus of economics at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and visiting professor at The New School. He is the founder of Democracy at Work and hosts the weekly national television and radio program “Economic Update.” He’s the author of several books, including “Understanding Socialism.”