News headlines for “Free Trade and Globalization”, page 237
The COVID-19 Pandemic and the Reinvention of the Spirit of Solidarity and Cooperation
- Inter Press Service
GENEVA, Apr 30 (IPS) - An invisible adversary has thrown the world – Global South and Global North alike – into disarray. The psychosocial and economic consequences of the COVID-19 crisis will remain with us long after it has been overcome.
There will be no anti-viral return to the pre-coronavirus status quo, nor can we afford to idly wait for a viral transformation of our world. The future is not inevitable, abstract promise – it will depend on our collective readiness to forge it, or to be forged by it.
Public Health and Epidemics
- Inter Press Service
STOCKHOLM / ROME, Apr 30 (IPS) - For some time Wuhan in China and Lombardy in Italy were epicentres of the COVID-19 virus, something that has changed when the contagion is spreading fast in the US.
A Lombardy in the grip of a deadly epidemic might among several Italians give rise to memories of their school days. For almost a century, Alessando Manzoni's massive novel The Betrothed (I promessi sposi) from 1842 has been obligatory reading for all Italians during their last primary school year. A quite impressive endeavour considering that the novel is more than 700 pages long.
Amid Covid-19 Hunger Fear Mounts in Bangladesh
- Inter Press Service
DHAKA, Bangladesh, Apr 29 (IPS) - The world is at risk of widespread famines caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The devastating economic impact of Covid-19 is seeing a huge rise globally in the number of hungry people.
Argentina’s Debt Restructuring “Groundhog Day”… or Maybe Not? Three Key Points
- Inter Press Service
BUENOS AIRES, Apr 29 (IPS) - On April 17, the Alberto Ángel Fernández administration in Argentina officially unveiled its offer for debt restructuring on USD 66 billion foreign currency-denominated bonds.
Starting on that date, the offer is valid for 20 days, a period during which difficult negotiations with bondholders are expected to take place.
Based on the first reactions from some of creditor groups, one could well get the sense that the offer is "dead on arrival."
Pandemic Lays Bare Africa’s Deficits, but Youth Will Grow the Future
- Inter Press Service
IBADAN, Nigeria, Apr 29 (IPS) - Africa's frailties have been brutally exposed by the coronavirus pandemic. The virus has reached nearly every country on this continent of 1.3 billion people and the World Health Organization warns there could be 10 million cases within six months. Ten countries have no ventilators at all.
Electricity Demand During Lockdown: Evidence from Argentina
- Inter Press Service
BUENOS AIRES, Apr 28 (IPS) - Electricity demand normally depends on such variables as retail electricity rates, daytime temperature, time and day of the week, economic activity and consumer type (i.e. residential, commercial, industrial, etc.).
Understanding the Hunger Surge Caused by the COVID-19 Recession to Mitigate It Before It Is Too Late
- Inter Press Service
ROME, Apr 28 (IPS) - Many uncertainties haunt the world's campaign to counter the COVID-19 pandemic, but one thing is now sure: Global economic activity will suffer greatly, with large-scale consequences for the incomes and welfare of all, but especially for the most vulnerable food import-dependent countries.
Staring at a Human Security Catastrophe
- Inter Press Service
NEW DELHI, Apr 28 (IPS) - The defining images of South Asia's battle against Covid-19 are hundreds of thousands of migrants, many with children on their shoulders, trudging from New Delhi, Kathmandu or Dhaka to their far-flung villages. They are daily wage earners engaged in construction, small enterprises, plying rickshaws or street selling in the informal sector.
With lockdowns and economic activity shut down to combat the virus, these migrants lost their low-paying jobs and were forced to flee to their rural homes. Those who remained in these cities face food insecurity, rising joblessness and risk falling deeper into poverty.
All-of-Government, Whole-of-Society Involvement Needed to Fight Virus
- Inter Press Service
SYDNEY and KUALA LUMPUR, Apr 28 (IPS) - The Covid-19 pandemic is now widely considered more threatening than any other recent viral epidemic. Most believe that many more have been infected or even died than officially confirmed.
Citizen Action is Central to the Global Response to COVID-19
- Inter Press Service
NEW YORK and MANILA, Apr 22 (IPS) - The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has created an unprecedented human and economic crisis. Governments are taking strong actions, enforcing quarantines to reduce contagion, testing populations, building emergency intensive care units. Governments have also launched large fiscal stimulus plans to protect jobs and the economy, as well as temporary social protection programs such as income/food support, subsidies to utilities and care services.
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