Instant View: Fed sees GDP falling 6.5% in 2020, keeps rates at zero

#BUNKERBOYTRUMP twitter feed is going to be popping.

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The U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday signaled years of extraordinary support for an economy facing a torturous slog back from the coronavirus pandemic, with policymakers projecting a 6.5% decline in gross domestic product this year and a 9.3% unemployment rate at year’s end.

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Tamil Nadu lawmaker dies from Covid-19 on his birthday as disease spreads at ‘lightning speed’ in the state, South Asia News & Top Stories – The Straits Times

“A major factor is that Tamil Nadu’s contact tracing is not rigorous enough, and testing was not systematic until late May,” said Dr T. Sundararaman, a public health expert. Even after the nationwide lockdown and closure of flights, trains and buses, the state tested only cases with travel history and direct contact with Covid-19 patients. Only since late May did it begin to test people with coronavirus symptoms. But it still does not test patients suspected of having died from the disease. This leads to a misleadingly low death rate and no tracing of the contacts of the deceased.

Source: Tamil Nadu lawmaker dies from Covid-19 on his birthday as disease spreads at ‘lightning speed’ in the state, South Asia News & Top Stories – The Straits Times

Coronavirus cases spike in southwestern US | News | DW | 10.06.2020

Cases in Arizona — one of the first states to reopen in mid-May — have increased 115% since the lockdown eased. A former state health chief warned that a new stay-at-home order or field hospitals may be needed. Utah and New Mexico all posted rises of 40% or higher for the week ended Sunday, compared with the prior seven days, according to a Reuters analysis. California has also seen an uptick in cases and has placed nine counties on a watch list, meaning harsher coronavirus measures could be reinstated. The counties the list include Los Angeles, Santa Clara and Fresno ­­— where 18 million of California’s 39 million residents live, reported Reuters.

Source: Coronavirus cases spike in southwestern US | News | DW | 10.06.2020

Coronavirus: Hospitals overwhelmed in Delhi and other major Indian cities, South Asia News & Top Stories – The Straits Times

In Mr Jain’s case, the first two hospitals refused to take his brother-in-law, saying there were no beds. He was admitted by a third hospital but it discharged him after he tested positive for Covid 19, saying it did not have an isolation ward.

“They had no ambulances so I had to arrange for a private ambulance. The ambulance didn’t have an oxygen cylinder. I begged the hospital to give me one but they refused,” said Mr Jain.

A fourth hospital also had no beds and referred him to a fifth, where he and his sister, the wife of the patient, had to physically move the sick man from the ambulance to the room because health workers were overwhelmed by other Covid 19 cases.

Tragically, Mr Jain’s brother-in-law, a businessman, died on June 3 from Covid 19. Mr Jain’s sister and her children, aged 21, 18 and 12, have tested positive and are now in home quarantine.

Mr Jain said: “He passed away before my eyes. The hospital said you should cremate the body yourself. At the crematorium, me and my nephew, 18, bought PPE kits, which is sold there and we had to do the last rites ourselves.

Source: Coronavirus: Hospitals overwhelmed in Delhi and other major Indian cities, South Asia News & Top Stories – The Straits Times

Chile’s women’s minister, Pinochet’s great-niece, resigns following backlash

Finally a good decision.

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Macarena Santelices oversaw a string of controversial decisions, prompting #WeDoNotHaveAMinister to trend

Chile’s women and gender minister, a great-niece of the late dictator Augusto Pinochet, has resigned after just a month following a furious backlash to her appointment and a string of misssteps in office.

Macarena Santelices stood down on Tuesday, tweeting: “The day it is understood that women’s rights are not political – that they belong to all and for all – we can move forward.”

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Trump orders fleet of icebreakers and new bases in push for polar resources

ROTFLMAO – some looney #BUNKERBOYTRUMP strategist thinks he/she can reinvent 1960’s missile gap with icebreaker gap! LOL. Try drinking straight with no ice – folks –

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  • President orders plan for Arctic and Antarctic in 60 days
  • Military experts sceptical of ‘icebreaker gap’ with Russia

Donald Trump has ordered the construction of a fleet of icebreakers and bases to pursue US interests in the Arctic and Antarctic by the end of the decade in a signal that his administration is going to take a more aggressive approach to the contest with Russia and China for polar resources.

Related: Ice-free Arctic summers now very likely even with climate action

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