March 16, 2020

Daily News Brief

March 16, 2020

Top of the Agenda

Virus Epicenter Shifts to Europe Despite Global Containment Measures 

Europe is now the epicenter (BBC) of the coronavirus pandemic, the World Health Organization announced. Countries including France and Spain shut down (Guardian) bars, restaurants, and schools, while Germany partially closed its borders (DW) with five countries. European Union interior and health ministers are holding a videoconference (Politico) today to discuss border policies.

The U.S. Federal Reserve announced it would cut interest rates to zero (WaPo) and buy at least $700 billion in bonds. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended canceling gatherings (WaPo) of over fifty people for eight weeks. Half a billion children worldwide are out of school due to coronavirus closures, according to the United Nations.

Analysis

“So far all European countries are on the same COVID-19 trajectory. We are all becoming Italy in some weeks on this trajectory,” tweets the European Council on Foreign Relations’s Carl Bildt.

“Travel restrictions have neither stopped the spread of this novel coronavirus nor prevented it from becoming a pandemic. Early research and scenario analysis, however, suggest the combination of the travel restrictions within China and international travel restrictions against China may have delayed the spread of COVID-19, but more so in nations that use that time to reduce community spread of the virus,” Samantha Kiernan, Madeleine DeVita, and Thomas J. Bollyky write for CFR’s Think Global Health initiative.

Pacific Rim

Chinese Industrial Production Declines 13.5 Percent

New official economic data shows that China’s industrial production in January and February fell 13.5 percent (SCMP) from 2019, far more than the median 4 percent drop forecast by a Bloomberg poll of analysts. Fixed asset investment, which gauges spending on infrastructure, property, machinery, and equipment, fell 24.5 percent.

South and Central Asia

Afghan Government Delays Prisoner Release

The Afghan government said it has delayed (RFE/RL) the release of 1,500 Taliban prisoners in order to guarantee the prisoners would not return to fighting.

This CFR Backgrounder looks at the Taliban in Afghanistan.

India: Top Jammu officials met with the president (Times of India) of the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference party, Farooq Abdullah, after he was released (Al Jazeera) from a seven-month detention.

In Foreign Affairs, Pratap Bhanu Mehta discusses the Indian government’s crackdown in Kashmir.

Middle East and North Africa

Israel’s Gantz Asked to Form Government

Blue and White alliance leader Benny Gantz was given twenty-eight days to form a coalition (Haaretz) after winning the backing of lawmakers including those from the Joint List alliance of Arab-majority parties.

Saudi Arabia: Authorities detained (FT) nearly three hundred public servants in the latest phase of an anticorruption investigation.

Sub-Saharan Africa

Sudan Offers Mediation on Nile Dam Dispute

The head of Sudan’s sovereign council said the country would mediate a yearslong dispute (AP) between Egypt and Ethiopia over the construction of a dam on the Nile River.  

Nigeria: An explosion at a gas processing plant (Reuters) in a Lagos suburb killed at least fifteen people and damaged around fifty buildings.

Europe

Turnout Drops in French Elections

Turnout in the first round of French local elections fell to 45 percent (FT), a drop of 20 percentage points from elections in 2014. French President Emmanuel Macron’s party fared poorly, according to preliminary results, while incumbent Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo led the city’s preliminary vote count.

Belgium: Ten political parties agreed to grant the government special emergency powers (Brussels Times) to confront the coronavirus. Belgium has been run by a caretaker government for more than a year amid a political standoff (Reuters).

Americas

Brazil’s Bolsonaro Breaks Isolation to Attend Rally

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro greeted crowds (Reuters) at a rally in his honor, despite being advised to isolate himself after several associates tested positive for coronavirus.

Cuba: Authorities released (Reuters) dissident artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara after facing widespread criticism for his March 1 arrest on charges including insulting national symbols.

United States

Biden, Sanders Propose Aggressive Virus Responses in Debate

Former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders proposed aggressive responses to the coronavirus in a Democratic presidential debate (CNN) with no studio audience. Biden said he would approach the virus “like a war,” while Sanders called for broad health-care reform. Biden committed to choosing a woman as his running mate, while Sanders said he would do so “in all likelihood.”

CFR tracks the presidential hopefuls’ comments on a range of foreign policy issues.

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