Americas
* U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she believed lawmakers are very close to a deal on approving extra money to help small businesses hurt by the pandemic.*Demonstrations to demand an end to stay-at-home measures that have pummeled the U.S. economy spread to Texas on Saturday as the governor at the epicenter of the U.S. CCP virus crisis said his state of New York may finally be past the worst.
* U.S. President Donald Trump warned China that it should face consequences if it was “knowingly responsible” for the coronavirus pandemic, as he ratcheted up criticism of Beijing over its handling of the outbreak.
* Mexican Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell said on Saturday that Mexico has registered 7,497 confirmed virus cases and 650 deaths.
* Thirty-two Guatemalan illegal immigrants on a deportation flight from the United States earlier this week have now tested positive for the virus, according to the Central American nation’s health ministry.
Europe
* President Vladimir Putin said that Russian authorities had the CCP virus crisis under full control and that everything would work out with God’s help. Russia on Sunday reported a record rise of 6,060 new virus cases over the previous 24 hours, bringing its nationwide tally to 42,853.* Ireland is highly unlikely to allow large gatherings this year and the “cocooning” of people over 70 years old in their homes may persist for quite a while, Health Minister Simon Harris said.
* A delivery of protective equipment for British health workers that was due on Sunday from Turkey has been delayed, a British government official said, as medics on the frontline of the virus outbreak increasingly report shortages of gear.
* Britain is not considering lifting the lockdown imposed almost four weeks ago to control the virus outbreak given “deeply worrying” increases in the death toll, a senior minister said.
Asia-Pacific
* Chinese authorities remained on guard against a major resurgence and monitored the spread of CCP virus cases in Heilongjiang province.* Australia added to growing pressure on China over its handling of the CCP virus, questioning its transparency and demanding an international investigation into the origins of the virus and how it spread.
* South Korea extended its social distancing policy for another 15 days but offered some relief for churches and sporting fixtures, as it reported just eight new coronavirus infections, the lowest in two months.
* Indonesia’s death toll from the virus has likely reached 1,000, nearly double the official figure of 535, Indonesian Doctors Association (IDI) chairman Daeng Faqih was quoted saying.
Middle East and Africa
* Health ministers from the Group of 20 major economies began a virtual meeting on Sunday to work on a joint response to the pandemic, Saudi Arabian state television reported.* Saudi Arabia’s highest religious body, the Council of Senior Scholars, urged Muslims worldwide to pray at home during Ramadan if their countries require social distancing to combat the virus, state news agency SPA reported.
* Turkey’s confirmed virus cases have risen to 82,329, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said.
Economic Fallout
* Neiman Marcus Group is preparing to seek bankruptcy protection as soon as this week, becoming the first major U.S. department store operator to succumb to the economic fallout from the virus outbreak, people familiar with the matter said.* The founder and director of top Singapore oil-trading company Hin Leong Trading Pte Ltd (HLT) directed the firm not to disclose hundreds of millions of dollars in losses over several years, he said in a court filing reviewed by Reuters.
*Europe will need at least another 500 billion euros from European Union institutions to finance its economic recovery after the virus pandemic, on top of the agreed half-a-trillion package, the head of the euro zone bailout fund said.
* Canada will invest C$2.5 billion ($1.8 billion) in measures to help the hard-hit oil and gas industry during the virus outbreak, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.
* Global stocks rallied on President Donald Trump’s plans to revive the virus-hit U.S. economy and a report about a clinical trial for a potential drug to treat COVID-19.
* China’s economy contracted for the first time on record in the first quarter as the CCP virus shut down factories and shopping malls and put millions out of work.
