The United Nations asked nine countries, all of which have experienced significant outbreaks of the COVID-19 virus, to delay rotations of the peacekeeping Blue Helmets by three months
AFP: Coronavirus: UN asks 9 countries to delay peacekeeper rotations
The United Nations on Friday asked nine countries, including China, South Korea and France, to delay by three months the rotations of their UN peacekeeping forces due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The request was made to the countries "to maintain operational strength and execute their mandated tasks," diplomatic sources at the UN said.
The nine countries also include Cambodia, Thailand, Nepal, India, Italy and Germany -- all of which have experienced significant outbreaks of the COVID-19 virus.
The UN peacekeeping missions, known as the Blue Helmets, are under constant reassessment in relation to the rotations of the soldiers and police, who are deployed to the mission by their home countries.
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WNU Editor: They are not saying it directly, but there is a genuine fear that these rotations may bring in soldiers into conflict zones who are infected with the coronavirus.
A day earlier Lake County officials had announced that 119 false voter registration applications had been filed, news outlets reported.
ReplyDeleteHall submitted the forms to the Lake County Supervisor of Elections Office, authorities said. Elections officials flagged the forms because they included incorrect information, including birth dates, Social Security numbers or driver's license numbers.
Some of the forms changed the registrations of Democrats or no party affiliation to Republican, officials said.
Sheriff's investigators said all 119 false forms were assigned to Hall, a registered Republican, to collect. She worked for Florida First's office in Winter Haven. The agency said in an emailed statement that it is working closely with elections officials to “ensure every voter is properly registered to vote."
ReplyDelete(CNN)President Donald Trump sent a message Friday to anyone expecting major economic aid to head off a coronavirus recession: Don't hold your breath.
With financial markets reeling, some economists back direct bailouts for affected workers and businesses to prevent a contraction of the already-slowing American economy. But as he signed the $8.3-billion emergency coronavirus spending bill passed by Congress -- more than triple the amount the White House had requested -- Trump waved off the idea of a new fiscal stimulus to protect America's record-breaking economic expansion, again calling on the Federal Reserve to use its monetary policy tools.
"The Fed should cut and the Fed should stimulate," Trump told me before leaving the White House to tour tornado damage in Tennessee. And he evinced little concern about the chance of recession anytime soon, declaring, "I think we're in great shape."
The President's characteristically upbeat assessment does not match the darkening mood among business analysts as the coronavirus crisis deepens in the US and around the world. Mark Zandi, an economist with Moody's Analytics, now pegs the odds of recession this year at 50%.