News Headlines - 27 March 2020
▽Son Has Now Pledged 40% of His Stake in SoftBank to Lenders - Bloomberg
Masayoshi Son pledged an extra 10.1 million SoftBank Group Corp. shares to lenders in the past two weeks as he unveiled an ambitious plan to overhaul his Japanese conglomerate and silence critics.
Son has now committed 227 million SoftBank shares as collateral, worth about $8 billion, according to regulatory filings. That’s about 40% of his 27% stake in the publicly traded conglomerate. The newly pledged shares were worth about $360 million at Friday’s close... Son’s net worth is $12 billion, which excludes the value of the pledged shares. It has fallen $3.6 billion so far this year and has been one of the more volatile fortunes tracked by Bloomberg.
▽Petition urging WHO head to resign gets traction | NHK WORLD
An online petition calling for the head of the World Health Organization to resign over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic has received over 560,000 signatures worldwide.
The petition on the US-based Change.org platform says that Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is unfit for his role as WHO Director-General. It says the spread of the coronavirus is partly due to his underestimation of the situation.
▽4 Passengers Dead Aboard Cruise Ship Anchored Off Panama - The New York Times
Four passengers have died aboard a cruise ship now anchored off the coast of Panama and two people aboard the ship have tested positive for the coronavirus, the cruise line said Friday, with hundreds of passengers unsure how long they will remain at sea.
Holland America Line said in a post on its Facebook page that more than 130 people aboard the Zaandam had reported flu-like symptoms.
Hanshin Tigers players Shintaro Fujinami, Hayata Ito and Kenya Nagasaka have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the team confirmed Friday.
A day after it became known that 25-year-old pitcher Fujinami tested positive for the virus, the infections of outfielder Ito and catcher Nagasaka, two teammates he was known to have dined with, were also announced.
▽Cat catches coronavirus in third known human-to-animal transmission | Metro News
A woman has infected her cat with coronavirus in only the third known case of human-to-animal transmission across the world. The virus was detected in the cat’s faeces after it experienced diarrhoea, vomiting and breathing difficulties, the country’s Public Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment body (FPS) said during a press conference today. The unidentified owner, who is from Liege in the country’s French-speaking Wallonia region, had close contact with her pet, which is now recovering from the virus, authorities added.
