News Headlines - 28 March 2020
▽Japan's Abe vows unprecedented stimulus as Tokyo coronavirus cases rise - Reuters
Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Saturday promised an unprecedented package of steps to cushion the world’s third-biggest economy from the coronavirus pandemic, saying the country was close to a national emergency as infections surged.
Abe said the “huge, powerful” measures will include fiscal stimulus, monetary steps and tax breaks for companies, though the details have not been finalised.
▽Abe under attack over his wife’s ‘sakura’ bash with friends : The Asahi Shimbun
Now an internet news site has posted a photo of Abe’s wife, Akie, posing with a number of celebrities in front of a cherry tree.
Normally, that wouldn't be big news. But given calls for the public to refrain from holding cherry blossom viewing parties in light of the new coronavirus epidemic, Abe once again found himself the target of dogged questioning.
The News Post Seven site operated by the Shogakukan Inc. publishing company reported on the cherry viewing by Akie and friends on March 26.
ANGRY mobs rioted near coronavirus-ravaged city Wuhan after leaving quarantine and being told they couldn't travel elsewhere in China.
Shocking footage showed crowds attack cops and overturn police vehicles on a bridge linking Wuhan - the capital of Hubei Province - and neighbouring Jiangxi after the province's Covid-19 lockdown was relaxed.
With the Army's help, the temporary field hospital at New York City's Javits Convention Center could be able to house 2,910 beds, making it one of the largest hospitals in America. Established in record time, the temporary hospital is an example of the surge of federal and military resources into New York to help with the novel coronavirus pandemic, including the Army Corps of Engineers, two Army field hospitals, and the Navy’s hospital ship the USNS Comfort.
Over the last week the Army Corps of Engineers has been busy transforming the convention center’s expansive exposition halls into an overflow medical facility that beginning Monday will treat patients who are not infected with the novel coronavirus. The treatment of non-COVID-19 patients is designed to make it easier for medical facilities in New York to focus treatment on patients infected with the virus.
▽France withdraws troops from Iraq over coronavirus
France will withdraw its contingent of troops from Iraq, mostly trainers to local armed forces, because of the coronavirus pandemic, the chief of staff said on Wednesday.
France has around 200 military personnel working in Iraq either as trainers or in the headquarters of coalition forces in Baghdad... The UK defense ministry had already announced some of its troops would come home, citing a “reduced requirement for training” Iraqi security forces.
