Confronting the risks: corporate debt in the wake of the pandemic
As European economies emerge from lockdowns, it is becoming clearer that corporate debt has reached critical levels. A new French scheme, in which the state guarantees portfolios of subordinated debt, shows how financial support could be targeted better.
The social cost of carbon and inequality
The social cost of carbon is a monetary metric for the damage caused by the emission of an additional tonne of CO2. Previous literature has shown that accounting for inequality between countries significantly influences the social cost of carbon, but mostly omits heterogeneity below the national level. Using a model that features heterogeneity both between and within countries, this column demonstrates that climate and distributional policy can generally not be separated. In particular, it shows that a higher social cost of carbon may be called for globally under realistic expectations of existing inequality.
Mexico agrees domestic production of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine
Mexico will produce Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19 domestically, its foreign minister said on a visit to Moscow, in a TV interview shared on Wednesday on the official Sputnik V Twitter feed run by the fund marketing the vaccine.
Hong Kong passes immigration bill, raising alarm over ‘exit bans’
Hong Kong’s legislature passed on Wednesday a controversial immigration bill, which lawyers, diplomats and right groups fear will give authorities unlimited powers to prevent residents and others from entering or leaving the Chinese-ruled city. The government has dismissed those fears as “complete nonsense,” saying the legislation, which will come into effect on Aug. 1, merely […]
Myanmar unity government tells ASEAN no talks until prisoners freed
Myanmar’s pro-democracy unity government, which includes members of parliament ousted by the military coup, has told Southeast Asia’s regional bloc that it will not engage in talks until the junta releases all political prisoners. The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has been trying to find a path for Myanmar out of a bloody […]
From Amazon to Tata, industry steps up to combat India’s coronavirus crisis
Sachin Ravikumar, Nivedita Bhattacharjee, Chris Thomas Global and Indian firms are flexing their industrial muscle to help the world’s second biggest population battle coronavirus, coming to the rescue of a public health system buckling under the weight of surging infections and deaths. Amazon.com (AMZN.O), Intel (INTC.O) and Google, as well as Indian firms Tata Sons, Reliance Industries (RELI.NS) and JSW […]
A cargo ship carrying ten Chinese sailors was infected with Another variant of Covid-19
Chinese officials did not say whether they had been infected with the coronavirus variant that is rapidly spreading in India. Medical experts in Zhejiang, a coastal province, told reporters that 11 cases of foreign-made Covid-19 infections, including 10 from India, had been confirmed in the last day from Zhoushan port, all among the ship’s 20 […]
Yemen’s Houthis say fired drone at southern Saudi air base
Yemen’s Houthi forces on Wednesday launched a drone at a military air base in the southern Saudi Arabian city of Khamis Mushait, the group’s military spokesman said on Twitter. A Saudi-led coalition battling the Iran-aligned movement said Saudi Arabian air defences had intercepted and destroyed a drone fired towards the kingdom, state news agency SPA […]
Australia marks 25 years since worst mass shooting
Australia marked the 25th anniversary of the country’s worst mass shooting on Wednesday in which a lone gunman killed 35 people and forced authorities to implement some of the world’s toughest gun laws. Martin Bryant went on a shooting spree on April 28, 1996 at a cafe and tourist site at the former colonial prison […]
India’s coronavirus death toll surpasses 200,000 after record case surge
India’s COVID-19 death toll surged past 200,000 on Wednesday as shortages of oxygen, medical supplies and hospital staff compounded a record number of new cases of the virus.
