With gas lines across Venezuela growing, a controversial shipping magnate has stepped in to prevent the country from running out of fuel amid the coronavirus pandemic, The Associated Press has learned. The fuel shortage, in the nation that sits atop the world largest crude reserves, is the latest threat to Nicolas Maduro's rule at a time he is under intense U.S. pressure to resign. Wilmer Ruperti’s Maroil Trading Inc. billed state-owned oil monopoly PDVSA 12 million euros last month for the purchase of up to 250,000 barrels of 95-octane gasoline, according to a copy of the invoice obtained by AP.

Fri, 03 Apr 2020 16:50:35 -0400

(Bloomberg) -- France reported its deadliest day from the coronavirus amid tentative signs that the pandemic may be easing in Spain and Italy.The health ministry in Paris reported 588 hospital deaths, the most yet, bringing the figure to 5,091 since the beginning of the outbreak. In contrast, new infections slowed and fatalities declined in Spain for the first time in four days, as infections stabilized in Italy. Together, the three countries account for more than half the deaths worldwide in the pandemic.Austria could become one of the first in the region to loosen restrictions that have shut down much of public life. Chancellor Sebastian Kurz’s government will review data and consider a plan in coming days to gradually restart the economy, the Austrian leader told parliament in Vienna on Friday.“Let’s not jump to conclusions because there are some positive signals,” Kurz said. “I can promise you, if the numbers support it, we’ll do what we can to return to normality step by step.”Despite the pockets of improvement, governments have little leeway to unwind lockdowns that have devasted the region’s economy. IHS Markit said its monthly measure of services and manufacturing in the euro area points to an annualized contraction of about 10%. With new business, confidence and employment all down, there is “worse inevitably to come in the near future,” it said.Signs emerged that squabbling national leaders are coalescing around an aid package. Euro-area finance ministers are set to agree on a coronavirus aid package of 500 billion euros ($540 billion) next week, the group’s leader, Portugal’s Mario Centeno told Sueddeutsche Zeitung.Germany is planning to set up an extra 300 billion-euro aid program to help small- and medium-sized companies, and Switzerland doubled the amount of state credit guarantees for businesses to 40 billion francs ($41 billion).In another positive development, German Chancellor Angela Merkel left her precautionary quarantine. After ending 12 days in voluntary self-isolation in Berlin, Merkel will continue to observe social-distancing standards, government spokesman Steffen Seibert told reporters.The chancellor, who this week prolonged a nationwide lockdown until April 19, addressed the public Friday from the chancellery for the first time since the quarantine, making a plea to stay home and avoid social contact through the Easter holiday.Even though a slight slowing of the spread of the disease offers “some hope,” she said it was far too early to set a target date for easing restrictions.Europe’s longest-serving leader took center stage in Germany’s fight against the virus with a rare televised address to the nation on March 18, in which she called the pandemic the country’s gravest challenge since World War II.Lockdown ReviewKurz, who wore a face mask before and after his speech, urged Austrians to persevere with measures to limit contact between people and asked them to refrain from celebrating the Easter holiday with large gatherings of families and friends. His government will review virus statistics with epidemiology experts on Sunday and present its plans on Monday.Growth in new infections in Austria has decreased to less than 5% per day. The number of daily fatalities has fallen for four straight days this week.Spain’s Health Ministry on Friday reported 932 new deaths and 7,472 cases over the latest 24-hour period, both smaller gains than the previous day. The dip in the daily figures could lead to less pressure on overwhelmed hospitals. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s government is looking to extend the current lockdown for another two weeks beyond April 11, Spanish media reported.Italy reported 4,585 new infections, while there were 766 fatalities compared with 760 in the previous 24-hour period, civil protection authorities said at their daily news conference in Rome.The pace of both new deaths and new infections has flattened out over past days, even as the containment measures shuttering all non-essential activities and banning most movement take a heavy toll on the economy. In total, the country had 119,827 cases and 14,681 deaths.In France, daily intensive-care admissions fell for a fourth day, adding to signs that lockdown measures across Europe may be helping to bring the outbreak under control. The total number of fatalities is 6,507, including 1,416 deaths from nursing homes -- data that was partially included for the first time on Thursday.Despite Merkel returning to work, Germany’s fight against the outbreak suffered a setback. Fatalities and confirmed cases rose by more than the previous day on Friday, with total deaths climbing past 1,000. The mortality rate is probably underestimated because of insufficient testing, according to Lothar Wieler, president of the Robert Koch Institute.The country -- which has 84,794 infections, the third-most in Europe -- may still need additional intensive-care space, even after boosting capacity by more than 40% since the crisis began, the head of Germany’s public health authority said.“My personal appraisal is that it will not be enough,” Wieler said at a press briefing. “I would be happy to be wrong.”For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

Fri, 03 Apr 2020 14:41:49 -0400

The speaker said with coronavirus moving quickly across the U.S. communities “can’t afford to wait”

Fri, 03 Apr 2020 14:29:51 -0400

Americans are expected to be advised to wear cloth masks in public, after the US reported more than 1,000 coronavirus-related deaths in the highest single day death toll in the world.The Trump administration is formalising new guidance which will advise citizens to use non-medical masks, T-shirts or scarves over their mouths and noses while outdoors – although the president said it would not be mandatory.

Fri, 03 Apr 2020 14:08:00 -0400

Delta Air Lines is is allowing travelers who planned to fly in April and May the ability to re-book or change until May 31, 2022. See who's eligible.

Fri, 03 Apr 2020 13:37:39 -0400

The granddaughter of Robert F. Kennedy and her 8-year-old son were missing on Friday after they took a canoe out into rough waters on Chesapeake Bay, near Annapolis, on Thursday evening.Maeve Kennedy Townsend McKean, 40, and her son, Gideon, rowed the canoe out around 4 p.m. to fetch a ball that had been kicked into the water by children playing in their yard, Maeve’s husband, David McKean, told The Washington Post. “They just got farther out then they could handle, and couldn’t get back in,” he said.Emergency services said they received calls around 4:30 p.m. about a pair in a canoe struggling to return to shore. An overturned canoe matching the description of the one that went missing was recovered, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources police said. A search for the pair continued on Friday after it was suspended when night fell on Thursday.Thursday was very windy and an ocean storm off the coast of New England made conditions treacherous.“At 4:30 p.m., our 911 Center received a call from a concerned citizen,” Anne Arundel County Fire Department said in a statement. “The caller stated he saw two people in a small canoe or kayak drifting in the bay. A water rescue assignment was dispatched to the area bringing marine resources to the area. Firefighters arrived at the pier and confirmed the sighting of two people in a small vessel several miles from the pier drifting south in the Chesapeake Bay.”The Fire Department said boats and helicopters began a search of the Chesapeake Bay and, at 7 p.m., the kayak and a paddle were recovered. The search was called off at 7:30 p.m.McKean is executive director of the Georgetown University Global Health Initiative and the daughter of former Maryland Lieutenant Governor Kathleen Kennedy Townsend. She is the grand-niece of former President John F. Kennedy.Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan confirmed the suspected drowning on Friday and said an “intensive search” was underway.“I spoke with the former lieutenant governor and, on behalf of the people of Maryland, I expressed our most heartfelt sympathies to her and to her entire family,” he said. McKean served in the Peace Corps in Mozambique before returning home in 2002 to help her mother, Kathleen, campaign for governor of Maryland. She also worked for Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), where she met her husband, also a human rights lawyer. McKean worked on the State Department’s global AIDS program and on human rights in the Department of Health and Human Services during the Obama administration.The Kennedy family has endured an extraordinary amount of tragedy over several generations, from the high-profile assassinations of McKean’s grandfather and great-uncle to the fatal plane crash that killed John F. Kennedy Jr., to the deaths by heart attack of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s ex-wife, Mary, and niece, Kara, in 2012 and 2011 respectively.Just last year, McKean’s cousin, Saoirse Roisin Kennedy Hill, died of an accidental drug overdose at the Kennedy family compound in Cape Cod.In a 2003 New York Times profile on her marriage to David, McKean was described as a free spirit who was, according to her father David L. Townsend, “always playful, a kind of Annie Oakley character.”The pair were married at the Woman’s National Democratic Club, a sprawling Washington mansion, and told the Times that they bonded over everything from literature to politics and social justice. “We’re very much in love,” Maeve told the newspaper. “And we’re kind of cheesy, too.”Gideon is the couple’s first child and was reportedly named after a Supreme Court case that ordered states to pay for public defenders. They have another son and daughter.Maeve McKean’s sister, Kerry Kennedy Meltzer, is an ER doctor who has been working on the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City.Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

Fri, 03 Apr 2020 13:16:26 -0400

Italy was engaged in a war of words with Russia on Friday over allegations Moscow hid spies among doctors it had sent to the country's coronavirus epicentre near Milan. The unusual exchange between the traditionally friendly nations followed the publication of an Italian newspaper story about the purportedly nefarious nature of the Russian mission. It was a chance for Russian President Vladimir Putin to exert "soft power" at a moment of dire weakness for the West.

Fri, 03 Apr 2020 12:54:49 -0400