Author: The Board

France uses special trains to evacuate coronavirus patients from overwhelmed hospitals

France on Sunday staged its largest evacuation of coronavirus patients to date from hospitals in the hard-hit east, increasing efforts to free up intensive care units as officials brace for even more serious cases in the coming days.

The two specially modified TGV high-speed trains carried 36 patients from Mulhouse and Nancy toward hospitals along France’s western coast, in an effort to free up intensive care units as officials brace for even more serious cases in the coming days. Source The Local

Palermo, 20 families try to loot the supermarket: “We have no money” (Italy)

“We have no money and we don’t want to pay.” Moments of tension at the Lidl of viale Regione Siciliana, near the bridge of viale Lazio, in Palermo. Chaos inside the supermarket, with the intervention of police and carabinieri, because of some people, coming from outside the city who would literally fill the shopping carts and then try to go out without paying for the goods.There would be around twenty families in all. Outside the usual line and inside chaos would break out , so much so that the police had to intervene. The situation is still tense but in the process of being resolved. Source Blogsicilia

Russian oil firm Rosneft ends Venezuela business as US ups pressure

Vladimir Putin’s government has taken control of Rosneft’s Venezuelan assets to try and sidestep US sanctions. The move comes shortly after the US indicted Nicolas Maduro and other officials over narcotrafficking. Russian oil production giant Rosneft said Saturday it had ceased operating in Venezuela and transferred its assets to a company own entirely by the Russian government. Source Deutsche Welle

German minister in home state of financial centre dies by suicide amid coronavirus crisis

Thomas Schaefer, who had led the finance ministry of Hesse for almost ten years, was found dead next to train tracks near Frankfurt, according to a police investigation, Reuters reported on Sunday.

Police and the public prosecutor’s office confirmed the news of Schaefer’s death in a joint statement on Saturday, according to the report.

They gave no information on the motive, but said they reached the conclusion he had committed suicide from “extensive crime scene work, the questioning of numerous witnesses, the situation on-site and the technical and forensic evaluations and investigations.” Source bdnews24

Social upheaval and mass bankruptcies are coming: cash and gold reign supreme.

The global financial system with its two powerful pillars – the IMF and the World Bank – continues to play a big role. It needs to cope not only with the pecuniary processes but also with other global occurrences because these have a direct impact on markets, stock exchanges, manufacturing and services. The outbreak of the notorious epidemic that is on everyone’s lips is just such an event. It has economically impacted China, the world’s factory, and now it – or rather the precautions are taken against it – is ravaging Europe and the United States. Businesses are ordered to stop operating or to limit their activities while people need to make their living if only to pay the fixed costs such as rent, credit, leasing, employee remuneration and the like. Yes, governments offer solutions and these include tax exemptions or they provide citizens with unearned money just to allow them to survive. Does it not resemble the quantitative easing of a few years ago? Yet, the divergence between the amount of money available and the amount of goods and services is not going to ameliorate the economic problems.

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