BUSINESS
Pentagon: $10 billion cloud contract that snubbed Amazon was legal
The judge presiding over the bid protest in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims said in March that Amazon’s challenge likely had merit on some technical grounds involving pricing.
BUSINESS
American schools may look radically different as they reopen
Will there be staggered start times? Will students be asked to wear face coverings? Will class sizes be cut in half? What about school assemblies and sports and school buses and lunchtime?
BUSINESS
Elizabeth Warren becomes latest ex-presidential rival to back Joe Biden
“Joe Biden has spent nearly his entire life in public service. He knows that a government run with integrity, competence, and heart will save lives and save livelihoods,” Warren said in a nearly four-minute video announcing her decision. “And we can’t afford to let Donald Trump continue to endanger the lives and livelihoods of every American.”
BUSINESS
Donald Trump looks to ease distancing in places; CEOs urge caution
The industry executives cautioned Trump that the return to normalcy will be anything but swift.
BUSINESS
China tries to revive economy but consumer engine sputters
Factories and shops nationwide shut down starting in late January. Millions of families were told to stay home under unprecedented controls that have been copied by the United States, Europe and India.
BUSINESS
China didn’t warn public of likely pandemic for 6 key days
President Xi Jinping warned the public on the seventh day, Jan. 20. But by that time, more than 3,000 people had been infected during almost a week of public silence, according to internal documents obtained by The Associated Press and expert estimates based on retrospective infection data.
BUSINESS
J&J slashes outlook, races to develop coronavirus vaccine
It’s one of the first major U.S. corporations to report first-quarter earnings and likely a harbinger of things to come as the outbreak disrupts the global economy.
BUSINESS
A rare intervention by the US helped seal crucial OPEC deal
President Donald Trump and a group of U.S. senators wielded political influence to push OPEC and its allies to agree over the weekend to cut production by nearly 10 million barrels per day — about 10% of current global output.
BUSINESS
Adidas cleared for 3 billion euros in rescue loans
The company based in Herzogenaurach, Germany, said Tuesday that it was suspending dividends, share buybacks and 2020 executive bonuses as a condition of getting the loan “to bridge this unprecedented situation.”
BUSINESS
JPMorgan Q1 profit drops 70% as it readies for loan defaults
JPMorgan said Tuesday that first-quarter profit plunged nearly 70%, as it boosted its reserves for potentially bad loans by nearly $7 billion. The bank warned it could boost those reserves even further in the April-June period,
BUSINESS
Great Depression-sized slowdown seen, but some light appears
The wave of layoffs and furloughs have been massive. Companies continue to shed jobs, though most vow to bring people back into the workplace as soon as it is safe.
WORLD
How to end coronavirus lockdowns? Technology, tests, coordination
As governments grapple with when and how to reopen their countries for business, the International Monetary Fund projected that the world economy will suffer its worst year since the Great Depression in the 1930s.
WORLD
Could old vaccines for other germs protect against COVID-19?
The World Health Organization issued a stern warning Monday not to use the TB vaccine against COVD-19, unless and until studies prove it works.
WORLD
China's mask diplomacy a hit in virus-plagued Eastern Europe
The aid shipments also drew praise in Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Slovakia, although some Chinese shipments of coronavirus testing kits and face masks turned out to be faulty or defective.
SPORTS-TRENDS
Athletes completing bans get unexpected chance at Olympics
The 2020 Olympics were officially postponed last month for one year, with the opening ceremony now set for July 23, 2021.
BUSINESS
Health or wealth? Nations pressured to loosen coronavirus rules
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said his government must balance its response to the virus crisis that “threatens to destroy lives and at the same time destroy the economic and social fabric of our country.”
WORLD
Navy reports first coronavirus death from Roosevelt crew
Over the weekend, four additional Roosevelt crew members were admitted to the hospital for monitoring of coronavirus symptoms, the Navy said. All are in stable condition and none are in intensive care or on ventilators.
BUSINESS
Disney World furloughing 43,000 more workers due to coronavirus
Disney World’s theme parks, entertainment district and hotels closed in mid-March, and Disney has been paying its workers while they stay at home.
BUSINESS
Chinese mask maker rushing to fill orders, has $50 mn in orders
Wuhan Zonsen, which makes masks and disinfection wipes, says $US50 million ($A79 million) in orders from European countries and the United States will keep them at full production capacity until June.
BUSINESS
Signs missed and steps slowed in Trump’s pandemic response
Interviewed at Davos, a gathering of global elites in the Swiss Alps, the president on Jan. 22 played down the threat posed by the respiratory virus from China, which had just reached American shores in the form of a solitary patient in Washington state.
BUSINESS
Russia slaps US for ignoring Gagarin on Spaceflight Day
The United Nations General Assembly in 2011 proclaimed the annual observance held on the anniversary of the solo one-orbit mission that made Gagarin the first man in space on April 12, 1961.
WORLD
A city under siege: 24 hours in the fight to save New York
Calls have flooded in from seniors, who are at higher risk from the virus and are hunkering down. Others used to count on care from their adult children, now forced to keep a safe distance.
BUSINESS
In a test of faith, Christians mark Good Friday in isolation
A small group of clerics are to hold a closed-door service in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, built on the site where Christians believe Jesus was crucified, buried and rose from the dead. They will then walk the Via Dolorosa, the ancient route where he is believed to have carried the cross before his execution at the hands of the Romans.
BUSINESS
US job losses surge as world leaders urge Easter distancing
In other developments, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was moved out of intensive care at the London hospital where he is being treated for the virus. The 55-year-old had taken a turn for the worse early in the week as his country descended into its biggest crisis since World War II.
