GEOPolitics Today ... Tuesday, 10 March 2020

GEOPOLITICS: Geopolitics Today ... Tuesday, 10 March 2020
By: Iain Fraser - Consultant Editor
Málaga Technology Centre

Good Morning from a sunny but still nippy Malaga. Here is my round-up of the trending global factors affecting Geopolitics Today - Tuesday, 10 March 2020 ...

AGAIN CORONAVIRUS dominates the news with Italy waking up to its first day of "lockdown" as Italy extends emergency measures nationwide which include travel restrictions and a ban on public gatherings, to the entire country.

Italy's coronavirus death toll jumped from 366 to 463 on Monday. It is the worst-hit country after China with cases of the virus have been confirmed in all 20 Italian regions. Italy's first confirmed case is out of ICU for the first time since he tested positive for the virus on 21 February. The death toll in the country stands at 463. The number of infections worldwide is now more than 111,000, with about 3,890 deaths.

Elsewhere in the World everyone arriving in Israel will be required to self-quarantine for 14 days, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced. Iran has reported 43 new deaths related to the disease in the past 24 hours. At least 237 people have died and 7,161 have been infected across the country since mid-February, although the real figures are believed to be far higher.

Canada has confirmed the first death related to the virus, In France, Culture Minister Franck Riester has become the first member of the government to be infected with the virus. His team said he had spent several days of the past week in parliament, where a number of other cases have been confirmed. Meanwhile in the US, the number of confirmed cases now exceeds 500.

China, which has recorded the highest number of fatalities, reported just 40 new cases of Covid-19,
the lowest since 20 January. Although this indicates that the spread there is slowing, senior officials
warned against complacency while the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that the threat of a pandemic is "very real"

WORLD MARKETS RECOVERING Shares around the world had their worst day since the financial crisis amid concerns about the economic cost of the outbreak, further battered on Monday in reaction to the threat of an oil price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia.

However, Stock markets in Europe have opened higher this morning following Monday's plunge, when shares saw the biggest falls since the 2008 financial crisis. London's FTSE 100 share index rose by more than 3% after having sunk 7.7% in the previous session. And oil predictably rebounded after falling as much as 30% on Monday, prices saw some recovery, with Brent crude rising 8%.
The main share indexes in France and Germany were also up by more than 3% this morning.

THE INSTITUTE FOR FISCAL STUDIES has just posted its March 2020 Newsletter and leads with "Raise taxes, entrench austerity or break a fiscal rule" outlining the choice facing the new Chancellor and provides an insight article on the upcoming debut Budget of  both prime minister Johnson and new boy Rishi Sunak.

THE WORLDS DESPOTS and terror groups seem to be "self-isolating" with Iran particularly licking its Covid-19 wounds. However, a leaked document has revealed that the EU is in talks with Syrian democratic forces about the fate of EU ISIS Detainees who are currently being profiled by the International Center for the Study of Violent Extremism [ICSVE]

As usual the GEO´ Reporting Teams will be staying abreast of events and reporting breaking
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Hasta Mañana