Friday, Sept. 4th, 2020

Thailand reports their first case after a streak of 100 days without new cases. (Bloomberg.com)

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla says that the vaccine trials for Pfizer might have results by October. (CNBC)

GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi announces that they will start vaccine trials. (BBC)

The United States Department of Defense says that the United States military will choose five treatment facilities to carry advanced testing phases for AstraZeneca and other vaccine trials. (UrduPoint)

The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service reports that the Arctic Circle has experienced its worst wildfire season on record after the service released data indicating that a series of wildfires occurring in the first half of 2020, mostly in the Russian republic of Sakha, have emitted more than 244 million tons of carbon dioxide. The emissions within that period have increased by more than a third of carbon emissions in the whole of 2019. (CNN)

United Nations Secretary General António Guterres urges Japan and other wealthy nations to give up on their reliance on fossil fuels and invest in green energy. Guterres noted that many countries are using green energy to keep global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit). (AP)

Delta Air Lines announces that they have banned 270 passengers for not wearing a mask. (CBS News)

Stock market sees its worst day in months after massive tech selloff The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged as much as 1,000 points on Thursday before closing 810 down. A major tech selloff sparked the slump, which also hit the Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 hard. The Dow’s drop was a 2.87 percent drop from the day before, settling it at 28,292 points. The S&P 500 fell 3.5 percent, or 126 points, to 3,455. And the Nasdaq slid 5 percent, or 598 points, ending up at 11,458. In all, it was the market’s worst day since June. Big tech stocks were largely to blame, with Apple seeing a 7 percent drop, while Amazon, Alphabet, and Microsoft all falling around 5 percent. Thursday was the worst day for Apple and the tech sector as a whole since March. The major dip came just after the market had its best August since the 1980s. Source: CNN

Over 880,000 more Americans filed new jobless claims last week The number of Americans filing new jobless claims has come in below one million this week, the lowest level during the coronavirus pandemic. The Labor Department on Thursday said a total of 881,000 Americans filed new jobless claims last week. This was lower than the 950,000 claims that economists were expecting, and continuing claims also fell by 1.24 million. It’s also the lowest level the weekly jobless claims have reached since the COVID-19 crisis began in the United States. Still, the numbers aren’t perfectly comparable to previous weeks due to a methodology change the Labor Department made, and according to NPR, without the new seasonal adjustment change, “state unemployment claims rose by more than 7,500.” And while the number of new jobless claims has declined, it’s still historically high. Source: CNBC

 

The End

Thursday,  Sept. 3rd, 2020

Bloomington-based HealthPartners announces that they are seeking 1,500 patients for the phase 3 trials for AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine. (The Star-Tribune)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention requests state governments for their assistance to dispatch an unspecified, potential COVID-19 vaccine to local wholesalers by November 1. (AFP via The Philippine Star)

Thailand marks 100 days without new COVID-19 cases. (The Hill)

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit rules that the global surveillance programs of the National Security Agency disclosed by former Central Intelligence Agency employee Edward Snowden in 2013 are unconstitutional, having violated the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. (DW)

The German government reports it has “unequivocal evidence” to confirm the poisoning of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny by a Novichok agent, according to tests conducted by a Bundeswehr-run laboratory. Chancellor Angela Merkel calls Navalny “a victim of attempted murder”.  (NPR)

   The End

Wednesday,  Sept. 2nd, 2020

The Brazilian economy officially enters a recession after the country’s statistics institute reported a 9.7% decline of its gross domestic product (GDP) in the second quarter, which is the second consecutive quarter of a decline in its GDP. It is Brazil’s largest quarterly drop since 1996.  (Financial Times)

German economic minister Peter Altmaier reports that the country’s economy is facing an “unexpected” V-shaped recovery with its GDP currently forecasted to decline by 5.8% in 2020, in contrast to an earlier projection of a 6.3% decline. (AFP via Malay Mail)

The Eurostat reports that consumer prices in the Eurozone have deflated from 0.4% in July to -0.2% in August, the bloc’s first deflation since May 2016. (AFP via Rappler)

The city council of Ames, Iowa passes a mask mandate with a vote of 5-1. The decision came after the New York Times named the city as a COVID-19 hotspot. (The Ames Tribune)

The number of cases in Mexico reaches past 600,000. The death toll in the country reaches to 65,241. (Reuters)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issues an order temporarily halting residential evictions on public health grounds, with the goal of slowing the spread of the COVID-19. The order lasts through December 31 and applies to individual renters earning no more than $99,000 in annual income. (Newsmax)

Protests in Los Angeles continued for a second night following the police shooting of Dijon Kizzee, 29, who Los Angeles Police Department officers say was riding a bike in “violation of vehicle codes”. (Forbes)

The National Football League will require all coaches and staff in bench areas to wear masks. (USA Today)

The End