April 16, 2020
1.3 million: British customs officials confiscated a whopping $1.3 million worth of cocaine smuggled in a shipment of face masks this week, yet another sign of the way organized crime groups are exploiting the current health crisis to maximize their profits.
34: After a 34-day absence from public view, in which conspiracies circulated that he was either dead or gravely ill, Nicaragua's leftist president Daniel Ortega reappeared Wednesday with a televised address to the nation, in which he struck back at widespread criticism that his government has done little to halt the spread of the coronavirus.
10: A 10-day ceasefire in war-torn Libya will come into effect today after the UN implored the Tripoli-based government and rival forces to cease hostilities as dozens of coronavirus cases were confirmed in that country. Libya's weak healthcare infrastructure could not withstand a serious COVID-19 outbreak, the UN warns.
1,900: In just two weeks, around 1,900 bodies were collected in Guayaquil, Ecuador's main industrial hub, for burial – a five-fold increase in that city's normal mortality rate. Guayaquil is now Latin America's coronavirus epicenter, with gruesome images emerging in recent weeks of bodies piling up in the streets because hospitals, morgues, and crematoriums have been pushed to the brink.
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Israel’s right-wing government has overseen a record expansion of settlements in the West Bank in recent years. The settlements, which are illegal under international law, are driving the displacement of Palestinians. One proposal the government is now advancing is the controversial E1 settlement plan, which would effectively slice the West Bank in two and severely undermine Palestinian aspirations for a contiguous state.
More than 70% of the earth’s surface is covered in good old H2O, so it would seem there’s plenty to go around. But the vast majority, at least 97%, is contained in the oceans as saltwater. The growing scarcity of freshwater for drinking, cooking, industrial, and agricultural uses is quickly moving water up as a global risk. In fact, our parent company, Eurasia Group, added it to its Top Risks list for 2026 as “The water weapon.”
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