On Sunday, Italy, the eurozone's third largest economy, locked down Milan and the industrial regions that serve as the country's economic engine for a whole month. The day before, South by Southwest, the influential tech, film and music conference held every year in Austin, Texas, was cancelled. So was the London Book Fair, one of the publishing industry's biggest annual international gatherings; the Geneva Motor Show, one of the largest automobile shows of the year; Barcelona's Mobile World Congress and more than a hundred events at the European Parliament. The World Bank postponed its 2020 Fragility Forum; the US did the same with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations leaders' meeting scheduled for March 14 in Las Vegas and the producers of the new James Bond film, No Time to Die, decided to delay its global rollout to November.
Whatever happens in the days ahead with Covid-19, the new strain of the large coronavirus family of viruses, it has already hit a milestone. Barely 10 weeks after China first alerted the World Health Organisation to several cases of unusual pneumonia in Wuhan, the flu-like disease now in 90 countries and territories has knit the world together in anxiety. Covid-19 has underlined an acute realisation of our shared vulnerabilities.
Markets are bracing for perhaps the greatest exogenous shock since 9/11
It comes at an extraordinary time. Politics in many parts of the world has already spoken against the globalisation of supply chains, cross-border flows and the 70-year-old multilateral architecture of the global village. For the past three years, US President Donald Trump’s administration has taken a uniquely dismissive view of global trade, to the point of even enfeebling the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) dispute settlement system. This has prompted fears of a US-China economic decoupling, a wider trend towards de-globalisation and the end of the rules-based trading system underpinned by the WTO. Meanwhile, populist European politicians have thrown up rhetorical and policy barriers to the movement of people, goods and services.
But ‘America First’ restrictionism and anti-immigrant banners have been no protection against a microbe that does not respect national frontiers. If anything, the worldwide spread of a virus that probably originated in bats in a cave in far-off China and was subsequently transmitted to humans via an exotic endangered species of mammal underlines the stubborn reality of our interconnectedness.
The effects of the outbreak are being felt across almost every sector of economic, cultural, sporting and political activity in almost every part of the world.
Late last week, aerial photos released by the Colorado-based space technology firm Maxar showed that public spaces from Mecca to Beijing had all but emptied, with all that implies for travel and tourism. The International Air Transport Association (Iata) doubled its estimate of the impact on worldwide airline revenues to anywhere between $63 billion and $113 billion as people cancel plans to travel for work or leisure. Saudi Arabia announced that it would offer hefty discounts on crude in what is seen as an incipient oil price war six years after the last one. It was a response to falling demand even as Russia refused to join production cuts with Opec countries. China’s vice foreign minister Ma Zhaoxu admitted the virus would have a “temporary” impact on the country’s massive overseas construction and investment plans. From London came anecdotal reports that stores in the British capital were running out of supplies of hand soap. US 30-year fixed rate home mortgages hit their lowest point in nearly half-a-century with investors shifting money out of the stock market and into the safety of US Treasuries. Even Houzz, the hip home design and improvement online community, sent out an email from Palo Alto, California, warning about the "eight germiest places in your kitchen".
All of these developments are having knock-on effects on the ecosystems they support. For instance, the precipitate fall in airport traffic means little or no business for related restaurants, stores, hotels, taxis and ride-sharing companies such as Uber, Lyft, Ola and Bolt, with all that implies for billions of workers in the gig economy. The cruise industry is in a crisis. The tourism industry’s declining fortunes is starting to affect television companies with the UK’s ITV warning that its ad sales would drop 10 per cent in April because travel companies had stopped spending on marketing. If ad spend falls, television companies may cut back on projects leaving producers, actors, scriptwriters, cameramen without adequate paid work.
The construction sector is also facing disruption as a result of delays to several of China’s Belt and Road projects, not least a high-speed rail line in Indonesia, another railway track that will link Malaysia to Wuhan, the massive land reclamation effort to expand Sri Lanka’s port capital Colombo as well as corporate initiatives in Pakistan. Add to that the fall in demand for building materials and fuel for the tankers that transport them across the seas, and markets are bracing for perhaps the greatest exogenous shock since 9/11.
It is clear the toll taken by this coronavirus goes much beyond the tragic 3,500 (and counting) deaths already recorded as a result of infection. More than Sars, which also emerged from China, or Mers, first reported in Saudi Arabia, Covid-19’s effect on markets and the normal business of modern life is indirect and is working its way through the organic linkages that girdle the earth. But while temporarily weakening physical links, digital ones are being strengthened. Companies that sell remote working technology such as Slack, Zoom, Teledoc and Dropbox are all having a good first quarter. So while it is not business as usual and probably will not be for a while, Covid-19 does at least show that the world will find a way to remain connected.
Quarter-finals
Saturday (all times UAE)
England v Australia, 11.15am
New Zealand v Ireland, 2.15pm
Sunday
Wales v France, 11.15am
Japan v South Africa, 2.15pm
INDIA SQUAD
Virat Kohli (capt), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Vijay Shankar, MS Dhoni (wk), Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
'The Batman'
Stars:Robert Pattinson
Director:Matt Reeves
Rating: 5/5
The years Ramadan fell in May
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Citizenship-by-investment programmes
United Kingdom
The UK offers three programmes for residency. The UK Overseas Business Representative Visa lets you open an overseas branch office of your existing company in the country at no extra investment. For the UK Tier 1 Innovator Visa, you are required to invest £50,000 (Dh238,000) into a business. You can also get a UK Tier 1 Investor Visa if you invest £2 million, £5m or £10m (the higher the investment, the sooner you obtain your permanent residency).
All UK residency visas get approved in 90 to 120 days and are valid for 3 years. After 3 years, the applicant can apply for extension of another 2 years. Once they have lived in the UK for a minimum of 6 months every year, they are eligible to apply for permanent residency (called Indefinite Leave to Remain). After one year of ILR, the applicant can apply for UK passport.
The Caribbean
Depending on the country, the investment amount starts from $100,000 (Dh367,250) and can go up to $400,000 in real estate. From the date of purchase, it will take between four to five months to receive a passport.
Portugal
The investment amount ranges from €350,000 to €500,000 (Dh1.5m to Dh2.16m) in real estate. From the date of purchase, it will take a maximum of six months to receive a Golden Visa. Applicants can apply for permanent residency after five years and Portuguese citizenship after six years.
“Among European countries with residency programmes, Portugal has been the most popular because it offers the most cost-effective programme to eventually acquire citizenship of the European Union without ever residing in Portugal,” states Veronica Cotdemiey of Citizenship Invest.
Greece
The real estate investment threshold to acquire residency for Greece is €250,000, making it the cheapest real estate residency visa scheme in Europe. You can apply for residency in four months and citizenship after seven years.
Spain
The real estate investment threshold to acquire residency for Spain is €500,000. You can apply for permanent residency after five years and citizenship after 10 years. It is not necessary to live in Spain to retain and renew the residency visa permit.
Cyprus
Cyprus offers the quickest route to citizenship of a European country in only six months. An investment of €2m in real estate is required, making it the highest priced programme in Europe.
Malta
The Malta citizenship by investment programme is lengthy and investors are required to contribute sums as donations to the Maltese government. The applicant must either contribute at least €650,000 to the National Development & Social Fund. Spouses and children are required to contribute €25,000; unmarried children between 18 and 25 and dependent parents must contribute €50,000 each.
The second step is to make an investment in property of at least €350,000 or enter a property rental contract for at least €16,000 per annum for five years. The third step is to invest at least €150,000 in bonds or shares approved by the Maltese government to be kept for at least five years.
Candidates must commit to a minimum physical presence in Malta before citizenship is granted. While you get residency in two months, you can apply for citizenship after a year.
Egypt
A one-year residency permit can be bought if you purchase property in Egypt worth $100,000. A three-year residency is available for those who invest $200,000 in property, and five years for those who purchase property worth $400,000.
Source: Citizenship Invest and Aqua Properties
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The five pillars of Islam
The story in numbers
18
This is how many recognised sects Lebanon is home to, along with about four million citizens
450,000
More than this many Palestinian refugees are registered with UNRWA in Lebanon, with about 45 per cent of them living in the country’s 12 refugee camps
1.5 million
There are just under 1 million Syrian refugees registered with the UN, although the government puts the figure upwards of 1.5m
73
The percentage of stateless people in Lebanon, who are not of Palestinian origin, born to a Lebanese mother, according to a 2012-2013 study by human rights organisation Frontiers Ruwad Association
18,000
The number of marriages recorded between Lebanese women and foreigners between the years 1995 and 2008, according to a 2009 study backed by the UN Development Programme
77,400
The number of people believed to be affected by the current nationality law, according to the 2009 UN study
4,926
This is how many Lebanese-Palestinian households there were in Lebanon in 2016, according to a census by the Lebanese-Palestinian dialogue committee
House-hunting
Top 10 locations for inquiries from US house hunters, according to Rightmove
- Edinburgh, Scotland
- Westminster, London
- Camden, London
- Glasgow, Scotland
- Islington, London
- Kensington and Chelsea, London
- Highlands, Scotland
- Argyll and Bute, Scotland
- Fife, Scotland
- Tower Hamlets, London
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
MATCH INFO
Barcelona 2
Suarez (10'), Messi (52')
Real Madrid 2
Ronaldo (14'), Bale (72')
Hotel Silence
Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir
Pushkin Press
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Analysis
Members of Syria's Alawite minority community face threat in their heartland after one of the deadliest days in country’s recent history. Read more
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
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Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
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Defence review at a glance
• Increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 but given “turbulent times it may be necessary to go faster”
• Prioritise a shift towards working with AI and autonomous systems
• Invest in the resilience of military space systems.
• Number of active reserves should be increased by 20%
• More F-35 fighter jets required in the next decade
• New “hybrid Navy” with AUKUS submarines and autonomous vessels
Why your domicile status is important
Your UK residence status is assessed using the statutory residence test. While your residence status – ie where you live - is assessed every year, your domicile status is assessed over your lifetime.
Your domicile of origin generally comes from your parents and if your parents were not married, then it is decided by your father. Your domicile is generally the country your father considered his permanent home when you were born.
UK residents who have their permanent home ("domicile") outside the UK may not have to pay UK tax on foreign income. For example, they do not pay tax on foreign income or gains if they are less than £2,000 in the tax year and do not transfer that gain to a UK bank account.
A UK-domiciled person, however, is liable for UK tax on their worldwide income and gains when they are resident in the UK.
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
UK's plans to cut net migration
Under the UK government’s proposals, migrants will have to spend 10 years in the UK before being able to apply for citizenship.
Skilled worker visas will require a university degree, and there will be tighter restrictions on recruitment for jobs with skills shortages.
But what are described as "high-contributing" individuals such as doctors and nurses could be fast-tracked through the system.
Language requirements will be increased for all immigration routes to ensure a higher level of English.
Rules will also be laid out for adult dependants, meaning they will have to demonstrate a basic understanding of the language.
The plans also call for stricter tests for colleges and universities offering places to foreign students and a reduction in the time graduates can remain in the UK after their studies from two years to 18 months.
SPECS
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