The phenomenon consists of the blossoming of a wide variety of flowers during early-mid spring in years when rainfall is unusually high. 

The economic contraction this fiscal year will easily exceed 11%, one of the largest in EM.

There’s a big space between health & death filled in some of those infected with suffering. We must #CountLongCovid

China is recasting Wuhan as a heroic coronavirus victim and trying to throw doubt on the pandemic's origin story as it aims to seize the narrative at a time of growing global distrust of Beijing.The PR blitz plays out daily in comments by Chinese officials and lavish state media coverage of a "reborn" Wuhan that trumpets China's epidemic-control efforts and economic recovery while the United States struggles.The drive peaked in the past week as Chinese primary schools welcomed back students with considerable fanfare and Wuhan hosted executives from dozens of multinationals, from Panasonic to Dow and Nokia, on a highly choreographed tour of the central Chinese city."There are few places in the world today where you don't need a mask and can gather," a Chinese official, Lin Songtian, told the executives, implying that Wuhan was one of those places."This testifies to Wuhan's triumph over the virus and that (the city) is back in business."Lost in this retelling, however, is that a wet market in Wuhan is widely believed to be ground zero for the pandemic.China's foreign minister suggested on August 28 during a European outreach trip that the virus might not have emerged in China.The drive indicates China recognises Covid-19's damage to its brand and wants to leverage its relatively successful recovery to counter growing international challenges, analysts said.China faces foreign bitterness over the virus and an initial cover-up attempt by Wuhan officials, plus criticism of Beijing's tightening grip on Hong Kong and generally more aggressive international posture."Beijing wants the narrative to be: we handled it, we can help you handle it and (hopefully) we're the first to have a vaccine that works," said Kelsey Broderick, Asia analyst with Eurasia Group."That's really the only way China can come out ahead of the idea that a wet market in Wuhan started this crisis.""The economy has really declined. The benefit of even coming to work is questionable," said Yi Xinhua, 51, who sells tofu from her stall at a Wuhan wet market.

Five months after COVID-19 cases peaked, retail sales are still below last year. Until COVID-19, monthly retail sales had been growing at close to 8%, year on year.

Reed Hastings is the billionaire founder of Netflix, the crusher of Blockbuster, and the one who turned Hollywood upside down with streaming tech 

“People went from broad to narrow,” he said, “and we think they will continue to go that way—spend more and more time in the niches— because now the distribution landscape allows for more narrowness’’

The Spot oil Market was surely one of the most lucrative ideas of the c20th.

Just over 60 years ago when it was built, the Eilat-Ashkelon pipeline was a massive national construction project aimed at guaranteeing Israel’s and Europe’s energy supplies in the wake of the 1956 Suez crisis. Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser had restricted shipping through the canal, triggering an invasion by Israeli, British, and French forces. Subsequent efforts by Egypt to block the 120-mile artificial waterway also played a role in Israeli-Arab wars in 1967 and 1973.

Lebanon may write off two-thirds of its Eurobonds, and a fifth of the local debt, once it overcomes political differences hindering an economic overhaul, Citigroup Inc. says.

As violence unfolded around him, Rusesabagina used his position to shelter more than a thousand Tutsi civilians in the hotel movie turned Rusesabagina into the most famous Rwandan outside of Rwanda 

The official exchange rate is 165 South Sudanese pounds to $1, but on the black market it can be as high as 400 South Sudanese pounds. 

“It is like adding salt to injury,” said the Nigeria Labour Congress. 

About 400 mountain gorillas live in Bwindi, which is 40% of the total gorilla population.

I am increasingly of the View that we are just at the start of the negative interest rate cycle. 

But Malawi — roughly the size of Pennsylvania — has plenty of natural beauty of its own: the clear waters of Lake Malawi (close to 365 miles long and 52 miles wide, it’s sometimes called the “Calendar Lake”); the magnificent cliffs of Mount Mulanje; the unique highland plateau of Nyika; and its wildlife reserves, including Liwonde and Majete, where cheetahs, lions, elephants and rhinos have been reintroduced.