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What to watch for today
More US states could declare coronavirus emergencies. Yesterday, California joined Washington and Florida in announcing special measures, following its first Covid-19 fatality, an elderly man who contracted the disease on a cruise. The ship, with 3,500 passengers, is being held off the coast.
OPEC meets in Vienna. The Saudi-led group of oil producing states is pushing for a cut in output as the impact of coronavirus decreases demand, sending prices 20% lower since the beginning of the year.
Erdoğan visits Russia. The Turkish president meets his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Moscow as fighting in Syria’s Idlib province between Russian-backed Syrian government forces and Turkey-backed rebels risks spilling over into a direct clash between the two nations.
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European stocks slid further after several major companies issued profit warnings. Airbus, auto supplier Continental, and British commercial broadcaster ITV are among the firms in trouble, all blaming coronavirus.
Xi Jinping postponed a trip to Japan. China’s president was expected to meet with Shinzo Abe and sign a document on future bilateral relations, before coronavirus foiled his travel arrangements. When he eventually goes, Xi will be the first Chinese president to be received by Japan as a state guest in more than a decade.
Coronavirus infections spiked again in Wuhan. Mainland China reported 139 cases of the virus on March 4—reversing three straight days of declines—driven by new infections in Hubei’s provincial capital. Outside Hubei, mainland China reported only five new confirmed cases, Chinese health officials said.
A disgraced self-driving car engineer declared bankruptcy. Anthony Levandowski, the former head of Uber’s driverless car unit, and accused of stealing trade secrets from Google (another former employer), filed for bankruptcy after a court ordered him to pay $179 million to Google.
Flybe went into administration. The British regional airline cancelled all flights and ceased trading amid a sharp drop in demand due to the coronavirus. It was already in trouble before the epidemic, however, and this appears to be the final nail in its coffin.
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Matters of debate
Should you travel during the coronavirus crisis? Quartz’s guide can help you decide whether to take the ride.
Some companies are trying to go beyond “carbon neutral”. The world’s largest organic dairy company wants to tackle its contribution to the growing climate crisis.
Super Tuesday tells us a lot about black voters. Their preferences and habits are diverse, for one thing, and Democrats should analyze the data if they want to win.
Surprising discoveries
WhatsApp is so popular in Africa that even fake versions do well. Better, in some cases, than Facebook’s own products.
Major League Baseball has progressive cannabis policies. It’s common sense, as CBD-based pain relief products may be far safer than opioids.
The world’s largest economies want highly-educated women to immigrate. The data shows they are now needed more than men who have lower levels of education.
Twitter is testing out “fleets.” They are tweets that disappear after 24 hours.
The new James Bond film is delayed by coronavirus. No Time to Die’s premiere was supposed to be on March 31, but it’s now been pushed to November.
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