The World

The pandemic and the global economy

The economic picture is coming into tighter focus, and it is grim. Nearly 15 percent of Americans are now unemployed. Twenty million American jobs have been wiped off the books in a single month. That's the largest one-month drop in US history. Joining me now is The World's Jason Margolis to help put some of these numbers into a global context.

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Brazil may become the global epicenter of COVID-19

Brazil has become one of the global epicenters of the pandemic, recently surpassing China in the number of reported cases. President Jair Bolsonaro has been notoriously dismissive of the virus, saying earlier this week the number of deaths was declining, when in fact it was increasing. Governors and mayors have been struggling to contain the virus. In Manaus, a city of 2 million along the Amazon River and the heart of the country's struggle, local officials are digging mass graves for the dozens who have been dying every day. The World's Jorge Valencia reports.

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Off the air in Manila

The Philippines ordered its biggest broadcaster, ABS-CBN, off the air this week. It’s another blow to press freedoms there. The Philippines is one of the world’s most dangerous countries for journalists. Michael Navallo, a legal reporter for ABS-CBN News, tells Marco Werman how the broadcaster was forced off the airwaves.

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Charges against Trump ally Flynn dropped despite guilty plea

The US Department of Justice said yesterday it will not prosecute President Donald Trump's former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, despite his entering a guilty plea on two counts of lying to the FBI. Flynn was being investigated as part of a counter intelligence operation into alleged collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign.  Host Marco Werman explores the issues.

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Fiona Hill discusses Victory Day in Russia

Due to the coronavirus outbreak, Russia has canceled its Victory Day parade this year. The parade is an annual demonstration of Russian glory, might and pride. But as Russians prepare to celebrate from the comfort of their homes, COVID-19 cases are on the rise. Oil prices, the anchor of Russia's economy, are plunging, and the economy is suffering. So how has President Vladimir Putin and Russian leadership been responding to all the upheaval? Host Marco Werman speaks with Fiona Hill, senior fellow at the Brookings institute and former senior director for European and Russian affairs on the National Security Council.

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Race and racism amid the pandemic

Black men and women are nearly twice as likely to die with coronavirus as white people in England and Wales, according to the UK's Office for National Statistics. UK Member of Parliament David Lammy tells host Marco Werman the new data confirm what Britain's black community already knew.

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Families of drowned Afghan migrants say they want answers

A group of Afghan migrant workers died last week on the border between Afghanistan and Iran. Survivors claim Iranian border guards beat them and forced them to return to Afghanistan via a nearby river. Some of them subsequently drowned. The deaths have caused a major uproar in Afghanistan. Families of those who died say they want answers. The World's Shirin Jaafari reports.

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The Vatican’s ‘digital Jesuit’ goes after Trump

President Donald Trump told Catholic leaders in a recent conference call that he's the “best [president] in the history of the Catholic Church.” But how are Catholic clergy expressing themselves when it comes to the Trump agenda? Reporter Jon Kalish speaks with a Jesuit priest serving in the Vatican who's been openly critical of the American president on social media.

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Coronavirus wilts global flower industry

Spring is usually a busy time for the flower industry. But this year, with florists around the world closed and countless events that call for flowers canceled, the pandemic is taking a huge toll on businesses and people at every stage of the industry's global supply chain — from tulip auctions in the Netherlands to rose farmers in Kenya. Host Marco Werman speaks to Fiona Coulson, co-owner of Nini Flowers in Naivasha, Kenya.

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Going home to Puerto Rico

The Puerto Rican indie pop duo Buscabulla are back home. The husband and wife duo left New York in 2017 and returned to Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricanes Maria and Irma, which battered the island. Now after a couple devastating earthquakes, the couple have released their debut album “Regresa.” Marco Werman speaks to Luis Alfredo Del Valle and Raquel Berrios of Buscabulla.

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Marco Werman: Over the past few years, Puerto Rico has been clobbered by one natural disaster after another: Hurricanes Maria and Irma in 2017 and a series of earthquakes this year.But there is, as the saying goes, no place like home. And the indie pop duo Buscabulla are happy to be back home in Puerto Rico after several years in New York City. Their debut album is called, in fact, "Regresa" — return.Luis Alfredo Del Valle and Raquel Berrios are the husband and wife duo of Buscabulla, and they join us from their home in Puerto Rico.The idea of returning, going back, can obviously mean different things to different people. Happy, maybe; some might feel sad or feel forced to return. What does regresa mean to you?Berrios: It's true. It's exactly that. It's very complex. Puerto Rico is a colony of the United States. We have a very complicated political situation. So, that's exactly right. I mean, coming back is both very happy and blissful and also can be very melancholic, as well.Del Valle: Like all things, everything has its course. When we initially left Puerto Rico, we were looking essentially to sort of expand our horizons, both of us. Separately, we didn't know each other when we left Puerto Rico. We met in New York. And while being in New York, we met and we developed this project together and it was great. But we also had a kid around five and a half years ago, and that changes things.At some point, you just start to think about yourself in the future and you start to sort of project your life. We knew our whole project had always had a site on Puerto Rico. It always rooted here, heavily. And I think it was just like the natural progression.Werman: I think it's safe to say that the recent history of Puerto Rico has been defined by its relationship to the US mainland. How is it playing out today as the island, like many US states are now experiencing for the first time, the island's once again more or less on its own? Puerto Rico has been there before. So are there any advantages, if we can call it that, to kind of getting through this crisis?Berrios: I would say the only advantage is, in a way maybe the way things were planned out. LIke, there are no really dense cities and we're definitely not overpopulated. You know what I mean? Warm weather, which I think tends to help. But other than that, I mean, we have a very fragile health care system.Our government — we’ve had a lot of problems with corruption and testing for COVID hasn't been great either. I think we're kind of at the bottom of priorities. So it comes and goes. I guess there are some things that are good about it and some things that are not great. And I guess we won't really see it until we start reopening and seeing how that is handled, which kind of scares me, but we're just going to have to see.Werman: Puerto Ricans are survivors. Do you have any advice for the US mainland?Berrios: Boy, I mean, we just had another pretty bad earthquake just a couple of days ago, which is crazy. Poor Luis's mom lives in Ponce, very close to the epicenter. And a lot of Puerto Ricans, we try to be spiritual and we try to keep our heads up and at least we do live in paradise and we have nature to maybe keep us grounded.Del Valle: There's some consolation there, yeah.Berrios: The weather is nice and maybe there is some consolation in that, for sure.

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Brazil emerging as a new epicenter of the coronavirus

Brazil has become one of the global epicenters of the coronavirus pandemic, recently surpassing China in the number of reported cases. And, black men and women are nearly twice as likely to die with coronavirus as white people in England and Wales, according to UK government officials. Also, the Puerto Rican indie pop duo Buscabulla have released their debut album "Regresa."

Marco Werman

Workers, wearing protective clothing, carry the coffin of Vandir da Costa, from his house amid the coronavirus outbreak, in Manaus, Brazil May 7, 2020.

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