Провідні європейські фондові ринки втрачають від 3 до 4% на торгах 24 лютого через нові побоювання щодо поширення коронавірусу COVID-19 в Азії та Європі. Таких втрат зазнають німецький індекс DAX, французький CAC40, британський FTSE100 та інші.

«Американський фондовий ринок відкриється в понеділок різким падінням. За чотири години до початку торгів ф’ючерси на індекс Dow впали на понад 700 пунктів або 2,5%, ф’ючерси Nasdaq знизилися на 270 пунктів або 3%», – пишуть аналітики китайського видання Global Times.

В Італії 24 лютого повідомили про четверту смерть від нового коронавірусу, а в Ірані число померлих сягнуло вже 50, це найбільша смертність від COVID-19 за межами Китаю.

2019-nCov (COVID-19) належить до великої групи коронавірусів. У деяких випадках перебіг хвороби – легкий, в деяких – із симптомами застуди і грипу, зокрема з високою температурою і кашлем, у більш складних випадках спостерігається задишка. Це може перерости в пневмонію, яка може бути смертельною. Більшість хворих, однак, видужують.

 
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The World Food Program says it needs $103 million to meet urgent food assistance in Zimbabwe, where more than half the population is food insecure due to recurring droughts and a declining economy.  Columbus Mavhunga reports from eastern Mudzi district, one of the country’s most affected areas
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The U.S. government began outlining its extradition case against Julian Assange in a London court on Monday, arguing that the WikiLeaks founder is not a free-speech champion but an “ordinary” criminal who put many lives at risk with his secret-spilling.
U.S. authorities want to try Assange on espionage charges that carry a maximum sentence of 175 years in prison over the 2010 publication of hundreds of thousands of secret military documents and diplomatic cables. Assange argues he was acting as a journalist entitled to First Amendment protection.
Lawyer James Lewis, representing the U.S. government, called WikiLeaks’ 2010 document deluge “one of the largest compromises of classified information in the history of the United States.”
“Reporting or journalism is not an excuse for criminal activities or a license to break ordinary criminal laws,” he said.
Dozens of Assange supporters protested outside the high-security courthouse,chanting and setting off a horn as District Judge Vanessa Baraitser began hearing the case. Just before the lunch break, Assange complained that he was having difficulty concentrating and called the noise from outside “not helpful.”
Assange, 48, watched proceedings from the dock in the courtroom at Woolwich Crown Court — brought there from Belmarsh Prison next door, where he has been imprisoned for 10 months. He spoke to confirm his name and date ofbirth. He nodded towards reporters before taking his seat.
The extradition hearing follows years of subterfuge, diplomatic dispute and legal drama that have led the Australian computer expert from fame as an international secret-spiller through self-imposed exile inside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London to incarceration in a maximum-security British prison.
Assange has been indicted in the U.S. on 18 charges over the publication of classified documents. Prosecutors say he conspired with U.S. army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to crack a password and hack into a Pentagon computer and release secret diplomatic cables and military files on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Assange says the leaked documents exposed U.S. military wrongdoing. Among the files published by WikiLeaks was video of a 2007 Apache helicopter attack by American forces in Baghdad that killed 11 people, including two Reuters journalists.
But Lewis said Assange was guilty of “straightforward” criminal activity in trying to hack the computer. And he said WikiLeaks’ activities created a “grave and imminent risk” to U.S. intelligence sources in war zones, who were named in the documents.
 “What Mr. Assange seeks to defend by free speech is not the publication of the classified materials, but he seeks to defend the publication of sources — the names of people who put themselves at risk to assist the U.S. and its allies,“ the lawyer said.
Lewis said some informants who had been assisting the Americans had to be relocated after the leak, and others “subsequently disappeared.”
He said it wasn’t the role of the British court to determine whether Assange was guilty.
“This is an extradition hearing, not a trial,” he said. “The guilt or innocence of Mr. Assange will be determined at trial in the United States, not in this court.”
Journalism organizations and civil liberties groups including Amnesty International and Reporters Without Borders say the charges against Assange set a chilling precedent for freedom of the press.
Among the supporters outside court was fashion designer Vivienne Westwood, who wore a headband with the word “angel” on it and said she was “the angel of democracy.”
 “It is not a crime to publish American war crimes,” she said. “It’s in the public interest, it is democracy, that he is allowed to do this.”
Assange’s legal saga began in 2010, when he was arrested in London at the request of Sweden, which wanted to question him about allegations of rape and sexual assault made by two women. He refused to go to Stockholm, saying he feared extradition or illegal rendition to the United States or the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
In 2012, Assange sought refuge inside the Ecuadorian Embassy, where he was beyond the reach of U.K. and Swedish authorities.
For seven years Assange led an isolated and increasingly surreal existence in the tiny embassy, which occupies an apartment in an upscale block near the ritzy Harrod’s department store. The relationship between Assange and his hosts eventually soured, and he was evicted in April 2019. British police immediately arrested him for jumping bail in 2012.
Sweden dropped the sex crimes investigations in November because so much time had elapsed, but Assange remains in London’s Belmarsh Prison as he awaits a decision on the U.S. extradition request.
For his supporters around the world, Assange remains a hero. But many others are critical of the way WikiLeaks has published classified documents without redacting details that could endanger individuals. WikiLeaks has also been accused of serving as a conduit for Russian misinformation, and Assange has alienated some supporters by dallying with populist politicians including Brexit-promoter Nigel Farage.
An end to the saga could still be years away. After a week of opening arguments, the extradition case is due to break until May, when the two sides will lay out their evidence. The judge isn’t expected to rule until several months after that, with the losing side likely to appeal.
If the courts approve extradition, the British government will have the final say.
The case comes at delicate time for trans-Atlantic relations. The U.K. has left the European Union and is keen to strike a trade deal with the U.S.  
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На українському міжбанківському валютному ринку 24 лютого відбувається незначне зростання котирувань долара. Від показників відкриття 24 гривні 45–47,5 копійки за долар американська валюта сягнула рівня 24 гривні 49,5–52 копійки станом на 13:15 за Києвом, інформує Finance.ua.

Фахівці сайту «Мінфін» вказують на початок основних обсягів відшкодувань ПДВ як важливий чинник, що впливатиме на ринок. «Частина клієнтів-експортерів намагатиметься притримувати валюту до надходження коштів від держави і цим знизить обсяги пропозиції», – твердять експерти.

Національний банк України встановив опівдні довідкове значення курсу 24 гривні 49 копійок за долар, це на 4 копійки більше за офіційний курс на 24 лютого.

Національний банк України знизив облікову ставку на 2,5% – до 11% з 31 січня 2020 року. «Національний банк продовжує пом’якшення монетарної політики, щоб забезпечити інфляцію на рівні цілі 5% та підтримати стійке економічне зростання», – заявили в НБУ.

Наступне засідання правління Національного банку України з питань монетарної політики відбудеться 12 березня
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A hearing on the United States request for the extradition of the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange opened in London Monday.A judge at Woolwich Crown Court is hearing arguments from lawyers representing U.S. that has leveled 17 charges on espionage and one of computer hacking.If found guilty, the 48-year-old detained Australian would face a maximum sentence of 175 years behind bars.The charges are related to WikiLeaks release of classified materials from State Department and the Pentagon detailing the U.S. military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as cables sent to State Department officials from U.S. embassies in various countries, and information provided from government agents and individuals who cooperated with the United States.Assange’s supporters, among which are many celebrities from the realm of music to fashion, have argued that his prosecution has been political and personal from the start, and have demanded his release.Journalism organizations have rallied in support of Assange, calling the charges against him an assault on freedom of the press.Assange spent seven years in self-imposed exile in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London and after his eviction from there, British authorities sent him to a maximum-security prison in 2019.Assange was first arrested in 2010 in London at the request of Sweden, which wanted to question him about allegations of rape and sexual assault.
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Vietnam is sharply divided on how long to close schools because of the coronavirus, which has prevented parents from going to work and threatens further economic damage. Supporters want to keep students at home until April, while opponents say the panic is overblown.The biggest population is in Ho Chi Minh City, where government leaders have proposed extending the public school closures all through March and then continuing the semester into what would usually be a summer break. The city leaders also recommended making this a nation-wide policy.Le Thanh Liem, Vice Chair of the People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City, tasked the city education department with keeping the disease from reaching the schools.The department will “strictly and fully implement measures to prevent and treat the new coronavirus, preventing the spread of an epidemic in the school environment,” he wrote in an official letter.Those who agree with the government decision see the coronavirus as a collective action problem, requiring people to keep physical contact at a minimum. Pham Khanh said it is better to be safe than sorry.“I decided on my own to take my children out of school,” she said. “There is a long incubation period, I will wait two weeks before I do anything.”She was referring to the two weeks when doctors believe that people, if they have the coronavirus, would show symptoms.While parents are keeping their children at home, another kind of school is catching on: online classes. After some initial excitement, with foreign governments from the U.S. to Britain promoting e-learning in Vietnam, the trend stalled for years, because of regulatory hurdles and lack of internet access.“E-learning deployment within the academic system in Vietnam has not really taken off, mostly due to the over-focus on hardware and remaining confusion between digitization of educational contents and online education,” Alice Pham wrote in a 2018 report for the Consumer Unity & Trust Society think tank.Parents in Vietnam are having to find new places to take their children while the coronavirus keeps schools closed. (VOA News)However the coronavirus may be a factor that finally drives e-learning into the mainstream in Vietnam. This month students are increasingly doing homework that their schools send to them over the internet, as well as turning to startup companies such as Yola, Topica, and Mindx, which let Vietnamese learn through smartphone apps or web videos.Supporters say Vietnam should see the school closures as an opportunity for children to get some experience as self-directed learners, through online lessons.’“Definitely in Vietnam this model needs to spread as soon as possible,” writer Nguyen Hong wrote in a commentary for the Thanh Nien newspaper.Besides the benefit to education technology companies, the coronavirus has meant a windfall for some other companies as well. Foreign buyers such as Nintendo and Apple that are struggling to source from China are increasingly turning to suppliers in Vietnam to make their products.However most companies, and households, are waiting for a return to normal.After the Lunar New Year holiday ended in late January, most Vietnamese welcomed the school closures as a logical precaution against the coronavirus. However as the weeks drag on, parents now struggle with what to do with their school age children.Le Hang, a 40-year-old mother, decided to take her children to the hair salon where she works. “When there aren’t many customers, I run over to feed and take care of the children,” she said.However the most vulnerable, such as factory workers, are those who can’t afford babysitters, aren’t allowed to bring children to work, and can’t afford the lost income of skipping work. Some send the children to stay with neighbors or relatives, while others consider the latch-key life.Nguyen Viet, a tour guide, doesn’t know what to do with his daughter.  “The unexpected break is too much to bear for us,” he told newspaper Vnexpress.What’s more, some believe the extended school closures are an overreach. Vietnam has had more than a dozen coronavirus cases and no fatalities. Most of the over 2,000 people who died were in China, and most of them were senior citizens or in poor health already. By comparison there have been more than 16,000  flu associated  deaths  reported in the United States  so far this flu season according to estimates of the U.S. based Centers for Disease Control.   “I believe that with the solutions currently being applied, children will be safe at school,” said Le Kien, a father in Hanoi.  
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Israel’s military says its warplanes struck Islamic Jihad targets in Palestinian-ruled Gaza and near Damascus in Syria after a barrage of rocket fire into Israel from Gaza Sunday.Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the rocket attacks. The group was infuriated by images of the body of a Palestinian militant dangling from an Israeli military bulldozer. Israeli soldiers shot the militant as he tried to plant a bomb along the Israeli-Gaza border fence.The bulldozer crossed into Gaza to move the body.Israel says at least 20 rockets were fired from Gaza, causing no damage or injuries. Israel’s Iron Dome defense system stopped most of the rockets.Israel retaliated with airstrikes on Islamic Jihad targets in Gaza and an Islamic Jihad facility near Damascus.Palestinian medical officials say four were wounded in Gaza. Syria says most of the Israeli missiles were intercepted and has so far not reported any injuries or damage.
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Barbara “B.” Smith, one of the nation’s top black models who went on to open restaurants, launch a successful home products line and write cookbooks, has died at her Long Island home at age 70 after battling early onset Alzheimer’s disease.Smith’s family announced on social media that she died Saturday evening.“Heaven is shining even brighter now that it is graced with B.’s dazzling and unforgettable smile,” Smith’s husband Dan Gasby said on Facebook.Smith’s eponymous Manhattan restaurant opened in 1986 and attracted a following among affluent black New Yorkers, The New York Times recalled. Essence magazine described it as the place “where the who’s who of black Manhattan meet, greet and eat regularly.”Smith wrote three cookbooks, founded three successful restaurants and launched a nationally syndicated television show and a magazine. Her successful home products line was the first from a black woman to be sold at a nationwide retailer when it debuted in 2001 at Bed Bath & Beyond.In 1976, she became the second black model to be on the cover of Mademoiselle magazine, after Joli Jones in 1969.“You epitomized class, true beauty and dignity. Rest well Queen,” actress Viola Davis wrote on Twitter.Smith was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s disease in 2013. She and Gasby raised awareness of the disease, and particularly its impacts on the African-American community, following her diagnosis.Some described Smith as a “black Martha Stewart,” a comparison she said she didn’t mind though she believed the two lifestyle mavens were quite different.“Martha Stewart has presented herself doing the things domestics and African Americans have done for years,” she said in a 1997 interview with New York magazine. “We were always expected to redo the chairs and use everything in the garden. This is the legacy that I was left. Martha just got there first.”In the same interview, Gasby said, “Martha is perfection and Barbara is passion.”Smith began suffering from memory problems years before her diagnosis. She once froze for several seconds while being interviewed on the “Today Show,” prompting a doctor’s visit that led to her diagnosis. A few months later, she was missing in New York City for a day.In 2018, Gasby revealed that he was in a relationship with another woman while caring for his ailing wife, leading to harsh criticism from some of her fans. He fired back at critics with a Facebook post about the pain of living with Alzheimer’s in the family. “I love my wife but I can’t let her take away my life,” he wrote.The couple co-authored a book, “Before I Forget: Love, Hope, Help, and Acceptance in Our fight Against Alzheimer’s,” and have partnered with the Brain Health Registry.Smith, a native of Pennsylvania, began her career as a fashion model in Pittsburgh and went on to serve as a spokeswoman for Verizon, Colgate, Palmolive Oxy and McCormick’s Lawry seasonings. She hosted the nationally syndicated television show “B. Smith with Style” for nearly a decade, which aired on NBC stations.Smith is survived by Gasby, whom she married in 1992, and her stepdaughter Dana Gasby.
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China’s leader said Sunday the new coronavirus epidemic is the communist country’s largest-ever public health emergency, but other nations were also increasingly under pressure from the deadly outbreak’s relentless global march.Italy and Iran began introducing the sort of containment measures previously seen only in China, which has put tens of millions of people under lockdown in Hubei province, the outbreak’s epicenter.Italy reported a third death while cases spiked and the country’s Venice carnival closed early.Tourists are wearing protective masks against coronavirus in Venice, Italy, Feb. 23, 2020. (S. Castelfranco/VOA)Iran’s confirmed death toll rose to eight, prompting travel bans from neighboring countries.The virus has so far killed more than 2,400 people, with about 80,000 infected globally, though China remains by far the worst hit.President Xi Jinping said the epidemic was the “largest public health emergency” since the founding of the People’s Republic in 1949.”This is a crisis for us and it is a big test,” he said during remarks carried by state television.In a rare admission, at a meeting to coordinate the fight against the virus, Xi added that China must learn from “obvious shortcomings exposed” during its response.The World Health Organization (WHO) has praised Beijing for its handling of the epidemic, but China has been criticized at home for silencing early warnings from a whistleblower doctor who later died from the virus.South Korea said it was raising its alert to the highest level, after the number of infections nearly tripled over the weekend to 602.  Workers wearing protective gear spray disinfectant at a market in the southeastern city of Daegu, South Korea, as a preventive measure after the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak.The country now has the most infections outside of China, apart from the Diamond Princess cruise ship docked in Japan.South Korea reported three deaths on Sunday, taking the countrywide fatality toll to five. The Yonhap news agency later reported a sixth death.Around half of South Korea’s cases have been linked to the Shincheonji Church of Jesus sect in the southern city of Daegu, where thousands of members have been quarantined or asked to stay at home.Police checkpointsItaly’s cases spiked to 152 on Sunday, including three deaths.Virus panic crept onto catwalks, leading to the cancellation of some runway shows at Milan Fashion Week. Others were held behind closed doors and livestreamed.Most cases are confined to the northern town of Codogno, about 70 kilometers (43 miles) southeast of Milan.  More than 50,000 people in about a dozen northern Italian towns have been told to stay home, and police set up checkpoints to enforce a blockade.Austrian railways said traffic on a major route to Italy through the Brenner Pass would be suspended, after a train was stopped because of two suspected cases of the virus.Neighboring Slovenia asked vacationers returning from ski resorts in northern Italy to be particularly vigilant for symptoms.Italy became the first European country to report one of its nationals died from the virus on Friday.Two more fatalities came over the weekend but Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte urged people “not to give in to panic”, and asked them to follow the advice of health authorities.”The rapid increase in reported cases in Italy over the past two days is of concern,” World Health Organization spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic said.Not all reported cases seem to have clear epidemiological links, such as travel history to China or contact with a confirmed case, Jasarevic added.”At this stage, we need to focus on limiting further human to human transmission.”Iran ordered the closure of schools, universities and cultural centers across 14 provinces following eight deaths — the most outside East Asia.The outbreak in the Islamic Republic surfaced Wednesday and quickly grew to 43 confirmed infections, a sudden rise that prompted regional travel restrictions.Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pachinian said his country will close its border with Iran and suspend flights.Like the Italian leader, he, too, said there is no reason to panic.But Paul Hunter, professor of medicine at Britain’s University of East Anglia, said the situation in Iran has “major implications” for the Middle East.”It is unlikely that Iran will have the resources and facilities to adequately identify cases and adequately manage them if case numbers are large,” Hunter said.Pakistan and Turkey announced the closure of land crossings with Iran while Afghanistan said it was suspending travel to the country.Japan criticizedThe outbreak in China remains concentrated in the city of Wuhan — locked down one month ago — where the virus is believed to have emanated from a live animal market in December.China’s infection rate has slowed, but flip-flopping over counting methods has sown confusion over its data.There also was growing concern over the difficulty of detecting the virus.Japan on Sunday confirmed a woman who tested negative and disembarked from the virus-stricken Diamond Princess cruise ship later tested positive.Similarly in Israel, authorities confirmed that a second Israeli citizen who returned from the ship had tested positive. They were among 11 Israelis allowed off the ship and flown home after initially testing negative.Japan has been criticized over its handling of cases aboard the vessel quarantined off Yokohama.A third passenger died Sunday, Japan’s health ministry said, without specifying if it was as a result of the virus.Four Britons who returned from the Diamond Princess on Saturday also tested positive for the COVID-19 illness, the NHS health service said.
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