- Japan’s economic growth plunged into recession in the first quarter as the coronavirus pandemic squelched production, exports and spending, and fears are growing that worse times may lie ahead. The Cabinet Office reported Monday a 3.4% drop in the annual pace of seasonally adjusted real gross domestic product, or GDP, for the January-March period. The annual pace gives what the rate would be when continued for a year. For just the quarter, the drop was 0.9%. Exports dived 21.8%. Private residential investments slipped nearly 17%, and household consumption fell 3.1%.
- A Canadian aerobatic jet crashed into a British Columbia neighborhood Sunday during a flyover intended to boost morale during the pandemic, killing one crew member, seriously injuring another and setting a house on fire. Video appeared to show the plane’s crew ejecting. The crash left debris scattered across the neighborhood near the airport in the city of Kamloops, 260 miles (418 kilometers) northeast of Vancouver. The Snowbirds are Canada’s equivalent of the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds or U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels.
- Confirming that museums have been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic with nearly 90 per cent of them shut, the UNESCO and the International Council of Museums (ICOM) on Monday expressed concern over the global cultural space. More than 85,000 institutions shut their doors for different durations during the crisis and nearly 13 per cent of museums might never reopen, they said in a statement on the International Museum Day.
- Moscow health officials say 77 people died of coronavirus in the city in the past 24 hours, the highest daily number for the Russian capital so far. With a total of over 1,46,000 confirmed infections and 1,580 deaths, Russia’s capital currently accounts for more than half of the country’s virus cases and 58% of all reported deaths.
- World Health Organization member states agreed during their main annual assembly Monday to delay a controversial discussion on granting Taiwan observer status, despite the United States and others stepping up pressure in recent days.
- In a significant development towards developing a vaccine for the coronavirus, an American biotechnology company on Monday said its initial vaccine tests in people have shown promising results and can stimulate an immune response against the virus. Moderna said that the first coronavirus vaccine to be tested in people appeared to be safe, according to a report in The New York Times.
- Iraq will impose a complete lockdown on some areas of the capital, the country’s new health minister said on Monday, amid an uptick in coronavirus cases in recent weeks since curfew hours were relaxed.