Brazil and Ecuador have become coronavirus epicenters in Latin America, as prolonged lapses in tracking and testing have led to severely undercounted death tolls, the Washington Post and the New York Times report.
Where it stands: Brazil's health minister, appointed by far-right President Jair Bolsonaro last week, said the government plans to buy 46 million tests, but has not detailed when they will arrive or be distributed, per the Post. Authorities in Ecuador, including the country's president, believe the national death toll is much higher than currently reported.
Kim Jong-un’s status remains a mystery after a week of rumors about the North Korean dictator’s health and chatter in Washington about succession.
Why it matters: “This should be a huge reminder of how much regional stability rests on this one leader,” says Jung Pak, a former CIA officer and author of the forthcoming book “Becoming Kim Jong-un.”
The director of Israel's foreign intelligence agency, Mossad, said in a briefing to health care officials on Thursday that Iran and its regional allies are intentionally underreporting cases and deaths from the coronavirus, officials who attended the event tell Axios.
What he's saying: According to officials who attended the briefing, Mossad Director Yossi Cohen said the situation in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Iran is much worse than the governments of those countries publicly acknowledge.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Thursday announced that the country will give the World Health Organization an additional $30 million, after donating $20 million in cash to WHO on March 11 to help fight the global coronavirus outbreak.
Why it matters: Some critics of the Trump administration’s recent call to suspend WHO funding argue that decision would increase China’s influence over the international organization.
Nearly 265 million people worldwide could be pushed to starvation by the end of the year as the coronavirus pandemic strains supply chains, agricultural production and national economies, the New York Times reports.
The state of play: Measures in place to combat the illness, such as social distancing and lockdowns, have made it nearly impossible for many around the world to work and be able to feed their families.
Brazil's Amazon rainforest lost over 2,000 square miles of forest from last August through March 2020, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing satellite data gathered by Brazil's National Institute for Space Research (INPE).
The big picture: The largest and most biodiverse rainforest on the planet, which plays an essential part in slowing global warming, has faced rapid deforestation under far-right President Jair Bolsonaro.
The world is facing its gravest challenge in decades, but President Trump issued a reminder today that geopolitical tensions won’t wait until it’s over.
The big picture: Trump’s threat to “destroy” Iranian boats that harass U.S. ships comes amid rumors about Kim Jong-un's health, arrests in Hong Kong of leading pro-democracy activists, and clashes in Afghanistan that could further undermine the peace process there.
A woman living in the only Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon’s Bekaa region has tested positive for the coronavirus, AP reports, citing the United Nations.
Why it matters: She's the first person in a refugee camp in Lebanon, which hosts tens of thousands of Palestinian refugees, to contract the virus.
We think of Russian spy stories as a 20th-century genre of storytelling, but imperial Russia retained a sprawling corps of intelligence-gathering bureaucrats that it sent to spy on Qing-dynasty China.
The intrigue: In "Spies and Scholars: Chinese Secrets and Imperial Russia's Quest for World Power" (Belknap Press, 2020), Georgetown University historian Gregory Afinogenov draws on never-before-seen material from Russian archives.
China's highest-security virology center is at the center of debate, speculation and misinformation about how, where and when the novel coronavirus emerged.
Why it matters: Knowing the origin of the novel coronavirus is key to efforts to prevent future possible pandemics and will shape China's role in the post-pandemic world.
Scores of Chinese diplomats and embassies around the world have opened Twitter accounts over the past six months.
The state of play: Many of them are now using the social media platform to post accusations, boasts and name-calling directed at governments and individuals they feel have insulted China.
China announced on April 18 it has created two new municipal districts to administer disputed regions in the South China Sea that are also claimed by other countries in the region. Chinese ships also trailed a Malaysian vessel operating in waters near Malaysia.
Why it matters: The Chinese Communist Party may try to "solidify and strengthen" its maritime claims while the world is busy dealing with the pandemic, said James Kraska, a professor of international maritime law at the U.S. Naval War College.
President Trump has spoken regularly about the return of sports. But in Canada, where large gatherings have been banned through August in much of the country, there's less urgency to bring them back.
Why it matters: Canada is home to 12 franchises that are part of North America's five major sports leagues, all currently weighing how and when to resume play.
The global coronavirus crisis is entering a trial-and-error phase as countries begin to tiptoe out of lockdown.
Why it matters: The decisions of what to open and when could determine whether economies stay afloat, and whether fresh lockdowns will be needed if cases spike again. U.S. states now considering their own exit strategies will be watching closely.
