Germany and the U.S. Battle Over Rights to Coronavirus Vaccine

CureVac, a German biotechnology firm working on a COVID-19 vaccine, has been reportedly approached by the White House with an enticing offer to move its operations to the United States.

Government officials in Germany have taken the Reuters report very seriously and are prepared to implement a law that would require review of aggressive merger of national companies by interests located outside of the European Union.

It is unclear how advanced CureVac may be in developing a COVID-19 vaccine; Trump has hinted that he knows about projects that could deliver a vaccine in just a few months, but even the World Health Organization believes that it will take more than a year. Thus far, laboratories in Miami and San Diego have claimed to be ready for animal testing of their vaccine research.

Rocket Attack Causes Serious Injuries at American Military Base in Iraq

Three members of the United States military were seriously injured after more than 20 rockets impacted Camp Taji, an operating base from where Iraqi and American forces launch ground operations.

This was the second attack on U.S. installations in Iraq this week; the first incident killed one soldier, one airman, and a British medic. Two Iraqi soldiers were also wounded in this latest attack, which is believed to have been carried out by Shiite militias supported by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.

The U.S. has already conducted retaliatory attacks in Iraq, and this action has exacerbated the tense political crisis in that country.

Couple Held by Terrorist Group Escaped Captivity in Mali

A Canadian woman and an Italian man who were taken hostage by a radical Islamic group aligned with Al Qaeda have been found alive in Mali after vanishing in late 2018.

Edith Blais and Luca Tacchetto were taken in Burkina Faso, but they were able to escape while being transported across the border to Mali; they were in the region performing humanitarian work, and they are now in the safety of United Nations peacekeepers.

Global Recession May Be Unavoidable

The United States Federal Reserve has cut all interest rates for interbank lending in an effort to soften the deep impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the American economy, but many analysts believe that this will not be enough to prevent a global recession.

The economists who think that the worst is yet to come are citing the initial thought that financial regulators expressed in 2007, when the American housing market imploded, that such an event would be confined to the U.S.

The most significant problem faced by the global economy is that both supply and demand are being affected; if the slowdown continues beyond the end of the second quarter, economic reports will likely show signs of a recession, and it would take two full quarters to recover.