Portal:Current events/2020 March 7

< Portal:Current events

March 7, 2020 (Saturday)

Business and economy

Lebanon says it will default on a eurobond repayment and pursue restructuring its debt. The country has never before defaulted. Lebanon's government debt is about 170% of its yearly gross domestic product. (The Guardian)

Disasters and accidents

Collapse of Xinjia Express Hotel
- A hotel being used for quarantining those with COVID-19 collapses in Quanzhou, Fujian, China. Ten people were killed and twenty-three are trapped. Thirty-eight have been rescued alive. (CNN)
Twenty-two people are killed and more than 70 are injured when a tank truck, two buses and another vehicle collide in the road between Damascus and Homs, in Syria. (Reuters)

Health and environment

COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
  - Malta reports its first case of COVID-19. (Reuters)
  - Bulgaria reports its first two cases. (Darik News)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Italy
    - Nicola Zingaretti, the President of Lazio since 2013 and Secretary of the Democratic Party since 2019, confirmed he has contracted the virus. (La Repubblica)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
  - The Maldives report its first two confirmed cases of COVID-19. (Reuters)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Iran
    - Newly elected member of parliament Fatemeh Rahbar dies after contracting COVID-19. (Straits Times)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Japan
    - A 50-year-old man is arrested for breaching quarantine and traveling to two crowded bars in Gamagōri after testing positive for COVID-19 the day prior. He reportedly told family members he intended to spread it and bragged to bar employees that he had tested positive. (Tokyo Reporter)
- COVID-19 pandemic in South America
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Argentina
    - The Ministry of Health of Argentina confirmed the country's first death due to COVID-19, a 64-year-old man who had traveled to Paris who also had other health conditions. This marks the first death due to COVID-19 in Latin America. (Infobae in Spanish)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Paraguay
    - Paraguay reports its first case of COVID-19. (Infobae in Spanish)

Politics and elections

2019 Afghan presidential election
- A spokesman for politician Abdullah Abdullah announces he will hold a parallel presidential inauguration ceremony next week after he declares himself the winner of the election. Incumbent President Ashraf Ghani was declared the winner. (Reuters)