Singapore cuts 2020 GDP forecast for third time on virus outbreak

SINGAPORE, May 26 (Reuters) – Singapore downgraded its 2020 gross domestic product forecast for the third time as the COVID-19 pandemic batters the bellwether economy, the trade ministry said on Tuesday.

The city-state lowered its GDP forecast range to a contraction of 7% to 4% from the prior range of a decline of 1% to 4%.

Singapore’s economy contracted 0.7% year-on-year in the first quarter, the ministry of trade and industry said, and 4.7% on a quarter-on-quarter basis, a less severe decline than advance estimates. (Reporting by John Geddie, Aradhana Aravindan and Fathin Ungku; Editing by Sam Holmes)

PHOTOS: Memorial Day at Fort Logan National Cemetery in Denver – The Denver Post

People visited Fort Logan National Cemetery in Denver on Memorial Day, Monday, May 25, 2020.

Earthquake rattles NZ for the second time in 48 hours

SYDNEY (Reuters) – A magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck the New Zealand city of Levin, near the country’s capital Wellington, a day after a 5.8 tremor was recorded in the same area, government seismic monitor Geonet said on Tuesday.

The epicentre was 30 km (20 miles) northwest of Levin and at a depth of 32 km.

The country’s capital Wellington and nearby areas were shaken by a 5.8 magnitude earthquake on Monday.

Earthquake rattles New Zealand for the second time in 48 hours

SYDNEY (REUTERS) – A magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck the New Zealand city of Levin, near the country’s capital Wellington, a day after a 5.8 tremor was recorded in the same area, government seismic monitor Geonet said on Tuesday (may 26).

The epicentre was 30km northwest of Levin and at a depth of 32km.

The country’s capital Wellington and nearby areas were shaken by a 5.8 magnitude earthquake on Monday.

Donald Trump Says He Is No Longer Taking Malaria Drug Hydroxychloroquine For Coronavirus

After weeks of singing the praises of the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine as a preventative measure against the coronavirus, and saying last week that was taking the drug himself, President Donald Trump revealed in an interview on Sinclair Broadcasting on Sunday that he had “Finished, just finished,” his course of the unproven treatment. “And by the way, I’m still here…To the best of my knowledge, here I am.”

That, on the same day the World Health Organization placed a pause in COVID-19-related testing of hydroxychloroquine after the esteemed medical journal The Lancet published a finding that, among patients with coronavirus who received the drug, the authors “estimated a higher mortality rate.”

The Food and Drug Administration had also issued a warning of potential harmful side effects to the drug, including ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation and, in some cases, death. But Trump has still promoted it as a potential effective treatment for the virus.

“I happen to be taking it…Right now,” Trump said to surprised reporters at the White House last Monday. “Yeah. Couple weeks ago I started taking it. Cause I think it is good. I have heard a lot of good stories. And if it is not good, I will tell you, alright, I am not going to get hurt by it.”

“What do you have to lose?” Trump said at the time.

BOJ's Kuroda says ready to ease more including via new steps

TOKYO, May 26 (Reuters) – Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said on Tuesday the central bank was ready to ease monetary policy further such as by expanding its loan programmes, cutting interest rates and ramping up risky asset purchases.

“The BOJ is ready to do whatever it can,” Kuroda said in semiannual testimony to parliament.

“What’s important now is to ensure markets are stable so that once the pandemic is contained, Japan’s economy can resume a solid recovery path,” he said. (Reporting by Leika Kihara; Editing by Chris Gallagher)

Trump Bashes Marine Vet Congressman As An ‘American Fraud’ On Memorial Day

Donald Trump picked Memorial Day to attack Rep. Conor Lamb (D-Pa.), a Marine Corps veteran, as an “American fraud” and “puppet for Crazy Nancy Pelosi” as the president endorsed the lawmaker’s rival on Monday.

Trump goofed up the attack, referring to Conor Lamb as “Connor Lamm” as he pitched Republican candidate Sean Parnell in the election for Lamb’s Pennsylvania seat.

Trump appeared to be unaware that Lamb, far from being Pelosi’s “puppet,” was one of only 15 Democrats in the House who did not vote for her to become speaker in 2017.

Lamb won his seat in March 2018 in a contest with Republican Rick Saccone, who was endorsed by Trump. It was a stunning Democratic upset in a longtime Republican district that faced the special election after Republican Rep. Tim Murphy resigned over an extramarital affair.

What really got to critics on Twitter was Trump’s attack on a veteran on Memorial Day from a president who dodged the Vietnam War draft with a suspect medical complaint of “bone spurs.” It’s not known why Trump would call Lamb a “fraud.”

Lamb, who was a captain in the Marine Corps, suggested the best revenge will be at the ballot box.

Parnell also got socked on Twtter for gushing about the “shoutout” that bashed a fellow veteran from Trump, the same president who berated the late Sen. John McCain for getting captured in Vietnam, and demeaned a Muslim gold star family that lost a son in Iraq.

Earthquake rattles New Zealand for the second time in 48 hours

SYDNEY (Reuters) – A magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck the New Zealand city of Levin, near the country’s capital Wellington, a day after a 5.8 tremor was recorded in the same area, government seismic monitor Geonet said on Tuesday.

The epicentre was 30 km (20 miles) northwest of Levin and at a depth of 32 km.

The country’s capital Wellington and nearby areas were shaken by a 5.8 magnitude earthquake on Monday.