Welcome to the newsletter highlighting The Economist’s best writing on the pandemic

Our cover this week examines the Republican claim that, as president, Joe Biden would succumb to the plans of the radical left—dramatically expanding the role of government and crippling American business. How much of a danger is that? In our writing on the pandemic we focused on the ramifications of the virus in different countries. We have an analysis of the news that President Donald Trump and the first lady have contracted the disease. Our lead note in Asia tries to get to the bottom of why Pakistan has recorded so many fewer deaths and infections than India, in spite of being poorer. We report on the second wave in Spain and the problems in Iraq. We catch up with the election campaign in New Zealand, where Jacinda Ardern has been riding a covid-19 high. And we trace the connections between the pandemic and booming rich-world house prices. Our mortality tracker uses the gap between the total number of people who have died from any cause and the historical average for the time of year to estimate how many deaths from the virus the official statistics are failing to pick up. We have also been covering the pandemic in Economist Radio and Economist Films. We have a film this week that looks at how covid-19 has disrupted world trade, which was already faltering before the virus struck. The pandemic will not kill off globalisation, but it will deepen the cracks in it. The weather in the northern hemisphere is turning cold. If you are spending more time indoors with people from outside your household, don’t forget your mask! By Zanny Minton Beddoes Editor-In-Chief

Welcome by president of the Most Beautiful Villages of the World

Mr. Mestre travelled around some Swiss villages; for example, the small medieval town of the Reuss, Bremgarten, or the quiet and charming Aarburg. The most beautiful villages in Switzerland is an association founded in 2015 with the aim of protecting, promoting and coordinating in a tourist network the Swiss municipalities that, meeting the criteria set out in the quality charter, are classified as such. Since 2017, the Swiss Association is a member of the International Federation of the Most Beautiful Villages of the World. Currently, it includes 37 municipalities.This meeting had as objective to know more about the important natural and architectural heritage in this beautiful Alpine region. “We highly value the work done by the association in Switzerland to preserve the rural, historical and cultural heritage of its villages. Switzerland and Liechtenstein have municipalities with fascinating nature, local cuisine, picturesque landscapes and the legacy of in these small but great places of excellence where culture, art and natural beauty blend with quality of life and traditions dating back to thousands of years”, explained Mr. Mestre.The Federation integrates different associations in several countries such as Spain, France, Italy, Japan and Wallonia, and Russia, Saxony (Germany), Lebanon or Switzerland as observers. All those (and the best villages of each country) have been carefully chosen to widely share their beauty, whether natural, artistic, cultural or culinary.The federation gathers around 700 villages with specific characteristics and history, all certified for their uniqueness and excellence. This federation represents all this values, ensuring the protection and enhancement of this immense heritage. “This meeting had the objective of strengthening the ties of work and friendship with counterparts Associations, as the one in Switzerland, in order to build a strong link with the inhabitants of our beautiful villages, as well as the preservation and the transmission of this heritage to future generations, and the development of an international sustainable tourism”, ended Mr. Mestre, adding that “one of the most important goals of these associations is to promote small towns and make them more popular. The big cities are all more or less the same, whether in Russia, Japan or Germany”.

“WELCOME”: Un logo per le aziende italiane che favoriscono l’integrazione dei rifugiati

L’Alto Commissariato delle Nazioni Unite per i Rifugiati (UNHCR) ha presentato presso il Senato della Repubblica, con il patrocinio del Ministero del Lavoro, il progetto “Welcome – working for refugee integration” alla presenza di Luigi Manconi, Presidente della Commissione Diritti Umani del Senato, Luigi Bobba, Sottosegretario al Ministero del Lavoro e delle Politiche Sociali e Pierangelo Albini, Direttore Area Lavoro e Welfare di Confindustria. Il progetto permetterà alle aziende che si distingueranno nel favorire l’inserimento professionale dei rifugiati di ricevere dall’UNHCR un riconoscimento formale: un logo che le aziende stesse potranno esporre ed utilizzare nelle loro attività di comunicazione. Il logo “Welcome – working for refugee integration” verrà assegnato annualmente alle imprese che, in base alle proprie possibilità, si saranno distinte per aver effettuato nuove assunzioni di beneficiari di protezione internazionale o comunque avranno favorito il loro concreto inserimento lavorativo e sociale, ed imprese che avranno incoraggiato la nascita di attività di autoimpiego dei beneficiari di protezione internazionale.
“Il settore privato in generale e le singole aziende in particolare, hanno un ruolo cruciale nell’integrazione dei rifugiati.” – ha ricordato Carlotta Sami, Portavoce dell’UNHCR per il Sud Europa – “La loro collaborazione con i diversi attori istituzionali e non che si occupano dell’accoglienza dei beneficiari di protezione internazionale rende possibile realizzare percorsi di integrazione condivisi e partecipativi”.
Le imprese che verranno individuate annualmente aiuteranno l’UNHCR a perseguire l’obiettivo di un modello di società inclusiva, che si adopera per prevenire e combattere xenofobia e razzismo nei confronti di chi è stato costretto ad abbandonare il proprio paese a causa di guerre, conflitti e persecuzioni e ha scelto di ricominciare una nuova vita in Italia.
“Le attività per l’inclusione dei rifugiati possono rappresentare un nuovo orizzonte dell’attività sociale delle aziende e i rifugiati, con le loro competenze ed i loro saperi, possono rappresentare una risorsa per le nostre economie.” Ha concluso la Sami.
Le candidature potranno essere presentate dalle aziende stesse, dai loro dipendenti, dalle associazioni di categoria, dai sindacati, dalle Camere di Commercio, dagli Enti Locali e dalle associazioni o cooperative impegnate nell’assistenza e tutela dei richiedenti e beneficiari di protezione internazionale.

Everybody Welcome, Everything Free

Roma, 9 giugno 2010 ore 11.00 Musei Capitolini Piazza del Campidoglio Palazzo Nuovo  anteprima stampa della mostra (aperta al pubblico da giovedì 10 giugno a domenica 31 ottobre 2010) alla presenza di Umberto Croppi Assessore alle Politiche Culturali e della Comunicazione del Comune di Roma; Umberto Broccoli Sovraintendente ai Beni Culturali del Comune di Roma; Carl A. Anderson Cavaliere supremo dei Cavalieri di Colombo
ore 17.00 Esedra del Marco Aurelio – Palazzo dei Conservatori  conferenza alla presenza di Giovanni Alemanno Sindaco di Roma; Sua Eminenza il Cardinale Tarcisio Bertone Segretario di Stato Vaticano; Carl A. Anderson Cavaliere supremo dei Cavalieri di Colombo; Jim Nicholson ex Ambasciatore Usa presso la Santa Sede; John Patrick Foley Gran Maestro dell’Ordine Equestre del Santo Sepolcro di Gerusalemme. Coordina il giornalista Rai Bruno Vespa.
ore 19.00 Palazzo Nuovo  inaugurazione della mostra  alla presenza di Giovanni Alemanno Sindaco di Roma; Sua Eminenza il Cardinale Tarcisio Bertone Segretario di Stato Vaticano; Carl A. Anderson Cavaliere supremo dei Cavalieri di Colombo; Jim Nicholson ex Ambasciatore Usa presso la Santa Sede; John Patrick Foley Gran Maestro dell’Ordine Equestre del Santo Sepolcro di Gerusalemme; Umberto Croppi Assessore alle Politiche Culturali e della Comunicazione del Comune di Roma; Umberto Broccoli Sovraintendente ai Beni Culturali del Comune di Roma; Claudio Parisi Presicce Direttore dei Musei Capitolini.

Vice President to Welcome Airborne Corps from Iraq

Washington, DC  Vice President Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden will travel to Fort Bragg, North Carolina on Wednesday, April 8th to welcome home the XVIII Airborne Corps back from Iraq.  This is the XVIII Airborne Corps’ second deployment to Iraq since 2006.  Vice President Biden will deliver remarks at the Welcome Home Ceremony. Fort Bragg is known as the “Home of the Airborne and Special Operations Forces.”  Fort Bragg is the home to the XVIII Airborne Corps, the 82nd Airborne Division, as well as the U.S. Army Special Operations Command and the U.S. Army Parachute Team (the Golden Knights).  Its mission is to maintain the XVIII Airborne Corps as a strategic crisis response force, manned and trained to deploy rapidly by air, sea and land anywhere in the world, prepared to fight upon arrival and win. The XVIII Airborne Corps assumed command of Multi-National Corps-Iraq on February 14, 2008.  As the operational headquarters for more than 158,000 ground troops assigned to three Army Divisions, one Marine Expeditionary Force, three Coalition Divisions and several separate brigades, the XVIII Airborne Corps’ mission was to conduct full spectrum operations to defeat extremist groups, provide security for the Iraqi people and to develop the Iraqi Security Forces and the Iraqi Government’s capacity.  The XVIII Airborne Corps completed its mission upon relinquishing command of Multi-National Corps-Iraq to I Corps of Fort Lewis, Washington on April 4, 2009.