IMF head: Recession is here

The head of the International Monetary Fund said Friday it is clear that the global economy has now entered a recession that could be as bad or worse than the 2009 downturn.

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said the 189-nation lending agency was forecasting a recovery in 2021, saying it could be a “sizable rebound.” But she said this would only occur if nations succeed in containing the coronavirus and limiting its economic damage.

“A key concern about a long-lasting impact of the sudden stop of the world economy is the risk of a wave of bankruptcies and layoffs that not only can undermine the recovery but erode the fabric of our societies,” she told reporters at a news conference following a phone conference with finance officials from the 24 nations that make up the IMF’s policy-setting panel.

Ms. Georgieva said the IMF was updating its economic outlook now and that it would be released in a few weeks, allowing the agency more time to assess the economic impacts of the virus.

Asked if the United States was now in recession, she noted that Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell had said Thursday that America “may well be in a recession.” She said she believed not only the U.S. but many other advanced economies and a number of developing countries had already entered downturns.

Ms. Georgieva said lower-income countries were being hit hard by the spreading coronavirus, with 81 nations now seeking support from an IMF emergency financing program being used to provide aid.

She announced that Kyrgyzstan would receive the first IMF support package of $120.9 million to deal with adverse effects of the virus.

She repeated a pledge that the IMF stood ready to make all $1 trillion of its lending resources available to countries being hit by the virus.

“We have seen an extraordinary spike in requests for IMF emergency financing,” Ms. Georgieva said. “We are being asked by our members to do more, do it better and do it faster than ever before.”

Harry, Meghan moved to LA before shutdown

Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, made their move to leave Canada and settle permanently in Los Angeles before the border between Canada and the U.S. was shut last Friday, according to reports.

The Sun reported that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex took a private flight from British Columbia to the Los Angeles area sometime before Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and President Donald Trump closed the border between the countries. They are now, like other Californians, sheltering in place, The Sun said.

People magazine cited a source who said the couple and their 10-month-old son Archie are staying in a secluded compound in Meghan’s hometown and haven’t ventured out.

“Harry and Meghan have left Canada now for good,” The Sun reported. “The borders were closing and flights were stopping. They had to get out.”

The move from a $13 million mansion, where they were staying on Vancouver Island, isn’t unexpected given that Meghan, 38, has a huge support system in Los Angeles, including her mother Doria Ragland, The Sun said. Los Angeles also is the home base of the couple’s new team of Hollywood agents and public relations and business managers, The Sun added.

Their decision to settle in the U.S., not Canada — a Commonwealth country — has left the royal family “stunned and horrified,” according to The Sun.

Alleged Maduro cohort is in DEA custody

A retired Venezuelan army general indicted alongside Nicolas Maduro has surrendered in Colombia and is being taken by Drug Enforcement Administration agents to New York for arraignment, four people familiar with the situation said Friday.

Cliver Alcala has been an outspoken critic of Maduro for years. But he was charged Thursday with allegedly running — with Maduro, socialist party boss Diosdado Cabello and another retired army general — a narcoterrorist conspiracy that U.S. prosecutors say turned the Venezuelan state into a platform for violent cartels and Colombia rebels. The Justice Department had offered a $10 million reward for Alcala’s arrest.

Alcala was being flown on a chartered plane to the U.S. from Barranquilla, Colombia, after waiving an extradition hearing and agreeing to collaborate with prosecutors, said the four people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss actions that had not yet been made public.

After being indicted Thursday, Alcala shocked many by claiming responsibility for a stockpile of U.S.-made assault weapons and military equipment seized on a highway in Colombia for what he said was a planned incursion into Venezuela to remove Maduro. Without offering evidence, he said he had a contract with opposition leader Juan Guaido and his “American advisers” to purchase the weapons.

4 dead on ship that wants to dock in Fla.

Four passengers have died aboard a Holland America cruise ship that soon may make its way to Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., the liner announced Friday.

Holland America said “four older guests” died on the Zaandam but didn’t say whether the new coronavirus was the cause.

Nearly 140 people on the ship have complained about feeling sick, including some with respiratory symptoms. On Thursday, several people were tested for the coronavirus, and two tested positive. The company didn’t say whether the two who tested positive were among the four who died.

The ship was prohibited from disembarking in Chile and is now seeking to make its way to Fort Lauderdale. That plan has drawn the wrath of Broward’s County Commission, which is considering turning it away. The ship wants to arrive Monday.

Hospital ship arrives to free up beds

The hospital ship Mercy arrived at the Port of Los Angeles on Friday to offer assistance during the coronavirus crisis, which is expected to tax area hospitals.

The Mercy has roughly 800 medical staffers, 1,000 hospital beds and 12 operating rooms.

The ship will house patients who do not have COVID-19 in an attempt to free up regional hospital beds for those who do. Some patients who are already hospitalized in Los Angeles County will be transferred to the ship for ongoing treatment, port officials said Thursday.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said earlier this week that the state will need 50,000 hospital beds for coronavirus patients, a significant increase from the 20,000 beds his administration had forecast last week. Mr. Newsom said the state’s 416 hospitals were doubling so-called surge plans to 40% of their capacity, which includes providing 30,000 new beds across the system.