The Evening: Testing Dispute, Oil Less Than Zero, Stones and More

April 20, 2020

Dispute Over Testing

A $450 billion deal to aid taxpayers and businesses is stalled in Congress amid a dispute over testing. And meanwhile, South Carolina allowed retail shops to open on Monday with social distancing guidelines, and the governors of Georgia and Tennessee announced plans to ease restrictions on businesses in their states in the coming days, as the NYT reports.

Oil Less Than Zero

U.S. oil futures plunged below zero for the first time Monday, a chaotic demonstration that there was no place left to store all the crude that the world’s stalled economy would otherwise be using, as the WSJ reports.

Dive Deeper: “The Oil Inventory Challenge,” by CSIS’s Ben Cahill.

Israel’s Unity Deal

Israel's rival political leaders broke the country's unprecedented political impasse Monday when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and challenger Benny Gantz announced a deal to join forces and form an emergency unity government, as the Washington Post reports.

On the Horizon

Will data collection measures stay in place once the pandemic passes, and, if so, what new rules will govern privacy? CSIS Technology Policy Program director Jim Lewis discusses privacy after Covid-19.

CSIS’s “On the Horizon” series offers insights into the more fundamental changes we might anticipate for our future social and economic world as a consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic.

CSIS Executive Education

We invite you to apply to Unpacking the Defense Enterprise, a a three-day live, online course exploring defense strategy, budgetary and technical issues, and future challenges and opportunities in the U.S. defense enterprise.

Video Shorts

Check out CSIS’s new series of video shorts: “Testify,” "What's Happening," "Preview," and “High Resolution.” And don’t forget to subscribe to the CSIS YouTube Channel!

In That Number

Minus $37.63

U.S. crude prices plummeted Monday, dropping by almost 300 percent to turn negative for the first time ever as cratering demand pushed storage facilities to their limits. West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark crude, sank to an unprecedented low of minus $37.63 a barrel by the close of the oil market.

Source: NBC News

Critical Quote

“It’s not accurate to say there’s plenty of testing out there, and the governors should just get it done. That’s just not being straightforward.”

— Governor Larry Hogan (R-MD)

iDeas Lab

Marine research vessels have been making waves in the Indo-Pacific recently. CSIS's Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative visualizes the location of each research activity undertaken by these vessels across the Indo-Pacific last year

The Andreas C. Dracopoulos iDeas Lab at CSIS enhances our research with the latest in cutting-edge web technologies, design, and video.

Optics

(Photo credit: Karen Ducey/Getty Images). Hundreds gather to protest the state's stay-at-home order in Olympia, Washington.

Recommended Reading

"Can I Stay or Can I Go Now? Longer-term Impacts of Covid-19 on Global Migration," by CSIS's Erol Yayboke.

Online Events

Tomorrow, at 1:0o p.m. CSIS will host part two of an online event series, on synthetic biology and national security.

And, at 8:00 a.m., the Atlantic Council will host a virtual conversation titled "Italy, Spain, France: Foreign influence operations amidst the Covid-19 crisis."

Later, at 2:oo p.m., the Brookings Institution will hold a live webinar on public health surveillance, AI bias, and risks to privacy in the fight against Covid-19.

Video

Despite not being a full member of the World Health Organization, Taiwan has successfully combated the novel coronavirus.Bonnie Glaser, director of CSIS's China Power Project, explains how Taiwan has overcome the threat of Covid-19. Watch the full video here.

Podcasts

In this episode, CSIS's Global Health Policy Center director Steve Morrison illustrates what the President's three-phase reopening could look like.

Listen on Spotify & Apple Podcasts.

Smiles

On Saturday night, Global Citizen’s One World: Together at Home Special , which raised funds for COVID-19 relief, broadcast a concert featuring many of the world’s most popular musicians brought together by Lady Gaga. The youngsters like Lizzo, John Legend, Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello were brilliant. But it was the oldsters like Sheryl Crow, Annie Lennox (with her daughter), Billy Ray Cyrus and Eddie Vedder that moved me the most.

And then there were the Rolling Stones…who, STOLE THE SHOW. This is one to remember for any serious Stones fan. Mick, just off heart surgery is in magnificent form. Keith, regal and not doing too much but adding just the right touches on backing vocals. Ronnie, wow, Ronnie still seriously rocks. And Charlie air drumming along with a sly grin is too rich. All in sync Brady Bunch style. Sometimes, music is just what you need .