1. Zimbabwe will sell elephant hunting rights due to financial problems caused by COVID-19 ‘s epidemic, the Russian satellite network reported. Under the proposed license, hunters will be given the right to kill no less than 500 elephants in 2021. The Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Service said the decline in income from the tourism industry affected by the epidemic was one of the main reasons for the decision. Zimbabwe has a large elephant population of 100000, with an increase in the number of injuries. In 2020, 60 people were killed in such unfortunate events, while 21 have died since the beginning of 2021. According to the report, the hunting right of an elephant is estimated to be worth 10, 000 to 70, 000 US dollars, which is related to the size of the elephant.

 2. The COVID-19 epidemic in India is completely out of control: 340000 cases are increasing day by day, beds are difficult to find, and bodies are burned in the streets. The epidemic in India has not yet seen an inflection point, the rate of vaccination is still slow, and most epidemiologists predict that India will face several more outbreaks. However, when India asked the United States for help to liberalize the export of vaccine raw materials, it was told that “the United States comes first.” in sharp contrast, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent friendly signals to India for two days in a row, saying that it was willing to lend a helping hand. However, according to a report by the Times of India on the 23rd, an official source revealed that China was not considered by India to “ask for help.”

3. Asahi Shimbun: Tokyo Electric Power Company of Japan said that a liquid storage tank containing radioactive waste at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant may have leaked.

4.On the 24th, there were 876 new confirmed cases in Tokyo, the highest since the second state of emergency was lifted. Osaka Prefecture added 1097 cases on the same day, and more than 1,000 cases in a single day for five consecutive days. Among them, the bed utilization rate of COVID-19 ‘s critically ill patients in Osaka prefecture is more than 98%. Hyogo County and Capital Prefecture on the same day the number of new confirmed cases are also local new highs.

5.The new regular meeting of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy will be held from April 27th to 28th. Earlier this month, Federal Reserve Chairman Colin Powell stressed that although the outlook has become brighter after the expansion of the vaccination scope of the epidemic, the US economy still needs loose monetary policy support in order to fully recover from the epidemic.

6.According to South African media reports, South Africa is currently the only country in Africa with electric vehicles, but there are only a handful of them. South Africa will vigorously develop green vehicles such as electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles in 10 years’ time.

7.According to statistics, as of April 24, residents of 207 countries and regions around the world had received more than 1 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccine. COVID-19 was vaccinated the fastest in the United States, China and India, accounting for 58 per cent of the global total. 

8.Hong Nanji, Deputy Prime Minister of South Korea: the government has ordered 99 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine, about 192 million doses, which is enough for 52 million people to receive 1.9 doses of vaccine, which is also equivalent to 2.75 times the dose of 36 million people needed to form mass immunization.

9.The Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee said that during the Tokyo Olympic torch relay in Kagawa Prefecture on the 17th of this month, a police officer in Kagawa Prefecture in his 30s infected COVID-19 during road traffic control. This is the first time that an infection related to the Olympic torch relay has been found.

10.Recently, South Korea’s proposal to the United States to exchange semiconductors for vaccines was rejected. South Korea’s foreign minister said that he had stressed to the US side that South Korea provided the United States with nucleic acid testing kits and masks at the request of the US side last year, and hoped that the US side would take this assistance into account to help South Korea solve the vaccine difficulties. But the United States says there is no surplus for the vaccine. Some media commented that in terms of vaccine distribution, only “the United States gives priority”.

11.On April 22, there was an astonishing figure in India-314835 people were newly infected by COVID-19 that day, which is the highest daily growth level in the world since the outbreak of COVID-19. Prior to this, the highest number of daily infections of COVID-19 in the world appeared in the United States in January, reaching 297430. On the same day, the death toll from COVID-19 in India was as high as 2104, with the total death toll reaching 184657. The long list of figures shows that India is suffering from a second wave of “avalanche” outbreaks.

12.Biden’s plan proposes to nearly double the capital gains tax rate for the rich to 39.6%, which, coupled with the existing investment income surtax, means that the federal capital gains tax rate for investors will be as high as 43.4%. The capital gains tax rate for people earning no less than US$1 million a year will be raised to 39.6%, far more than the current base rate of 20 %, according to sources. Add in the 3.8% investment income tax rate that funds Obamacare, and the capital gains tax level is higher than the highest payroll tax rate.