Our state is taking the wise step of reducing unnecessary public gatherings and that includes voting.

Take this virus seriously and do your part to protect everyone in the community, a letter to the editors says.

Many of these hard-working people do not qualify for unemployment benefits because they are considered independent contractors, a letter says.

This example many will be able to repeat with possible grave danger to uncounted numbers, a letter to the editor says.

A bullet struck 16-year-old Nya Cope in the head just a short distance from a gathering that attracted large groups to an east side parking lot.

Police said the pregnant woman was hit on South Harding Street, near the I-465 ramp.

The protest was in response to two fatal police involved shootings that happened Wednesday, May 6, 2020 and in the early morning hours of Thursday, May 7, 2020.

A statistical analysis of Indianapolis' homicides shows that young black males are four times more likely than others to be victims of homicide.

The goal of the project is to peel back the layers of violence and explain why it is occurring.

Dreasjon Reed, 21, was shot and killed following an Indianapolis police pursuit that was broadcast in part on Facebook Live.

Providence has dominated the series with Butler,12-4

Eighty-five years ago Monday, Jesse Owens tied the 60-yard dash world record at the Butler Indoor Relays at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

Jordan Tucker is second Butler player to announce decision to leave this offseason.

Wisconsin AD Barry Alvarez announced his school will not submit waivers for spring-sport seniors to regain a year of eligibility.

The Oscar-winning director will introduce his film Oct. 12 to Heartland Film Festival audiences at the Indianapolis Museum of Art.

Construction projects will temporarily close the intersections to traffic.

Some ethics experts say Carmel Mayor Jim Brainard's push for coronavirus testing at Indianapolis lab Aria Diagnostics raises flags.

As of Friday, the province said there were 13 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 12 of the new cases found in La Loche.

U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence's press secretary has the coronavirus, the White House said Friday, making her the second person who works at the White House complex known to test positive for the virus this week.

The president of Texas Motor Speedway is still hoping to run the Genesys 600 with fans in June. But if they're turned away, he'll need NASCAR's help.

Interested in waiving the green flag at an Indy 500 practice, and looking to stay busy during the Month of May? IndyCar and IMS have a solution.

A long-stalled push to eliminate gerrymandering suddenly enjoys some momentum.

A lot of interesting storylines emerged from Tuesday's primaries. Here are several of them.

Look inside this 1950s modern home at 6474 Meridian St.

Bulldogs have not been able to go over the sectional hump since 2009.

After five consecutive sectional losses to Avon dating to 2010, Brownsburg finally knocks off its rival in tournament

"We've always disinfected oral, nasal cavities that would be exposed to that exhale procedure," said Eric Bell, a funeral director in Pittsboro, Ind.

My colleague Tanya Beckett has conducted a rare and fascinating interview with Viktor Vekselberg, one of the billionaire oligarchs who co-own TNK-BP with BP - and who have fallen out with BP over BP's desire to form a business relationship with Rosneft, Russia's largest energy group, which would involve BP and Rosneft taking stakes in each other.

Because of the tensions that have arisen with AAR, the group that represents the oligarchs, BP in collaboration with Rosneft would dearly love to buy AAR's half share in TNK-BP. But their offer of $27bn for 50% of TNK-BP, which values the whole of TNK-BP at $54bn, was rejected earlier this month.

All may not be lost for BP, however. Mr Vekselberg suggests that a sale is possible. He tells Tanya Beckett:

"Of course it can be happen, for sure. If it will be [an] interesting proposal for us according to our understanding of (the) valuation of this company, of course we can accept. So far we have not received this."

So what would be an "interesting" valuation of TNK-BP? Well those close to the oligarchs say that they value TNK-BP at more than $70bn.

It's not clear BP and Rosneft are prepared to pay as much that. The difficulty for BP is that if it fails to reach an accommodation with Mr Vekselberg and his colleagues on price, then it will be stuck in a difficult place - because BP will have been publicly humiliated by the failure to consummate the Rosneft deal and will somehow have to rebuild relations with AAR in order to continue to extract billions of dollars in dividends from TNK-BP.

BP's partnership with AAR is in tatters, as Mr Vekselberg makes clear, in emotive terms, because of AAR's conviction, upheld in arbitration proceedings, that BP's proposed deal with Rosneft breached its contract with AAR:

"The picture is really simple. TNK-BP was created eight years ago, 2003. It was created like [a] joint venture between Russian shareholders and BP, huge global player... The company grew very active; it's now one of the best companies - not just Russian but internationally, because we have investment outside Russia...
 
And really I personally was surprised, I was surprised why BP decided to do something which [was] not according to our shareholders agreement. I am not surprised why BP would like to do this but I am surprised why they did it without any consulting or even just like, just inform us about that (sic). I was very upset, I am still upset even now".

Mr Vekselberg says he is "not so interested in money". The billionaire
adds: "I have enough money, for my life, for my family, for all that".
But "we are businessmen, we are not ideological or something", so of course a sale to BP and Rosneft "can happen".

So what would occur if BP and Rosneft were to make him several billion dollars richer? "I am already very upset" he says "but I will [be] double upset if I have to decide to sell. It's because I dedicated for this company almost like 15 years".

These remarks by Mr Vekselberg are a sign that the impasse over the purchase by BP and Rosneft of AAR's stake in TNK-BP can be overcome.
It offers hope to BP, perhaps for the first time, that it may be able to buy AAR out of the joint venture by the time of the May 16 extended deadline set by Rosneft.

But here's the question? Is the price that Mr Vekselberg and his fellow billionaires will accept one that BP's owners will see as acceptable?

Some of them are already dubious about the terms of the new partnership it wants to form with Rosneft. At a time when BP remains financially stretched by the costs of the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, BP's shareholders won't want it to further enrich Mr Vekselberg more than is strictly necessary.

For more on the Vekselberg interview, see Russia Business Report.

One of Europe's most influential bankers said to me the other day that he thought it would be a disaster if any of the eurozone's debt-stretched nations imposed a reduction in the value of their respective sovereign borrowings, or - to use the jargon - took a haircut on their debts.

For him, the eurozone approach of muddling through - providing IMF and eurozone loans to those countries that cannot borrow on markets - is the right approach, even if it hasn't actually solved anything for the eurozone in a permanent sense.

It is curious he should take that view, given that the rescues of Greece and Ireland that took place last year are already having to be renegotiated. And the bailout of those countries didn't stop the rot: Portugal is well into the process of obtaining emergency finance from eurozone and IMF.

Wouldn't it be better to cut what Greece - or Portugal or Ireland - owes down to a manageable size, in tandem with the imposed shrinkage of its public sector, to put its public finances back on a basis that is sustainable for the long term?

The markets are saying that's the only way forward. Over the course of a year, the market price of Greek government debt has fallen by more than half, for example. The yield on 10-year Greek government bonds is well over 15%. Which is an unambiguous statement from investors that there is not the faintest chance that they will lend to Greece again, unless and until its debt burden is reduced to a manageable size.

Or to put it another way, markets are presenting a simple choice to eurozone government heads and the IMF: they can continue to lend to Greece for an indefinite period, in the hope that Greece's economic growth will eventually pick up and generate incremental tax revenues, which would allow the Greek government to perhaps start paying down its debts; or they can bite the bullet and put Greece into the equivalent of what the Americans call Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, to restructure and reduce what Greece owes so that it is consistent with the market price of all that debt.

Now as of this instant, option one looks a bit naive, in that what's happened subsequent to the first bailout of Greece a year ago is that its ratio of debt to GDP has been growing in leaps and bounds to more than 150% of GDP (and for more on the heroic challenges faced by Greece, see reports in the next day or two from Stephanie Flanders, who is in Athens).

So you would have expected my influential banker - who knows a thing or two about the markets - to be in favour of what the markets are saying is inevitable. Surely he should be calling for that most humiliating event for any creditor, a formal admission by Greece that it can't pay what it owes, which goes by the moniker of a haircut, or restructuring, or default?

But Mr Big Banker doesn't think that's the right way forward. His reasoning is that he fears a debt restructuring would weaken many of Europe's banks, such that they would be forced to raise new capital - perhaps from their respective governments. And, for reasons that slightly elude me, he sees that as a worse outcome than leaving Greece trapped in an unbreakably vicious cycle of economic decline.

The odd thing, however, is that the official statistics really don't seem to indicate that a haircut on Greek debt would be Armageddon for Europe's banks.

It would be a disaster for Greece's banks, that's certainly true, given that (according to Bank of England figures) a 50% writedown of Greek sovereign debt would wipe out more than 70% of their equity capital. Or to put it another way, they would be bust and would have to be recapitalised.

But, sooner or later, Greece's banks are going to need strengthening in any case. Fixing Greece's public finances won't fix Greece unless its banks are mended too. So any estimate of the costs of rehabilitating that country will include the price of providing new capital to the banks.

The more relevant question, perhaps, is what a Greek haircut would mean for banks outside Greece.

The latest figures from the Bank for International Settlements, published a few days ago, show that at the end of last year banks outside Greece had lent $146bn to Greek banks, companies and the public sector - down from $171bn three months earlier. And, of this, loans to the public sector (largely holdings of Greek government bonds) were $54bn.

To be clear, this doesn't take account of exposure through derivatives, credit commitments or guarantees. So the world's banks probably have a further $100bn exposure to Greece.

The sums at risk therefore look serious though not - on their own - potentially disastrous for the health of the financial system.

Now as luck would have it, the banks most at risk happen to be those of the eurozone's two largest and strongest economies, Germany and France. The exposure of German banks to Greece is $34bn, including perhaps $20bn of loans to the Greek government, while the exposure of French banks is $57bn, of which again around $20bn is probably sovereign lending

Now because of what some would say is the madness of how the global Basel rules - that measure the strength of banks - are applied, there would be a double whammy for eurozone banks if there were a write-off of Greek sovereign debt.

The banks with Greek sovereign exposure would have to reduce their respective stocks of capital by the amount of the loan loss. And they would have to inflate the size of their balance sheets, because the residual exposure to the Greek government would lose its official (and some would say insane) zero risk weighting. So the fall in the capital ratios of banks with exposure to Greece would be magnified in a painful way.

Of the larger listed banks, only one, the Franco-Belgian group Dexia, looks as though it would be seriously hurt by a Greek debt writedown. According to Morgan Stanley, Dexia has 4.9bn euros of exposure to Greek sovereign debt, equivalent to more than half the value of its equity capital. Dexia would be significantly weakened by a 50% Greek haircut.

Next at risk, according to Morgan Stanley, would be Commerzbank of Germany, with €3bn of Greek sovereign debt, equivalent to 15% of its capital. Meanwhile BNP Paribas and Credit Agricole of France, Erste of Austria, KBC of Belgium and Deutsche Bank of Germany all have meaningful though not devastating exposures.

Less visible is the Greek exposure of Germany's state backed landesbanks - which regulators tell me is considerable. But if they were to incur large losses on it, Germany could afford to recapitalise them.

So what is going on? Why are eurozone governments so wary of a restructuring or haircut of Greek sovereign debt, given that banks in the round won't be killed by the consequential hit?

There seem to be three reasons.

First, in Germany, it is apparently politically more acceptable to provide rescue finance to Greece directly than to rescue German banks that foolishly and greedily bought Greek debt for its relatively high yield.

Second, a Greek debt restructuring would be a severe blow to eurozone pride in the strength of the currency union.

Third, a Greek haircut might be the thin end of a large wedge. If it created a precedent for haircuts in Portugal and Ireland, the losses for the eurozone's banks would begin to look serious. But again, if there were just a trio of national debt haircuts, if the rot were to stop with Ireland and Portugal, eurozone governments could afford to shore up and recapitalise their banks.

That said, what the eurozone could not afford - or so regulators fear - would be haircut contagion to the likes of Spain and Italy.

But Spain and Italy are looking in better shape. Spain, for example, is taking steps to strengthen its second tier banks and its banks in general have become less dependent on funding from the European central bank (which is a proxy for their perceived weakness).

So here, I think, will be what will determine whether Greece gets its haircut in the next two or three months: if eurozone governments come to believe that Spain is well past the moment of maximum risk of financial crisis, there will be a bold restructuring of Greek debt.

But, to use that awful footballing expression, if they do go for a Greek debt haircut or writedown, it will be squeaky bum time in government buildings all over Europe.

Andretti Autosport needs sponsorship to re-sign Indy 500 champion Alexander Rossi

Indiana University will move to remote teaching after its scheduled spring break over concerns about the spread of the coronavirus.

The school district provided free grab-and-go breakfasts and lunches for students Monday. It will do it again next Monday (March 23).

Indianapolis is partnering with YMCA, At Your School and Early Learning Indiana to provide care for children of first responders at a discounted rate.

The April Fools' prank is being shared in Indiana and other states across the nation.

With schools closed, fifth and eighth grade students navigate the transition from elementary to middle school or middle to high school on their own.

The Center for the Performing Arts in Carmel invites the class of 2020 from across Central Indiana to a prom this August.

While a return to full, in-person classes is unlikely, IU President Michael McRobbie outlined five possibilities for the fall semester.

This Teacher Appreciation Week, IndyStar asked readers to help recognize some of the amazing teachers going above and beyond during these times.

A tentativa resultou em pelo menos oito mortes e a prisão até agora de 13 pessoas, incluindo dois cidadãos americanos.

Sita Tyasutami foi identificada como a 'paciente zero' da doença na Indonésia.

Para Luis Alberto Moreno, pandemia deixou ainda mais evidente a desigualdade da América Latina e mostrou necessidade de se investir na saúde pública regional.

Governo pretende divulgar os dados atrasados em maio, segundo afirmou à BBC News Brasil secretário do Trabalho do Ministério da Economia, Bruno Dalcolmo.

Passagem da Terra pela trilha de resquícios do cometa Halley traz espetáculo de chuva de meteoros todos os anos; países da América do Sul estão entre os melhores posicionados para assistir a esse show noturno.

Eduardo Massad diz que próxima pandemia depois de coronavírus deve ser avassaladora e defende que o mundo aprenda mais sobre medidas de distanciamento social.

Cidade em que pandemia começou, concentrou o maior número de mortes na China e foi a primeira a impor rigoroso lockdown; habitantes, antes acostumados a apertos e aglomerações, agora vivem outra realidade.

Presidente reagiu mal a reportagens ou perguntas sobre o assassinato de Marielle Franco, baixo crescimento do PIB e denúncias contra seus filhos.

Desde 2017, a intenção do poder público vinha sendo acelerar destruições, que evitam que armas caiam nas mãos do crime; órgãos públicos não sabem explicar a razão da queda.

Em Lund, gramados de parque receberam fezes para que odor espantasse frequentadores, evitando aglomerações.

Arthur Virgílio Neto chora ao citar agressões a coveiros e mortes, e recorre a Greta Thunberg: 'Terrível seria pirralho governando o país'. Mortes na capital do Amazonas passaram da média histórica de 20 a 30 por dia para o patamar de 120.