leing up to o thclososure, tenen of t thousandsds of ople gathere at bangkok bus stations hoping to cross the border. many of them are migrant workers who have been left without jobs as commercial venues in and around bangkok shut down. only essential businesses remain open. the number of confirmed cases in thailand surpassed 700 on monday, five times the figure from last week. more cases are being reported outside the capital. bangkok's governor has urged residents to stay home and avoid traveling to other parts of the country. >>> in singapore, authorities have begun banning all tourists from entering or passing through the country. they say the measure is necessary because nearly 80% of newly confirmed cases came from abroad. singapore airlines says it will ground almost all aircraft until the end of april. >>> as the economies of southeast asia surged forward, laos is lagging behind. the country is set out to develop the local i.t. industry to help propel it into the future. nhk world looks at how things are starting to change. >> reporter: in the capital, the global information techn

over the tenen years iasas in office. by my calcululion, 480 b billin of that cacame from tataxes.the e rest froththe pdvss petroleum sales. so 70billllion. thbig ququeson is: what did the state do with that money?y? that's the big question. >> venezuela's political decline began under president hugo chahavez. his economicic policies papavee way to a morass of corruptio in t indusustrl hub b of maracay, most factories lie abandoned. le than 2020ercent of factories inenenezuelare still in operation. instryry has been drdriven ino ruin. under chavez, numerous companies were expropriated or nationalized and then were driven into the ground by mismanagement. rather than support private industry, chavez used petrodollars to import goods from abroad. this helped redistribute wealth and power away from the old business elite, and increase ordinary people's dependency on the government. a system of state-sponsored terror is maintaininmamaduroa™s -- maduro's's hold on power. ththe colectivosos are paramily gangs who help quell any signs of popular dissent. like syria and ukraine, venezuela

. >> translator: just tenen days ago, there were only three suspicious cases.ow, infections have topped around 60. there are 14 deaths being reported here every day, and at least five or six of them are related to covid. >> reporter: france is one of the regions hit hardest by the outbreak. but the main focus is to treat the infected and prevent the virus from spreading. the rate of infection has left little time to prepare. the hospital has dedicated 85% of its emergency ward to deal with the coronavirus and set up a special unit of 90 beds. but it says there aren't enough resources, specifically the lack of personal protection equipment. and measures taken be the eu to lock down borders has made the suchch wa situation even worse. >> translator: all the medical related company supply chains are blocked, especially in i ity which h is a huge supplier. we are searching f for more as only have a day's worth of stock left. >> reporter: he is afraid this will affect staff morale and that some may have no choice but to act without adequate protection. he says cut d

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