Tag Archives: China

  Beijing, China | AFP | China on Thursday announced it would cut interest rates in a bid to boost the economy, as it battles the economic fallout of the new coronavirus outbreak. The reduction in the loan prime rate (LPR) — one of the preferential rates commercial banks give to …

So why is the world more worried over the Coronavirus? | THE INDEPENDENT | Whether you’re watching TV or reading the news, you’d be hard-pressed to avoid a story about coronavirus. And it’s no wonder, since the outbreak — which now affects more than 27 countries outside of China, where …

Researchers have long suspected that the virus was passed from an animal to a human | THE INDEPENDENT | The endangered pangolin may be the link that facilitated the spread of the novel coronavirus across China, Chinese scientists said Friday. Researchers have long suspected that the virus, which had killed …

Travel restrictions on China fuelling ‘panic:’ ambassador Brussels, Belgium | AFP |  Travel restrictions imposed on China over its virus outbreak COVID-19 are only fuelling “panic” and threatening attempts to resume business, the country’s ambassador to the EU warned on Tuesday. Envoy Zhang Ming also told a media conference in …

Cairo, Egypt | AFP |  Egypt’s health ministry on Friday confirmed its first case of the novel coronavirus, making it the first in Africa. The nationality of the person was not given in the joint statement with the population ministry, which added that they had shown no “symptoms”. Authorities have …

Dubai, United Arab Emirates | AFP | The coronavirus crisis, which has already battered oil prices, threatens to further undercut Gulf economies battling a downturn and struggling to wean themselves from a decades-old energy addiction. The six Gulf states — Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates …

Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | The head of the World Health Organization on Tuesday warned the novel coronavirus was a “very grave threat” for the world as he opened a conference to combat the epidemic. “With 99% of cases in China, this remains very much an emergency for that country, …

  Paris, France | AFP | A British man managed to pass on the coronavirus to at least 11 other people without ever setting foot in the epicentre of the outbreak in China, in an infectious journey that shows how the deadly virus can spread rapidly around a globalised world. …

Beijing, China | AFP | The death of a whistleblowing doctor whose early warnings about China’s new coronavirus outbreak were suppressed by the police has unleashed a wave of anger at the government’s handling of the crisis — and bold demands for more freedom. Ophthalmologist Li Wenliang was among a …

Washington, United States | AFP | Kenya’s president said Wednesday that African nations should be free to cooperate with both the United States and China, warning that foreign powers were exacerbating the continent’s divisions. President Uhuru Kenyatta was speaking on a visit to Washington, where speculation has built that the United …