Madrid, Spain | AFP | Spanish children were allowed outside on Sunday for the first time in six weeks as countries eased lockdown measures and reopen economies gutted by the coronavirus pandemic that has infected nearly three million people worldwide. Governments from France to Italy and the United States are gearing …
Read More »Johnson under pressure to explain UK virus plan on return to work
London, United Kingdom | AFP | Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to return to work soon after his recovery from COVID-19, as pressure mounts on his government to explain how to get Britain out of lockdown. Johnson, 55, has been recuperating at the British prime ministerial retreat, Chequers, outside London …
Read More »US death toll tops 50,000 as some Georgia businesses reopen
Atlanta, United States | AFP | Gyms, hair salons and tattoo parlors had a green light to reopen Friday in the state of Georgia as the United States surpassed the grim milestone of 50,000 deaths from the coronavirus pandemic. As the southern state lifted restrictions on a list of businesses that …
Read More »UN pushes for virus vaccine as Trump disinfectant theory sparks outrage
Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | The United Nations on Friday launched a global push to speed up production of a vaccine for the new coronavirus as US President Donald Trump came under fire for suggesting injecting patients with disinfectant. The pandemic has upended life around the planet as nations try to …
Read More »COVID-19, the knockout punch for multilateralism?
Paris, France | AFP | The coronavirus pandemic blindsided international organisations, prompted individual states to unilaterally strike out alone and heralded a new chapter in the 21st century’s chief geopolitical rivalry between the United States and China. In the post-COVID-19 era, will multilateralism be dead? Regional and international organisations from the …
Read More »Sunlight destroys coronavirus quickly, say US scientists
Washington, United States | AFP | The new coronavirus is quickly destroyed by sunlight, according to new research announced by a senior US official on Thursday, though the study has not yet been made public and awaits external evaluation. William Bryan, science and technology advisor to the Department of Homeland Security …
Read More »Trump curbs immigration, saying hopes to protect devastated US job market
Washington, United States | AFP | President Donald Trump announced Wednesday he has partially suspended immigration to the United States, with the aim of keeping foreigners out of local jobs during the coronavirus crisis. “In order to protect our great American workers, I’ve just signed an executive order temporarily suspending immigration …
Read More »Europe races to shield virus-hit firms from bargain hunters
Frankfurt am Main, Germany | AFP | Fears that cash-rich corporate raiders could use the coronavirus crisis to swoop on weakened European firms were perhaps best exemplified by Donald Trump’s alleged bid for a German biotech firm working on a vaccine. The outrage that followed has spurred fresh action by European …
Read More »Trump curbs immigration as UN warns of humanitarian ‘catastrophe’
Washington, United States | AFP | President Donald Trump partially blocked immigration to the United States “to protect American workers” from the economic shock of the coronavirus, as the United Nations warned the world was facing “a humanitarian catastrophe”. The UN alarm bell came as nations scrambled to not only fight …
Read More »Oil crash means more misery ahead for US shale producers
New York, United States | AFP | An unprecedented crash in oil prices is adding pressure to already stressed US producers, threatening key shale regions and putting vulnerable companies at risk of going under. A day after US oil futures closed in negative territory for the first time ever, US …
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