WORLD

Steinebrunn, Austria | AFP |  As in many Western countries, one of the shocks of the coronavirus crisis in Austria was how vulnerable farms were when suddenly deprived of foreign labour — but the country is having some success in getting Austrians to plug the gap. The Schreiber family farm in …

Budapest, Hungary | AFP |  A Budapest care home ravaged by the novel coronavirus has become a frontline in an escalating battle between Prime Minister Viktor Orban, emboldened by new emergency powers, and Hungary’s beleaguered opposition. Orban and the Budapest municipality, run by a liberal mayor, blame each other for a …

Moscow, Russia | AFP |  Elena Milashina had received death threats before. But they were never so direct or brazen. The erratic and iron-fisted leader of Chechnya in southern Russia, unhappy with her journalism about the coronavirus, put out an unambiguous call for violence against the reporter on social media this …

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 …

Frankfurt am Main, Germany | AFP |  A man believed to have belonged to the Islamic State (IS) group goes on trial in Germany on Friday accused of genocide and murdering a child belonging to the Yazidi minority who he held as a slave. Identified only as Taha al-J., the 37-year-old …

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 …

Havana, Cuba | AFP |  Yadira types out a message to her WhatsApp group, with the name of a Havana store where a supply of chicken has just arrived. Cuba already suffered from food shortages, but the coronavirus crisis has made finding food for the dinner table a veritable scavenger hunt, …

  Nueva York, United States | AFP |  More than one in five New Yorkers may have already had the new coronavirus, a testing sample showed Thursday, suggesting infections are much higher than confirmed cases suggest. Widespread testing — including for antibodies — is viewed as key to American states …

Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | The new coronavirus pandemic could severely disrupt access to anti-malaria nets and drugs in sub-Saharan Africa, the World Health Organization said Thursday, warning that malaria deaths risked doubling if efforts are not urgently scaled up. The UN health agency called on countries in sub-Saharan Africa — …

The Hague, Netherlands | AFP | The European Medicines Agency on Thursday added its voice to growing concern about an anti-malarial drug widely touted as a potential cure for the COVID-19 disease, warning about fatal side effects. Beneficial effects of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, which count US President Donald Trump as a major backer, have “not …