WORLD

Washington, United States | AFP | The coronavirus outbreak and government policies to limit the disease could disrupt food supply chains, potentially threatening food availability, even as prices remain stable in 2020, the World Bank cautioned Thursday. Prices of agricultural commodities are likely to hold up better than oil, metals and …

London, United Kingdom | AFP | Oil prices made a spectacular comeback Thursday as fresh US-Iran tensions erupted while equities were slow to build on recent gains as data provided proof of a dire economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. At one point the US crude oil benchmark WTI was up …

Beijing, China | AFP | China announced Thursday it will give another $30 million to the World Health Organization to help in the global fight against the coronavirus pandemic, days after Washington said it would freeze funding. The US, which is the WHO’s biggest contributor, accused the organisation last week of …

Sokolniki, Russia | AFP |   After years spent on submarines with Russia’s Northern Fleet, Ivan Chernyshyov is having no problem adjusting to life on coronavirus lockdown — especially as, like many Russians, the retired sailor can escape to the countryside. “It’s good here. We’ll grow carrots and strawberries and maybe …

London, United Kingdom | AFP |  Joan Pons Laplana is a senior digital charge nurse working on the frontline in an intensive care unit treating coronavirus patients at Sheffield Teaching Hospital in the north of England. Like many of his colleagues in the state-run National Health Service (NHS), the 45-year-old medic …

Brussels, Belgium | AFP |  EU leaders are set to haggle on Thursday over a giant package to help their economies recover from the coronavirus pandemic, but bitter divisions mean little progress is expected. The situation facing the EU is dire: more than 110,000 confirmed COVID-19 deaths and an economy set …

Washington, United States | AFP |  The coronavirus is hitting the United States’ largest Native American territory hard, with a spike in cases bringing long-standing disparities to the fore in a land marked by the trauma of past waves of disease. With its towering sandstone mesas, majestic canyons and ancient ruins, …

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 …

Genève, Switzerland | AFP | COVID-19 will stalk the planet for a long time to come, the World Health Organization said Wednesday, warning that most countries were still in the early stages of tackling the pandemic. WHO boss Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said some countries that thought they had the new coronavirus …

New York, United States | AFP | Beaten-down US oil prices rallied Wednesday following dramatic declines earlier this week, lifting global equities, even as American crude inventories surged closer to capacity levels. Futures for the benchmark West Texas Intermediate for June delivery jumped 19 percent to $13.78 a barrel in New …