WORLD

Washington, United States | AFP | A malaria drug widely touted as a potential cure for COVID-19 showed no benefit against the disease over standard care — and was in fact associated with more deaths, the biggest study of its kind showed Tuesday. The US government funded analysis of how American …

  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 …

Paris, France | AFP | The coronavirus pandemic is exacerbating threats to press freedom around the world, with authoritarian states including China and Iran suppressing details of the outbreak, activists said on Tuesday. Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said in its annual press freedom rankings that the pandemic was “highlighting and …

Paris, France | AFP | The coronavirus pandemic could nearly double the number of people around the world facing acute hunger, the UN’s World Food Programme warned Tuesday. “The number of people facing acute food insecurity stands to rise to 265 million in 2020, up by 130 million from the 135 million in 2019, as …

Paris, France | AFP | Half of the world’s school and university students affected by class closures because of the coronavirus outbreak — from pre-primary to university level — do not have access to a computer for home-schooling, the UN’s educational agency said Tuesday. Highlighting “startling digital divides” between the rich and poor, a UNESCO …

Rome, Italy | AFP |  Italy’s Prime Minister said on Tuesday that by the weekend he would reveal the steps the country will take to loosen restrictions, reopen the economy and emerge from the coronavirus crisis. Italy, which has reported more coronavirus deaths than any other European country, has been under …

Paris, France | AFP |  The coronavirus pandemic is exacerbating threats to press freedom around the world, with authoritarian states including China and Iran suppressing details of the outbreak, activists said on Tuesday. Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said in its annual press freedom rankings the pandemic was “highlighting and amplifying the …

Washington, United States | AFP |  Donald Trump said he would temporarily ban immigration to the United States because of the “Invisible Enemy” of the coronavirus, as angry Americans took to the streets to demand an end to crippling lockdowns. In just four months, the virus has turned the world upside …

  Seoul, South Korea | AFP | South Korea played down a report Tuesday that the North’s leader Kim Jong Un was being treated after surgery, as speculation mounted over his absence from a key anniversary. Pyongyang marked the birthday of its late founder, Kim’s grandfather Kim Il Sung, on …

Paris, France | AFP |  Whether it came from a bat or a pangolin is not certain, but one thing is: the coronavirus outbreak that has killed tens of thousands and turned the world upside down comes from the animal world. It is human activity enabled the virus to jump to …