Kiev, Ukraine | AFP | A bearded Orthodox priest carefully assembles a plastic visor as he works with a group of volunteers to provide Ukrainian medics with much-needed personal protective equipment. The group is working in a shed in the grounds of Kiev’s green and blue-domed Vydubychi monastery, which was founded …
Read More »German virus patients are ‘lucky’ ones
Aachen, Germany | AFP | After making it through the first night breathing on her own, 60-year-old Martina Hamacher can only say: “I’ve been lucky.” One of Germany’s earliest coronavirus patients, Hamacher is still tangled in some of the tubes and cables that helped keep her alive for 20 days in …
Read More »Global virus deaths pass 150,000 as Trump says China hiding toll
Washington, United States | AFP | World coronavirus deaths surged past 150,000 Friday as US President Donald Trump accused China of continuing to cover up its toll, even after Beijing revised figures sharply upward for Wuhan, the original epicenter of the global pandemic. COVID-19 fatalities mounted in the United States and …
Read More »Horrors revealed at virus-hit Canada nursing home
Montreal, Canada | AFP | Elderly residents left soiled and unfed after their caregivers fled the premises, 31 deaths in the space of a few weeks: a nursing home in Montreal has become the symbol of the terrible toll coronavirus is taking in Canada’s long-term care homes. The bleak situation discovered …
Read More »The Wuhan lab at the core of a virus controversy
Wuhan, China | AFP | Nestled in the hilly outskirts of the city at the heart of the coronavirus crisis, a Chinese high-security biosafety laboratory is now the subject of US claims it may be the cradle of the pandemic. Chinese scientists have said the virus likely jumped from an animal …
Read More »Prince William admits virus fears for Charles, queen
London, United Kingdom | AFP | Britain’s Prince William on Friday revealed his concern for his father Prince Charles after he contracted coronavirus — and his worries for his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II. Charles, 71, the monarch’s eldest son and heir, tested positive for COVID-19 last month but recovered after a week in isolation at …
Read More »Ukraine swaps prisoners with rebels ahead of Orthodox Easter
Kiev, Ukraine | AFP | Ukraine’s government on Thursday swapped prisoners with Russia-backed separatists in the war-torn east of the country, ahead of Orthodox Easter celebrations. Twenty people who had been held captive in two breakaway regions were handed over to the government, Kiev said. Separatists took back 14 prisoners but …
Read More »Behind Germany’s virus battle, the fight for Merkel’s crown
Berlin, Germany | AFP | Sporting events may be on hold in Germany, but the race to succeed Chancellor Angela Merkel is gathering pace as the country makes cautious progress in the fight against the coronavirus. North-Rhine Westphalia state premier Armin Laschet, 59, and his Bavarian counterpart Markus Soeder, 53, locked …
Read More »US outlines phased reopening, as China faces virus ire
Washington, United States | AFP | President Donald Trump on Thursday laid out guidelines for a gradual reopening of the United States after the battering of the coronavirus pandemic, saying normal life should resume quickly in some states. Trump’s new push came as he saw progress in his campaign to pressure …
Read More »In Maryland, first responders face constant coronavirus risk
Glen Burnie, United States | AFP | In Glen Burnie, Maryland, the coronavirus is never far away for emergency teams of paramedics and firefighters on call over 24-hour shifts. In the suburban community south of Baltimore, these first responders have had to adapt everything they do to the COVID-19 threat, even …
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