WORLD

Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | The World Health Organization is purely focused on saving lives and halting the coronavirus pandemic, its chief said Wednesday after US President Donald Trump announced he was freezing funding for the WHO. “There is no time to waste. WHO’s singular focus is on working to serve all people to save …

Los Angeles, United States | AFP |  Swift and strict containment measures in California appear to have succeeded in reducing hospital overcrowding and mass deaths from coronavirus, according to health experts in the country’s most populous state. California, one of the first states struck by the deadly disease, has been under …

Washington, United States | AFP |  President Donald Trump is hankering for a return of live sports action, but US league supremos are taking a cautious approach to competition amid the coronavirus pandemic. “We have to get our sports back,” Trump said Tuesday. “I’m tired of watching baseball games that are …

Rome, Italy | AFP |  Doctors, nurses and healthcare workers have become the unwitting heroes of the coronavirus pandemic, winning applause from balconies and streets around the world. From Yaounde to Rome to New York, the pandemic has infected more than 1.9 million people and claimed 118,000 lives. Hospital workers are …

Washington, United States | AFP |  Can an app contain the pandemic? Interest is growing in smartphone technology as a potential key to ending lockdowns and reopening economies around the world. Digital “contact tracing” would allow mobile systems to log instances where people have been in proximity with an infected person …

San Francisco, United States | AFP |  Is now the time to launch a new iPhone? Despite a pandemic-induced global economic crisis, Apple is widely believed to be set to release a reduced-priced handset that aims to fill a gap in its lineup, as early as this month. Google could also …

Houston, United States | AFP |  All it took was one little call to spur Tom Banning into action, undertaking a giant mission across a very large state — distributing 525,000 masks to health care providers around Texas, a sprawling landmass roughly the size of France. In mid-March, amid the emerging …

Washington, United States | AFP | The world’s governments on Tuesday grappled with how and when to lift sweeping coronavirus lockdowns that have saved lives but crippled their economies, as experts warned of a dire once-in-a-century global recession. The deadly pandemic has already killed more than 120,000 people and infected close …

Washington, United States | AFP | Barack Obama endorsed Joe Biden’s White House bid on Tuesday, saying his longtime vice president can unify and “heal” a nation struggling through some of its darkest moments. The formal backing by perhaps the most popular politician in America is the latest boost for Biden’s …

Washington, United States | AFP | President Donald Trump was accused Tuesday of seeking king-like powers ahead of unveiling a task force for reopening the US economy despite fears in hard-hit states that he will rush the decision. Facing a tough reelection in November, the Republican president is eager to …