Paris, France | AFP | The coronavirus pandemic is creating a puzzle for French football and, for the moment, those in charge have no idea what the answer might be. The idea of simply declaring the season over is gaining ground in some quarters but others remain strongly opposed to the …
Read More »FULL SPEECH: Queen Elizabeth II says collective effort will defeat COVID-19
London, United Kingdom | AFP | Queen Elizabeth II on Sunday thanked healthcare workers on the frontline of the fight against the coronavirus outbreak, promising that a united effort would help defeat the disease. In a rare special televised address, the 93-year-old monarch drew on her experience in World War …
Read More »Rooney says handling of Premier League pay row ‘a disgrace’
London, United Kingdom | AFP | Wayne Rooney has criticised the UK government and the Premier League for placing footballers in a “no-win situation” over proposed pay cuts after players were urged to make sacrifices during the coronavirus crisis. The former England captain, now playing with Championship side Derby, penned an …
Read More »Quibi launching Hollywood ‘on the go’ streaming amid lockdown
Los Angeles, United States | AFP | Quibi, the multi-billion-dollar streaming platform launching Monday, is betting it can transform entertainment with short, Hollywood-quality clips to watch “on the go” — even as much of the world is trapped at home. Industry legends and stars from Steven Spielberg and Guillermo del Toro …
Read More »Coronavirus leaves bitter taste for Canada maple sugar shacks
Montreal, Canada | AFP | Under a dazzling sky, with spring in the air, syrup is flowing in a maple grove near the village of Saint-Alexis. With a mallet in hand, feet braced in deep snow, Simon Lanoue pounds plastic tubing into one tree after another to drain their sap, weaving …
Read More »Global virus deaths top 60,000, Trump warns ‘tough week’ ahead
Washington, United States | AFP | US President Donald Trump has warned Americans to brace for a “very horrendous” number of coronavirus deaths in the coming days as the total number of global fatalities from the pandemic soared past 60,000. Confirmed COVID-19 cases in the United States on Saturday surpassed 300,000, …
Read More »Coronavirus reveals, exacerbates US inequality
Washington, United States | AFP | Just three weeks ago, Miguel Rodriguez was enjoying a pleasant life, working as a waiter in a Maryland restaurant in a job he held for 20 years. The American economy was going strong and he had a comfortable living situation. Everything changed overnight when La …
Read More »Americans told to wear masks as Spain sees signs of hope
Madrid, Spain | AFP | Americans on Saturday came to grips with recommendations to wear masks against the coronavirus, while Spain added to hopes that Europe could be turning a corner in the pandemic with a second daily drop in deaths. China meanwhile came to a standstill as the nation where …
Read More »BAT joins race to develop COVID-19 vaccine
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | British American Tobacco (BAT) US bio-tech subsidiary, Kentucky BioProcessing (KBP), is developing a potential vaccine for COVID-19 and is now in pre-clinical testing. If testing goes well, BAT is hopeful that with the right partners and support from government agencies, between 1 and 3 …
Read More »China pauses in memory of virus victims and ‘martyrs’
Wuhan, China | AFP | China came to a standstill on Saturday to mourn patients and medical staff killed by the coronavirus, as the world’s most populous country observed a nationwide three-minute silence. At 10 am (0200 GMT), citizens paused, cars, trains and ships sounded their horns, and air-raid sirens rang …
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