WORLD

Paris, France | AFP |  Shuttered bars, cancelled concerts and no sporting matches: European beer brewers large and small are bracing for a catastrophic summer as demand dries up during the lockdowns imposed to curtail the coronavirus outbreak. “When it’s nice out, that’s when you sell beer,” said Maxime Costilhes, head of …

London, United Kingdom | AFP |  When The Beatles went their separate ways in the early 1970s, few thought that half a century later the pioneering band would still influence pop music culture. But, with Friday marking 50 years since their unofficial break-up, the so-called “Fab Four” are still popular and …

London, United Kingdom | AFP |  Major oil producers except Mexico agreed to cut output in May and June by 10 million barrels per day, OPEC said Friday, after marathon talks to counter a collapse in prices. The agreement, which reduces production to eight million bpd from July to December, depends …

Vatican City, Holy See | AFP |  Church doors will be shut and the Vatican sealed off when Pope Francis leads 1.3 billion Catholics in Easter Sunday celebrations held under a worldwide coronavirus lockdown. Fear and confusion in the face of a disease whose toll has unrelentingly climbed towards 100,000 are …

United Nations, United States | AFP |  UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres urged the Security Council on Thursday to display unity as it met to discuss what he called the “fight of a generation” — the global coronavirus pandemic. “A signal of unity and resolve from the Council would count for …

Washington, United States | AFP | The United States on Thursday accused the World Health Organization of putting politics first by ignoring early coronavirus warnings by Taiwan, which voiced outrage over criticism from the UN body’s chief. President Donald Trump has gone on an offensive with threats to withhold funding for …

London, United Kingdom | AFP | Top oil producers started a crucial meeting on Thursday to discuss a possible cut in output after a collapse in demand due to the coronavirus and a Saudi-Russian price war caused the market to crash. The video conference meeting began shortly after 1440 GMT between …

Washington, United States | AFP | Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, has promised to pick a woman as his running mate against Donald Trump in November. And with Bernie Sanders dropping out of the race, the spotlight is focused on Biden’s choice to serve in the job which he …

London, United Kingdom | AFP | The British government has expanded its overdraft with the Bank of England to help weather coronavirus disruption, it said Thursday. The government’s “ways and means facility” — effectively its overdraft account at the BoE — is also being used to temporarily help finance spending on …

Madrid, Spain | AFP |  In the week leading to Easter Sunday, hundreds of colourful processions featuring penitents in cone-shaped hoods and centuries-old religious floats traditionally flood the streets of villages and cities across Spain. But with a nationwide lockdown in place to curb the spread of COVID-19, Spaniards are finding …