Washington, United States | AFP | US lawmakers urgently negotiating a $1 trillion emergency package to salvage an economy ravaged by the coronavirus missed a Republican-imposed deadline to reach an agreement by the end of Friday. Senate Republicans were seeking a rapid deal in order to hold a final vote Monday …
Read More »Country music legend Kenny Rogers dies at 81
Los Angeles, United States | AFP | Country music legend Kenny Rogers, whose career spanned six decades, has died at the age of 81, his family said late Friday. “Rogers passed away peacefully at home from natural causes under the care of hospice and surrounded by his family,” they said …
Read More »Trump says US on top as outbreak shuts largest cities
New York, United States | AFP | New York and Illinois followed California Friday in locking down to stem the coronavirus pandemic as President Donald Trump declared the United States was already “winning” the war despite a rapid rise in confirmed cases and deaths. The move effectively seals off America’s largest …
Read More »Worldwide virus lockdowns as WHO warns young people ‘not invincible’
Rome, Italy | AFP | Hundreds of millions of people worldwide kicked off the weekend under a coronavirus lockdown, as the global death toll accelerated sharply and the World Health Organization warned young people they were “not invincible”. The pandemic has completely upended lives across the planet, sharply restricting the movement …
Read More »Wuhan recovery gives rest of world hope: WHO
Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | The World Health Organization said Friday that the original epicentre in China of the coronavirus outbreak at last reporting no new cases gave hope to the rest of the world battling the pandemic. The city of Wuhan registered no new cases of COVID-19 in 24 hours …
Read More »Coronavirus, low oil dent Putin hopes for economic revival
Moscow, Russia | AFP | Russian President Vladimir Putin has insisted the economy can weather the coronavirus pandemic and low oil prices, but the two-pronged crisis is a huge challenge to his promises to reduce poverty and boost growth. Since 2016, Russia has cooperated closely with the Organization of the Petroleum …
Read More »Water theft a growing concern in increasingly-dry Spain
Lucena del Puerto, Spain | AFP | Inside her greenhouse, Emilia Gomez bends down to see how her strawberries are faring following a difficult season with barely any water after her farm’s illegal well was shut down. Digging an illegal well to irrigate crops is a widespread practice in Spain as …
Read More »With low test rates, COVID-19 spreads in shadows
Paris, France | AFP | The lack of available tests for COVID-19 means the world is effectively fighting the pandemic blind and may not know the true extent of infection for months if not years, experts said Thursday. Because COVID-19 is so infectious — roughly 2.5 times that of the common …
Read More »US fast-tracking antimalarials to treat coronavirus: Trump
Washington, United States | AFP | The US is fast-tracking antimalarial drugs for use as a treatment against the new coronavirus, President Donald Trump said Thursday, following encouraging early results in France and China. Chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine have not been given a formal green light in the US to fight the …
Read More »Dating in the time of coronavirus: chat online, meet much later
New York, United States | AFP | With governments clamping down on social interactions to contain the coronavirus spread, dating sites are discouraging dates and asking users to get to know each other virtually instead. “We don’t know who needs to hear this, but now is NOT the time to go …
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