The World Health Organisation (WHO) warned countries to be cautious about lifting restrictions introduced to curb the spread of the new coronavirus and voiced alarm it was taking hold in Africa. The United Nations would like to see an easing, but at the same time “lifting restrictions could lead to a deadly resurgence,” WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told …
The European Union’s finance ministers have reached a deal on a 540 billion-euro rescue plan (about $590 billion) to support the continent’s coronavirus-stricken economies. The Eurogroup, which consists of the 19 finance ministers representing the EU’s eurozone countries, approved the rescue package on Thursday after the Netherlands backtracked on its demand for economic reform and oversight. “Today, we agreed upon …
U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday called on Congress to approve a $251 billion small business fund to help the coronavirus-hit economy. Stressing that the U.S. had “the biggest” stock market increase since 1974 in only four days this week, Trump said on Twitter: “We have a great chance for the really big bounce when the Invisible Enemy is gone!” …
In an unexpected turn of events in South Korea, 91 people who were thought to have recovered from coronavirus tested positive for the second time. Despite this worrying trend, the lowest number of fresh cases was reported in the last 24 hours, said Jeong Eun-kyeong, the head of Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director General, on Friday. Those …
UNITED NATIONS: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called the coronavirus pandemic the “fight of a generation” and a threat to world peace and security when he addressed the Security Council’s first meeting on the deadly infection, which has swept the globe. The 15-member Council, which deliberated via a closed video-conference issued a brief press statement expressing “support for all efforts …
Another horror day of the coronavirus pandemic saw the global death toll pass 94,000, although there were tentative signs of hope that the crisis was peaking in the United States and Europe. The picture of the unfolding economic catastrophe also became clearer with the IMF warning of a Great Depression and data showing 17 million Americans lost their jobs, but …
The coronavirus pandemic notched up another round of record death tolls in the United States and Europe, dousing the optimism of US President Donald Trump who insisted there was light at the end of the tunnel. The virus has now killed more than 86,000 people and infected 1.5 million, sparing almost no country and tipping the world into a devastating …
Up to 150 members of the Saudi royal family may have gotten infected with the coronavirus, six weeks after the kingdom reported its first case, the New York Times reported. As the severity of the outbreak across the kingdom escalates, as many as 500 beds are reportedly prepared for royals in some of the country’s elite hospitals. King Salman’s nephew, …
ISTANBUL: Presidents of Turkey and China talked over the phone to discuss cooperation in fighting the novel coronavirus, Turkey’s Communications Directorate said on Wednesday. Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Xi Jinping also discussed bilateral relations, the directorate added. Coronavirus has infected 34,109 people in Turkey so far, causing 725 deaths, while 1,582 people have recovered. The Chinese health officials said that …
UNITED NATIONS: UN human rights experts have appealed to States to boost child protection measures for safeguarding the welfare of millions of children worldwide who may be more exposed to violence, sale, trafficking, sexual abuse and exploitation during the coronavirus pandemic. Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, and Najat Maalla M’jid, Special Representative …