Travel restrictions on China fuelling ‘panic:’ ambassador Brussels, Belgium | AFP | Travel restrictions imposed on China over its virus outbreak COVID-19 are only fuelling “panic” and threatening attempts to resume business, the country’s ambassador to the EU warned on Tuesday. Envoy Zhang Ming also told a media conference in …
Read More »First coronavirus case in Africa recorded in Egypt
Cairo, Egypt | AFP | Egypt’s health ministry on Friday confirmed its first case of the novel coronavirus, making it the first in Africa. The nationality of the person was not given in the joint statement with the population ministry, which added that they had shown no “symptoms”. Authorities have …
Read More »China virus threatens to hobble Gulf economies
Dubai, United Arab Emirates | AFP | The coronavirus crisis, which has already battered oil prices, threatens to further undercut Gulf economies battling a downturn and struggling to wean themselves from a decades-old energy addiction. The six Gulf states — Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates …
Read More »WHO warns of ‘very grave’ global virus threat
Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | The head of the World Health Organization on Tuesday warned the novel coronavirus was a “very grave threat” for the world as he opened a conference to combat the epidemic. “With 99% of cases in China, this remains very much an emergency for that country, …
Read More »From Singapore to UK via the Alps: how one man spread coronavirus
Paris, France | AFP | A British man managed to pass on the coronavirus to at least 11 other people without ever setting foot in the epicentre of the outbreak in China, in an infectious journey that shows how the deadly virus can spread rapidly around a globalised world. …
Read More »Death of Chinese doctor fuels anger, demands for change
Beijing, China | AFP | The death of a whistleblowing doctor whose early warnings about China’s new coronavirus outbreak were suppressed by the police has unleashed a wave of anger at the government’s handling of the crisis — and bold demands for more freedom. Ophthalmologist Li Wenliang was among a …
Read More »Kenya leader warns against US, China rivalry in Africa
Washington, United States | AFP | Kenya’s president said Wednesday that African nations should be free to cooperate with both the United States and China, warning that foreign powers were exacerbating the continent’s divisions. President Uhuru Kenyatta was speaking on a visit to Washington, where speculation has built that the United …
Read More »Global panic deepens over China virus
Beijing, China | AFP | China’s coronavirus crisis worsened Thursday as the death toll soared to 563 and the plight of thousands trapped on quarantined cruise ships deepened global panic over the epidemic. More than 28,000 people have been infected in China, where authorities are struggling to contain the outbreak, …
Read More »Coronavirus: Museveni says Ugandans in China shouldn’t be evacuated
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has said that Ugandans living in China shouldn’t be evacuated because of the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus that is ravaging the city of Wuhan in China’s central Hubei Province. According to the latest figures, the deadly virus has killed …
Read More »COMMENT: China will defeat Coronavirus with international support
COMMENT | Ronald Kato | When I first traveled to China in February of 2017, two things happened. Firstly, I was the first passenger to get off the Emirates flight from Dubai to Beijing. When we touched down at Beijing Capital airport, cabin crew announced that a passenger from Uganda …
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