Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | The new coronavirus pandemic could severely disrupt access to anti-malaria nets and drugs in sub-Saharan Africa, the World Health Organization said Thursday, warning that malaria deaths risked doubling if efforts are not urgently scaled up. The UN health agency called on countries in sub-Saharan Africa — …
Read More »World Bank warns pandemic could pressure food supply chain
Washington, United States | AFP | The coronavirus outbreak and government policies to limit the disease could disrupt food supply chains, potentially threatening food availability, even as prices remain stable in 2020, the World Bank cautioned Thursday. Prices of agricultural commodities are likely to hold up better than oil, metals and …
Read More »Oil roars back as stock markets worry about growth
London, United Kingdom | AFP | Oil prices made a spectacular comeback Thursday as fresh US-Iran tensions erupted while equities were slow to build on recent gains as data provided proof of a dire economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. At one point the US crude oil benchmark WTI was up …
Read More »China to give WHO $30 million more after US freezes funds
Beijing, China | AFP | China announced Thursday it will give another $30 million to the World Health Organization to help in the global fight against the coronavirus pandemic, days after Washington said it would freeze funding. The US, which is the WHO’s biggest contributor, accused the organisation last week of …
Read More »For Russians, humble dacha provides refuge from coronavirus
Sokolniki, Russia | AFP | After years spent on submarines with Russia’s Northern Fleet, Ivan Chernyshyov is having no problem adjusting to life on coronavirus lockdown — especially as, like many Russians, the retired sailor can escape to the countryside. “It’s good here. We’ll grow carrots and strawberries and maybe …
Read More »Coronavirus highlights role of foreign staff in British hospitals
London, United Kingdom | AFP | Joan Pons Laplana is a senior digital charge nurse working on the frontline in an intensive care unit treating coronavirus patients at Sheffield Teaching Hospital in the north of England. Like many of his colleagues in the state-run National Health Service (NHS), the 45-year-old medic …
Read More »In Navajo Nation, pandemic exposes water crisis and health disparities
Washington, United States | AFP | The coronavirus is hitting the United States’ largest Native American territory hard, with a spike in cases bringing long-standing disparities to the fore in a land marked by the trauma of past waves of disease. With its towering sandstone mesas, majestic canyons and ancient ruins, …
Read More »Trump curbs immigration, saying hopes to protect devastated US job market
Washington, United States | AFP | President Donald Trump announced Wednesday he has partially suspended immigration to the United States, with the aim of keeping foreigners out of local jobs during the coronavirus crisis. “In order to protect our great American workers, I’ve just signed an executive order temporarily suspending immigration …
Read More »Algerians linked to protests ‘forgotten’ in pre-trial detention
Algiers, Algeria | AFP | Dozens of Algerians linked to the country’s anti-government protest movement remain “forgotten” in pre-trial detention during the coronavirus crisis, with little or no legal support. Zinedine Hanane, 32, was arrested on March 1, 2019, in Algiers while returning from a demonstration, after two people from his …
Read More »Oil rockets higher, boosting global equities
New York, United States | AFP | Beaten-down US oil prices rallied Wednesday following dramatic declines earlier this week, lifting global equities, even as American crude inventories surged closer to capacity levels. Futures for the benchmark West Texas Intermediate for June delivery jumped 19 percent to $13.78 a barrel in New …
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