Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | The United Nations on Friday launched a global push to speed up production of a vaccine for the new coronavirus as US President Donald Trump came under fire for suggesting injecting patients with disinfectant. The pandemic has upended life around the planet as nations try to …
Read More »COVID-19, the knockout punch for multilateralism?
Paris, France | AFP | The coronavirus pandemic blindsided international organisations, prompted individual states to unilaterally strike out alone and heralded a new chapter in the 21st century’s chief geopolitical rivalry between the United States and China. In the post-COVID-19 era, will multilateralism be dead? Regional and international organisations from the …
Read More »Sunlight destroys coronavirus quickly, say US scientists
Washington, United States | AFP | The new coronavirus is quickly destroyed by sunlight, according to new research announced by a senior US official on Thursday, though the study has not yet been made public and awaits external evaluation. William Bryan, science and technology advisor to the Department of Homeland Security …
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 »Europe races to shield virus-hit firms from bargain hunters
Frankfurt am Main, Germany | AFP | Fears that cash-rich corporate raiders could use the coronavirus crisis to swoop on weakened European firms were perhaps best exemplified by Donald Trump’s alleged bid for a German biotech firm working on a vaccine. The outrage that followed has spurred fresh action by European …
Read More »Trump curbs immigration as UN warns of humanitarian ‘catastrophe’
Washington, United States | AFP | President Donald Trump partially blocked immigration to the United States “to protect American workers” from the economic shock of the coronavirus, as the United Nations warned the world was facing “a humanitarian catastrophe”. The UN alarm bell came as nations scrambled to not only fight …
Read More »Oil crash means more misery ahead for US shale producers
New York, United States | AFP | An unprecedented crash in oil prices is adding pressure to already stressed US producers, threatening key shale regions and putting vulnerable companies at risk of going under. A day after US oil futures closed in negative territory for the first time ever, US …
Read More »Trump says to ban immigration as US protestors demand lockdown end
Washington, United States | AFP | Donald Trump said he would temporarily ban immigration to the United States because of the “Invisible Enemy” of the coronavirus, as angry Americans took to the streets to demand an end to crippling lockdowns. In just four months, the virus has turned the world upside …
Read More »US Treasury sends first airline aid payments
Washington, United States | AFP | The Trump administration on Monday sent out the first payments meant to help save airline jobs as the industry is ravaged by the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. The US Treasury sent the first $2.9 billion of the plan — agreed upon last week after …
Read More »Hundreds protest against US virus rules
Concord, United States | AFP | Hundreds protested Saturday in cities across America against coronavirus-related lockdowns — with encouragement from President Donald Trump — as resentment grows against the crippling economic cost of confinement. An estimated 400 people gathered under a cold rain in Concord, New Hampshire — many on foot …
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