Beijing, China | AFP | China warned Friday that its huge economy will suffer an immense hit from the coronavirus, as the ongoing pandemic and national lockdowns cause massive global job losses and Russia faces a steep increase in deaths. As Beijing’s communist rulers failed to set an annual growth target …
Read More »Russia denounces US attempts to ‘break’ WHO
Moscow, Russia | AFP | Russia on Tuesday denounced President Donald Trump’s threat to pull the United States out of the World Health Organization over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic. “Yes, there are opportunities to improve it… and we are ready — as before — to play an active role in this work,” deputy …
Read More »Russia says growth of new coronavirus cases stopped
Moscow, Russia | AFP | Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said Monday the growth in new coronavirus cases had been stopped as Russia reported under 9,000 infections for the first time since the beginning of the month. With more than 290,000 cases as of Monday, Russia has recorded the world’s largest number …
Read More »Why is Russia’s coronavirus death rate so low?
Moscow, Russia | AFP | Russia has the world’s second-highest number of coronavirus cases but has registered 10 times fewer deaths than Britain, France, Italy and Spain. So many are wondering: why is the country’s mortality rate so low? Critics have accused Russian authorities of under-counting the number of deaths to …
Read More »Putin lifts Russia’s coronavirus ‘non-working’ period from Tuesday
Moscow, Russia | AFP | President Vladimir Putin on Monday said Russia’s non-working period imposed to contain the spread of the coronavirus will be lifted from Tuesday. “Starting from tomorrow, May 12, the national period of non-working days will be over for all sectors of the economy,” Putin said, adding that Russia’s regions will be …
Read More »Russia debates lockdown withdrawal as virus cases reach new highs
Moscow, Russia | AFP | President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday chaired a meeting to discuss a gradual withdrawal from lockdown as Russia registered the world’s sixth highest total number of coronavirus cases. Russia recorded more than 10,000 new cases for the fourth day in a row, bringing the total number of …
Read More »Russia reports more than 10,000 new virus cases
Moscow, Russia | AFP | Russia cemented its place as the European country reporting the highest number of new coronavirus infections Tuesday as its total cases soared passed 155,000. Yevgeny Mikrin, chief designer at Energia, Russia’s top producer of spacecraft, has died from the coronavirus, becoming one of the infection’s highest-profile victims in the country, …
Read More »Virus cases pass 145,000 in new European blackspot Russia
Moscow, Russia | AFP | Russia registered a near record in new daily coronavirus cases on Monday as total infections topped 145,000, cementing its position as the European country reporting the most new cases. Health officials said there were 10,581 new infections over the last 24 hours, only 52 fewer than …
Read More »Wary Russian doctors count their own dead from virus
Moscow, Russia | AFP | When Russian cardiologist Alexei Erlikh and several colleagues started a project to keep track of medics who had died from the coronavirus, he never expected there would be so many names. Launched last week, the database already lists more than 70 dead doctors, nurses and lab …
Read More »Russia denies bribing FIFA officials to host 2018 World Cup
Moscow, Russia | AFP | The Kremlin on Tuesday “categorically” denied allegations that Russia had bribed FIFA officials for the right to host the 2018 World Cup. “Russia absolutely legally got the right to organise the World Cup,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. He said the decision was “not linked to any bribes, we …
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