Britain turns to Europe to save its crops London, United Kingdom | AFP | To save fields of asparagus and strawberries threatened with rotting, Britain is mobilising a workforce of students, the unemployed — and workers from Europe. Little more than two months after leaving the European Union, accompanied by …
Read More »Republicans urge Trump to demand WHO chief quits
Washington, United States | AFP | Congressional Republicans on Thursday urged President Donald Trump to condition US funding for the World Health Organization on the resignation of its chief over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Seventeen Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee said they had “lost faith” in …
Read More »COVID-19: China under mounting pressure over virus origins
Washington, United States | AFP | China on Thursday came under mounting pressure over the coronavirus pandemic from Western powers led by the United States, which said it was probing whether the virus that has infected more than 2.1 million people actually originated in a Wuhan laboratory. The new focus …
Read More »COVID-19: IMF, World Bank roll out all their lending tools
Washington, United States | AFP | The IMF and World Bank have aggressively pushed out financing to help countries deal with the health and economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. Here is a summary of the financing available from the Washington-based development lenders: – Regular lending capacity – All members …
Read More »WHO: This is a time for all to be united, not divided
Geneva, Switzerland | AFP & WHO | The World Health Organization said Wednesday it was reviewing what impact the US decision to halt funding would have, and said it was looking to others to help fill financial “gaps”. “WHO is reviewing the impact on our work of any withdrawal of US …
Read More »Trump suspends WHO funding over COVID-19
Washington, United States | AFP | President Donald Trump announced Tuesday a suspension of US funding to the World Health Organization because he said it had covered up the seriousness of the COVID-19 outbreak in China before it spread around the world. Trump told a press conference he was …
Read More »Bolt goes viral with ‘social distancing’ Olympic photo
Washington, United States | AFP | Retired track star Usain Bolt showed he’s still a few steps ahead when he posted an AFP picture of him outstripping his rivals at the Beijing Olympics with the cheeky caption: “social distancing”. Bolt’s post, featuring a picture by AFP photographer Nicolas Asfouri of …
Read More »Apple and Google team up on virus ‘contact tracing’ by smartphone
San Francisco, United States | AFP | Google and Apple unveiled a joint initiative Friday to develop a coronavirus smartphone “contact tracing” tool that could potentially alert people when they have crossed paths with an infected person. The move brings together the largest mobile operating systems in an effort to …
Read More »Despite virus, Pentagon warns enemies: don’t test us
Washington, United States | AFP | With an aircraft carrier forced into port and staff at bases handling nuclear missiles hit by COVID-19, the US military wants rivals to understand: don’t test us, we have not been weakened. Statement after statement from the Pentagon has sought to deliver that …
Read More »COVID-19 deaths top 100,000 ahead of locked-down Easter
Rome, Italy | AFP | The global coronavirus death toll topped 100,000 Friday as Easter celebrations around the world kicked off in near-empty churches with billions of people stuck indoors to halt the pandemic’s deadly march. The grim milestone came as the World Health Organization issued a dire warning that …
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