Kampala, Uganda | XINHUA | A Chinese military spokesperson on Wednesday expressed strong opposition to a U.S. plan to deploy intermediate-range missiles in the Asia Pacific region, saying that China will never sit idle if such a plan proceeds. Wu Qian, a spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense, …
Read More »IMF revises down 2020 global economy forecast to contraction of 4.9 pct
Kampala, Uganda | XINHUA | The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Wednesday revised down its forecast for the global economy amid the mounting COVID-19 fallout, projecting a 4.9-percent contraction in 2020. The latest projection is 1.9 percentage points below the World Economic Outlook (WEO) forecast released in April, indicating a …
Read More »Russia says U.S not ready to extend nuke control treaty
Kampala, Uganda | XINHUA | Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Tuesday that the United States made it clear at a meeting held in Vienna that it has not yet decided on whether to extend the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START). “We did not feel that the Americans …
Read More »Ultraviolet light reduces coronavirus transmission indoors: int’l research
Kampala, Uganda | XINHUA | An international research team suggests the use of ultraviolet light indoors to reduce the transmission of coronavirus, the northern Israel Institute of Technology (Technion) said on Tuesday. The recommendation is included in a study published in the journal ACS Nano, written by researchers from the …
Read More »WTO estimates 18.5-pct decline of global trade in Q2
Kampala, Uganda | XINHUA | The volume of global merchandise trade would shrink by around 18.5 percent year-on-year in the second quarter of this year, the World Trade Organization (WTO) said Tuesday. “The fall in trade we are now seeing is historically large — in fact, it would be the steepest …
Read More »No other developed country “doing so badly” in fighting COVID-19: NYT columnist
Kampala, Uganda | XINHUA | The United States “is too broken to fight” the novel coronavirus, and “no other developed country is doing so badly,” a columnist for The New York Times wrote on Monday. “Graphs of the coronavirus curves in Britain, Canada, Germany and Italy look like mountains, with steep …
Read More »UK announces “bounce back” plan to boost agriculture, food and drink industry
Kampala, Uganda | XINHUA | The British government unveiled Monday a package of measures to support businesses for the agriculture, food and drink industry, which have been greatly suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic. Dubbed as “bounce back” plan, it introduces a new program of physical and virtual events that have been …
Read More »Trump signs executive order halting certain work visas through 2020
Kampala, Uganda | XINHUA | U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order suspending the issuance of a number of certain employment-based visas through the end of 2020, including the H-1B which are used for highly skilled workers and common in the tech industry. “Temporary workers are often accompanied …
Read More »Coronavirus pandemic still accelerating: WHO chief
Dubai, United Arab Emirates, | AFP | THE INDEPENDENT | The novel coronavirus pandemic is still accelerating and its effects will be felt for decades, the World Health Organization’s director-general told an online conference on Monday. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual health forum organised by Dubai authorities that the greatest …
Read More »One dead in shooting at Seattle protest movement autonomous zone
Los Angeles, United States, | AFP | THE INDEPENDENT | A man was shot dead and another seriously injured Saturday in a police-free autonomous zone created by protesters in the US city of Seattle, where officers were prevented from accessing the victims, officials said. The area, set up as part …
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