WORLD

Athens, Greece | AFP |  At the foot of the Acropolis hill, in the touristic Koukaki district, the coronavirus lockdown has silenced the sound of Airbnb customers’ wheeled luggage. The tourist industry in Athens, as in many other European capitals, has ground to a halt, with planes grounded and restaurants, museums and archaeological …

Washington, United States | AFP |  Top infectious diseases expert Anthony Fauci is among three members of the White House’s coronavirus task force who will self-isolate after potential exposure to the pathogen, US media reported Saturday. On Friday, reports that Vice President Mike Pence’s press secretary had tested positive heightened …

Beijing, China | AFP |  Like many couples in the era of social distancing, Ma Jialun and Zhang Yitong held their wedding ceremony online — but they added a twist by livestreaming the event to more than 100,000 strangers. Coronavirus lockdowns and travel restrictions have forced people around the world to …

Washington, United States | AFP |  In a world suddenly fearful of touch, voice technology is getting a fresh look. Voice-activated systems such as Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa and Apple’s Siri have seen strong growth in recent years, and the virus pandemic could accelerate that, analysts say. Voice assistants are not …

Washington, United States | AFP |  One week after Sally realized she was pregnant, her home state Texas temporarily banned abortions, deeming them unnecessary elective procedures that were suspended because of the coronavirus crisis. So, the 34-year-old, whose name has been changed for this story to protect her privacy, took matters …

Washington, United States | AFP |  Can Donald Trump refuse to turn over his tax returns and financial records to Congress and New York prosecutors? The Supreme Court takes up this politically charged question on Tuesday, and it may use the occasion to better define the limits of presidential immunity. The …

Paris, France | AFP |  The number of coronavirus cases worldwide topped four million as some of the hardest-hit countries readied Sunday to lift lockdown restrictions, despite concerns about a second wave of infections. Governments around the world are trying to stop the spread of the disease while scrambling for ways …

Stockholm, Sweden | AFP |  Bjorn Branngard’s mother died in a Stockholm nursing home where five of the eight people in her section and more than a third of residents have so far succumbed to the new coronavirus. “They didn’t have time to take care of my mother,” he told AFP. …

Washington, United States | AFP |  Former president Barack Obama has launched a scathing attack on Donald Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, calling it an “absolute chaotic disaster.” In a leaked web call Friday night with former members of his administration, Obama also said the Justice Department’s decision to …

Berlin, Germany | AFP |  Dynamo Dresden placed their entire squad into a 14-day quarantine on Saturday, just a week from the restart of the Bundesliga season, after the club reported two more cases of coronavirus. The decision means that Dynamo, who are bottom of the second division, will not …