WORLD

United Nations, United States | AFP | The United States and China remained at loggerheads Thursday over a UN Security Council draft resolution calling for a 90-day humanitarian pause in conflicts worldwide in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. The stalemate — over a mention of the World Health Organization — …

Washington, United States | AFP | Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, on Thursday unveiled a committee to help him search for and vet a running mate in his White House race against Donald Trump. The step comes as Biden faces mounting pressure to address allegations by a former aide …

Buenos Aires, Argentina | AFP | Argentine football legend Diego Maradona has asked the “Hand of God” to deliver the world from the coronavirus pandemic and allow normal life to resume. The World Cup winner referred to his hand-assisted goal in the 1986 World Cup after Argentine football chiefs voted to …

Strasbourg, France | AFP | Prisons in Britain are “violent, unsafe and overcrowded”, according to a damning report published on Thursday by the Council of Europe. The pan-European rights body’s anti-torture committee also reported “alarmingly high” levels of substance abuse and said large numbers of prisoners suffered from mental health disorders. …

Washington, United States | AFP | The US intelligence community said Thursday it had concluded that the novel coronavirus that has swept the globe originated in China but was not man-made or engineered. “The entire Intelligence Community has been consistently providing critical support to US policymakers and those responding to the …

Paris, France | AFP | There will be 11,000 fewer deaths in European countries under coronavirus lockdown due to a sharp drop in fossil fuel pollution during April, according to research released Thursday. Measures to halt the spread of coronavirus have slowed the region’s economies to a crawl, with coal-generated power …

Copenhagen, Denmark | AFP | The World Health Organization’s European office warned Thursday that to keep other infectious diseases in check, vaccination programmes must remain a priority even during the coronavirus pandemic. The warning came as the UN body noted that while the spread of the novel coronavirus seemed to be “plateauing in western Europe, …

Los Angeles, United States | AFP |  Parisians Carole de la Cheneliere and Olivier Merleau were all set for their once-in-a-lifetime road trip down America’s famous interstates — but then, the pandemic struck. This Friday, they were due to arrive in Los Angeles, from where the open road would have carried …

Frankfurt am Main, Germany | AFP |  The European Central Bank could reiterate Thursday its power to do more still to cushion the eurozone economy from the impact of the novel coronavirus, analysts said, while maintaining pressure on governments to agree a joint response. ECB chief Christine Lagarde last week warned …

Belgrade, Serbia | AFP |  Before his death 40 years ago, Josip Broz Tito, the charismatic and controversial leader of former Yugoslavia, privately shared a “regret”, his grandson recalls. Speaking to AFP by phone, 72-year-old Joska, who proudly shares the name Josip Broz, summons the words of an illustrious grandfather who …