WORLD

Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | Pinning down the source of the coronavirus pandemic should help in working out how COVID-19 has “invaded the human species” so quickly, a senior WHO official told AFP. The outbreak has triggered a fierce diplomatic spat between China and the United States — with the World …

Darmstadt, Germany | AFP |  The high-ceilinged workshop in Darmstadt is usually open to anyone — from hobbyists trying new machinery or techniques to high-tech startup workers tinkering with prototypes. During the coronavirus pandemic, it has been turned into a hub for dropping off plastic parts made at home by volunteers …

London, United Kingdom | AFP |  Before entering coronavirus lockdown with the rest of Britain in March, 73-year-old Pamela Cox had never shopped or banked online. Zoom was something you did with a camera lens. Now the retiree is one of many in her generation finding a new IT proficiency later …

Washington, United States | AFP |  A Washington judge put on ice Tuesday the Justice Department’s extraordinary move to drop its prosecution of former White House national security advisor Michael Flynn, after an outside group calling themselves “Watergate Prosecutors” sought to intervene in the case. Judge Emmet Sullivan said in a …

United Nations, United States | AFP |  Germany and Estonia submitted Tuesday a resolution to the UN Security Council on a ceasefire in various conflicts around the world during the coronavirus pandemic, to replace one drafted by France and Tunisia that the United States has blocked. Encompassing five major points — …

Milan, Italy | AFP | The coronavirus pandemic, set to provoke a severe global recession this year, is hitting multinational companies disproportionately. Here is a list of winners and losers, according to a study published on Tuesday from the research unit of Italian bank Mediobanca, based on results from the first quarter of 2020. THE …

Washington, United States | AFP | The US government’s top infectious disease expert warned Congress Tuesday that ending lockdowns too quickly could bring “really serious” consequences including new outbreaks of coronavirus just as the country tries to overcome the pandemic. In his first appearance on Capitol Hill in two months, …

Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | Renowned US epidemiologist Larry Brilliant has urged China to be “radically transparent” if it wants to fend off suspicion over the origin of the novel coronavirus. Theories abound about the provenance of the virus that has sparked the global COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed nearly 300,000 people worldwide in a …

Madrid, Spain | AFP | A 113-year-old woman, believed to be the oldest person living in Spain, has beat the coronavirus at retirement home where several other residents died from the pandemic, the residence said Tuesday. Maria Branyas, who was born in the US, was infected with the virus in April at the Santa Maria …

London, United Kingdom | AFP |  The French House survived two world wars and global recessions. Charles de Gaulle is said to have frequented it and Dylan Thomas once left his manuscript for “Under Milk Wood” at the bar. But the 129-year-old pub in Soho, central London, is under threat because …