WORLD

United Nations, United States | AFP |  UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres urged the Security Council on Thursday to display unity as it met to discuss what he called the “fight of a generation” — the global coronavirus pandemic. “A signal of unity and resolve from the Council would count for …

Washington, United States | AFP | The United States on Thursday accused the World Health Organization of putting politics first by ignoring early coronavirus warnings by Taiwan, which voiced outrage over criticism from the UN body’s chief. President Donald Trump has gone on an offensive with threats to withhold funding for …

London, United Kingdom | AFP | Top oil producers started a crucial meeting on Thursday to discuss a possible cut in output after a collapse in demand due to the coronavirus and a Saudi-Russian price war caused the market to crash. The video conference meeting began shortly after 1440 GMT between …

Washington, United States | AFP | Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, has promised to pick a woman as his running mate against Donald Trump in November. And with Bernie Sanders dropping out of the race, the spotlight is focused on Biden’s choice to serve in the job which he …

London, United Kingdom | AFP | The British government has expanded its overdraft with the Bank of England to help weather coronavirus disruption, it said Thursday. The government’s “ways and means facility” — effectively its overdraft account at the BoE — is also being used to temporarily help finance spending on …

Madrid, Spain | AFP |  In the week leading to Easter Sunday, hundreds of colourful processions featuring penitents in cone-shaped hoods and centuries-old religious floats traditionally flood the streets of villages and cities across Spain. But with a nationwide lockdown in place to curb the spread of COVID-19, Spaniards are finding …

Geneva, Switzerland | AFP |  The World Health Organization on Wednesday pleaded for global unity in fighting the coronavirus, following US President Donald Trump’s stinging attack on its handling of the pandemic. As the WHO prepares to mark 100 days on Thursday since it was first notified of the outbreak in …

Havana, Cuba | AFP |  Cuban doctors are back in global demand as overwhelmed national health care services tap their crisis experience as they battle with the coronavirus pandemic. Communist-run Havana has long used its “white coat diplomacy” as an arm of its foreign policy but has fallen foul of a …

Washington, United States | AFP |  A mask on his face and gloves on his hands, Anthony Lorenzo Green navigated a silver Cadillac through the streets of northeast Washington, delivering groceries to needy people, no strings attached. He knew where to go thanks to the efforts of a mutual aid network …

Paris, France | AFP | In the three months since China first came across a new coronavirus, the world has been plunged into turmoil. A pandemic has been declared, schools and shops from New York to New Delhi shuttered, half the global population is confined in some form, while governments have …