WORLD

New York, United States | AFP |  The coronavirus pandemic took Brittany Brook’s job on March 16, two days after it took her husband Matthew Whitfield’s, leaving the New York couple scrambling as end-of-the-month bills come due. On April 1, Brook, an artist who until recently taught music at a preschool …

Los Angeles, United States | AFP |  The prison system in the largest US state of California plans to release about 3,500 non-violent inmates early to help mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 illness, officials said Tuesday. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) said the first group of inmates …

Paris, France | AFP | Is a homemade mask better than nothing at all? With an unknown number of asymptomatic virus carriers, some experts are advising people to fashion their own face coverings to prevent them spreading the disease. As health workers across the world struggle to get protective equipment and …

Paris, France | AFP | Despite extensive study by doctors and scientists across the world since the new coronavirus first appeared in China three months ago, much about the scourge is still unclear. Here are five key questions that remain unanswered about the virus officially known as SARS-CoV-2 that leads to …

Paris, France | AFP | From medical workers struggling to care for the rising tide of COVID-19 patients to the billions of people told to stay home to slow the pandemic, everyone is waiting for one thing: a vaccine. There is no known treatment for the new coronavirus that emerged in …

Koror, Palau | AFP | A coronavirus-free tropical island nestled in the northern Pacific may seem the perfect place to ride out a pandemic — but residents on Palau say life right now is far from idyllic. The microstate of 18,000 people is among a dwindling number of places on Earth …

Washington, United States | AFP | Former US president Barack Obama took a veiled swipe Tuesday at his successor Donald Trump, chastising those who have “denied warnings” of a deadly coronavirus pandemic and cautioning against ignoring the consequences of climate change. The popular two-term Democrat took to social media as the Trump administration finalized a …

Estonia | AFP |  For centuries on a small, forested island in the Baltic Sea, women in headscarves and striped red skirts have done most of the work: from farming to lighthouse keeping, leading church services and even dressing up as Santa at Christmas. The men of Kihnu island, 10 kilometres …

Béthune, France | AFP |  A ringing bell breaks the silence of the cemetery as five members of the Charitable Brotherhood of Saint Eloi in Bethune solemnly remove their two-pointed hats. All are wearing black capes, white gloves and, of course, face masks. Founded eight centuries ago during a plague outbreak …

New York, United States | AFP |  With the rapid rise of hospitalizations and a health system nearly at capacity, New York doctor Shamit Patel is preparing for the worst over the next few days, all while hoping he won’t have to start choosing which coronavirus patients to treat. Just 10 …