Breaking News, Latest Philippines Headlines, World, Entertainment, Politics, Weather & Video News
by Armel Baily with David Esnault in Abidjan Agence France-Presse OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AFP) —Sub-Saharan Africa has recorded its first COVID-19 death, a high-ranking politician in Burkina Faso, as the head of the World Health Organization urged the continent to “prepare for the worst”. “Africa should wake up,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news conference in Geneva on Wednesday, pointing out that “in other countries, we have seen how the virus actually accelerates after a certain […]
by Michael Mathes WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed a $100-billion emergency aid package that ensures sick leave to Americans workers who fall ill from the new coronavirus, with more federal assistance in the pipeline. The bipartisan House-passed measure easily cleared the Senate by a vote of 90 to eight earlier Wednesday. Hours later Trump said in a statement that he signed the legislation into law, providing a rare […]
LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — The devastating coronavirus outbreak at a nursing home near Seattle where 35 have died was likely fueled by infected staff members continuing to come to work, a report found Wednesday. The care home is responsible for over half the deaths in the northwestern state of Washington — itself the US epicenter of the deadly pandemic. After visiting homes in the region, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) found “staff […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China on Thursday reported no new domestic cases of the coronavirus for the first time since it started recording them in January but recorded a spike in infections from abroad. The lack of domestic infections marks a major milestone in China’s containment efforts, but the rise in imported cases threatens to unravel its progress. There were 34 cases that were brought in from abroad, the biggest daily increase in two weeks, […]
by Michelle FITZPATRICK / Tom BARFIELD BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — Germany is facing its biggest challenge “since the Second World War” in the fight against the coronavirus, Chancellor Angela Merkel said Wednesday, in what observers called a “final warning” for citizens to heed sweeping confinement measures. In a dramatic television appeal, Merkel said everyone played a part in slowing down a pandemic that has raced across the globe and triggered unprecedented peace-time lockdowns. “The situation […]
PARIS, France (AFP) — The coronavirus epidemic has caused 89 new deaths across France over the last 24 hours bringing the total death toll in the country to 264, the top French health official said on Wednesday. “We have an epidemic that is rapidly becoming more serious,” Jerome Salomon told reporters, adding that France now had 9,134 confirmed cases, 3,626 of whom were in the hospital. He said that the number of new cases was […]
by Michel COMTE OTTAWA, Canada (AFP) — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Can$27 billion in direct aid Wednesday to help workers and businesses cope with the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. He said tax payments worth an estimated Can$55 billion could also be deferred until August. The combined amount equals three percent of this G7 nation’s gross domestic product (GDP). “This is a time where you should be focused on your health, not […]
by Nina LARSON GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The head of the World Health Organization on Wednesday called the new coronavirus an “enemy against humanity”, as the number of people infected in the pandemic soared past 200,000. Worldwide fatalities topped 8,000 and more deaths have now been recorded in Europe, the new virus epicenter, than in Asia since the outbreak first emerged in China in December. “This coronavirus is presenting us with an unprecedented threat,” Tedros […]
PARIS, France (AFP) — Some 500 million people have been subject to lockdown measures around the world because of the coronavirus outbreak that started in China and has quickly ballooned globally, according to an AFP count. From China to the Czech Republic to Venezuela, governments have told their citizens to stay indoors to try and slow the spread of the pandemic. Here are the populations affected. Obligatory confinement The central Chinese province of Hubei and […]
GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The COVID-19 pandemic will significantly increase global unemployment, pushing up to nearly 25 million more people out of work, the United Nations said Wednesday. “The economic and labor crisis created by the COVID-19 pandemic could increase global unemployment by almost 25 million,” the International Labour Organization said as it released a fresh study. It added however that an internationally coordinated policy response could “significantly lower” that number. © Agence France-Presse
PARIS, France (AFP) — More than 850 million young people, or about half the world’s student population, are barred from their school and university grounds because of the novel coronavirus pandemic, UNESCO said Wednesday. Calling it an “unprecedented challenge,” UNESCO said schools had been closed in 102 countries, with partial closures in 11 more — with more closures to come. “Over 850 million children and youth — roughly half of the world’s student population — […]
TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday defended the response to the new coronavirus outbreak by his administration, which has yet to impose a lockdown to stop the disease spreading. The COVID-19 outbreak in sanctions-hit Iran is one of the deadliest outside China, where the disease originated. Rouhani’s government says the virus has killed 1,135 people and infected 17,161 others in the month since it first emerged in the Islamic republic. “Some […]
