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MADRID, Spain (AFP) — Spain recorded 523 deaths from the coronavirus on Wednesday, a decline from the previous day, but the number of new daily confirmed cases was the highest in six days. The new deaths reported by the health ministry take the total number of fatalities to 18,579 — officially third in the world behind the United States and Italy. Spain recorded 567 deaths from COVID-19 on Tuesday. The number of new confirmed infections […]
by Sunghee Hwang Agence France Presse SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korean voters turned out in force Wednesday to back President Moon Jae-in’s handling of the coronavirus epidemic, putting on compulsory face masks and gloves to give his Democratic party a parliamentary majority according to exit polls. South Korea was among the first countries with a major virus outbreak to hold a national election since the global pandemic began, and a raft of safety […]
BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — Europe’s economic powerhouse Germany plunged into recession in March, with the slump sparked by the coronavirus pandemic likely to last until the middle of the year, the economy ministry said Wednesday. “Falling global demand, interruption of supply chains, changes in consumers’ behavior and uncertainty among investors” had all made themselves felt in the export giant, the ministry said. The economic blow from the virus fell just as Germany was beginning to […]
by Laurent BANGUET Agence France-Presse Los Angeles, United States (AFP) — Swift and strict containment measures in California appear to have succeeded in reducing hospital overcrowding and mass deaths from coronavirus, according to health experts in the country’s most populous state. California, one of the first states struck by the deadly disease, has been under lockdown for nearly four weeks. During that time its confirmed case and death tolls have been rapidly overtaken by various eastern […]
by Santiago PIEDRA SILVA à Quito Agence France Presse GUAYAQUIL, Ecuador (AFP) — Ecuador’s economic capital Guayaquil is reeling from the most aggressive outbreak of COVID-19 in Latin America after the pandemic hit the city “like a bomb,” its mayor said. Cynthia Viteri has emerged from her own bout with the virus to battle the worst crisis the port city of nearly 3 million people has known in modern times. “There is no space […]
by Beiyi SEOW Agence France Presse BEIJING, China (AFP) — China’s economy contracted for the first time in around three decades in the first quarter as the coronavirus crisis brought the country to a standstill, according to an AFP poll of economists. The world’s second-largest economy tanked in the first three months of the year as factories closed, consumers were compelled to stay home and the virus spread to other countries. Analysts from 14 […]
by Sunghee Hwang Agence France Presse SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — Temperature checks on voters, separate booths for those with fevers, and special polling times for the quarantined: South Koreans headed to the polls Wednesday with a big turnout expected despite the coronavirus threat. South Korea is among the first countries with a major virus outbreak to hold a national election since the global pandemic began, and a raft of safety measures were in place […]
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — Rio de Janeiro Governor Wilson Witzel, a leading opponent of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s calls to relax COVID-19 containment measures, said Tuesday he had tested positive for the new coronavirus. In a video posted to Twitter, Witzel said he had started feeling unwell Friday, with a fever, sore throat and loss of smell, a key symptom of the virus. “Today, the test result came back positive… Now, thank God, […]
Pictures by JACK GUEZ Agence France-Presse TEL-AVIV, Israel (AFP) — With the coronavirus keeping Israelis indoors, dozens of jackals have taken over a deserted park in Tel Aviv, scavenging for food in what is usually a playground for joggers and families. The normally timid animals wander freely among palm trees and across the grass of Hayarkon Park, an oasis in the Mediterranean city that was also a magnet for cyclists and picnickers until the arrival of […]
LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — Governor Gavin Newsom on Tuesday set out conditions for lifting California’s coronavirus lockdown, but warned it would be at least two weeks before any timeline for reopening the state could be announced. Newsom said stay-at-home orders had “bent the curve” in the nation’s most populous state, but warned against moving too quickly and insisted decisions should be based on science not politics. Hospital cases would need to decline over […]
by Boris CAMBRELENG Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — Rich nations appeared Tuesday to be moving towards a temporary debt relief deal to help poor countries weather the coronavirus pandemic. Finance ministers and central bankers from G7 countries said Tuesday they favor a temporary halt to debt payments from the world’s poorest countries, but only if G20 governments also agree. Noting that poor countries face the most hardship in trying to deal with the […]
UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) — It is “not the time to reduce the resources for the operations of the World Health Organization or any other humanitarian organization in the fight against the virus,” United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said Tuesday. “It is my belief that the World Health Organization must be supported, as it is absolutely critical to the world’s efforts to win the war against COVID-19,” he said, after US President Donald […]
