MADRID (Reuters) – Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Tuesday he was moderately optimistic about the country’s economic recovery from its worst downturn on record caused by the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Sanchez reiterated that gross domesti... More »
MADRID (Reuters) – Spain has registered more than 23,000 new COVID-19 cases since Friday, health emergency chief Fernando Simon told a news conference on Monday, suggesting the infection rate had declined slightly from an Aug. 21 peak. Health ministry data sho... More »
GENEVA (Reuters) – Countries with significant active spread of coronavirus must prevent amplifying events, as opening up without the virus being under control would be a “recipe for disaster”, the World Health Organization said on Monday. WHO director-general ... More »
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysia’s northern state of Penang has barred entry by overseas visitors seeking medical treatment until it finalises new health and safety procedures in light of the coronavirus crisis, the chief minister said on Monday. Authorities ... More »
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand’s economy saw its biggest annual contraction in 22 years and a record quarterly fall in the April-June period, as the coronavirus pandemic and restriction measures hit tourism, exports and domestic activity, prompting an outlook do... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Irish peacemaker John Hume was a “political giant” who did so much to help bring an end to the Troubles in Northern Ireland, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday. Hume, a key Roman Catholic architect of Northern Ireland’s 1998... More »
HANOI (Reuters) – Vietnam reported 21 more novel coronavirus infections late on Monday, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 642. All of the new cases are linked to Danang, the new coronavirus epicentre where Vietnam more than a week ago detect... More »
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Visitors to Universal Studios in Singapore will now have to pass through facial recognition scanners to enter the park, in the city-state’s latest foray with a technology that has stoked privacy concerns. Resorts World Sentosa (RWS), whic... More »
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) – The infamous bus that served as the final campsite for doomed adventurer Christopher McCandless could be preserved as a museum piece under a plan announced on Thursday by Alaska officials. The University of Alaska Museum in Fairba... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Madame Tussauds’ most famous figures led by example and formed a socially distanced queue outside the soon-to-be reopened wax museum on Thursday, with Queen Elizabeth leading the way followed by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson then musi... More »
(Reuters) – Scientists have solved an enduring mystery about Stonehenge, determining the place of origin of many of the megaliths that make up the famed monument in Wiltshire, England, thanks to a core sample that had been kept in the United States for decades... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – Chancellor Angela Merkel’s chief of staff said health ministers would on Monday discuss the possibility of obliging returning holidaymakers to take a coronavirus test as he expressed concern about a rise in infections in Germany. “I think th... More »
HANOI (Reuters) – The airport in the central Vietnamese tourism hotspot of Danang was packed on Monday after three residents tested positive for the coronavirus and the evacuation of 80,000 people began. The Southeast Asian country is back on high alert after ... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain is closely watching rises in coronavirus cases in other European destinations such as France and Germany after slapping a 14-day quarantine on travellers from Spain at the height of the summer vacation season. The imposition of a Bri... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain will drop its policy of requiring people returning from the Spanish Canary Islands or Balearics to quarantine for two weeks, the Sun newspaper said on Monday. On Saturday, Britain announced a 14-day quarantine on travellers from Spai... More »
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hong Kong banned gatherings of more than two people on Monday, closed down restaurant dining and introduced mandatory face masks in public places, including outdoors, as it tries to rein in a new coronavirus outbreak. The measures, which ... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – Very few of 2,000 school children and teachers tested in the German state of Saxony showed antibodies to COVID-19, a study found on Monday, suggesting schools may not play as big a role in spreading the virus as some had feared. Germany bega... More »
BARCELONA/LLEIDA (Reuters) – The leader of the Spanish region of Catalonia called on residents of an area that has seen a surge in coronavirus cases to stay at home, despite a ruling by a judge who threw out a mandatory lockdown order for the district of 160,0... More »
TUNIS (Reuters) – Tunisia has asked four countries to delay debt repayments, it said on Monday as it announced more pessimistic economic and budget forecasts for 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic. It is negotiating with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, France and I... More »
(Reuters) – Mickey waved from a distance and visitors wore colorful face masks with mouse ears on Saturday as Florida’s Walt Disney World opened to the public for the first time in four months amid a surge of coronavirus cases in the state. Walt Disney Co (DIS... More »
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – A Turkish court on Friday annulled a 1934 government decree that had turned Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia into a museum, opening the way for the sixth-century building to be converted back into a mosque. President Tayyip Erdogan, whose ruling AK... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – Several dozen Paris tour guides wearing masks and holding Mona Lisa portraits protested outside the Louvre museum on Monday for more support from the government to help them ride out the coronavirus crisis and a dearth of tourists. They gathe... More »
DUBAI (Reuters) – Louisa Sumagui and her family wanted a final momento of their 12 years in Dubai before returning to Australia after losing jobs in the tourism industry due to the coronavirus pandemic. The moment was captured for Sumagui, her husband and two ... More »
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hong Kong’s retail sales in May slumped 32.8% from a year earlier, falling for the 16th consecutive month as the virus pandemic slammed the brakes on tourism and spending in the city. Months of anti-government protest have also weighed on... More »
(Reuters) – Broadway theaters will remain closed through Jan. 3, 2021, industry group the Broadway League said on Monday, extending their coronavirus-related shutdown for another four months. The New York City theaters, which went dark in mid-March, had previo... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – France’s Louvre Museum is getting ready to reopen almost four months after COVID-19 forced it to close, but visitors will find one feature missing: the heaving crowd jostling to get a view of the “Mona Lisa”. With many foreign tourists not ex... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – The Musee d’Orsay in Paris, home of the French Impressionists, reopened to the public on Tuesday, three months after being forced to shut by the COVID-19 pandemic, and its head called for state help to recover from the financial costs of the ... More »
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand hopes to ease some coronavirus restrictions on foreigners entering the country after going for 28 days without recording any domestic transmissions, a senior official said on Monday. Those who will benefit from the easing of restri... More »
LISBON (Reuters) – Negotiations between Portugal and Britain on an “air bridge” that would allow British tourists to dodge a mandatory COVID-19 quarantine upon returning home are still in progress and going well, Prime Minister Antonio Costa said on Monday. Po... More »
PALMA DE MALLORCA, Spain (Reuters) – Hundreds of sunseekers from Germany landed on the Spanish island of Mallorca on Monday, the first tourists allowed into the country since borders were shut in March to tackle the coronavirus pandemic. More than 1,500 German... More »
FRANKFURT/BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany will take a stake in unlisted biotech firm CureVac, which is working on a COVID-19 vaccine, Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said on Monday, confirming an earlier Reuters report. The Berlin government will acquire a 23% stak... More »
POSTOJNA, Slovenia (Reuters) – Three rare aquatic creatures known as baby dragons are going on display in an aquarium at Slovenia’s Postojna Cave, one of the country’s biggest tourist attractions. The cave-dwelling animals, officially called proteus or olms, h... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – British Airways will sell at least 10 works of art that normally hang in its executive lounges, a source said, turning to pieces by famous artists like Damien Hirst to raise millions of pounds to help it through the coronavirus pandemic. The... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – The coronavirus lockdowns have hit the world’s museums very hard and more than 10 percent may never reopen while others will have to put new projects on hold, the United Nations’ cultural body UNESCO said. A survey of almost 1,600 museums in ... More »
MADRID (Reuters) – The Spanish Balearic Islands plan to fly in thousands of German tourists from June 15, two weeks before the country as a whole starts reopening borders that have been closed since mid-March to curb the coronavirus pandemic, officials said on... More »
(Reuters) – A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit challenging Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s since-rescinded executive orders requiring that residents stay home and most businesses close to combat the coronavirus pandemic. U.S. District Judge Bernard F... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – China will promote the resumption of the tourism, culture and sports sectors, a top-level meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang said on Thursday, state radio reported. Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-china/chin... More »
MADRID (Reuters) – A Madrid flamenco bar that has played host to some of Spain’s top performers, including an early-career set from Grammy-award winner Rosalia, is shutting down as audiences dwindle in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. For nearly 40 years ... More »
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – If you’ve ever dreamed of being in the Sistine Chapel without feeling like you are craning your neck in a packed open-top tourist bus, now is your chance. The Vatican Museums re-opened to the public on Monday after being closed for nea... More »
BILBAO, Spain (Reuters) – Two dozen visitors queued to get their temperatures taken at the entrance to Bilbao’s Guggenheim Museum on Monday as it became the first of Spain’s major cultural centres to reopen its doors after a long lockdown due to the coronaviru... More »
DUBAI (Reuters) – Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways has laid off hundreds of employees this month, including cabin crew, after the coronavirus pandemic forced it to ground flights, according to industry and company sources. The state-owned airline, which had 20,530 e... More »
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Reuters) – Businesses in the San Francisco Bay Area may open for curbside retail and manufacturing, while fan-free professional sports events might be allowed as soon as June, as California continued to loosen coronavirus health restriction... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Travel group TUI (TUIGn.DE) will cut 8,000 jobs and look to shed 30% of its costs as it gears up for a July restart to European tourism, the German company said on Wednesday. Holiday plans have been put on hold in the face of travel restrict... More »
MADRID (Reuters) – The Spanish government ordered a two-week quarantine for all travellers coming into the country from May 15 in a bid to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus after one of the Europe’s strictest lockdowns helped slow down the epidemic in S... More »
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia will ease social distancing restrictions in a three-step process, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Friday, as Canberra aims to remove most curbs by July and get nearly 1 million people back to work amid a decline in coronaviru... More »
MADRID (Reuters) – Hairdressers, ironmongers and florists opened for business with restrictions on Monday as Spain began a four-phase plan to reopen by end-June, while the 24-hour death tally from the coronavirus pandemic stayed under 200 for the second day in... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Monday said bipartisan discussions are underway over whether more U.S. government relief funding is needed amid the nation’s novel coronavirus outbreak, but that President Donald Trump is focused on t... More »
SYDNEY (Reuters) – New Zealand and Australia could soon open their borders to each other, creating what they call a “Trans-Tasman bubble” as they look to restart their economies after getting their novel coronavirus outbreaks under control. New Zealand Prime M... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s economy minister urged the country’s 16 federal states on Monday to go slowly in lifting coronavirus restrictions to avoid the outbreak spreading further and being forced to backtrack later. Under Germany’s decentralised political ... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – The German government and the federal state of Hesse have agreed to provide Condor with loans worth 550 million euros ($596.31 million), the economy minister said on Monday, after the owner of Poland’s LOT pulled out of a deal to buy the air... More »
(Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump’s suggestion that ultraviolet light could be inserted into coronavirus patients was widely panned on Friday, but a California company thinks it’s a perfect solution for decontaminating airplanes. Dimer UCV Innovations cr... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Two senior U.S. House Democrats on Friday asked the U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve to direct at least $5 billion in loans to struggling intercity bus companies because of the coronavirus pandemic. House Ways and Means Committee Chairm... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – China is handing out billions of yuan in shopping coupons to support retailers crushed by the COVID-19 outbreak, but the subsidies are doing little to support the kind of discretionary spending needed to revive the economy. Instead, a big c... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s finance minister has told colleagues the economy could shrink by up to 30% this quarter because of the coronavirus lockdown, a newspaper reported, as the soaring death toll gave little hope restrictions would soon be lifted. The nu... More »
MANILA (Reuters) – The Asian Development Bank [ADB.UL] announced on Monday it was tripling the size of its rescue package to $20 billion to help developing countries in Asia counter the severe macroeconomic and health effects of the coronavirus pandemic. It pr... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s Narita Airport has prepared an impromptu hotel of cardboard beds and quilts in its baggage-claim area for passengers from overseas who might have to stay there while awaiting the results of tests for the novel coronavirus. Though flig... More »
HO CHI MINH CITY (Reuters) – A Vietnamese entrepreneur in Ho Chi Minh City has invented a 24/7 automatic dispensing machine providing free rice for people out of work following an ongoing nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. Vietnam... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Congressional leaders and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin will hold bipartisan negotiations on the contents of a new coronavirus response bill with the goal of reaching a deal by early next week, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Sch... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – Angela Merkel’s chief of staff told German broadcasters RTL/n-tv on Monday that he did not think the chancellor’s plans not to run for a fifth term in office had changed after Bild newspaper last week raised the question of whether she might... More »
MELBOURNE/SYDNEY (Reuters) – Carnival Corp’s (CCL.N) troubled Ruby Princess cruise liner, the biggest single source of coronavirus infections in Australia, docked south of Sydney on Monday to get help for sick crew members requiring urgent medical treatment. T... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s car sector needs immediate cash and the government should introduce measures to support suppliers, some of which only have enough money to handle the coronavirus crisis for weeks not months, the head of the main trade body told Reu... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain has ordered more than 10,000 ventilators from a consortium of leading aerospace, engineering and Formula One racing teams which have met an urgent government plea for help with production due to start this week. The group, including ... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s Olympic delay has upended years of careful planning by organizers and spawned costly headaches for small businesses, hotels and even pro baseball teams, compounding a $12 billion price tag. The Tokyo Games were postponed until 2021 la... More »
RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – Brazilian rapper MV Bill added his voice to a chorus of criticism of President Jair Bolsonaro for downplaying the gravity of the new coronavirus epidemic in a video clip that urges people to protect themselves. His rap “Quarantine” r... More »
HANOI (Reuters) – You’ve got to eat it, to beat it: That’s the philosophy of one Hanoi chef who is attempting to boost morale in the Vietnamese capital by selling green, coronavirus-themed burgers. Laughing in the face of the global pandemic, Chef Hoang Tung a... More »
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said on Monday that the number of confirmed coronavirus cases had risen to 402, a jump of 128 since Sunday’s announcement that could worry public health experts concerned about the country’s ... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany will spare no effort to help its economy weather the coronavirus crisis and is in talks with its European Union partners about how to minimize the economic impact of the outbreak, a finance ministry spokesman said on Friday. “We are ... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain has asked 65,000 former nurses and doctors to return to work and will deploy final-year medical students to fight the coronavirus health crisis, the health ministry said. As the coronavirus outbreak sweeps across the world, governmen... More »
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysia will mobilise the army to help enforce curbs on movement aimed at reining in the coronavirus, the government said on Friday, as it grapples with the highest number of infections in Southeast Asia. Malaysia reported 130 new inf... More »
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Many overseas arrivals in the Asian financial hub of Hong Kong are going unmonitored as they begin two weeks of mandatory self-quarantine, with only a third of the 6,000 electronic wristbands issued to them being activated, authorities sa... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Two Los Angeles Lakers players have tested positive for coronavirus, the NBA franchise said on Thursday, and have been quarantined under the care of the basketball team’s doctor. The Lakers did not identify the two infected players but ... More »
SYDNEY/CHICAGO (Reuters) – Airlines around the world said they would make more drastic cuts to their flying schedules, shed jobs and seek government aid after countries further tightened border restrictions because of the fast spreading coronavirus. The owner ... More »
TBILISI (Reuters) – Georgia on Monday banned all foreigners from entering the country over coronavirus concerns the prime minister’s spokesman, Irakli Chikovani, told a briefing. Georgia has reported 33 confirmed cases of coronavirus. Source: https://www.reute... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s southern state of Bavaria on Monday announced a fund worth up to 10 billion euros ($11.21 billion) to help the region withstand the coronavirus outbreak, its premier said, declaring a state of emergency as the number of new cases c... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will ask manufacturers to retool production to start making specialist health equipment including ventilators and will look at using hotels as emergency hospitals to cope with the coronavirus outbreak. Br... More »
MADRID (Reuters) – Spanish ministers said on Monday that a state of emergency over the coronavirus which has shut down much of the country will have to be extended beyond an initial 15-day period, and the government was also considering closing borders. “Obvio... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Sunday officials will have a better idea this week of the total cost of a coronavirus aid package, but predicted it will likely be “significant but not huge.” Mnuchin told “Fox News Sunday” ... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – Bans on mass gatherings introduced to slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic might have been expected to deal a death blow to musical life, but have instead prompted a boom in free online concerts. One musician to step up to the plate i... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – Paris’ famed Moulin Rouge cabaret, the Louvre museum and the Eiffel Tower were among top tourism landmarks that closed their doors on Friday after the government banned gatherings of more than 100 people to curb the spread of coronavirus. The... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany must do all it can to avoid an economic crisis over the coronavirus and should emulate an ex-European Central Bank president who was key in containing the euro zone debt crisis, a senior ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thurs... More »
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – The Dutch national gallery, the Rijksmuseum, and the nearby Van Gogh museum, two of the Netherlands’ premier tourist attractions in Amsterdam, will be closed to the public at least until March 31 due to the coronavirus epidemic. Their ann... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – A series of six paintings by the Venetian master Titian, commissioned by King Philip II of Spain and inspired by the works of the Roman poet Ovid, have been reunited for the first time in four centuries in an exhibition at London’s National ... More »
ROME (Reuters) – An exhibition commemorating the 500th anniversary of the death of Renaissance artist Raphael opens in Rome this week but the show risks being overshadowed by the coronavirus outbreak sweeping Italy. The Scuderie del Quirinale gallery has sold ... More »
LISBON (Reuters) – Portugal registered its first two cases of the new coronavirus on Monday, SIC television channel reported. It said one case was discovered in a man who had recently traveled to Italy and another one in a man who had returned from Spain. Both... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – Lufthansa (LHAG.DE) said on Monday that it was suspending flights to China until April 24 and to Tehran until April 30 due to the coronavirus outbreak. Lufthansa said it was also adjusting its flights to northern Italy. It said Austrian Airl... More »
BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – The Chinese city at the center of the coronavirus epidemic closed its first makeshift hospital, one of 16 hurriedly built to handle the epidemic, after it discharged the last recovered patients, state broadcaster CCTV reported on M... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – The coronavirus outbreak, which is grounding Chinese tourists, is costing the European tourism industry around one billion euros per month in lost revenue, EU industry chief Thierry Breton said on Monday. “Chinese tourists are not coming to E... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said on Sunday it remained unclear how the first American to die of coronavirus contracted the disease, and that there was no evidence he had a connection to someone who had traveled to ... More »
BEIJING/SEOUL (Reuters) – Fears of a coronavirus pandemic grew on Monday after sharp rises in new cases reported in Iran, Italy and South Korea but China relaxed restrictions on movements in several places including Beijing as its rates of new infections eased... More »
HANOI (Reuters) – Bamboo Airways will suspend flights to South Korea from Feb. 26 over coronavirus concerns, the company said on Monday. Its flights between Da Nang and Nha Trang to Seoul’s Incheon International Airport will cease operations starting Feb. 26, ... More »
DUBAI (Reuters) – Kuwait and Bahrain on Monday recorded their first new coronavirus cases, all involving people who had visited Iran, which has reported 43 cases of the disease, state media said. Kuwait detected the virus in three people among 700 who had been... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s foreign ministry said on Monday that Beijing was not considering issuing travel advisories for countries such as South Korea and Japan that are reporting an increase in coronavirus cases. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Liji... More »
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – French junior transport minister Jean-Baptiste Djebbari said on Monday that he saw no need to close down transport borders between France and Italy, despite the spread of coronavirus. “Closing down the borders would make no sense, as the ... More »
DUBAI (Reuters) – Qatar will ask passengers arriving from Iran and South Korea to remain in home isolation or a quarantine facility for 14 days over fears of new coronavirus outbreak, Qatar Airways said in a statement on Monday. Source: https://www.reuters.com... More »
DUBAI (Reuters) – Kuwait said on Monday three people, including a Saudi national, who returned from Iran were infected by the new coronavirus, state news agency KUNA reported. The three cases, the first in the Gulf state, were among the 700 people evacuated fr... More »
(Reuters) – Here are the latest developments around the coronavirus outbreak: *The death toll in mainland China reached 1,770 as of Sunday-end, up by 105 from the previous day, while there were 2,048 new cases, bringing the total count to 70,548. *In Hubei pro... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain does not need any special arrangements in its future relationship with the European Union, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s spokesman said on Monday, adding that it wants a trade agreement similar to other deals the EU has struck. Prim... More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – A Russian woman who was on board the Diamond Princess cruise liner docked in Yokohama, Japan, has tested positive for coronavirus following examinations by the Japanese authorities, the Russian Embassy to Japan said on Monday. The woman will... More »
(Reuters) – Fourteen U.S. citizens tested positive for the new coronavirus during the evacuation of over 300 U.S. nationals and their family members from a quarantined ship in Japan, the U.S. State Department said on Monday. The passengers were preparing to re... More »
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia will evacuate more than 200 of its citizens onboard a coronavirus-stricken cruise ship being held under quarantine in the Japanese port of Yokohama, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Monday. Morrison said the passengers will de... More »
