BEIJING (Reuters) – Mainland China reported 10 new COVID-19 cases on Aug. 31, down from 17 reported a day earlier, the country’s health authority said on Tuesday. The National Health Commission said in a statement that all new cases were imported infections in... 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 »
ALGIERS (Reuters) – Algerian authorities said on Monday they will carry out further measures to ease a coronavirus lockdown from Sept. 1, including lifting a ban on some cultural activities such as reopening museums and libraries. Nurseries would also be reope... More »
(Reuters) – Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley may have fired up speculation about a 2024 presidential bid on Monday, delivering a speech at the Republican National Convention that praised President Donald Trump while touting her own accomplishments and life s... More »
CAIRO (Reuters) – The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday it had appealed for $76 million in aid for Lebanon after last week’s massive explosion in Beirut destroyed or damaged hospitals, clinics and medical supplies. Lebanon was already strugglin... More »
TAIPEI (Reuters) – Chinese air force jets briefly crossed the mid-line of the Taiwan Strait on Monday and were tracked by Taiwanese missiles, Taiwan’s government said, as U.S. health chief Alex Azar visited the island to offer President Donald Trump’s support.... More »
JALALABAD, Afghanistan (Reuters) – Afghan security forces laid siege to a prison seized by Islamic State fighters in the eastern city of Jalalabad on Monday, with at least 29 people killed after the militants’ overnight assault led to a mass jailbreak. More th... More »
KABUL (Reuters) – More than 300 prisoners were at large on Monday after an attack by Islamic State on an Afghan prison, the governor’s spokesman said on Monday, as clashes continued between prisoners and security forces. The assault began on Sunday night on th... More »
GENEVA (Reuters) – The World Health Organization warned on Monday that, despite strong hopes for a vaccine, there might never be a “silver bullet” for COVID-19, and the road to normality would be long. More than 18.14 million people around the world are report... More »
GENEVA (Reuters) – Bans on international travel cannot stay in place indefinitely, and countries are going to have to do more to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus within their borders, the World Health Organization said on Monday. A surge of infection... More »
MADRID (Reuters) – Spain does not reject the setting of conditions on the disbursement of European Union funds to help countries recover from the coronavirus pandemic, nor strong governance to oversee their distribution, Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya ... More »
DUBAI (Reuters) – The United Arab Emirates wants to see a return of Libya’s oil production as soon as possible but with safeguards in place to prevent proceeds from fuelling further conflict in the north African country, a senior Emirati official tweeted on Mo... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain hopes to permit outdoor and socially distanced performances at cultural venues, minister Oliver Dowden said on Monday, after announcing a nearly $2 billion investment in the arts. “I want all our cultural institutions to return to no... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – More than 75 U.S. senators and House members on Thursday urged the Trump administration to take a tougher stance on China over its crackdown in that country’s Xinjiang province and make a formal determination whether its treatment of Mus... More »
GENEVA (Reuters) – A French artist has painted a large biodegradable fresco on the lawn of the United Nations’ European headquarters in Geneva, marking Friday’s 75th anniversary of its founding. Saype, who was born Guillaume Legros, created the “World In Progr... More »
DUBAI (Reuters) – The global coronavirus pandemic has been exacerbated by polititicisation, the World Health Organization’s director general said on Monday. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was speaking at a virtual health forum organised by the World Government Sum... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – Several districts of the Chinese capital put up security checkpoints, closed schools and ordered people to be tested for the coronavirus on Monday after an unexpected spike of cases linked to the biggest wholesale food market in Asia. After... More »
KINSHASA (Reuters) – The Democratic Republic of Congo has recorded up to 17 Ebola cases in a new outbreak of the deadly virus in the western province of Equateur, and 11 of those infected have died, medical authorities said on Monday. The authorities had repor... 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 »
GENEVA (Reuters) – A United Nations human rights expert voiced alarm on Tuesday at what he called “widespread food shortages and malnutrition” in North Korea, made worse by a nearly five-month border closure with China and strict quarantine measures against CO... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan and the United Kingdom agreed to start negotiations for a swift agreement on an economic partnership to secure business continuity for both nations, Japan’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday. Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi welcomed i... More »
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Scientists in Sweden are hoping an alpaca named Tyson can help deliver a knockout blow in the fight to develop a treatment or vaccine against the novel coronavirus that has killed nearly 400,000 people worldwide. After immunizing Tyson, a... 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 »
KABUL (Reuters) – The United Nations said Afghan civilian casualties jumped to 380 in April, expressing alarm about a “striking deterioration” in respect for international humanitarian law as the United States withdraws troops and attempts to usher in a peace ... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump may have fired State Department Inspector General Steve Linick because he was investigating U.S. military sales to Saudi Arabia, Democratic lawmakers said on Monday, although Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he ... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s health authority said on Tuesday that the reappearance of local clusters of coronavirus cases in recent days suggests that counter-epidemic measures cannot be relaxed yet. While prevention and control efforts have normalised, that d... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – World leaders launched a pledging “marathon” on Monday – without the United States – to raise at least $8 billion for research into a possible vaccine and treatments for the coronavirus. Organisers included the European Union, non-EU state... More »
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the Netherlands rose by 199 on Monday to 40,770, with 26 new deaths, health authorities said. Total deaths in the country rose to 5,082, the Netherlands Institute for Health (RIVM) said in its ... More »
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – The Chinese city of Wuhan, where the global coronavirus pandemic began, now has no remaining cases in its hospitals, a health official told reporters on Sunday. The novel coronavirus is believed to have originated in a wet market in Wuhan ... More »
BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – A northwestern province on the frontline of China’s coronavirus battle reported on Tuesday its first cases in nearly three weeks, all involving travellers from overseas, as imported infections started to level off elsewhere. The pr... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – China is in talks with some countries to establish fast-track procedures to allow travel by business and technical personnel to ensure the smooth operation of global supply chains, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday. Foreign ministry spok... More »
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Singapore said on Tuesday it had preliminarily confirmed 1,111 new coronavirus cases, taking the city-state’s total infections to 9,125. The health ministry said most of the cases were migrant workers living in dormitories, a group that a... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s confirmed coronavirus cases rose by 1,785 to 143,457, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Tuesday, marking a slight increase in the number of new infections after two days of declines. New in... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – The World Health Organization warned on Tuesday that any lifting of lockdowns to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus must be gradual, and if restrictions were to be relaxed too soon, there would be a resurgence of infections. Lockdo... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – The World Health Organization said on Tuesday that it was concerned about the increasing number of confirmed cases of the new coronavirus in Japan. But Japan is not yet in the stage of a large-scale community outbreak, Takeshi Kasai, WHO Re... More »
MANILA (Reuters) – Singapore is facing a very challenging situation to tackle a sharp increase in coronavirus infections, but has the healthcare system and risk management capacity to handle it, the World Health Organization’s regional chief said on Tuesday. T... More »
BARCELONA (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – British actor and filmmaker Idris Elba launched a new United Nations fund on Monday to help farmers in poorer nations, calling on richer economies to provide aid to prevent “needless hunger and suffering” stemming from ... 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 »
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea reported on Monday that at least 116 people initially cleared of the new coronavirus had tested positive again, although officials suggested they would soon look at easing strict recommendations aimed at preventing new outbreaks. ... More »
BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China has reduced the number of people crossing its borders by 90% as part of its efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus, an immigration official said on Monday. Speaking at a briefing, Liu Haitao, an official with the Na... 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 »
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Help to euro zone members struggling under the weight of the coronavirus crisis should come from the European level, European Central Bank board member atold Greek newspaper To Vima in an interview. “This is not just a question of Europea... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday he would ask Congress for more money to make loans to small businesses struggling with the economic fallout from the coronavirus outbreak if the original $349 billion allocated in a fiscal sti... More »
OSLO (Reuters) – Norway called on Friday for more money to help the Palestinian Territories get through the COVID-19 pandemic. Although there has only been one death and 161 reported cases of the coronavirus in the Palestinian Territories, the outbreak is expe... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – The United Kingdom death toll from the coronavirus rose by 684 to 3,605 as of 1600 GMT on April 2, up 23% on the previous day. As of 9am 3 April, a total of 173,784 people have been tested of which 38,168 were positive. Stephen Powis, the na... More »
(Reuters) – European football, currently at a standstill because of the coronavirus, is focusing on a restart in July and August with clubs and leagues being told that stopping competitions should “really be the last resort.” UEFA, the European Club Associatio... More »
BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT (Reuters) – European Central Bank chief Christine Lagarde asked euro zone finance ministers during a videoconference on Tuesday evening to seriously consider a one-off joint debt issue of “coronabonds” to help fight the coronavirus pandemic,... More »
BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Mainland China saw a drop in its daily tally of new coronavirus cases, reversing four straight days of gains, as the capital Beijing ramped up measures to contain the number of infections arriving from abroad. China had 39 new conf... More »
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Euro zone governments should “get their acts together” and respond to the coronavirus pandemic and its economic fallout in a bold and coordinated way now that the ECB has secured cheap financing for it, two ECB rate-setters said on Friday... 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 »
ISTANBUL/ANKARA (Reuters) – Shops closed across Turkey on Thursday to help halt the coronavirus spread, dimming the economy’s prospects and raising questions for hundreds of thousands of workers after Ankara pledged $15 billion in support and advised Turks to ... 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 »
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Sweden’s government on Monday said it had decided to send troops to Mali to join French-led special forces that are fighting militants linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State in the Sahel region of North Africa. The Social Democrat and Green... 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 »
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 »
BEIJING (Reuters) – China on Monday reiterated a call for dialogue in response to North Korea’s latest missile launch and said all sides involved in efforts to rid the Korean Peninsula of nuclear weapons should reconcile conflicts through discussion. Foreign m... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – The Louvre museum in Paris shut its doors to art lovers and tourists for a second day on Monday as management held talks with workers over the risks associated with coronavirus. Queues quickly formed in the rain outside the world’s most visit... 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 »
GENEVA (Reuters) – The World Health Organization (WHO) no longer has a process for declaring a pandemic, but the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak remains an international emergency, a spokesman said on Monday. Fears of a coronavirus pandemic grew on Monday after ... More »
BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – An announcement that the Chinese city of Wuhan would relax some of its travel restrictions and allow some people to leave was made without authorization and has been revoked, the local government said on Monday. The city at the epi... More »
ROME (Reuters) – A fourth person infected with the coronavirus has died in Italy, RAI radio reported on Monday, as officials struggle to contain an outbreak of the illness in the north of the country with around 150 cases reported since Friday. The dead patien... More »
MILAN (Reuters) – Raf Simons will join Prada as co-creative director, marking the first time the Italian fashion house has hired an outsider to work with renowned head designer Miuccia Prada. Belgian-born Simons, 52, will join Prada on April 2, the group said ... More »
SOFIA (Reuters) – Bulgarian prosecutors have pressed new charges including unlawful possession of antiques of historical value against fugitive gambling tycoon Vasil Bozhkov, one of the country’s richest men, officials said on Thursday. Bozhkov, owner of sever... More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Libya’s warring rival leaders will hold peace talks in Moscow on Monday alongside representatives from Russia and Turkey, Russian news agencies cited the Russian Foreign Ministry as saying. The talks come after a ceasefire in Libya, initiate... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s markets watchdog proposed on Thursday a single interest rate for cash savings products, a move it says would bump up interest payments to consumers by 260 million pounds ($340.96 million) a year. The Financial Conduct Authority (FC... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republican and Democratic members of the U.S. Congress predicted on Wednesday that the House of Representatives and Senate would agree on a compromise version of legislation requiring a tougher Trump administration response to China’s cr... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese President Xi Jinping told South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Monday that China supports South Korea’s efforts to improve ties with North Korea and inject new impetus into promoting peace talks, state television reported. Source: ... More »
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – Ethiopia launched its first satellite into space on Friday, as more sub-Saharan African nations strive to develop space programs to advance their development goals and encourage scientific innovation. Before dawn on Friday, senior offic... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer proposed in a letter released on Sunday that at least four witnesses including acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney and former national security adviser John Bolton be subpoenaed to ... More »
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysia’s health authorities on Sunday said they are working with UNICEF to bring polio vaccines to the state of Sabah in Malaysian Borneo, where the country’s first polio case in nearly three decades was detected last week. A three-m... More »
MELBOURNE (Reuters) – The South Pacific island nation of Samoa on Saturday extended a state of emergency due to a measles outbreak which has killed 72 people, mostly infants, as New Zealand announced NZ$1 million ($640,700) to help combat measles in the Pacifi... More »
WELLINGTON (Reuters) – At least one person was killed, several injured and others reported missing in New Zealand after a volcano erupted off the east coast of its North Island on Monday, spewing a plume of ash thousands of feet into the air. Twenty-three peop... More »
GISENYI, Rwanda (Reuters) – An Ebola survivor has fallen ill with the disease for a second time in eastern Congo, the Congolese health authorities said on Sunday, saying it was not yet clear if it was a case of relapse or reinfection. The Ebola outbreak in Dem... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee urged Uber Technologies Inc to take action after the company disclosed on Thursday it received over 3,000 reports of sexual assault related to its 1.3 billion rides in... More »
MADRID (Reuters) – The past decade is almost certain to be the hottest on record, weather experts warned on Tuesday, painting a bleak picture of vanishing sea ice, devastating heatwaves and encroaching seas in a report launched at a climate summit in Spain. An... More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Turkey’s presidential administration has said that the purchase date for more S-400 missile systems from Russia is just a technicality and that it thinks a deal will happen before too long, the RIA news agency reported on Monday. Moscow hope... More »
WELLINGTON/SYDNEY (Reuters) – The small Pacific island nation of Samoa has closed schools and is restricting travel ahead of the Christmas holiday season as the death toll from a measles outbreak tops 50, in the latest flare-up of a global epidemic of the viru... More »
GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) – International organizations warned on Friday of a potential resurgence of Ebola in Congo after deadly militia attacks on health centers forced aid groups to suspend operations and withdraw staff from the epidemic’... More »
MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Deaths related to measles, mostly among small children, have more than tripled to 20 in the past week on the Pacific island of Samoa, the government has said eight days after declaring a state of emergency over the outbreak. The island st... More »
(Reuters) – A 1939 comic book that introduced Marvel characters for the first time sold for a record $1.26 million at auction, Dallas-based auctioneer Heritage Auctions said on Thursday. “Marvel Comics No. 1” features the first appearances of characters includ... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s agriculture ministry said on Monday it will launch an investigation into the illegal production, sale and use of African swine fever vaccines in the country, citing online reports of their use by some farmers. No country has yet app... More »
THE HAGUE (Reuters) – Gambia has filed a case at the United Nations’ top court accusing Myanmar of committing genocide against its Rohingya Muslim minority, Gambian Justice Minister Abubacarr Tambadou said on Monday. The International Court of Justice (ICJ), a... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – An official on the White House’s National Security Council said he heard the U.S. ambassador to the European Union explicitly press Ukrainian officials to investigate Joe Biden and his son, according to a transcript released on Friday by... More »
(Reuters) – Three officials in the White House Office of Management and Budget will not appear for interviews this week sought by the U.S. House of Representatives as part of an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, an administration official said. ... More »
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam apologized on Monday to the city’s Muslim community after police hit a major mosque with water cannon as they battled thousands of pro-democracy protesters overnight in the Asian financial hub. Lam visited the ... More »
BANGKOK (Reuters) – The European Union aims to resume negotiations with Thailand on a free trade agreement (FTA), the Council of the European Union said in a statement, after suspending trade talks following a 2014 military coup. Thailand held general election... More »
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Protest-scarred Hong Kong struggled to recover on Monday after scores of people were arrested in violent clashes overnight and as the last British governor of the Chinese-ruled city warned that people could be killed. “Before long, unless... More »
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hong Kong’s metro stations and roads re-opened on Monday after a chaotic weekend that saw police fire water cannon, tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters who set fires and threw petrol bombs outside government offices and across centr... More »
(Reuters) – People should stop using e-cigarettes, especially those with marijuana ingredient tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), U.S. public health officials recommended on Friday, as an investigation into illnesses and deaths related to vaping deepens. E-cigarettes ... More »
DUBAI/RIYADH (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia will seek to make a case at a global gathering in New York this week for concerted action to punish and deter arch-foe Iran after strikes on Saudi oil plants rattled global markets and exposed the kingdom’s vulnerability t... More »
DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran will pursue any aggressor, even if it carries out a limited attack, and seek to destroy it, the head of the elite Revolutionary Guards said on Saturday, after attacks on Saudi oil sites which Riyadh and U.S officials blamed on Tehran. “B... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday the United States was “locked and loaded” for a potential response to the attack on Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities, after a senior U.S. administration official said Iran was to blame. Trump also ... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Sunday announced a ban on all flavored e-cigarettes besides tobacco and menthol in response to a recent nationwide spate of sometimes deadly lung illnesses that U.S. health officials have linked to vaping.... More »
NAIROBI (Reuters) – This Sunday in South Africa, an accountant, an entrepreneur and a boxing executive are among 20 friends running the Cape Town marathon – with saplings strapped to their backs. The group are promoting the planting of native trees amid a nati... More »
KHARTOUM (Reuters) – There have been five confirmed deaths from cholera in Sudan’s Blue Nile state since Aug. 28, the health ministry said in a statement. The ministry reported 67 cases of cholera since that date, with 18 of them still receiving treatment in i... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Former White House national security adviser John Bolton, who parted ways this week with President Donald Trump, resumed his old job on Friday as head of two political action committees and announced $50,000 in contributions to Republica... More »
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Global money managers and companies are rushing to meet a deadline to report on their carbon footprint, but the lack of a standard metric raises concerns their efforts could just be a box-ticking exercise in the transition from brown to gree... More »
DUBAI (Reuters) – The resignation of White House National Security Adviser John Bolton, a hawk on Iran, will not lead to talks between Washington and Tehran, Iran said on Wednesday. President Hassan Rouhani urged the United States to end its policy of “maximum... More »
BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Argentina’s government authorized currency controls on Sunday in an about-face by President Mauricio Macri, who had previously lifted many protectionist practices of his predecessor, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner. The central bank is ... More »
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia’s military intercepted a Sri Lankan boat carrying 13 asylum-seekers last month, Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton said on Monday, as Canberra sought to defend the relocation of a Tamil family to a remote detention center. Dutt... More »
