International

Canada’s coronavirus economic aid package delayed

OTTAWA, Canada (AFP) — Billions in economic aid announced last week by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to help Canadians deal with the coronavirus pandemic hit a snag Tuesday when opposition parties rejected giving his minority government unprecedented spending powers. Thirty-two members of Parliament, proportionally representing each party instead of the full 338, gathered in Ottawa for a vote on the emergency measures. But opposition Conservatives balked at additional provisions giving Trudeau’s Liberals unlimited borrowing and […]

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UPDATED: Quake hits off Russia’s Kuril Islands, prompts tsunami alert

MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — A 7.2-magnitude quake hit off Russia’s Kuril Islands on Wednesday, prompting local residents to seek higher ground due to a brief tsunami threat, authorities said. The Russian emergencies ministry said the quake’s epicenter was 210 kilometers (130 miles) southeast of Severo-Kurilsk, a town of around 2,500 people on the Kuril island of Paramushir. Officials reported no casualties or damage but said 400 residents of Severo-Kurilsk were taken to higher ground. The […]

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Saudi reports first coronavirus death as infections spike

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) — Saudi Arabia on Tuesday reported its first death from the new coronavirus as the total number of infections spiked to 767, according to the health ministry. An Afghan resident in the western city of Medina died from the virus, the ministry said, while reporting 205 new infections — the biggest jump in the kingdom in a single day. Saudi Arabia, which has reported the highest number of infections in the […]

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Short on doctors, Balkans brace for worst of coronavirus

by Darko DURIDANSKI with Sally MAIRS in Belgrade SKOPJE, Republic of North Macedonia (AFP) — With hospitals lacking equipment and low on doctors who have been steadily moving abroad, Balkan countries fear the worst as they watch the new coronavirus ravage their far richer European neighbors. “If much bigger and wealthier countries couldn’t contain the sharp increase of infections, what can be expected from ours?” Zoran Hristovski, a Skopje resident in his late 40s, said. […]

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France coronavirus death toll jumps 240 to 1,100: official

PARIS, France (AFP) — The coronavirus has killed another 240 people in France, the top French health official said on Tuesday, bringing the death toll in the country from the pandemic to 1,100. Jerome Salomon told reporters that 22,300 people had tested positive for the virus in France, with a total of 10,176 hospitalized of whom 2,516 people are in intensive care. Officials believe that the published number of those infected largely underestimates the real […]

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UK ‘plague village’ offers lesson for a country under lockdown

by Lindsey PARNABY, Sylvain PEUCHMAURD Agence France-Presse EYAM, United Kingdom (AFP) — In the 17th century, residents in the remote English village of Eyam quarantined themselves to prevent the spread of bubonic plague. Most paid with their lives. Now their descendants and locals are outraged that a steady stream of visitors have ignored government warnings to stay at home to tackle the coronavirus outbreak. Last weekend, walkers were out in force in the spring sunshine in […]

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DR Congo declares state of emergency, isolates capital over virus

KINSHASA, DR Congo (AFP) — DR Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi on Tuesday declared a state of emergency and ordered the isolation of the capital Kinshasa from the rest of the country to avoid the spread of coronavirus. The new measures include a ban on all travel from Kinshasa to the provinces and from the provinces to the capital to allow for the confinement of the city, he said. “Given the seriousness and the dangerous nature […]

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France sees financial aid for Africa as virus threat looms

PARIS, France (AFP) — France on Tuesday said it planned to organize financial aid for poor countries, especially in Africa, to help them from becoming future sources of coronavirus contamination. “We will have the opportunity to mobilize a real financial package, of help, to prevent this epidemic from veering towards regions or sub-continents which aren’t contaminated today but could be a risk for us tomorrow,” Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told the National Assembly. Just […]

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More than 2.6 billion worldwide told to observe lockdowns

PARIS, France (AFP) — More than 2.6 billion people worldwide will be in lockdown once India introduces its measures to fight the coronavirus pandemic at 1830 GMT on Tuesday, according to an AFP tally. The figure represents more than one-third of a global population the United Nations estimates at 7.8 billion in 2020. At least 42 countries or territories have imposed a mandatory lockdown, including Britain, France, Italy, and Spain as well as Colombia, the […]

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US coronavirus deaths now 600, almost 50,000 confirmed cases: tracker

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Six hundred people have died from the new coronavirus in the United States, while the number of confirmed cases now stands at 49,768, a tracker maintained by Johns Hopkins University showed Tuesday. The US has the third-highest number of confirmed cases globally, behind China and Italy. The death rate based on reported cases is now 1.2 percent — but the actual number believed to be infected is far higher, which […]

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Italy new virus infections drop to lowest point in crisis

by Dmitry ZAKS ROME, Italy (AFP) — Italy on Tuesday received more reassuring evidence that its coronavirus infection rate was slowing thanks to a painful lockdown that other nations are starting to apply at great economic cost. Health officials across the ravaged Mediterranean country are poring over every new piece of data to see whether two weeks of bans and closures have made a dent in the crisis. The harshest restrictions are theoretically due to […]

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First known US child virus death was teen ‘in good health’

LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — The first known death of a child due to the novel coronavirus in the United States was a teenager in previously good health, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said Tuesday. The death of the youth from Lancaster, just north of Los Angeles, was reported hours earlier by public health officials, and comes despite the disease not typically proving severe for juveniles. “A teenager in good health, succumbed to this […]

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