Author: Fworld

The United States could become the global epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday, as Britain went into lockdown and Olympic organizers considered postponing the 2020 Tokyo Games.   But the Chinese province of Hubei, where the virus was first identified in December, said it would lift travel restrictions on people leaving …

Health authorities say Spain has registered a daily record increase in its daily virus infections and deaths.  Spain announced 6,584 new coronavirus infections Tuesday, bringing the overall total to 39, 673. The number of deaths also jumped by a record number of 514 to 2,696.   “This is the tough week,” Fernando Simón, the head …

Italy, which has suffered by far the deadliest consequences of the novel coronavirus outbreak, reported Tuesday a third consecutive day in which its daily deaths and new infections declined. The 601 deaths recorded Monday are still a staggering figure, but one that is a vast improvement from nearly 800 on Saturday. Italy has reported more than 6,000 …

Lawyers for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange say they will file papers Wednesday to have him released on bail because he is at risk of contracting coronavirus. Assange is being held at a London-area prison as he fights extradition to the United States, where he has been charged with espionage for obtaining classified government documents from former …

Turkish security forces detained five elected Kurdish mayors Monday in anti-terror raids, a move that was condemned by human rights groups, as Turkey is grappling with the coronavirus pandemic. The mayors are members of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), which swiftly attacked the detentions. “We reject with hatred this vile attempt that does not shy away from showing enmity against Kurds, even in these difficult days when the whole …

Turkish officials are threatening to seize factories where face masks are produced if the companies running them do not agree to sell their products to the government.Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu told Turkish state-run media Monday the companies must stop hoarding their stock and sign contracts with the health ministry or they will be seized. …

The troubles of opera superstar Placido Domingo continue to mount.The 79-year-old Domingo announced Sunday he has tested positive for the coronavirus.He said in a Facebook post it is his “moral duty” to reveal that he has the illness.The tenor says he and his family are in self-quarantine, adding that except for a fever and a …

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has gone into quarantine after being informed that a doctor who administered a vaccine to her has tested positive for the new coronavirus.Merkel, 65, was informed about the doctor’s test shortly after holding a news conference Sunday announcing new measures to curb the spread of the virus, her spokesman Steffen Seibert …

Europe has become the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak, with the hardest hit nation, Italy reporting hundreds of new deaths on Sunday.The total number of deaths in the country has now surpassed 5,400.All nonessential businesses in hard-hit Italy have been ordered to close as the country battles the coronavirus pandemic.  “It is the most difficult …

Britons have been urged to not visit their mother’s Sunday as the country celebrates Mother’s Day amid a worsening coronavirus outbreak. “If your mother is elderly or vulnerable, then I am afraid all the statistics show that she is much more likely to die from coronavirus,” British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in an address to the …

Europe is now the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak as the virus continues to spread. New cases in China, where the outbreak began, have started to decline. A view of an empty street, in Rome, March 21, 2020. Mayors of many towns in Italy are asking for ever more stringent measures on citizens’ movements to help …

A 5.3 magnitude earthquake struck Croatia’s capital, Zagreb, Sunday morning, killing at least one person and causing widespread damage and power outages.The victim was a 15-year-old boy. Officials said there were also injuries but did not give further details.”We got a call about a collapsed building. Teams went to the spot and found a seriously …

Young German adults hold “corona parties” and cough toward older people. A Spanish man leashes a goat to go for a walk to skirt confinement orders. From France to Florida to Australia, kitesurfers, college students and others crowd beaches.Their defiance of lockdown mandates and scientific advice to fight the coronavirus pandemic has prompted crackdowns by …

A strong earthquake shook Croatia and its capital Sunday, causing widespread damage and panic. One death as been reported.The European seismological agency, EMSC, said the earthquake measured 5.3 and struck a wide area north of the capital, Zagreb, at 6:23 a.m. local time Sunday. The epicenter was 7 kilometers (4 miles) north of Zagreb at the …

Like many Parisians who could, I fled the capital on Day One of the coronavirus lockdown. Green space, even a garden, sounded a whole lot better than being stuck in a small apartment for weeks and maybe more.  As people packed train stations, desperate to join family in the countryside, I headed out by bike to the Paris …

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is facing twin challenges from former key allies as discontent grows over a sluggish economy and deteriorating human rights. Earlier this month, Ali Babacan launched the Deva Party, which means remedy. The party’s message is of greater rights, democracy and gender equality.  Ali Babacan once a close ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan …

Russia is very likely behind a disinformation campaign on coronavirus in the Western media, intended to fuel panic and discord among allies, experts tell VOA. The European Union has accused Moscow of pushing fake news online in English, Spanish, Italian, German and French, using “contradictory, confusing and malicious reports” to make it harder for the bloc …

Two former close allies of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have formed new political parties, a move that could threaten his hold on power.  The two parties are calling for a more democratic Turkey but, as Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul, they are likely to face formidable challenges. …

The European Union is calling on video streaming services to limit providing programs in high-definition to avert an internet crash that could be triggered by extremely heavy usage because of the coronavirus pandemic.   European Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton tweeted late Wednesday that he had spoken with Netflix CEO Reed Hastings about the …

The Chinese city where the coronavirus first emerged reported no new homegrown cases Thursday, while the death toll in Italy was poised to overtake China’s in a stark illustration of how the crisis has pivoted toward Europe and the U.S. The outbreak spread to at least one European head of state, 62-year-old Prince Albert II …

The Olympic flame is set to arrive in Japan from Greece even as the opening of the Tokyo Games in four months is in doubt with more voices calling for the event to be postponed or canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic. The flame will touch down Friday aboard a white aircraft painted with the inscription …

As lockdown becomes the new norm in Europe, people in France — the EU’s third largest economy — discuss their experiences during the coronavirus pandemic.Busy avenues like the Champs Elysées are not buzzing these days in the French capital. Since Monday at noon local time, French citizens have been ordered to remain home and self-quarantine to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Many are teleworking and taking care of their children, since the schools are …

Russian President Vladimir Putin indicated a nationwide vote on constitutional amendments that would open the door to extending his power might face delays because of concerns about the coronavirus pandemic, which has affected Russia little but ravaged other parts of the globe.“I really am counting on people to show up on April 22 and support …

Belgian supermarket chain Delhaize has moved to protect its customers over 65 years of age — the age group most at risk from the coronavirus epidemic — by reserving the first hour after its shops open only for elderly shoppers.The decision has applied since Tuesday in more than 700 of the company’s shops in Belgium …

 After closing their external borders to help slow the spread of coronavirus, European countries are now scrambling to reduce the economic fallout of COVID-19, even as experts say more needs to be done.Rescue packages and fiscal stimulus measures — even the possibility in France of nationalizing some struggling companies—European governments are looking for ways to …

The main Serbian hospital treating patients infected with coronavirus looks like an abandoned building, but it isn’t. With its rundown facade, peeling walls and rooms crammed with metal beds, the downtown Belgrade clinic for infectious diseases has for decades been a symbol of Serbia’s depleted health system that now has to cope with a major …