WORLD

Washington, United States | AFP |  US lawmakers worked deep into Tuesday night trying to seal a deal that buttresses the teetering economy by giving roughly $2 trillion to hospitals, businesses and ordinary Americans buckling under the strain of the coronavirus pandemic. But a full day of intense, protracted negotiating was …

Paris, France | AFP | From a mother unable to smell her baby’s nappy to a lawmaker who suddenly could not taste food, some coronavirus patients have described a loss of olfactory senses — and experts say this might be a new way to detect the virus. Ear, nose and throat …

Havana, Cuba | AFP |  Nesmi Orslom relished his Cuba vacation to the very end: “In every city that we went, to every bar to have a drink, we always ordered a pina colada or a mojito!” But now he is in a hurry to leave, anxious to get out of …

Rome, Italy | AFP |  Italy reported a second successive drop in daily deaths and infections from a coronavirus that has nevertheless claimed more than 6,000 lives in a month. The Mediterranean country has now seen its daily fatalities come down from a world record 793 on Saturday to 651 on …

Washington, United States | AFP |  US President Donald Trump on Monday said antimalarial drugs that are under investigation to treat the new coronavirus could be a “gift from God” despite scientists warning against the dangers of overhyping unproven medicines. Trump announced last week his administration was working to dramatically expand …

New York, United States | AFP |  Anxiety ratcheted up Monday across an eerily deserted New York, America’s coronavirus epicenter, but President Donald Trump said he’d soon call for lifting the lockdown in some parts of the country. Trump — who faces reelection in November and is keen to avoid extended …

United Nations, United States | AFP | UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed Monday for an “immediate global ceasefire” to protect vulnerable civilians in conflict zones from the ravages of the coronavirus pandemic. “The fury of the virus illustrates the folly of war,” he said in a brief speech at UN headquarters …

Washington, United States | AFP | The world economy is facing “severe” economic damage from the coronavirus pandemic that could be even more costly than in 2009 and will require an unprecedented response, IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva said Monday. Georgieva called on advanced economies to provide more support to low income countries, which face a …

Washington, United States | AFP | Under pressure on one side from an economy cratered by  coronavirus and on the other by his crumbling reelection campaign, President Donald Trump is struggling to deliver Americans a clear message. After having finally gone all in on the strategy of social distancing to halt …

Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | The new coronavirus pandemic is clearly “accelerating”, the World Health Organization warned Monday, but said it was still possible to change its trajectory by going on the attack. The remarks came as the number of deaths soared past 15,000, with more than 341,000 people infected worldwide, …