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President Moon urges calm as COVID-19 cases rise

Published:Monday | May 11, 2020 | 12:00 AM

SEOUL (AP): South Korea on Sunday reported 34 additional cases of the coronavirus amid a spate of infections linked to clubgoers, as President Moon Jae-in urged calm, saying that “there’s no reason to stand still out of fear”. Figures released by...

US pulls anti-missile systems amid dispute

Published:Monday | May 11, 2020 | 12:10 AM

WASHINGTON (AP): THE US is pulling two Patriot missile batteries and some fighter aircraft out of Saudi Arabia, an American official said last Thursday, amid tensions between the kingdom and the Trump administration over oil production. The...

Virus prevents diaspora from sending money home

Published:Monday | May 11, 2020 | 12:10 AM

CARACAS (AP): AFTER FLEEING Venezuela along with millions of others amid the country’s gruelling humanitarian crisis, Misael Cocho made his way by bus to Peru – where he got odd jobs and sent money home monthly to support his mother and his five-...

Colombian company creates bed that can double as coffin

Published:Friday | May 8, 2020 | 5:15 PM

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — A Colombian advertising company is pitching a novel, if morbid, solution to shortages of hospital beds and coffins during the coronavirus pandemic: combine them. ABC Displays has created a cardboard bed with metal...

US planning to ship 8,000 ventilators abroad

Published:Friday | May 8, 2020 | 4:53 PM

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump, who’s taken to calling the US the “king” of ventilators, is making plans to ship 8,000 of the breathing machines to foreign countries by the end of July to help in their fight...

US pulls permission for Chinese masks found defective

Published:Friday | May 8, 2020 | 3:12 PM

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal health officials have revoked US authorisation for masks made by more than 60 Chinese manufacturers after they failed to meet standards needed to protect health care workers. The Food and Drug Administration had...

No imminent lockdown restrictions in hard-hit UK

Published:Friday | May 8, 2020 | 1:02 PM

LONDON — Britain’s minister for the environment, food and rural affairs says Prime Minister Boris Johnson won’t be announcing immediate changes to the country’s coronavirus lockdown when he addresses the nation on Sunday....

South Africa parliament video call hacked with pornography

Published:Friday | May 8, 2020 | 10:42 AM

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A virtual meeting of South African lawmakers has been disrupted by hackers who flooded the video call with pornographic images. In the incident on Thursday, the hackers also hurled racial and sexual insults at the meeting...

Venerable but vulnerable: Centenarians hit hard by virus

Published:Friday | May 8, 2020 | 9:42 AM

BOSTON (AP) — Centenarians have always been a rare breed. Now they’re an endangered species. The 100-plus crowd — those most venerable of human beings — is succumbing rapidly and heartbreakingly to the coronavirus...

CSME needed to rescue COVID-hit economies

Published:Sunday | May 17, 2020 | 9:17 AMPaul Clarke/Gleaner Writer

COVID-19-ravaged regional economies, including Jamaica, will need the united strength of the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME) to help revive their micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) sectors, many of which have been decimated. That...

Putin-Trump call focuses on coronavirus, arms control, oil

Published:Sunday | May 17, 2020 | 9:13 AM

MOSCOW (AP): United States (US) President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed progress in combating the coronavirus pandemic, along with arms-control issues and oil prices, in a phone call Thursday, the White House and the...

TV network fights closure with court petition

Published:Sunday | May 17, 2020 | 9:12 AM

MANILA (AP): The Philippines’ largest TV and radio network, which was shutdown this week by a government regulator, asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to allow it to return to the air amid an uproar over its closure. ABS-CBN Corp said in its...

Netanyahu gets backing to form new gov’t

Published:Sunday | May 17, 2020 | 9:12 AM

JERUSALEM (AP): Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formally received the support of a majority of lawmakers to lead a new government yesterday, paving the way for a controversial power-sharing deal with rival-turned-partner Benny Gantz....

Can COVID-19 survive on my phone?

Published:Thursday | May 7, 2020 | 5:23 PM

Can COVID-19 survive on my phone? Yes. That’s why a daily wipe down of “high-touch” surfaces like phones, keyboards and tablet computers is recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A scientific test...

Rare inflammatory condition affects some children with COVID-19

Published:Thursday | May 7, 2020 | 5:10 PM

Dozens of United States children have been hospitalised with a serious inflammatory condition possibly linked with the coronavirus and first seen in Europe. New York authorities announced Wednesday that 64 potential cases had been reported to...

Rogue tourists arrested as Hawaii tries to curb virus spread

Published:Thursday | May 7, 2020 | 10:21 AM

HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaii authorities are cracking down on rogue tourists who are visiting beaches, riding personal watercraft, shopping and generally flouting strict requirements that they quarantine for 14 days after arriving. A newlywed...

Chemical leak at LG plant in India kills 11, about 1,000 injured

Published:Thursday | May 7, 2020 | 10:13 AM

HYDERABAD, India (AP) — A gas leak at a chemical factory owned by a South Korean company in southern India early Thursday left at least 11 people dead and about 1,000 struggling to breathe. The chemical styrene, used to make plastic and...

‘If this thing boomerangs’: Second wave of infections feared

Published:Sunday | May 17, 2020 | 8:53 AM

WASHINGTON (AP): AS EUROPE and the US loosen their lockdowns against the coronavirus, health experts are expressing growing dread over what they say is an all-but-certain second wave of deaths and infections that could force governments to clamp...

Gov’t counts cost of battering from pandemic

Published:Sunday | May 17, 2020 | 8:50 AM

HAMILTON (CMC): Bermuda’s previously thriving tourism industry has been dealt a US$95-million first-quarter blow by the coronavirus pandemic sweeping the world with no indication when the island will reopen its borders, which have been closed since...

Rastafarian inmate who sued to wear dreadlocks released from confinement

Published:Wednesday | May 6, 2020 | 4:29 PM

HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania (AP) — A Pennsylvania inmate whose dreadlocks violated a jail’s haircut policy has been released from solitary confinement after more than a year, although his federal lawsuit is still pending. A federal...

US firms return virus loans as Treasury threatens penalties

Published:Wednesday | May 6, 2020 | 4:18 PM

  WASHINGTON (AP) — More than 40 public companies are pledging to return money to the government’s small business coronavirus fund now that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is threatening criminal prosecutions for...

Airbnb laying off 1,900 employees due to travel decline

Published:Wednesday | May 6, 2020 | 11:54 AM

Airbnb says it is laying off 25% of its workforce as it confronts a steep decline in global travel due to the new coronavirus pandemic. It’s a serious setback for the 12-year-old home-sharing company, which just a few months ago was...

UN leader says one billion people with disabilities hard hit by virus

Published:Wednesday | May 6, 2020 | 11:45 AM

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nation’s leader said Wednesday the world’s one billion people living with disabilities are among the hardest hit by the coronavirus and called for them to have equal access to prevention and...

Uber to lay off 3,700 workers, CEO to waive salary

Published:Wednesday | May 6, 2020 | 11:07 AM

NEW YORK (AP) — Uber is cutting 3,700 full-time workers and its CEO will give up his base salary with the nation largely still in lockdown. The San Francisco company said Wednesday that the layoffs and related costs like severance will reach...

UK scientist who warned over virus quits for lockdown breach

Published:Wednesday | May 6, 2020 | 9:47 AM

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s health secretary said Wednesday that national lockdown rules were “for everyone,” after one of the government’s key scientific advisers quit for receiving secret visits from his girlfriend amid...

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