U.S. tech giants Apple and Google have unveiled a plan to track down people who may have been infected by the new coronavirus, despite concerns among rights activists. Their software allows governments to roll out apps for “contact tracing” that will run on smartphones such as iPhones and Android.
France’s competition regulator has ordered online search giant Google to pay French publishing companies and news agencies for re-using their content under Europe’s new digital copyright legislation.
Islamic State–Khorasan (ISIS-K) claims it carried out Thursday’s rocket attack on Bagram airfield, the largest US base in Afghanistan. There were no casualties or injuries. Bagram’s NATO-led US military mission, Operation Resolute Support, confirmed in a tweet that five rockets were fired at the base early in the morning on Thursday.
American and British cybersecurity officials are warning that state-backed hackers and online criminals are taking advantage of the coronavirus outbreak to further their operations, echoing concerns from digital safety experts.
World powers scrambled on Thursday to build a global response to the human tragedy and once-in-a-century economic collapse caused by the coronavirus epidemic, as death tolls in the US and Europe soared higher.
Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson was taken from intensive care late Thursday but remained in a London hospital recovering of the new coronavirus COVID-19, his office announced. “The prime minister has been moved this evening from intensive care back to the ward…He will receive close monitoring during the early phase of his recovery,” it added.
European Union finance ministers agreed Thursday on a half-a-trillion euro ($550-billion) rescue package for European nations hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. The chairman of the Eurogroup, Mário Centeno, confirmed the deal following marathon talks in Brussels where Italy warned the EU would collapse without financial solidarity.
Wall Street closed out the trading week on a high note on Thursday as the U.S. Federal Reserve unleashed another program designed to buoy local governments and businesses crushed by massive closures to stem the coronavirus outbreak.
Powerful cyclone Harold slammed into the South Pacific island nation of Fiji Wednesday, cutting off communications, causing buildings to collapse and injuring residents in Suva, the capital. The category 5 cyclone has already killed 27 people in the Solomon Islands and wreaked havoc in Vanuatu. The cyclone crisis in the South Pacific comes as local Island nations brace for the coronavirus pandemic.
A disagreement over eurozone loans on Wednesday halted European Union (EU) efforts to agree on a deal on managing the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. Negotiations between European finance ministers were suspended until Thursday after 16 hours of talks brought no resolution. Yesterday’s discussions followed similar talks that were held last month, when no agreement was reached either.
The World Health Organization said Tuesday it had received assurances from North Korea that it continues testing for the new coronavirus and has more than 500 people in quarantine. The leadership of North Korea, one of the world’s most repressive states, has so far claimed there are no confirmed cases of the virus, known as COVID-19.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday declared a state of emergency to fight coronavirus infections in major population centers and rolled out a nearly $1 trillion stimulus package to soften the economic blow.
The Brexit trade deal will face greater challenges ahead as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is now in intensive care because of the coronavirus, while other key negotiators have either been infected or are in self-isolation.
Rabbis in Israel are pointing to a portentous sign occurring on three major Jewish holidays this year as an indication that redemption and the construction of a third temple are imminent.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was rushed to the intensive care unit at a London hospital after his condition worsened in a battle with the new coronavirus, COVID-19. “Over the course of this afternoon, the condition of the Prime Minister has worsened, and, on the advice of his medical team, he has been moved to the Intensive Care Unit at the hospital,” said his Downing Street office in a statement. “The PM has asked Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who is the First Secretary of State, to deputize for him where necessary.”
The United States and Britain braced Monday for what officials viewed as one of their darkest weeks in post-war memory as the social and financial toll of the coronavirus pandemic mounted and the British prime minister was in the hospital with the virus. Monday’s glooming scenario came as Italy, Spain, and France saw signs that they were flattening the pandemic curve, despite many people still dying there.
Efforts to combat the spread of locust swarms in East Africa are facing serious challenges as a result of border closures, flight shutdowns, and increased shipping prices, with the current swarms expected to grow 500 times by June.
More than 100 civil society groups urged governments Thursday not to use the global coronavirus pandemic as cover for future pervasive electronic snooping but instead make sure data is erased once the health crisis is over.
Queen Elizabeth II says Britons will overcome the new coronavirus pandemic if they confront the crisis with the same resolve that carried the nation through other trials and tragedies. Invoking the spirit of World War Two, the British monarch urged Britain in televised remarks to demonstrate the determination as generations of the past.
As countries struggle to contain the new coronavirus outbreak, a global fight has emerged over dwindling medical supplies. The tensions even led to growing competition for medical goods between the United States and its traditional European allies. Take Germany. The local government in the German state and capital, Berlin, claims that 200,000 U.S.-made protective masks bound for Germany never arrived. Authorities say the shipment was ‘confiscated’ in Bangkok, Thailand.