BERLIN: Europe and the United States mark 75 years since the end of World War II on Friday in a sombre mood as the coronavirus pandemic forced the cancellation of elaborate ceremonies even as Berlin declares an exceptional holiday for the first time.German Chancellor Angela Merkel will join...

PARIS: Donald Trump has not donned one. Emmanuel Macron boasted a small French flag on his. Slovakia´s president made a fashion statement by sporting a fuchsia-coloured one to match her outfit.As the world starts emerging from coronavirus lockdowns, political leaders are being closely...

VISAKHAPATNAM: Engineers battled Friday to prevent more toxic gas escaping at a chemical plant on India´s east coast, a day after a pre-dawn leak killed 12 people and knocked locals unconscious in the street. Although the death toll was lower than feared, the accident which left hundreds...

PARIS: A host of state intelligence services warned early of a new coronavirus with the potential to wreak havoc worldwide, yet many governments failed to heed the warnings — a mistake that experts say they are unlikely to make again.The scramble to contain the outbreak has underscored for...

PARIS: The coronavirus’ constant mutation is unlikely to have changes its potency or its contagiousness, disease experts say, despite recent research suggesting the emergence of a more virulent strain. A pre-paper — that is, not reviewed by a collection of the researchers’ peers...

RAMALLAH: The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees launched an emergency coronavirus appeal Friday, saying Palestinians across the Middle East were suffering a devastating socio-economic impact.The agency appealed for $93.4 million for the next three months to provide food and cash...

PARIS: Oceans are likely to rise as much as 1.3 metres by 2100 if Earth´s surface warms another 3.5 degrees Celsius, scientists warned Friday. By 2300, when ice sheets covering West Antarctica and Greenland will have shed trillions of tonnes in mass, sea levels could go up by more than five...

LONDON: Major social advances have often emerged from the depths of disaster: the Black Death brought an end to serfdom, and Britain’s welfare state emerged from the ruins of World War II. As the coronavirus outbreak took hold, many governments brought in policies previously dismissed as...

BEIJING: China’s new prototype spacecraft “successfully landed” on Friday, marking an important step in its ambitions to run a permanent space station and send astronauts to the moon. The spacecraft — which was launched Tuesday — arrived safely at a predetermined...

LILONGWE: Malawi´s top appeals court on Friday rejected President Peter Mutharika´s bid to scrap the annulment of controversial elections last May which he narrowly won, paving the way for a rerun in July. Mutharika had appealed a landmark decision by the Constitutional Court to...

BERLIN: The world must draw lessons from the past and work together to beat the coronavirus pandemic, European leaders urged as the continent marked 75 years since the end of World War II in Europe. With parades and commemoration events cancelled or scaled down to contain the outbreak, Europe and...

BEIJING: China should expand its stock of nuclear warheads to 1,000 soon, Global Times editor-in-chief Hu Xijin said on Friday, even as US President Donald Trump repeats his call for China to join an arms control treaty, foreign media reported.The Global Times is published by the People’s...

PARIS: Oceans are likely to rise as much as 1.3 metres by 2100 if Earth’s surface warms another 3.5 degrees Celsius, scientists warned on Friday.By 2300, when ice sheets covering West Antarctica and Greenland will have shed trillions of tonnes in mass, sea levels could go up by more than...

BEIJING: The coronavirus pandemic had cleared smog from China’s skies for months, but air pollution has returned with a vengeance as factories rush to ramp up output after going idle during the outbreak.Levels of toxic pollutants including nitrogen dioxide and tiny particles known as PM2.5...

VISAKHAPATNAM, India: Engineers battled on Friday to prevent more toxic gas escaping at a chemical plant on India’s east coast, a day after a pre-dawn leak killed 12 people and knocked locals unconscious in the street.Although the death toll was lower than feared, the accident which left...

LILONGWE, Malawi: Malawi’s top appeals court on Friday rejected President Peter Mutharika’s bid to scrap the annulment of controversial elections last May which he narrowly won, paving the way for a rerun in July.Mutharika had appealed a landmark decision by the Constitutional Court to...

NEW YORK: A five-year-old boy in New York state has died from a rare inflammatory disease believed to be caused by the new coronavirus, Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Friday.“There have been 73 reported cases in NY of children getting severely ill with symptoms similar to Kawasaki disease...

SEOUL: North Korea condemned the South on Friday for holding military drills, saying the situation was returning to before the diplomatic rapprochement of 2018, as leader Kim Jong Un – whose health was the subject of intense speculation in recent weeks – reached out to traditional ally...

PARIS: The coronavirus’ constant mutation is unlikely to have changed its potency or its contagiousness, disease experts say, despite recent research suggesting the emergence of a more virulent strain.A pre-paper—that is, not reviewed by a collection of the researchers’...

French police have dismantled smuggling networks trying to take advantage of a rush to buy medical supplies including face masks to tackle the coronavirus epidemic, the interior minister said Friday.

The death of a 5-year-old New York boy is challenging assumptions that children are less susceptible to COVID-19 complications, Gov.

Extreme heat and humidity are increasing across the globe, threatening millions of lives and economies in places where it could become fatal to work outdoors, scientists said Friday.

The World Health Organization (WHO) plans to launch an app this month to enable people in under-resourced countries to assess whether they may have the novel coronavirus, and is considering a Bluetooth-based contact tracing feature too, an official told Reuters Friday.

Global leaders marked 75 years since the end of World War II in Europe Friday, urging citizens to draw inspiration from the historic victory as the world battles against the coronavirus pandemic.

The biggest threat to Brazil's ability to successfully combat the spread of the coronavirus and tackle the unfolding public health crisis is the country's president, Jair Bolsonaro, according to British medical journal The Lancet.

Fresh coronavirus outbreaks at slaughterhouses in Germany and new cases reported Saturday in South Korea linked to a man who had visited multiple nightclubs highlighted the challenges authorities face as they seek to open up their economies.

Truth can be a casualty when President Donald Trump talks about deaths from the coronavirus in the United States.

Pakistanis crowded markets Saturday after a nationwide coronavirus lockdown was eased, despite the country declaring its second highest daily infection toll.

NEW DELHI: The National Green Tribunal on Friday issued notices to South Korean company LG Polymers, Union Environment Ministry, Central Pollution Control Board and others regarding the Vizag gas leak incident.The NGT has directed LG Polymers, India, at whose plant the gas leakage occurred, to...

ISLAMABAD: Eight out of 10 coronavirus patients didn’t have symptoms but found positive only after they were tested, countrywide data obtained by The News has determined.Similarly, local transmission of pandemic has considerably increased as around nine in 10 patients have contracted virus...

RAWALPINDI: US Special Representative for Afghan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad Friday called on Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa here on Friday. During the meeting, issues of mutual interest and overall regional security situation, including Afghan reconciliation process, came...

KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah declared that the Sindh government will work alongside the Centre to implement the new lockdown measures for the mitigation of the coronavirus outbreak."We will implement the federal government's lockdown decisions to the extent of 99pc if not...

ISLAMABAD/LAHORE: Pakistan’s position in the global ranking in respect of COVID-19 dropped from 24th to 22nd on Friday after the number of positive cases increased to 26,806 with addition of 1,791 new cases.The country ranked 20th and 29th in the global ranking on May 6 after reporting 1,000...

tNEW DELHI: The National Green Tribunal on Friday issued notices to South Korean company LG Polymers, Union Environment Ministry, Central Pollution Control Board and others regarding the Vizag gas leak incident.The NGT has directed LG Polymers, India, at whose plant the gas leakage occurred, to...

ISLAMABAD: The US unemployment rate hit 14.7 percent in April, the highest rate since the Great Depression, as 20.5 million jobs vanished in the worst monthly loss on record. The figures are stark evidence of the damage the coronavirus has done to a now-shattered economy.The losses, reported by...

RAWALPINDI: US Special Representative for Afghan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad Friday called on Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa here on Friday.During the meeting, issues of mutual interest and overall regional security situation, including Afghan reconciliation process, came under...

ISLAMABAD: Eight out of 10 coronavirus patients didn’t have symptoms but found positive only after they were tested, countrywide data obtained by The News has determined. Similarly, local transmission of pandemic has considerably increased as around nine in 10 patients have contracted virus...

KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah declared that the Sindh government will work alongside the Centre to implement the new lockdown measures for the mitigation of the coronavirus outbreak. “We will implement the federal government’s lockdown decisions to the extent of...

Ag APPISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s position in the global ranking in respect of COVID-19 dropped from 24th to 22nd on Friday after the number of positive cases increased to 26,806 with addition of 1,791 new cases.The country ranked 20th and 29th in the global ranking on May 6 after reporting 1,000...

RAWALPINDI: The countrywide protests by the Geo-Jang Group workers against the deteriorating media environment, disrupting circulation of dailies Jang and The News and incarcerating Editor-in-Chief Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman on fabricated charges continued on Friday.The countrywide protests by the...

ISLAMABAD: At least 274,625 people have died of the novel coronavirus since the epidemic surfaced in China late last year, according to international media reports.There have been more than 3,984,488 officially recorded cases spanning 195 countries and territories. The United States is the...

KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah declared that the Sindh government will work alongside the Centre to implement the new lockdown measures for the mitigation of the coronavirus outbreak. "We will implement the federal government's lockdown decisions to the extent of 99pc if...

RAWALPINDI: US Special Representative for Afghan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad Friday called on Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa here on Friday.During the meeting, issues of mutual interest and overall regional security situation, including Afghan reconciliation process, came under...

RAWALPINDI: Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa said Pakistan’s support towards Afghan peace is a manifestation of “our goodwill to the cause” in a meeting with US Special Representative for Afghan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad.According to a press release issued by the...

By News DeskISLAMABAD: Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani has summoned a session of the Upper House on Tuesday, as the country witnessed its sharpest spike in confirmed coronavirus cases in a 24 hour period with nearly over 1,900 new cases and 35 more deaths.According to a press release issued by the...

The NCC, under Imran Khan, had decided to substantially ease the lockdown from Saturday (today) after detailed deliberations and consultations with the provinces

Central Asia is improving food safety measures to share with the world some of the more than 8000 plant species, as well as livestock, from the region.

Investments in universal health coverage are investments in economic growth. They play a critical role in leveraging opportunities, anticipating challenges, and delivering the knowledge, expertise, and financing countries need to achieve universal health coverage.

Important changes are underway for Southeast Asia’s relationship with its biggest trading partner, the People’s Republic of China.

Better information and a willingness to tackle difficult issues are necessary to ensure a fit-for-purpose and accountable health system in Papua New Guinea.