Washington: Vice president Mike Pence’s press secretary has the coronavirus, the White House said Friday, making her the second person who works at the White House complex known to test positive for the virus this week. President Donald Trump, who publicly identified the affected Pence aide, said he was “not worried” about the virus spreading in the White House. Nonetheless, officials said they were stepping up safety protocols for the complex. Pence spokeswoman Katie Miller, who tested positive Friday, had been in recent contact with Pence but not with the president. She is...

With states opening even as Covid-19 rages on, the president is rolling the dice on his career – and tens of thousands of lives Coronavirus – latest US updates C oronavirus – latest global updates On Monday the Republican governor of Nebraska, Pete Ricketts, a close ally of Donald Trump and frequent...

A NATO squadron of three US destroyers Porter, Donald Cook and Roosevelt, the British frigate Kent and the American supply ship Sapplay left the Barents Sea. This was reported on the website of the Sixth Fleet of the United States. Ships entered...

The settlement report said that in strange and reprehensible statements that reflect the Zionist colonial and racist ideology, the American ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, urged the government of Benjamin Netanyahu and Benny Gantz to accelerate the announcement of the annexation of areas in the occupied West Bank to Israel. He told an Israeli newspaper that “if the government of Israel announces this, the United States will be prepared to recognize, in the coming weeks, Israel’s sovereignty over the Jordan Valley and Israeli settlement in Judea and Samaria, and that it will recognize 30% of the occupied West Bank as areas of Israel within the deal of the century in the...

Washington: The United States on Friday stunned other members of the UN Security Council by preventing a vote on a resolution for a ceasefire in various conflicts around the world to help troubled nations better fight the coronavirus pandemic, diplomats said. Washington's reversal came a day after it agreed to the text, negotiators said under cover of anonymity. "The United States cannot support the current draft," the country's delegation declared, without further detail, to the 14 other Security Council members, after nearly two months of difficult negotiation over the text. The latest stalemate continues to leave the global peace and security...

President Nicolas Maduro has accused the US of being the mastermind behind the planned incursion in Venezuela, but Washington denies any involvement in the botched raid. ......

The Latest on the coronavirus pandemic. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. TOP OF THE HOUR: — Belarus hosts large military parade despite sharply rising coronavirus infections. — Germany says Europe must acknowledge it wasn’t well prepared for virus. — Seoul shuts down nightclubs, bars after spread of virus linked there. ___ PATNA, India — About 70 people fled from a quarantine center in the Indian state of Bihar’s Nawada district, alleging poor facilities and lack of food. They are among the tens of thousands of migrant workers who...

Little Richard, who helped shape the future of rock and roll in the 1950s and 1960s, died Saturday at age 87. Rolling Stone confirmed the news of his death and reported the cause of death was unknown. Born Richard Wayne Penniman in Macon, Georgia, Little Richard was known for a series of hits that included “Tutti Frutti,” “Long Tall Sally,” “Rip It Up,” “Lucille” and “Good Golly Miss Molly.” Little Richard’s contributions to the musical world were covered by a series of greats that...

They have left behind royal life as they knew it, swapping Britain for the sunnier climes of Los Angeles. But former Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are not quite slumming it, as they join the Hollywood elite in a reported $18m (€16.4m) Beverly Hills mansion owned by a...

On April 17, the Alberto Ángel Fernández administration in Argentina officially unveiled its offer for debt restructuring on USD 66 billion foreign currency-denominated bonds. Starting on that date, the offer is valid for 20 days, a period during which difficult negotiations with bondholders are expected to take place. Based on the first reactions from some […]

The post Argentina’s Debt Restructuring “Groundhog Day”… or Maybe Not? Three Key Points appeared first on Inter Press Service.

A daily commute of two-and-a-half hours each way would take a toll on anyone, but for Özkan, a construction worker in Istanbul, the hardest part of his long journey is coping with his fears about what might happen after he gets home. “The conditions on our job site are deplorable, and I feel psychologically broken […]

The post Across the World, Construction Workers are Caught Between Coronavirus Risk and Joblessness appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Phased withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan sharpens focus on CPEC  Todaynewspaper

1. Amid Covid-19, Trump wants to give Green Cards to 40,000 foreign doctors, nurses  Livemint
2. Legislation introduced in US to give Green Cards to foreign nurses, doctors  Economic Times
3. American lawmakers introduce legislation in Congress to offer green cards to foreign doctors, nurses  Top Live News
4. Legislation introduced in U.S. Congress to give Green Cards to foreign nurses and doctors  Todaynewspaper
5. COVID-19: Legislation introduced in Congress to give Green Card to 40,000 foreign nurses, doctors  The Tribune India
6. View Full coverage on Google News

1. Tamil Nadu: All private establishments outside Covid-19 containment zones to open from Monday  The Indian Express
2. Coronavirus: Tamil Nadu relaxes lockdown measures further  Times of India
3. Major Relaxations For Non-Containment Zones In Tamil Nadu From Monday  NDTV
4. 1,589 cases linked to Koyambedu so far  The Hindu
5. Tamil Nadu moves Supreme Court against Madras high court order to close Tasmac liquor shops  Times of India
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The stolen records of 20 million users of a popular Android app store have been published online by a hacker who claims to have 19 million more. Not all app stores are the same. Android users have access to the … read more

Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is President of the Republic of Ghana and Co-chair of the UN Secretary-General’s Eminent Group of Advocates for the SDGs and Erna Solberg is Prime Minister of Norway and Co-chair of the UN Secretary-General’s Eminent Group of Advocates for the SDGs

The post Amid Coronavirus Pandemic, SDGs are Even More Relevant Today Than Ever Before appeared first on Inter Press Service.

The deadly coronavirus COVID-19, which has shut down the UN secretariat in New York, along with 32 of its agencies globally, has forced over 37,500 UN staffers worldwide to work from their homes. Asked about a decision to re-open the Secretariat building after nearly a month-long hiatus, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said: “I don’t know. […]

The post As US Unemployment Hits a Staggering 22 Million, Will UN Layoffs Be Far Behind? appeared first on Inter Press Service.

United Nations Secretary General António Guterres on Thursday pleaded with global leaders and families to ensure the protection of the world’s children, millions of whom he says are vulnerable to a myriad of threats as a result of the shutdown arising from the global coronavirus pandemic.  While children are at a significantly lower health risk […]

The post Global Leaders Must Prioritise Children’s Wellbeing amid Coronavirus Pandemic – UN appeared first on Inter Press Service.

The UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), described as an integral part of its highly-ambitious development agenda, may be in deep trouble. Aimed at addressing some of the global challenges the world faces– including extreme poverty and hunger, inequalities in incomes and gender, climate change and environmental degradation– the SDGs now seem threatened by a […]

The post UN’s Development Goals Threatened by a World Economy Facing Recession appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Soon schools in Timor-Leste, Ukraine, and Kosovo, where some 6.5 million children are currently at home, will hopefully start teaching their children once again — albeit online.  A learning platform, originally designed to assist refugee and displaced children, was launched this week to address the current global crisis affecting children who are out of school […]

The post Children under Lockdown get a ‘Learning Passport’ appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Alexander Trepelkov is Officer-in-Charge of the Division for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the UN’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA)

The post SDGs: the Challenge to Improve Lives After the COVID-19 Crisis appeared first on Inter Press Service.

The oil slump, global recession and uncertainty about the magnitude of the COVID-19 pandemic will fuel the appetite for cheaper fossil fuel energy and delay investments in renewables, affecting the targets of the Paris Agreement on climate change and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The countries of the developing South, and in particular oil exporters, […]

The post The Crises of 2020 Will Delay the Transition to Clean Energy appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Jay Collins is Vice Chairman Banking, Capital Markets and Advisory, Citigroup*

The post Only Sustainable Investment & Global Cooperation Can Counter COVID’s Blow to SDGs appeared first on Inter Press Service.

“I come from Baglung District, a part of Dhawalagiri Zone in Nepal. My house overlooks the river. Do you know, our district is known for the suspension bridges?”, her eyes glimmer for a fraction of a second and then she breathes a heavy sigh! Her right hand is still wrapped in a scarf, while with […]

The post Surviving Domestic Violence in times of Covid19 appeared first on Inter Press Service.

The Covid-19 pandemic has opened our eyes to many vulnerabilities. With home quarantine proving to be a successful strategy, we are finally catching up and practicing it. Bangladeshi narratives about home quarantine now discuss how home is the safest place to ensure sanitisation, hygiene and disinfection. But what if home is where you are most […]

The post Domestic violence during the time of corona appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Written by Isabelle Durant, Deputy Secretary-General, and Pamela Coke-Hamilton, Director, Division on International Trade and Commodities, UNCTAD

The post COVID-19 requires gender-equal responses to save economies appeared first on Inter Press Service.

A little over half of women across the globe are able to freely make choices about their sexual and reproductive health, according to a latest report based on data from 57 countries.  However, as much of the world has gone into lockdown because of the coronavirus pandemic, with countries implementing social distancing and restricting the […]

The post **Correction**How the COVID-19 Pandemic is Affecting Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health appeared first on Inter Press Service.

As of April 8, there have been 1.5 million reported cases of coronavirus and over 83,000 deaths. Most of these deaths are of men. Italy, for example, has so far had 71 percent of all case deaths attributed to men while Spain, another major global hotspot, has seen 65 percent of all deaths being men. […]

The post Gender and COVID-19: Where Can Research Help? appeared first on Inter Press Service.

In 1991, the share of seats held by women in the Ethiopian parliament was under 3 percent. Today it stands at 38 percent, almost twice the ratio of women in the United States Congress. Experts say when women are better represented in government office, the gains are likely to spill down and improve the lives of all women.

The post A Gender-equal Ethiopian Parliament can Improve the Lives of all Women appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Women in the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu are dealing with six crises currently – COVID 19, drought, scarcity of potable water, and volcanic ash, acid rain and sulphur gas as there are several active volcanoes on the island. But global women’s rights organisations are collaborating with regional alliances in supporting local women.

The post How Some Pacific Women are Responding to Climate Change and Natural Disasters appeared first on Inter Press Service.

While one-fourth of the world’s population is under home-quarantine to contain the spread of the novel Covid-19 pandemic, another crisis is brewing behind closed doors—domestic violence. Research shows that in emergencies be it conflicts, economic crisis or during disease outbreaks, there has been a repeat pattern of increase in domestic abuse, therefore abusers and their […]

The post Addressing the rise in domestic violence during lockdown appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Feminist responses to COVID-19 have been swift, insightful, and numerous. There have been webinars (so.many.webinars), twitter threads, illustrations, press releases and policy recommendations, and online house parties. Analysis pieces cover everything from the gendered impacts of COVID-19 to how to work remotely to the role of neoliberal capitalism. Most strikingly, feminists have mobilized on a […]

The post Autonomous Resourcing: the Engine Room of Feminist Work Amid a Global Pandemic appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Ensuring sex workers’ rights was essential, not just for the workers themselves, but for any country’s wider society, including public health

The post Ensuring Russia’s Sex Workers’ Rights Essential for Wider Gender Equality appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Denmark is Education Cannot Wait’s (ECW) third largest donor, with US$79.1 million in contributions to date. In this insightful interview with Denmark’s Minister for Development Cooperation, Rasmus Prehn, we explore the importance of girls’ education and gender equality, the humanitarian-development nexus, expanded engagement with the private sector, education in emergency response to the COVID-19 pandemic […]

The post The Power of Education in Emergencies: Interview with Denmark’s Minister of Development Cooperation Rasmus Prehn appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Best souvenirs to buy from 30 places in Turkey

A recent trend on social media in Turkey is the increasing influence of a group of good-looking Turkish doctors. Click through for the photo story by Hürriyet reporter Kübra Genç...

If you come to Turkey, you should not leave without experiencing at least some of its uniqueness. See, hear, feel, eat, travel, have fun and love in Turkish style. Click through our list of unique experiences that you can only have in Turkey...

Music and dance lovers can find something interesting for themselves this year, whether they like jazz or rock, latin or folk and whether they go to western or eastern Turkey... Click through for the 2018-2019 calendar for music and dance festivals in Turkey...

Only one percent of the ancient city of Aigai in the Yunuslar district of the western Turkish province of Manisa has been unearthed so far in the excavations that started back in 2004. Click through for the story in photos...

Discoveries at Boncuklu Tarla in the southeastern province of Mardin are around 1,000 years older than those in Göbeklitepe

As 2020 was declared the Year of Patara, interest increased in the ancient city, located between the resort districts of Kaş and Fethiye

Crystal clear waters, golden beaches and abundant natural heritages, along with thousands of artifacts and ruins from ancient times, the Anatolian lands intrigue many guests from overseas. But for those looking for a calmer journey in Turkey, the country still holds many uncharted summer destinations waiting to be discovered. Click through for five hidden exotic paradises of Turkey you should visit, as compiled by İnci Hazal Özcan:

Street food is one of the most delicious ways to get to know a country and its culture. Hürriyet’s Gastronomy Jury has ranked the best street food venues in Turkey. Click through for the best of the best...

Scientists have observed the biggest supernova - stellar explosion - ever detected, the violent death of a huge star up to 100 times more massive than our sun in a faraway galaxy.

Normally they make tutus and elaborate costumes for some of the greatest opera and ballet stars in the world.     

A sheet of paper bearing Paul McCartney's handwritten lyrics to "Hey Jude" sold for $910,000 in an online auction held on April 10 to mark the 50th anniversary of the Beatles' historic split.    

Lady Gaga, Stevie Wonder, Lizzo, Shawn Mendes and others sang classic songs brimmed with messages of hope and change during a TV special aimed at fighting the coronavirus, while Beyoncé and Alicia Keys spoke passionately about how the virus has disproportionately affected black Americans.

Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MİT) has opened an online museum dedicated to the history of espionage on its website. From Turkish intelligence reports on Lawrence of Arabia to curious gadgets for espionage, you can click through for the stories from MİT’s digital museum.

The Konya Tropical Butterfly Garden is the only place in Turkey where one can observe every phase of metamorphosis, from small larvae to colorful butterflies.

Istanbul presents unique experiences for those who want to escape from the intense week day into the weekend in the world’s only intercontinental city. Click through for the top five suggestions from Hürriyet Travel: