Washington: Several American lawmakers have introduced a legislation in Congress to offer the 40,000 unused green cards to thousands of foreign nurses and doctors to meet the urgent needs of the overstretched healthcare sector in the US, the worst hit nation by the coronavirus pandemic. The US has nearly 1,284,000 cases of confirmed COVID-19 cases and over 77,000 people have died due to the highly contagious disease. The Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act would allow for recapturing green cards that were approved by...

Donald Trump has been bullish about a coronavirus vaccine – so much so that experts have had to talk him off a more aggressive...

Miami: Carolina Vásquez lost track of days and nights, unable to see the sunlight while stuck for two weeks in a windowless cruise ship cabin as a fever took hold of her body. On the worst night of her encounter with COVID-19, the Chilean woman, a line cook on the Greg Mortimer ship, summoned the strength to take a cold shower fearing the worst: losing consciousness while isolated from others. Vásquez, 36, and tens of thousands of other crew members have been trapped for weeks aboard dozens of cruise ships around the world — long after governments and cruise lines negotiated their passengers’ disembarkation. Some have gotten ill and died; others have survived but...

The US President appeared puzzled that the aide, Katie Miller, press secretary for Vice-President Mike Pence, had contracted the virus "out of the blue". ......

Learn about yet another Little Known Character in America with this week's column from Cal Campbell! ......

To mark Mother's Day 2020, the hosts and reporters of Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network expressed their appreciation to their mothers and all the moms across America who are helping their families through the coronavirus pandemic. ......

FALMOUTH, Maine (AP) — The coronavirus pandemic has canceled dozens of spring traditions, from college basketball’s Final Four to Easter Sunday services, but there’s one rite that’s going on largely unfettered — turkey hunting. Every state except Alaska, which is the only state with no turkeys, hosts a spring turkey hunt each year. The birds, whose domesticated cousins grace Thanksgiving tables from Hawaii to Maine, are among America’s greatest conservation success stories. The hunt is taking on a new look in some parts of the country this year due to social distancing laws. Many states, including Maine, are requiring out-of-state residents to self quarantine for two...

Little Richard, the flamboyant, piano-pounding showman who injected sheer abandon into rock ’n’ roll in its early days, only to abandon the music again and again because it conflicted with his religious yearnings, died Saturday. He was 87. Pastor Bill Minson, a close friend of the singer, confirmed his death to the Associated Press. Minson said he also spoke to Little Richard’s son and brother. Minson added that the family is not releasing the cause of death. In hits such as “Tutti-Frutti,” “Long Tall Sally” and “Good Golly, Miss Molly,” the singer pushed the limits of tempo and vocal intensity, creating frantic explosions of sonic confetti. His records entered a pure, primal realm 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...

Nteranya Sanginga is Director General of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture

The post Pandemic Lays Bare Africa’s Deficits, but Youth Will Grow the Future 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.

1. ICMR teams up with Bharat Biotech to develop Covid-19 vaccine  Hindustan Times
2. Bharat Biotech to lead monoclonal antibodies project for Covid-19 therapy  The Financial Express
3. Bharat Biotech leads CSIR project to develop antibodies against Covid-19  Times of India
4. Bharat Biotech to lead project on monoclonal antibodies therapy for COVID-19  The New Indian Express
5. Indian scientists to develop medicine against COVID-19  Deccan Herald
6. View Full coverage on Google News

1. Loss Of Smell and Taste Now Recognized Symptoms Of COVID-19  ABP Live
2. 8-year-old rushed to hospital due to mystery illness linked to COVID-19  ABC News
3. New coronavirus symptom stumps doctors  WJW FOX 8 News Cleveland
4. Mystery illness appearing in children linked to coronavirus, doctor says  KLAS - 8 News Now
5. Boy tests positive for coronavirus antibodies after hospitalization  ABC News
6. View Full coverage on Google News

1. Keh Gayi Sorry teaser: Shehnaaz Gill pairs up with Jassie Gill in new music video, watch  Hindustan Times
2. Keh Gayi Sorry Teaser: Fans can't wait for the full music video featuring Shehnaaz Gill and Jassie Gill  PINKVILLA
3. Bigg Boss 13's Shehnaaz Gill curses Coronavirus for ruining her dreams in this new hilarious TikTok video  Bollywood Life
4. Shehnaz Gill curses corona for ruining her dream of signing autographs after Bigg Boss 13; watch hilariou  Times of India
5. PHOTOS: Shehnaaz Gill proves she can pull off any look with panache; Check out  PINKVILLA
6. View Full coverage on Google News

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. US to temporarily ban work-based visas including H-1B  Deccan Chronicle
2. US lawmakers want H-1B visas and foreign students internship suspended to protect American jobs  Times of India
3. US Mulls Temporary Ban on Work Visas Amid Unemployment: Reports  The Quint
4. US likely to temporarily ban work-based visas like H-1B due to rise in unemployment  Zee News
5. 5 US lawmakers ask Trump to suspend new H-1B visas  The Tribune India
6. View Full coverage on Google News

1. Coronavirus: Do not anticipate worst case situation like developed countries in India, says govt  Livemint
2. Government Tweaks Rules For Testing As COVID-19 Cases Rise. Details Here  NDTV
3. Only ‘severe’ coronavirus patients to be tested before discharge from hospital as India braces for infection surge  The Tribune India
4. Health ministry says learn to live with coronavirus as India's COVID-19 count crosses 56,000  Livemint
5. 116 vs 66: Mismatch between Covid toll of Delhi govt, hospital data  The Indian Express
6. View Full coverage on Google News

1. 'Not anticipating worst situation but…': Health Minister on Covid-19 in India  Hindustan Times
2. Testing capacity for Covid-19 scaled up to 95,000 per day: Harsh Vardhan  Times of India
3. 'Have prepared country for worst situation': Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on coronavirus pandemic  Times Now
4. ‘We’re prepared for the worst’: Health minister on Covid-19 crisis  Top Live News
5. Do not anticipate worst case situation like developed countries in India: Harsh Vardhan  Times of India
6. View Full coverage on Google News

1. Coronavirus India News LIVE | Tamil Nadu COVID-19 tally zooms to 6,535 with 526 new cases; 44 die  Moneycontrol
2. Retirement age hiked for all Tamil Nadu government staff  Deccan Chronicle
3. With 45% National Intake, Southern States Draw 10-15% Revenue From Liquor: Report  News18
4. In Pictures | Day-45 of coronavirus lockdown leaves people in limbo  The Hindu
5. With 45% of national intake, southern states draw 10-15% revenue from liquor: Report  Moneycontrol.com
6. View Full coverage on Google News

Growing up in Ramallah in Palestine, Maher Nasser, Director of Outreach Division at the United Nations Department of Global Communications, never really liked running. “I only ran when I needed to: to catch a bus or to run from soldiers,” he tells IPS. But now with three marathons under his belt — which raised thousands for scholarships […]

The post Q&A: How to #BeActive during COVID-19 Lockdown appeared first on Inter Press Service.

James A. Paul, a writer and consultant, was Executive Director of Global Policy Forum (1993-2012), an NGO monitoring the work of the United Nations, and author of the book “Of Foxes and Chickens: Oligarchy & Global Power in the UN Security Council.” He was also for many years an editor of the Oxford Companion to Politics of the World.

The post The COVID-19 Cash Crisis: Will the UN Cease to Exist? appeared first on Inter Press Service.

President Donald Trump’s threat to abruptly cut all US funding to the World Health Organization (WHO) has been described as ‘reckless and deadly”—particularly at a time when the Geneva-based UN agency was engaged in an uphill battle against the spreading coronavirus. The US president, who has dismissed WHO as “China-centric”, has also been accused of […]

The post In His Fight Against WHO, Trump Plays Politics with Human Lives appeared first on Inter Press Service.

David Lewis is professor of social policy and development at the Department of Social Policy, LSE.

The post On Watching Contagion: What Do We Learn? 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.

With much of the global economy stalled amid an unprecedented lockdown of nations grappling to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, the author of a new United Nations report on the disease’s impact on poverty told IPS that hundreds of millions more could be pushed into poverty and we can expect to see social unrest. “A lockdown […]

The post Q&A: Continued Social Distancing and Hundreds of Millions More in Poverty – A New Normal for the World? 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.

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.

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.

For a Bangladeshi woman, who has worked as a sex worker since childhood, her future post-COVID-19 looks hopeless. Shilpy, who works at Daulatdia, the largest brothel in the country, told IPS how she now also fears for the future of her two daughters. “When I was born, the woman my mother worked for gave everyone […]

The post Alive Amidst the Mayhem of COVID-19 – A Sex Worker’s Story 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.

Arti Zodpe is from the Tamasha (folk dance-drama) theatre in Sangli, in India’s Maharashtra state. After evening performances, some of the singers and dancers offer sex work services to the audience. “We [Tamasha sex workers] live outside of the city as people feel disturbed by the sound of our ghunghroo [anklet bracelets with bells] and […]

The post India’s Liberal Abortion Law, Nullified by Social Stigma 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.

In these times of Covid-19, the big challenge for most of us is how to protect ourselves and our families from the virus and how to hold on to our jobs. For policymakers, that translates into beating the pandemic without doing irreversible damage to the economy in the process. With over three million confirmed cases […]

The post New Normal? Better Normal! 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.

Turkey’s longest-running traditional sports event, Kırkpınar Oil Wrestling competition, has started in the northwestern province of Edirne. The annual event, which is organized for the 657th time this year, attracts thousands of people. Click through for the story in photos...

The district of Kadıköy on Istanbul’s Asian side has been hailed as one of the top 50 coolest neighborhoods in the world by Time Out magazine. Click through for the story in photos...

The mayor of the western Turkish town of İznik, which is a key venue in the history of Christianity, has launched a campaign against those who paint the historic city walls with graffiti despite repeated warnings. Click through for the story in photos...

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...

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...

Whether it is the gorgeous Bosphorus or the biblical River Euphrates, Turkey provides many options for those who would like to dine at a waterfront venue. Click through for the top 10 waterfront restaurants in Turkey selected by Hürriyet Travel’s jury of experts.

Hotels in the southeastern province of Adıyaman are enjoying a 100 percent occupancy rate thanks to a flock of domestic visitors wanting to spend their upcoming nine-day Eid al-Fitr holiday, along with the increasing number of foreign visitors wanting to see the beautiful Mount Nemrut.

Masks, which were estimated to be 2,200 years old and were engraved on marble blocks of the mythology gods of that period, are seen after being unearthed at Ancient City of Stratonikeia, which is included in the UNESCO World Heritage Centre - Tentative Lists in the Aegean province of Muğla.