A large-scale study in New York looking at the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine has cast further doubt on its effectiveness in the treatment of Covid-19 patients.Researchers at Columbia University observed nearly 1,400 patients at a large medical centre in New York City in March and April. They found hydroxychloroquine use led to neither a higher nor lower chance of patients ending up with intubation or death.“Our results cannot completely exclude the possibility of either modest benefit or…

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 scrutinised over their choice to wear a mask – or not – with many people questioning the seemingly mixed messages about the value of face coverings as infection barriers.Many Western governments counselled against face…

US Vice-President Mike Pence’s press secretary has the coronavirus, 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 on Friday, 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.US reversal scuppers UN vote on global coronavirus ceasefirePence spokeswoman…

In the seven years that Guangzhou native Grace Hexiaoya has called Spain her home, she has mastered the language, become enamoured with the weather and developed a soft spot for all the friendly people that she has met. She likes it in Madrid, where she works behind the counter at the I Love Dulces corner shop and confectionery store. Hers is one of the many Asian faces that can be seen running the Spanish capital’s vital food shops, even as the country – one of Europe’s hardest-hit by the…

Violence and chaos marred India’s first day of freedom from its stringent virus lockdown as migrant workers clashed with police in western India and brawls erupted outside liquor shops in the national capital.The country on Monday partially eased movement curbs across all but the worst infection-hit areas in an attempt to restart its stalled economy. Liquor shops, closed for 40 days under the strict stay-at-home orders, also reopened allowing state governments to earn some much-needed tax…

The Philippines’ top broadcaster ABS-CBN on Tuesday was ordered off the air over a stalled operating licence renewal, drawing fresh charges that authorities were cracking down on press freedom.Since running afoul of President Rodrigo Duterte in 2016, the media powerhouse has seen bills to extend its franchise languish in Congress as the leader repeatedly attacked ABS-CBN in speeches.Duterte is notorious for tangling with media outlets critical of his policies, sparking concern that press…

China’s early lead in containing and recovering from the coronavirus outbreak bodes well for the resumption of its massive multi-year Belt and Road Initiative. But as a Chinese saying goes, “a solitary bloom does not herald spring”. As the world’s largest manufacturing and trading nation and a growing technology power, its deep integration with the global economy underscores its keen interest in seeing the world recover as soon as possible.China’s rise from the pandemic will revive demand and…

As the coronavirus death toll surpasses 250,000 and the world scrambles to find a vaccine, a new scientific task force is headed to the wilderness to try and stop the next pandemic.After decades of patchy global investment into researching the linkages between animal and human health, more than 40 scientists will embark on an Australian government-funded programme that will teach veterinary surgeons in Southeast Asia and the Pacific how to detect infectious diseases – before they make the leap…

A delayed rotation of US Marines to a defence base in Australia’s northern city of Darwin will go ahead based on strict adherence to Covid-19 measures, Australia’s defence minister said after speaking with her US counterpart.Up to 2,500 US Marines had been scheduled to arrive in April, in a major defence alliance cooperation exercise, but this was postponed in March because of the coronavirus pandemic.The remote Northern Territory, which has recorded just 30 Covid-19 cases, closed its borders…

Indian government forces killed a top rebel commander and his aide in disputed Kashmir on Wednesday and shut down cellphone and mobile internet services during subsequent anti-India protests, officials and residents said.India’s security officials and some members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party called his death as a major victory against insurgents. The killing could spark more unrest in the region.Riyaz Naikoo, 35, was the chief of operations of the region’s largest indigenous rebel…

A gas leaked from an LG chemical plant in southern India early on Thursday, leaving people struggling to breathe and collapsing in the streets as they tried to flee. At least 11 people died and about 1,000 suffered breathing difficulties and other problems.The synthetic chemical styrene leaked from the LG Polymers plant in a city on India’s eastern coast while workers were preparing to restart the facility after a coronavirus lockdown was eased, state official Vinay Chand said.A fire that broke…

Indian officials evacuated more people on Friday from the area around a chemical plant in the south of the country that leaked toxic gas, killing at least 12 people and left about 1,000 struggling to breathe.There was confusion about whether the wider evacuation orders were sparked by a renewed leak at the LG Chem factory in Andhra Pradesh, or by the fear that rising temperatures at the plant could lead to another leak.“No, there was not another leakage,’’ National Disaster Response Force…

A group of 150 Chinese workers believe the world’s largest maker of trainers used the coronavirus as an excuse to fire them, having helped Taiwanese firm Pou Chen successfully expand its production into Vietnam for more than a decade.Pou Chen, which makes footwear for the likes of Nike and Adidas, informed the group in late April that they would no longer be needed as they were unable to return to Vietnam from their hometowns in China due to the coronavirus lockdowns.“We believe we contributed…

Prague Daily Monitor

So far the coronavirus, in the Czech Republic as well as most of the world, has remained relatively contained. Several suspicious cases in the country have proved negative as just normal flu or cold symptoms. People are advised to clean hands often, especially after visiting busy public places.

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Prague Daily Monitor

The details are still unclear but early Saturday evening a car crash involving multiple vehicles was reported on the D10 close to Březina near Mladá Boleslav. Firefighters reported 27 cars involved. Micheala Fliegerova, the spokesperson for the police reported over 30 participants were involved in the crash.

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Prague Daily Monitor

Prague City Council has approved four rules which are to be used as a basis for upcoming negotiations with the Ministry of Regional Development concerning short-term rental platforms. Counselor Hana Marvanova said that the largest change would be for Airbnb and other short-term rental platforms to provide municipalities with information about rentals. The four rules include limiting rentals, neighbors permission before going live on the platform, and fulfilling the same safety and building standards as hotels.

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Prague Daily Monitor

Starting today, the city requests that all people using Prague public transport to wear protection across their nose and mouth. Also, the Mayor of Prague Zdeněk Hřib recommended to stores that they insist that customers cover their face and nose as well.

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Prague Daily Monitor

The Liberec Technical University has created a replaceable filter which can be used in the homemade masks people are sewing. The masks are worn to comply with laws designed in preventing the spread of Covid-19. The Nano-material is 70-90% effective in stopping the coronavirus cells. The university with the help from the Liberec region and the private sector is now producing 100,000 filters a day. The price per one should not exceed CZK 10.

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Over 6,000 farmers have already planted the new varieties. The factory will need over eight tonnes of banana produce daily.

Soldiers say they suspected aircraft was on suicide attack mission at the airstrip.

She takes over the Public Affairs Department at a time when the military is slowly embracing openness.

He was described as a leader who remained calm in a raging storm.

I was even planning on how I was going to break the news to my family.

The NBA has been in shutdown since the global pandemic brought sport to a standstill.

Madame Connoissuese engages her family sweet tooth and is more than happy with the results.

Chronic shortage of psychiatrists, inadequate funding and societal ignorance among challenges

Muhammad Ali offering to help free Iran hostages, a contest pitting an abacus against a calculator and an Indian hospital using patients as guinea pigs made the headlines 40 years ago this week.May 4, 1980● The Macau ferry Fatshan, which capsized during Typhoon Rose in August 1971, was brought to the surface by a Chinese salvage team. Three skeletons, believed to be the remains of three of the victims trapped in the vessel when it sank near northeastern Lantau Island, were discovered inside the…

Professor Samuel Yeung-shan Wong says he loves Canada, and wants it to learn from Hong Kong’s successes in the battle with Covid-19.Wong, director of the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s school of public health, earned his medical degree at the University of Toronto in the 1990s and did his residency in Halifax, Nova Scotia.When he chats with his Canadian cousins they tell him that “they aren’t going out”, he said. Hong Kong, meanwhile, has avoided a Canadian-style lockdown, and on Friday…

Exam authorities will carry out citywide research to develop an alternative student grading system in the event university entrance tests are cancelled because of future pandemics, Hong Kong’s education minister told the Post on Thursday.In an exclusive interview, Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung Yun-hung also said his bureau would review with schools how to better prepare for class suspensions, including teacher training and resources for non-traditional instruction methods.Hong Kong…

Three years ago, when visiting Washington as she neared completion of her term as Hong Kong’s second-ranking official, career civil servant Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said she planned to leave government and do something different at year end – “perhaps social work”. Would that she had. Instead, she became Hong Kong’s fourth consecutive chief executive to become wildly unpopular since China regained sovereignty in 1997, yet another Beijing-backed leader required (or quite willing) to enforce…

A Hong Kong man has admitted in court to raping his nine-year-old daughter and telling his younger son that it was none of his business when the child caught him in the act.The High Court heard the sexual attacks spanned nearly six years, since 2011, when the casual vegetable seller, who could not be identified for legal reasons, first attempted to rape his daughter after school.At the time she was only six, while he was 40.Acting deputy director of public prosecutions Catherine Ko said the…

The head of China’s cabinet-level office that oversees Hong Kong affairs has urged the city’s leader to examine possible ways of enacting a national security law and to ensure that elections for the legislature this year are conducted in a fair manner.The meeting between Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO), and Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor was held in Shenzhen at the end of last month, according to sources.Hong Kong is facing mounting pressure…

A senior civil servant overseeing the distribution of reusable masks to all Hongkongers has promised to put the production of their replacement filters out to tender after admitting to shortcomings in the transparency of the original contract awarded by the government.Annie Choi Suk-han, permanent secretary of the Innovation and Technology Bureau, on Friday rejected suggestions the government had intentionally hidden the identity of the manufacturer chosen for the HK$320 million (US$41 million)…

It is about 7pm when Muslim community leader Raheel Ahmed, 57, gathers with his wife, two sons and daughter for a home-made meal of dates, rice and spicy curried chicken, salad, fresh fruit and juice.For this Hong Kong family of Pakistani origin, it is their first meal after fasting for more than 12 hours, as this is the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.The world’s 1.8 billion Muslims mark the month by abstaining from food or drink from sunrise to sunset, and gathering as a community in mosques to…

Hong Kong recorded zero new Covid-19 cases on Saturday, as a government adviser suggested that border control measures between the city and Macau could be the first to be lifted.It was also the 20th day in a row without any local infections, although a handful of imported cases over the past week had taken Hong Kong’s tally to 1,044 with four related deaths.Health experts earlier raised the prospect of Hong Kong being declared free of local transmission if there were no such cases after 28 days…

Hong Kong authorities have seized 34 tonnes of American ginseng worth HK$47 million (US$6 million) and arrested seven people in what is by far the biggest-ever bust of its kind in the city.The haul breaks a record set less than three months ago, when more than three tonnes of the traditional Chinese medicine valued at about $HK4.6 million were seized in February.Police and customs officers discovered a “suspicious-looking” fishing boat to the northeast of Hong Kong’s international airport on…

The world’s poorer nations, reeling under an unrelenting attack on their fragile economies by the COVID-19 pandemic, have suffered an equally deadly body blow: being buried under heavy debt burdens. Abiy Ahmed, prime minister of Ethiopia who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019, said last week that in 2019, 64 countries, nearly half […]

The post World’s Poor Hit by Double Jeopardy: a Deadly Virus & a Devastating Debt Burden appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Steven Broad is Executive Director, TRAFFIC, the Wildlife Trade Monitoring Network

The post COVID-19 & Human Health Risks Linked to Wildlife Trade Practices appeared first on Inter Press Service.

A group of irate youths got their lives handed to them when they attempted to block Deputy President William Ruto’s bloackade.

José Ramón Machado Ventura, second secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) Central Committee, received on the morning of December 4, the general secretary of El Salvador’s Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional (FMLN), Medardo González Trejo, who is leading a delegation visiting Cuba on the invitation of the PCC.

Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, President of the Councils of State and Ministers, held official talks, on Sunday December 7, with the Honorable Freundel Stuart, Prime Minister of Barbados, who is visiting the country as the head of the Barbados delegation to the 5th CARICOM-Cuba Summit.