France and Netherlands at odds on finance ministers’ €500bn compromise France and the Netherlands have openly clashed over the meaning of a messy compromise struck by finance ministers which has unlocked a €500bn (£438bn) pandemic rescue package for European economies but left major issues unresolved. Hours after a breakthrough was ... Read More »
Coronavirus: Trump adviser dampens optimism on easing restrictions
President at odds with advisers as global death toll nears 100,000 America’s top infectious disease expert has cautioned against any move to relax restrictions on peoples’ movements, echoing calls from other global public health officials but putting him at odds with Donald Trump, who is agitating for a reopening of ... Read More »
Coronavirus threat to global peace and stability, UN chief warns
Antonio Guterres says Covid-19 represents ‘fight of a generation’ as China wades into row between WHO and Taiwan The head of the United Nations has called the coronavirus pandemic the “fight of a generation” and a threat to world peace and security. The secretary general, Antonio Guterres, warned the ... Read More »
Ministry of Health says 7 new Coronavirus cases reported
The Ministry of Health announced on Thursday that 7 new Coronavirus cases were registered in Lebanon, bringing the total number of cases to 582. The ministry also noted that no death among Coronavirus patients was reported. LBC International Read More »
US citizens in Lebanon decline repatriation offer, saying it’s ‘safer’ in Beirut
Carly Fuglei was with a group of Danish friends in Beirut last month when she first considered moving back to the United States. They were preparing to leave Lebanon amid fears of a major coronavirus outbreak there, and tried to convince her to do the same. But the 28-year-old humanitarian ... Read More »
Latest on the spread of the coronavirus around the world
The number of confirmed infections of the novel coronavirus were reported to have exceeded 1.5 million globally and the death toll rose above 89,400, according to a Reuters tally as of 1400 GMT. EUROPE * Spain’s prime minister warned that nationwide confinement would likely last until May even though he ... Read More »
Some African countries heading for coronavirus peak in weeks: WHO
Some African countries could see a peak in coronavirus cases in the coming weeks and testing should be urgently increased in the region, World Health Organization officials said on Thursday. “During the last four days we can see that the numbers have already doubled,” Michel Yao, the WHO Africa programme ... Read More »
Pass the salt: The minute details that helped Germany build virus defences
One January lunchtime in a car parts company, a worker turned to a colleague and asked to borrow the salt. As well as the saltshaker, in that instant, they shared the new coronavirus, scientists have since concluded. That their exchange was documented at all is the result of intense scrutiny, ... Read More »
Europe could fall, Italy warns as divided EU seeks coronavirus rescue deal
The European Union faces an existential threat if it cannot come together to combat the coronavirus crisis, Italy said on Thursday as the divided bloc sought to salvage talks on a rescue package to aid battered economies. A deal has so far proved elusive amid fraught discussions between the more ... Read More »
United Nations Response to COVID-19 Outbreak in Lebanon
The United Nations issued a statement on Thursday on its response to the novel COVID-19 outbreak in Lebanon. The statement said: In recent weeks, Lebanon had to adapt to new restrictions imposed by the government, in an effort to curtail the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic in Lebanon. United Nations (UN) ... Read More »