GENEVA: The World Health Organisation (WHO) is to raise the question of Taiwan’s participation as an observer at the World Health Assembly (WHA), which opens virtually on Monday, before one of its committees. Taiwan is currently excluded from the WHO but in the midst of escalating tensions between Washington and
PARIS: Deaths from the new coronavirus in France passed 28,000 Sunday, the health ministry announced, as officials tried to contain outbreaks in two abattoirs. The latest daily toll, of 483, the largest in several weeks, was made up mainly of deaths in care homes: 429 deaths, compared to only 54
By Abhaya Srivastava THRISSUR, India: Green, spiky and with a strong, sweet smell, the bulky jackfruit has morphed from a backyard nuisance in India’s south coast into the meat-substitute darling of vegans and vegetarians in the West. Part of the South Asia’s diet for centuries, jackfruit was so abundant that
SEOUL: North Korea’s Kim Jong Un has made his first public appearance in nearly three weeks, state media reported Saturday, following intense speculation that the leader of the nuclear-armed nation was seriously ill or possibly dead. The North reported that Kim had attended the opening of a fertiliser factory
TOKYO: Japan has asked for a one-year postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Games over the global coronavirus pandemic, and the International Olympic Committee has agreed, the country’s prime minister said Tuesday. “I proposed to postpone for about a year and president Bach responded with 100 per cent agreement,” Shinzo Abe
BY AMÉLIE BOTTOLLIER-DEPOIS Wearing masks and gloves as a precaution against coronavirus is ineffective, unnecessary for the vast majority of people, and may even spread infections faster, experts said Tuesday. While near-total lockdowns have been imposed in Italy, Spain and now France, the World Health Organisation’s advice has remained unchanged
BEIJING: China closed most of its makeshift hospitals for coronavirus patients, some schools reopened and Disney resort staff went back to work yesterday as normality slowly returns to the country after weeks battling the epidemic. New virus cases in China ― which accounts for the vast majority of the more
LOS ANGELES: The number of US coronavirus cases soared past 500 Sunday, including two further deaths, as California braced for the arrival of infected cruise ship passengers and saw a major tennis event cancelled. The surge came as President Donald Trump defended his administration’s “perfectly coordinated” response to the epidemic,
SEOUL: Nuclear-armed North Korea yesterday fired what Japan said appeared to be ballistic missiles, a week after a similar weapons test by Pyongyang. Analysts say the North has been continuing to refine its weapons capabilities during its long-stalled nuclear discussions with the US, which have been at a standstill since
LOS ANGELES: Sprinting shoppers, rationed mineral water and not a roll of toilet paper to be seen: panic-buying sparked by the new coronavirus soared in Los Angeles this week. Two days after California declared a statewide emergency, wholesale stores visited by AFP on Friday were unable to keep up with