Author: News Desk

Up to 60m people will be pushed into extreme poverty by the economic consequences of the Coronavirus crisis, and current recovery efforts are not enough, David Malpass, president of the World Bank, has warned. David Malpass said the bank expects global economic growth to shrink by 5% this year as nations deal with the pandemic. The World Bank defines “extreme poverty” This has already led to millions losing their jobs and businesses failing, with poorer countries feeling the brunt. “Millions of livelihoods have been destroyed and healthcare systems are under strain worldwide,” he said. “Our estimate is that up to 60 million…

President Trump says he’s taking unproven drug hydroxychloroquine, as Nancy Pelosi says she fears for the ‘morbidly obese’ president.President Trump has said he is taking hydroxychloroquine to ward off coronavirus, but public health officials warn its unsafe. “I’m taking it for about a week and a half now and I’m still here, I’m still here,” said the president. There is no evidence that hydroxychloroquine -used for lupus and malaria – can fight Covid-19. And regulators warn the drug may cause heart problems. The surprise announcementThe president was hosting a meeting when he surprised reporters by revealing he was taking the…

Countries in the Gulf region will emerge “weaker, poorer and damaged” from the Coronavirus pandemic, according to the UAE’s Minister of State, Dr Anwar Gargash. He said the answer was for the whole region to try to de-escalate tensions and work towards economic prosperity. The United Arab Emirates (UAE), one of the wealthiest countries in the world, made early preparations for the coronavirus attack, buying in testing kits and setting up production lines for face masks. Out of a total population of nine million, it has so far registered 23,358 cases and 220 deaths. Iran, just across the waters of…

US President Donald Trump has sent a letter to the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) threatening to pull US funding permanently over COVID19. The letter outlines a 30-day deadline for the body to commit to “substantive improvements” or risk losing millions and US membership altogether. Addressed to WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, it criticises stages of the body’s response since December. Earlier in the day, Mr Trump called the UN’s health body a “puppet of China”. The president, who faces re-election this year and has himself been criticised for his handling of the pandemic, has blamed China for…

A Chinese laboratory has developed a drug that it believes has the power to end the Coronavirus pandemic. It will not only shorten the recovery period of coronavirus patients but will provide short-term immunity against the infection. Sunney Xie, director of the Beijing Center for Advanced Innovation in Genomics, told AFP that the drug had passed animal testing. “When we injected neutralizing antibodies into infected mice after five days, the viral load was reduced by a factor of 2,500,” said Xie. “This means that this potential drug has a therapeutic effect. “ Antibodies are needed for the new coronavirus pandemic…

UK unemployment rose by 50,000 to 1.35 million in the three months to March, as the effects of the coronavirus lockdown slam the economy.  The unemployment rate was estimated at 3.9%, slightly up on the previous quarter, the Office for National Statistics said.  Before lockdown began, UK employment was at a record high. And the figures only cover the first week of the lockdown so the total is likely to worsen sharply in the coming months.  Jagjit Chadha, director of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, told the BBC: “We can reasonably expect unemployment to rise very quickly…

Tuesday 19 May coronavirus updates BRIEF – ME! – DAILY NEWS BRIEFINGTuesday 19 May 2020 News Briefing – Today’s headlines are dominated by the global Coronavirus Pandemic. As of 6:30 am (GMT), these are the global active numbers.Global COVID-19 UPDATECoronavirus Cases: 4,894,254Deaths: 320,186Recovered: 1,908,077 Trump threatens to permanently pull US funding from WHOLondon care homes possible fresh outbreak of coronavirus Previous Next Headlines: What the papers say? Coronavirus: Global cases top 4 million as US president Donald Trump threatens to permanently pull funding from WHO.UK: Young people most likely to lose work in lockdown. London care homes report a possible fresh outbreak.Japan will…

Many European countries will be further easing their Coronavirus lockdown restrictions from Monday including Italy and Spain who were among the hardest hit. Most businesses in Italy, including bars and hairdressers, will be free to reopen after more than two months of nationwide lockdown measures. Spain is set to relax its restrictions in most of the country, with groups of up to 10 people free to meet. The measures follow consistent drops in the number of daily recorded deaths. Death tolls in Italy and Spain fallOn Sunday, Italy recorded the fewest daily deaths since it enforced a nationwide lockdown in…

The health system in Brazil’s largest city, São Paulo could collapse as demand grows for emergency beds to deal with Coronavirus cases, city mayor warned. Bruno Covas said the city’s public hospitals had reached 90% capacity and could run out of space in two weeks. He accused those who flouted lockdown rules of playing “Russian roulette” with people’s lives. Record Coronavirus Deaths in São PauloSão Paulo is one of the country’s worst-hit regions, with almost 3,000 deaths so far. This week Brazil overtook Spain and Italy to become the nation with the fourth-largest number of infections. The health ministry reported…

Monday 18 May coronavirus updates BRIEF – ME! – DAILY NEWS BRIEFINGMonday 18 May 2020 News Briefing – Today’s headlines are dominated by the global Coronavirus Pandemic. As of 6:30 am (GMT), these are the global active numbers.Global COVID-19 UPDATECoronavirus Cases: 4,805,554Deaths: 316,753Recovered: 1,860,215 BAME medics fear they’ll catch the diseaseMicheal Jordan NBA Previous Next Headlines: What the papers say? Over three-quarters of BAME medics fear they will contract the disease.Stations put crowd control measures in place, as the UK goes back to work.Trump officials deflect blame for US death toll, escalate reopening push.Japan slips into a recession, but worse is still…