Friday 28, August
BRIEF – ME! – DAILY NEWS BRIEFING
Friday 28 August 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 UPDATE
Coronavirus Cases: 24,628,901
Deaths: 835,639
Recovered: 17,094,868
- The UK sees the highest number of new Covid-19 cases since mid-June.
- Back-to-work message to be aired as schools reopen.
- WHO’s warning for Europe: Autumn and winter pose ‘tricky situation.’
- Saudi economy and Covid-19: ‘Good can come of evil’
- India’s students concerned over entrance exams amid Covid-19.
- Peru seeks to explain high Covid-19 death rate.
- US records nearly 46,000 new Covid-19 cases.
The UK sees the highest number of new Covid-19 cases since mid-June
The Guardian says the UK has recorded the highest number of new coronavirus cases since 12 June, with government figures reporting 1,522 positive cases.
The number of new cases, which cover the 24 hours to 9 am on 27 August, were up 474 on the previous day.
The average number of cases confirmed in the past seven days stood at 1,155, the highest rolling average recorded since 22 June.
Read the full story on The Guardian
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Back-to-work message to be aired as schools reopen
BBC News says people will again be encouraged to go back to their workplaces as part of a government campaign starting next week.
Employers who have had staff working from home for months will be asked to reassure them that it is safe to return by highlighting measures being taken to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
Business leaders have warned of the damage being done to city centres as people stay away from offices.
Read the full story on BBC News
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WHO’s warning for Europe: Autumn and winter pose ‘tricky situation’
France24 says the WHO’s top official in Europe has warned Covid-19 is a “tornado with a long tail” and said rising case counts among young people could ultimately spread to more vulnerable older people — and cause an uptick in deaths.
Dr Hans Kluge said younger people are likely to come into closer contact with the elderly as the weather cools in Europe, raising the prospect of spread to the most vulnerable.
Read the full story on Euronews
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Saudi economy and Covid-19: ‘Good can come of evil’
Arab News says the Covid-19 pandemic has dealt the global economy a harsh blow and the Saudi Arabian economy has been no exception, despite its strength. However, the pandemic has created a prudent spending culture in Saudi society in which the national economy is the long-term beneficiary, according to one expert.
“The economic recession has already begun and that will influence consumers’ behaviour, which, in return, will strongly affect all economic variables,” said Dr Abdullah Al-Maghlouth.
Read the full story on Arab News
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India’s students concerned over entrance exams amid Covid-19
Aljazeera says more than two million Indian students will sit for admissions tests to medical and engineering schools next week, despite growing concerns that the move could fuel a jump in coronavirus infections.
Many students, parents and opposition leaders have opposed the government’s move to hold the tests in the middle of a pandemic.
Read the full story on Aljazeera
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Peru seeks to explain high Covid-19 death rate
CNN says Peru’s high coronavirus death rate — the second highest in the world according to data from Johns Hopkins University — is due to the country’s transparency with the statistics, a senior Peruvian official said.
“I do not know of another country that during the pandemic is making such transparency of the number of deaths, by including the number of deaths suspected of Covid to the number of Covid deaths,” said Walter Martos, President of Peru’s Council of Ministers.
Read the full story on CNN
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US records nearly 46,000 new Covid-19 cases
The New York Times says at least 1,124 new coronavirus deaths and 45,561 new cases were reported in the United States on Aug. 27. Over the past week, there have been an average of 42,326 cases per day, a decrease of 21 per cent from the average two weeks earlier.
As of Friday morning, more than 5,883,600 people in the United States have been infected with the coronavirus and at least 180,700 have died, according to a New York Times database.
Read the full story on the New York Times
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A quick look at the other top stories
Several killed as Hurricane Laura hits Louisiana
Aljazeera says Hurricane Laura ripped through southwestern Louisana on Thursday, destroying buildings in the city of Lake Charles and killing at least six people after making landfall in the early morning as one of the most powerful storms to hit the state.
The Hurricane’s first reported US fatality was a 14-year-old girl in Leesville, Louisana, who died when a tree fell on her house.
“We do expect that there could be more fatalities,” said a spokeswoman.
Bulgaria justice minister resigns as anti-corruption protests enter 50th consecutive day
Euronews says Bulgaria’s justice minister Danail Kirilov resigned on Wednesday amid criticism of his failure to address corruption as the country faced a fiftieth consecutive day of anti-government protests.
Kirilov is the fifth government minister to resign since protests swept the Balkan country in July in response to raids on the offices of President Rumen Radev, a vocal critic of the incumbent government.
Record flooding leaves dozens dead and thousands homeless in Sudan
France24 says flood levels in Sudan have reached the highest on record, killing dozens of people and destroying thousands of homes.
Flooding regularly hits Sudan in summer, but this year’s unprecedented water levels have left larger tracts of farmland submerged and residents fearing the rising waters.
Floodwaters have spilt over into major roads in Khartoum for the first time in living memory.
Lebanon’s central bank gives the country’s banks an ultimatum
Aljazeera says Lebanese banks that cannot increase their capital by 20 percent by the end of February 2021 will have to get out of the market, central bank governor Riad Salameh told Reuters on Thursday.
Those leaving would do so by giving their shares to the central bank, Salameh added, but said he could not speculate how many banks would exit the market.
Japan’s prime minister to resign over health concerns – report
CNA says Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the nation’s longest-serving premier, is set to resign due to his worsening health, public broadcaster NHK said on Friday, sparking a slide in Tokyo stock prices and a rise in the yen.
“The resignation is a done deal,” said a source close to a senior official in Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party.
