Snapshot: Campfire under big skies, Australia

See HEIKO OTTO’s image…
Virus-hit Asian nations brace for double disasters as extreme weather looms

Rome, Italy Thomson Reuters Foundation Countries from India to the Philippines, already struggling with the coronavirus pandemic, are likely to also battle weather-related crises, from heat waves to cyclones, in coming months, disaster experts warned Thursday. In India – currently under lockdown with more than 12,000 confirmed cases of the virus – the cyclone season […]
French doctor, 98, keeps working through coronavirus crisis

Chevilly-Larue, France Reuters Doctor Christian Chenay is almost old enough to remember the 1918 Spanish flu and treated typhus sufferers during World War II. Now, as he nears his 99th birthday, he is still caring for patients through the coronavirus epidemic. Chenay holds virtual consultations for patients, some of whom he has treated for decades, […]
Rising seas could make US coastal flooding a daily peril by 2100
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation Many coastal areas of the United States could see floods that now happen about twice a century occur almost daily by the turn of the century, as ocean levels rise because of planetary warming and ice melt, scientists warned on Thursday. By 2050 – just 30 years from now – almost […]
UK extends lockdown measures for at least three more weeks

London, UK Reuters Britain extended its nationwide lockdown for at least another three weeks on Thursday, as stand-in leader Dominic Raab ordered Britons to stay at home to prevent the spread of a coronavirus outbreak which has already claimed over 138,000 lives globally. “We have just come too far, we’ve lost too many loved ones, […]
Lebanon’s coronavirus lockdown leaves migrant women penniless and stranded

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia/Amman, Jordan Thomson Reuters Foundation Domestic worker Kurate only went to Lebanon so she could earn money to support her family in Ethiopia. Now she is stuck there with no work, no income – and no way of getting home to them. Since Lebanon closed its borders in one of the world’s strictest […]
Worship in a pandemic: Why these California churches say holding in-person services is essential despite pandemic

ALEJANDRA MOLINA, of Religion News Service, reports from Los Angeles on why some Californian churches are challenging stay-at-home orders…
Africa may see millions of coronavirus cases, tentative WHO forecast shows

Nairobi, Kenya Reuters Coronavirus cases in Africa could shoot up from thousands now to 10 million within three to six months according to very provisional modelling, a regional World Health Organization official said on Thursday. But Michel Yao, head of emergency operations for WHO Africa, said that was a tentative projection which could change and noted […]
Essay: What Donald Trump’s funding cuts to WHO mean for the world

In an article first published on The Conversation, ADAM KAMRADT-SCOTT, an associate professor at the University of Sydney, looks at the impact of US funding cuts to the World Health Organization…
Wow!: “We will get through it,” says Captain Tom, 99, after walk raises $US16 million for coronavirus fight

PAUL SANDLE, of Reuters, reports on a remarkable fund-raising effort…