Coronavirus deaths exceed quarter of a million – Reuters; WHO says Pompeo remarks on virus origin “speculative”
Reuters Global coronavirus deaths reached 250,000 on Monday after recorded infections topped 3.5 million, a Reuters tally of official government data showed, although the rate of fatalities has slowed. North America and European countries accounted for most of the new deaths and cases reported in recent days, but numbers were rising from smaller bases in […]
World leaders pledge $US8 billion to fight COVID-19 but US steers clear
Brussels, Belgium Reuters World leaders and organisations pledged $US8 billion to research, manufacture and distribute a possible vaccine and treatments for COVID-19 on Monday, but the United States refused to contribute to the global effort. Organisers included the European Union and non-EU countries Britain, Norway and Saudi Arabia. Leaders from Japan, Canada, South Africa and […]
New Zealand and Australia consider coronavirus ‘travel bubble’
Sydney, Australia/Wellington, New Zealand Reuters New Zealand and Australia are discussing the potential creation of a “travel bubble” between the two countries, sources said on Monday, even as Australia reported its highest number of coronavirus cases in two weeks. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will take part in a meeting of Australia’s emergency coronavirus […]
Climate-smart cassava gets new use in Zambia: hand sanitiser
Luksaka, ZambiaThomson Reuters Foundation To deal with drier conditions brought by a shifting climate, farmer Pamela Nyirenda last year shifted to growing drought-hardy cassava, among other new water-sipping crops such as groundnuts and cowpea. But this year her cassava field has brought not just a secure harvest but also a financial windfall, as buyers snap […]
Under the cover of lockdown, illegal logging surges in Tunisia
Gabes, Tunisia Thomson Reuters Foundation As Tunisia’s streets emptied and shops shuttered after the 6pm national curfew to stem the novel coronavirus outbreak, a clandestine group headed to the forest. Over two nights in early April, a group of people in the north-west region of Ain Draham illegally felled 400 trees, a species known as […]
Farmers prosper in pandemic as Americans shop local
Washington DC, US Thomson Reuters Foundation With restaurants shut and grocery stores posing a coronavirus risk, some Americans are ordering food directly from the farm – a trend small-scale producers hope will outlast the pandemic. It could be one of the few economic upsides to a crisis that has emptied high streets and felled business […]
The Interview: Esther Lehmann-Sow, World Vision International’s partnership leader for faith and development
DAVID ADAMS speaks with Esther Lehmann-Sow, World Vision International’s partnership leader for faith and development, about the organisation’s work with faith leaders during the coronavirus pandemic…
‘Emergency’ for millions as coronavirus severs remittance lifeline
Rome, Italy/Amman, Jordan Thomson Reuters Foundation When Fathy called his family back home in Egypt a week ago, they asked him to send money, as he had for the past year. But he had none, having lost his job as a car painter in the United Arab Emirates in March, when a coronavirus lockdown was […]
Essay: Refugees tell stories of problems – and unity – in facing the coronavirus
In an article first published on The Conversation, KAREN JACOBSEN and CHARLES SIMPSON, of Tufts University in the US, report on the experiences of refugees around the world during the coronavirus pandemic…
Sight-Seeing: Present tense – Worshipping and performing in the digital age
TARA ISABELLA BURTON, in an article first published on Religion News Service, looks at how the coronavirus lockdown is leading people to look at art – and worship – in a different way…