- Several hundred Ukrainian entrepreneurs protested in Kyiv on Wednesday, demanding the Government to ease lockdown restrictions enacted on March 12 to stem the spread of the coronavirus
- Germany is extending its worldwide travel warning until mid-June, saying the coronavirus situation is too dire to change the guidance. Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said the warning, due to expire May 3, would be extended to June 14 because there has been no change to the danger posed by the pandemic. Maas says he will discuss the matter with European partners in the coming weeks
- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and fiancee Carrie Symonds on Wednesday announced the birth of a ‘healthy baby boy’. The birth is believed to be slightly premature but both mother and baby are said to be doing very well. It is understood that Johnson, who has just recovered from coronavirus, was present throughout the birth, at a Government-run hospital in London. Johnson is set to miss his first Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) in the House of Commons with the newly-elected Opposition Labour Leader Keir Starmer, who congratulated the UK PM on the “wonderful news”
- President Donald Trump took executive action to order meat processing plants to stay open amid concerns over growing coronavirus cases and the impact on the nation’s food supply. The order signed on Tuesday uses the Defense Production Act to classify meat processing as critical infrastructure to try to prevent a shortage of chicken, pork and other meat on supermarket shelves. Unions fired back, saying the White House was jeopardizing lives and prioritising cold cuts over workers’ health
- China on Wednesday said it will hold its annual parliament session from May 22 which was earlier scheduled to be held from March 5 and got postponed for the first time due to the coronavirus outbreak, signalling that the pandemic which paralysed the country for over three months is finally under control. The decision was made at a regular session of the National People’s Congress’ (NPC) Standing Committee, the country’s top legislature, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported. The third session of the 13th NPC, which was to be held from March 5, was postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak.
- Tracking the aggregated movements of people using their mobile phone data may help predict the geographical and temporal spread of COVID-19 infections up to two weeks ahead of time, according to a study. The research, published in the journal Nature, analysed the distribution of population outflows from Wuhan, China, during the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak in January 2020. According to scientists, including Nicholas Christakis, from Yale University in the US, large-scale population movem-ents can contribute to localised outbreaks of disease becoming widespread epidemics
Around the Globe
Thursday, 30 April 2020 | Agencies
Around the Globe
Thursday, 30 April 2020 | Agencies
