Month: March 2020

A 12-year-old girl in Belgium has become the youngest known person to die from coronavirus in Europe

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A 12-year-old girl in Belgium has become the youngest known person to die from coronavirus in Europe. Announcing the news, Dr Emmanuel Andre, spokesman for the country’s coronavirus crisis centre, said it was “an emotionally difficult moment, because it involves a child, and it has also upset the medical and scientific community”. The claim has been mad by a former prisoner, who survived the hell of Kaechon concentration camp. Using the pseudonym Kim Il-soon, she said: “The lands are very fertilised, and farming is successful there because the buried human bodies serve as natural fertilisers. Last month President Trump and … Continue reading A 12-year-old girl in Belgium has become the youngest known person to die from coronavirus in Europe

The US agriculture giant Monsanto and the German chemical giant BASF

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The US agriculture giant Monsanto and the German chemical giant BASF were aware for years that their plan to introduce a new agricultural seed and chemical system would probably lead to damage on many US farms, internal documents seen by the Guardian show. Risks were downplayed even while they planned how to profit off farmers who would buy Monsanto’s new seeds just to avoid damage, according to documents unearthed during a recent successful $265m lawsuit brought against both firms by a Missouri farmer. Elsewhere, Democratic front-runner Joe Biden has attacked the president as “reckless and ignorant” for accusing New York … Continue reading The US agriculture giant Monsanto and the German chemical giant BASF

A ‘bright and much loved’ French schoolgirl with no underlying medical condition has died from coronavirus

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A ‘bright and much loved’ French schoolgirl with no underlying medical condition has died from coronavirus and is believed to be the youngest victim in Europe. Tributes were today being paid to Julie Alliot, 16, who succumbed to respiratory problems in a Paris hospital on Wednesday after first developing a ‘slight cough’ a week ago. The data suggests that millions of secret tracking requests emanated from Saudi Arabia over a four-month period beginning in November 2019. The tracking requests, which sought to establish the US location of Saudi–registered phones, appeared to originate from Saudi’s three biggest mobile phone companies. The … Continue reading A ‘bright and much loved’ French schoolgirl with no underlying medical condition has died from coronavirus

The loyalty of Afghanistan’s military is being stretched to breaking point

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The loyalty of Afghanistan’s military is being stretched to breaking point by rival claims to the country’s presidency, raising the prospect of a catastrophic civil war, according to the son of a renowned resistance hero. Ahmad Massoud — whose father Ahmad Shah Massoud was known as “The Lion of Panjshir” for leading the fight against Soviet forces in the Eighties, and who commanded the Northern Alliance against the Taliban until his assassination in 2001 — told The Times that sectarian divides in the security forces were being widened ever further by the leadership crisis in Kabul. The South African military … Continue reading The loyalty of Afghanistan’s military is being stretched to breaking point

This is the disgusting moment a man ignored coronavirus fears

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This is the disgusting moment a man ignored coronavirus fears, licking his fingers and scratching his genitals before smearing his hands around the inside of a lift. CCTV footage from last Friday morning shows the young man committing the bizarre act at a metro station in Bangkok, Thailand. The cheques of $1,200 for every adult earning less than $75,000 a year, and $500 per child, could be held up by growing obstacles to a quick vote in the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives. Lower amounts will be paid on a sliding scale for all those earning under $99,000. Plans to avoid … Continue reading This is the disgusting moment a man ignored coronavirus fears

The US Senate has finally agreed a massive bipartisan $2trn (£1.7trn) stimulus package with the White House

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The US Senate has finally agreed a massive bipartisan $2trn (£1.7trn) stimulus package with the White House to boost the country’s economy in response to the deadly coronavirus outbreak, the bill providing tax rebates, four months expanded unemployment benefits and a slew of business tax-relief provisions. Donald Trump is meanwhile under fire for suggesting on Tuesday that he hopes to have America open for business again by Easter, a deadline denounced by everyone from Democratic 2020 front-runner Joe Biden to state governors. Congresswoman Donna Shalala called his aim “dangerous and immoral”. The freelance event producer was shocked when he had … Continue reading The US Senate has finally agreed a massive bipartisan $2trn (£1.7trn) stimulus package with the White House

The US has said it will cut its aid to Afghanistan by $1bn

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The US has said it will cut its aid to Afghanistan by $1bn, blaming the failure of President Ashraf Ghani and his main political rival, Abdullah Abdullah, to agree on a unity government for talks with the Taliban. A further $1bn could be cut in 2021, the US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, said after a surprise visit to Kabul on Monday failed to persuade the two men to make a deal. Pompeo suggested the aid could be restored if they changed their minds. “When I’ve made suggestions he’s taken them. He’s never countered or overridden me — the idea … Continue reading The US has said it will cut its aid to Afghanistan by $1bn

Coronavirus patients have been filmed laid out on hospital beds along the corridors

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Coronavirus patients have been filmed laid out on hospital beds along the corridors of an Italian hospital in a chilling clip, while military trucks have been deployed to transport scores of victims’ coffins to be cremated.    Footage from one overcrowded Bergamo hospital showed patients lying on hospital beds which were lining the corridor of an intensive care unit. But as Moscow and other Russian cities introduce stricter preventative measures against the coronavirus, election officials have discussed the possibility of home voting or other ways to pull off a nationwide plebiscite in a country of 140 million when health officials desperately … Continue reading Coronavirus patients have been filmed laid out on hospital beds along the corridors

As China and America trade accusations of blame for the coronavirus pandemic, there is increasing talk in US government circles of “decoupling” from China

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As China and America trade accusations of blame for the coronavirus pandemic, there is increasing talk in US government circles of “decoupling” from China — the disentangling of economies and supply chains, reduction of co-operation and erecting of new trade barriers. Beijing’s state media and diplomats have not only disputed whether the global pandemic originated on Chinese soil but have pushed unfounded speculation that the US was the source. It came as Italy recorded a record 4,207 infections and 475 new deaths from the virus yesterday, squashing hopes that the unprecedented national lockdown was beginning to slow the spread of … Continue reading As China and America trade accusations of blame for the coronavirus pandemic, there is increasing talk in US government circles of “decoupling” from China

French coronavirus patients will be moved to Germany as the country is struggling to cope

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French coronavirus patients will be moved to Germany as the country is struggling to cope with a rising number of Covid-19 cases. Hospitals in the German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg have offered to treat some critically ill patients from the neighboring Alsace region in France. At stake are the succession plans of Hamengku Buwono X, the first sultan of Yogyakarta to practise monogamy, who has five daughters but no sons. The 73-year-old has made no official proclamation but has been rewriting centuries-old rules and titles to allow his oldest daughter to succeed him as the first female monarch in the 265-year … Continue reading French coronavirus patients will be moved to Germany as the country is struggling to cope