Category: WORLD NEWS

Bangladesh on Tuesday initiated a process to “conditionally” release jailed former prime minister Khaleda Zia for six months amid the coronavirus outbreak in the country, Law Minister Anisul Huq told PTI. The 74-year-old opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party chief is serving a 17-year prison term in two graft cases since February 8, 2018. “The decision has been taken on humanitarian ground,” Huq said. He said the decision was taken in line with Prime Minister Shekh Hasina’s directives and considering the age of the former prime minister. “…Zia will be released for…

Read More

Woodrow Wilson was more focused on the end of World War I than a flu virus that was making its way around the globe, ultimately sickening hundreds of thousands of Americans, including the president himself. George W. Bush stood with a bullhorn on a pile of rubble after the 9/11 attacks on lower Manhattan and promised that the people who were responsible “will hear all of us soon.” Barack Obama was in office for just a few months when the first reports came in about the H1N1 virus, which would…

Read More

The critical shortage of medical supplies across the US, including testing swabs, protective masks, surgical gowns and hand sanitizer, can be tied to a sudden drop in imports, mostly from China, The Associated Press has found. Trade data shows the decline in shipments started in mid-February after the spiraling coronavirus outbreak in China led the country to shutter factories and disrupted ports. Some emergency rooms, hospitals and clinics in the U.S. have now run out of key medical supplies, while others are rationing personal protective equipment like gloves and masks.…

Read More

Malaysia will deploy the army to support police in enforcing tough restrictions to halt the spread of the coronavirus because many people are flouting isolation rules, a minister said Friday. People have been told to stay at home and all schools and most businesses have closed, while Malaysians are barred from travelling overseas and foreigners from entering the country. But some are ignoring the measures introduced this week, with people still going for walks in parks and eating out. Police had originally been tasked with enforcing the restrictions, but Defence…

Read More

After months of intense debate, an American state legislature has voted to lift the decades-old ban on yoga, reflecting on the increasing acceptance and popularity of the age-old Indian practice, but prohibited the use of namaste at a time when world leaders are adopting this way of greeting amid fears of the spread of coronavirus.Pushed by conservative groups, the Alabama Board of Education in 1993 had voted to prohibit yoga, along with hypnosis and meditation in public schools in the state.Moved by state legislator Jeremy Gray from the Democratic Party,…

Read More

Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders on Saturday began what amounts to a fresh campaign for the Democratic nomination for president, as the septuagenarians prepare to go head-to-head at the polls for the first time since the field narrowed to two credible candidates.Biden, the 77-year-old former vice president, spoke to a large crowd of supporters in Missouri, one of six states that will hold Democratic primaries on Tuesday, one week after the “Super Tuesday” elections brought about a dramatic reversal of fortunes in his favor. Standing on an outdoor stage on…

Read More

The death toll in China’s novel coronavirus outbreak has touched 3,042 with 30 new fatalities while the confirmed cases have risen to 80,552 amid signs that the dreaded COVID-19 was stabilising, including in the epicentre Hubei province.China’s National Health Commission (NHC) said that it received reports of 143 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infection and 30 deaths on Thursday on the Chinese mainland.Among the deaths, 29 were in Hubei Province and one in Hainan Province, NHC said in its daily update of the COVID-19 on Friday.Meanwhile, 102 new suspected cases…

Read More

The US launched an airstrike against Taliban fighters to defend Afghan forces on Wednesday, an American military spokesman said, as violence spirals after a string of deadly attacks by the insurgents, throwing the country’s nascent peace process into grave doubt. News of the airstrike in southern Helmand province — the first in 11 days — came hours after US President Donald Trump told reporters he had had a “very good” chat with the Taliban political chief, who on Saturday signed a historic deal with Washington to withdraw foreign forces. Since…

Read More

The number of deaths in the US from the deadly coronavirus rose to six on Monday while the total number of confirmed cases in the country crossed 90, Vice President Mike Pence has said, as the novel virus continues to spread around the world despite travel restrictions. All the six deaths in the US are from the Washington state with 43 domestic cases and 48 cases of the individuals who returned to the US, officials said on Monday. The coronavirus outbreak that started in China’s Wuhan city in December has…

Read More

Forty seven more people have died of the deadly coronavirus, rasing the death toll in the country to 2,835 while the number of confirmed cases climbed to 79,251, Chinese health officials said on Saturday.China’s National Health Commission (NHC) in its daily report on Saturday said it received reports of 427 new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection and 47 deaths on Friday. Among the deaths reported, 45 were from the epicentre of the virus Hubei Province, one in Beijing and Henan respectively, it said.The overall confirmed cases on the…

Read More