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Nearly 1,300 people who died of the coronavirus in the Chinese city of Wuhan, or half the total, were not counted in death tolls because of lapses, state media said on Friday, but Beijing dismissed claims that there had been any kind of cover-up. The central city where the outbreak …

Some European countries have announced plans to ease restrictions on social life, transport and cross-border travel imposed since mid-March to battle the spread of the novel coronavirus. AUSTRIA Austria allowed thousands of shops to reopen on April 14, becoming one of the first countries in Europe to loosen the lockdown. …

The COVID-19 pandemic will likely kill at least 300,000 Africans and risks pushing 29 million into extreme poverty, the U.N. Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) said on Friday, calling for a $100 billion safety net for the continent. Africa’s 54 countries have so far reported fewer than 20,000 confirmed cases …

China says it shouldn’t have to bother denying a report from the US State Department that suggests the Chinese government may have triggered secret nuclear blasts at an underground test site last year. The report, which was released on Wednesday and first revealed by the Wall Street Journal, raises concerns …

Iran has marked its annual National Army day by replacing usual parades with a COVID-19 aid march of military vehicles designed and packed with supplies to help assist the country’s battle with the coronavirus. The parades, which took place across the country on Friday, showcased some of the Army’s equipment …

The Chinese Foreign Ministry has denied the authenticity of the US reports that it leaked the “Covid-19” Coruna virus from an institute of virology in Wuhan, China. “As for the so-called virus leakage and other hypotheses, it is devoid of any scientific evidence,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Li …

U.S. Jobless Claims Top 20 Million Since Start of Shutdowns The US Labor Department reported that 5.245 million more Americans filed first-time claims for unemployment last week. The new numbers include independent contractors and others who previously were not eligible for benefits. That brings the total rise in US unemployment …

China’s Foreign Ministry has said that claims about the novel coronavirus originating in a lab are not based on science, citing the WHO as it rebuked the latest news story on COVID-19 ‘patient zero.’ “I want to remind you that the head of the [World Health Organization] has repeatedly stated …

Iran’s Navy commander says the force plans to build nuclear-powered submarines capable of operating in international waters for long periods of time amid the growing threats facing the country from the sea. Rear Admiral Hossein Khanzadi on Thursday highlighted the capabilities of submarines powered by nuclear reactors compared to the …

A third of the sailors on France’s aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle – 668 out of nearly 2,000 – are infected with coronavirus, the navy says. The ship returned to the French port of Toulon early from Atlantic exercises. Twenty sailors are in hospital, one of them in intensive care. …

US President Donald Trump says the US has “passed the peak” of new coronavirus cases and predicted some states would reopen this month. Trump told the daily White House briefing that new guidelines would be announced on Thursday after he had spoken to governors. “We’ll be the comeback kids, all …

Turkey has launched a deadly drone strike on a refugee camp in Iraq’s northern semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, drawing angry reactions from Iraqi politicians of different factions, who censured the attack as a violation of the country’s sovereignty. The media office of the Iraqi Joint Operations Command (JOC) said in a …

Iraqi Prime Minister-designate Mustafa Al-Kazimi announced today, Wednesday, that the names of the members of the cabinet are ready, indicating that he will hold a serious dialogue with America on the nature of their presence in Iraq. Al-kadhimi: I am a crisis prime minister and I do not have a …

US President Donald Trump has been heavily criticized for halting funding for the World Health Organization (WHO) amid the global coronavirus pandemic. Philanthropist Bill Gates, a major funder of the WHO, said it was “as dangerous as it sounds”. President Trump said on Tuesday that the body had “failed in …

Germany wants to extend social distancing rules by an additional two weeks until May 3, according to a draft proposal agreed between Chancellor Angela Merkel and the governors of the country’s 16 states seen by Reuters. The proposals include reopening schools gradually starting May 4, with priority given to primary …

Iraqi-American NASA Astronaut, Jessica Meir, has sent an empowering message of support to kids on the Hope Buses in Baghdad, all the way from the International Space Station! In light of the current global crisis, this message reminds us that our family is so important and also bigger than we …

The European Union is set to hold an online fund-raising conference next month to support the creation of a vaccine against the novel coronavirus. The conference will be held on May 4 in close coordination with the World Health Organization (WHO), European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said at …

The chief commander of Iran’s Army says over 11,000 medical staff of the force have been on the front line in the country’s fight against the COVID-19 disease. “More than 11,000 medical staff of the army have been selflessly working on the front line against coronavirus,” Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi …

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo took to morning TV shows Tuesday to push back against President Donald Trump’s claim of “total” authority to reopen the nation’s virus-stalled economy, noting that a president is not an absolute monarch. “We don’t have a king,” Cuomo said on NBC’s “Today. “We have a …

Beaten down by the coronavirus outbreak, the world economy in 2020 will suffer its worst year since the Great Depression of the 1930s, the International Monetary Fund says in its latest forecast. The IMF said Tuesday that it expects the global economy to shrink 3% this year — far worse …