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United Airlines will send layoff warnings to 36,000 employees – nearly half its U.S. staff – in the clearest signal yet of how deeply the virus outbreak is hurting the airline industry. The outlook for a recovery in air travel has dimmed in just the past two weeks, as infection …

Authorities in the Chinese region of Inner Mongolia have closed several tourist spots after a case of bubonic plague was confirmed this week. The case was discovered in Bayannur, located northwest of the capital Beijing. Five nearby grassland scenic points have now been closed, with visitors “strictly prohibited from entering …

The European Commission has struck deals with drugmakers Roche and Merck KGaA to secure supplies of experimental treatments for COVID-19, a Commission source told Reuters on Wednesday. The deals cover Roche’s arthritis medicine RoActemra and Merck’s multiple sclerosis drug Rebif – both seen as potential treatments for COVID-19 – and …

The World Health Organization on Tuesday acknowledged “evidence emerging” of the airborne spread of the novel coronavirus, after a group of scientists urged the global body to update its guidance on how the respiratory disease passes between people. “We have been talking about the possibility of airborne transmission and aerosol …

TikTok will exit the Hong Kong market within days, a spokesman told the Reuters news agency, as other technology companies including Facebook, Google, and Twitter suspend processing government requests for user data in the region. The short-form video app owned by China-based ByteDance has made the decision to exit the …

In Dubai’s Atlantis resort, at the head of a palm tree-shaped island, workers in face masks clean cushions, sofas, and king-size beds in luxury suites that have largely been vacant since the coronavirus pandemic. The resort and seven other hotels in the regional tourism hub contacted by Reuters are seeing …

Scientists using simulations in the lab have revealed that changes in the direction of the Earth’s magnetic field may take place 10 times faster than previously thought. The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, gives new insight into the swirling flow of iron 2,800 kms below the planet’s surface …

China is forging ahead in the race to develop a vaccine to help control the COVID-19 pandemic, with Sinovac Biotech’s (SVA.O) experimental vaccine set to become the country’s second and the world’s third to enter final stage testing later this month. While a laggard in the global vaccine industry, China, …

Saudi Arabia has issued guidelines for about 1,000 pilgrims who will be allowed to perform the hajj pilgrimage in Mecca later this month, an experience that will be unlike any before because of the coronavirus pandemic. The pilgrims will only be able to drink holy water from the Zamzam well …

One of the world’s leading epidemiologists thinks the coronavirus may not actually have originated in China, with samples of Covid-19 surfacing from Spain in early 2019. The coronavirus story keeps getting stranger… Dr. Tom Jefferson is a British epidemiologist working for the Cochrane Collaboration’s acute respiratory infections group. He also …

Oil prices fell on Tuesday amid concerns that a surge in new coronavirus cases, especially in the United States, will hamper any recovery in fuel demand. Brent crude LCOc1 futures declined by 24 cents, or 0.56%, to $42.86, by 1236 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 futures fell …

A nationwide antibody study in Spain has found that only 5.2 percent of the country’s population has been exposed to coronavirus, suggesting that herd immunity could be unachievable. The findings marked the conclusion of a three-month study into the prevalence of the virus, which involved testing almost 70,000 people across …

The U.S. government has awarded Novavax Inc $1.6 billion to cover testing, commercialization, and manufacturing of a potential coronavirus vaccine in the United States, with the aim of delivering 100 million doses by January 2021. Novavax shares jumped 35% in premarket trade. The award is the biggest yet from “Operation …

The eurozone economy will drop deeper into recession this year and rebound less steeply in 2021 than previously thought, the European Commission forecast on Tuesday, with France, Italy, and Spain struggling the most due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The downbeat assessment of Europe’s economy comes amid concern the U.S. recovery …

A total of 10% of healthcare workers tested positive, while police and fire crews also saw higher than average incidences The third and final round of a coronavirus prevalence study has confirmed that 5.2% of residents of Spain have developed antibodies for the virus. But according to the results of …

Oil prices were mixed on Monday, with Brent crude edging higher, supported by tighter supplies and positive economic data, while U.S. benchmark WTI futures dropped on concern that a spike in coronavirus cases could curb fuel demand in the United States. Brent crude LCOc1 was up 41 cents, or 1%, …

The head of the French cybersecurity agency ANSSI said there would not be a total ban on using equipment from Huawei in the rollout of the French 5G telecoms network, but that it was pushing French telcos to avoid switching to the Chinese company. “What I can say is that …

The number of fires in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest rose 20% in June to a 13-year-high for the month, government data showed on Wednesday, as researchers worry that it could signal a repeat of last year’s surge in forest fires. Health experts also fear the smoke that often blankets the region …

On Sunday, the head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) declined to criticize President Donald Trump’s unfounded claim that 99% of COVID-19 cases are “totally harmless.” As the United States neared 130,000 deaths from COVID-19 this Independence Day weekend, Trump asserted at a speech yesterday that the U.S. …

The coronavirus is finding new victims worldwide, in bars and restaurants, offices, markets and casinos, giving rise to frightening clusters of infection that increasingly confirm what many scientists have been saying for months: The virus lingers in the air indoors, infecting those nearby. If airborne transmission is a significant factor …