World

UK vows to increase virus testing

Published on Thu, 04/02/2020 - 5:13pm

LONDON (AP) — Political opponents, scientists and even usually supportive newspapers lambasted British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday over his government’s broken promises on wider testing for the COVID-19 virus.

Johnson’s Conservative government vowed weeks ago to rapidly increase the number of tests for the new coronavirus to 10,000 a day, then 25,000 a day by mid-April. But progress has been slow. The government says 10,412 tests were performed Tuesday, the first time the daily target was met.

Iran general visits Baghdad, tries to forge political unity

Published on Wed, 04/01/2020 - 4:58pm
Article Image Alt Text

BAGHDAD (AP) — A top Iranian general arrived in Baghdad this week to try and unify Iraq’s fractured political leaders, Iraqi officials said Wednesday, as stiff opposition by one major bloc thwarts the chances the country’s latest prime minister-designate can form a government. 

Multiple factors in deadly China fire

Published on Wed, 04/01/2020 - 4:57pm

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese officials say dry conditions, high temperatures and a sudden change in wind direction all contributed to the deaths of 19 people in a forest fire in mountainous southwestern China. 

The official Xinhua News Agency said late Tuesday that thousands of firefighters were still battling the blaze near the city of Xichng in Sichuan province. 

Another three people were in stable condition after going missing early Monday with the 18 firefighters and their guide whose bodies were later found. 

Nations condemn North Korean missile launches

Published on Wed, 04/01/2020 - 4:57pm

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council didn’t issue a statement after discussing North Korea’s latest missile tests but six European nations on the council are condemning Pyongyang’ repeated launches, saying they illustrate its ongoing efforts to develop its ballistic missile programs and expand its arsenal.

Belgium, Estonia, France, Germany, Poland, and the United Kingdom said in a statement after a closed council discussion Tuesday that they are deeply concerned by North Korea’s continued testing of missiles, using ballistic missile technology. 

Mass testing, empty ICUs: Germany scores early against virus

Published on Wed, 04/01/2020 - 4:55pm

BERLIN (AP) — Late last year — long before most people had heard of the new coronavirus now sweeping the globe  — scientists in Germany sprang into action to develop a test for the virus that was causing an unusual respiratory disease in central China.

They had one by mid-January — and labs around the country were ready to start using it just weeks later, around the same time that Europe’s most populous country registered its first case.

Royal no more: Harry and Meghan start new chapter

Published on Tue, 03/31/2020 - 4:08pm
Article Image Alt Text

LONDON (AP) — Prince Harry and his wife Meghan officially make the transition Tuesday from senior members of Britain’s royal family to — well, it’s unclear. International celebrities, charity patrons, global influencers?

The royal schism that the couple triggered in January by announcing that they would step down from official duties, give up public funding, seek financial independence and swap the U.K. for North America becomes official on March 31.

Europe’s hospitals among the best but ill-equipped to handle pandemic

Published on Tue, 03/31/2020 - 4:08pm
Article Image Alt Text

LONDON (AP) — As increasing numbers of European hospitals buckle under the strain of tens of thousands of coronavirus patients, the crisis has exposed a surprising paradox: Some of the world’s best health systems are remarkably ill-equipped to handle a pandemic. 

Outbreak experts say Europe’s hospital-centric systems, lack of epidemic experience and early complacency are partly to blame for the pandemic’s catastrophic tear across the continent. 

Wuhan’s favorite noodles are back

Published on Tue, 03/31/2020 - 4:05pm
Article Image Alt Text

WUHAN, China (AP) — The reappearance of Wuhan’s favorite breakfast noodles is a tasty sign that life is slowly getting back to normal in the Chinese city at the epicenter of the global coronavirus outbreak. 

Zhou Guoqiong still isn’t allowed to serve customers inside her shop as part of social distancing rules that are some of the strictest in the world. 

13-year-old shot dead; Kenyan police enforcing curfew blamed

Published on Tue, 03/31/2020 - 4:04pm

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The bullet struck the 13-year-old as he stood on the balcony of his family’s home with his siblings. Below, police officers moved through the crowded neighborhood, enforcing Kenya’s new coronavirus curfew.

Go upstairs, the children’s mother had shouted minutes earlier, as gunfire echoed in the streets. “We thought it was safer,” the boy’s 19-year-old sister, Aisha Hussein, told The Associated Press.

Taliban arrives, monitors prisoner release

Published on Tue, 03/31/2020 - 4:02pm

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A three-member Taliban technical team arrived Tuesday in the Afghan capital to monitor the release of their prisoners as part of a peace deal signed by the Taliban and the U.S., a spokesman for the insurgent group said. 

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed the team’s arrival in a tweet. It marked the first time a Taliban delegation has been in Kabul since the group was driven out by the U.S. -led coalition in November 2001. 

There was no immediate comment from the Afghan government on the team’s arrival.