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Coronavirus response: China’s military may have filled the gap left by the US but it’s only temporary, experts say

As the United States has taken a step back from world affairs to focus on an unprecedented health crisis at home, China has made full use of its massive military power to promote itself as a leader in the global fight against Covid-19.In the latest of a slew of recent overseas aid efforts carried out by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), a Chinese medical team put the finishing touches to a testing laboratory in Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city, which they had helped to build from the ground up…




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MPs vote to limit automatic release from prison for pregnant women

Prague Daily Monitor

Judges will no longer have to automatically pause or delay sentences for pregnant women, or women with a child under one year old, and release them from prison if the case includes particularly serious crimes. The judges will be able to make the decision according to factors including danger to those involved. The notion was passed at the first reading in the Lower House and drafted by politicians from almost every political party.

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A blast of winter accompanied by heavy winds

Prague Daily Monitor

Tuesday saw a small return of winter to the Czech Republic. Temperatures dropped during the morning as clouds cleared. Soon heavy winds followed and reaped destruction on infrastructure. At the height of the destruction there were almost 18,000 households across the country with electricity outages during the day. The worst outages were felt in Southern Moravia according to E.ON. Meteorologists are also warning people to be safe in the mountains as wet snow can break branches and fell trees.

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Employee from General Financial Directorate suspected in CZK 10 million bribe

Prague Daily Monitor

Police from the National Center Against Organized Crime suspect an employee from the General Financial Directorate of agreeing to a ten million crown bribe, five million of which he had personally taken possession of. The spokesperson for the General Financial Directorate Zuzana Masatova said "the employee has been removed from service."

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Coronavirus: symptoms, risks, and where to go to seek help

by Paul Lysek | Prague Daily Monitor/Unicare

With the headlines full of stories written to cause us anxiety about the flu and coronavirus, we asked our partners at Unicare, a Prague premium healthcare company, to help us write up some key important facts about what to look for and how to deal with symptoms.

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SUNY Empire State College launches student exchange programs with UNYP

UNYP

Last month a new partnership agreement was signed between the University of New York in Prague and SUNY Empire State College. Under the agreement, SUNY Empire students would have access to new extensive study abroad and exchange programs between New York and the Czech Republic, which would incorporate a wide range of educational options to experience Prague.

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Empty Las Vegas Strip counts losses as locals venture out

Last year, May was Las Vegas's second-busiest month, drawing nearly 3.7 million visitors.




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Covid-19: Court halts maize import plan after Omtatah sues

The is until a case by activist Okiya Omtatah is heard and determined.




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Why are my pimples out of control despite trying everything?

Doc, I have tried some creams like Betasone and Clozole b




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Boosted by US$6 million Alibaba cash injection, Hong Kong compostable food packaging start-up takes on single-use plastics

Alarmed by the amount of rubbish they were generating by just drinking coffee and eating cup noodles, two former garments entrepreneurs decided it was time to find an eco-friendly alternative to all the plastic packaging that ends up in landfills globally.George Chen Dah-ren and Vivian Chang first approached material scientists in Hong Kong and mainland China, and were in 2013 pointed in the direction of Alexander Bismarck, then a Materials Science professor at Imperial College London. The…




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Coronavirus: Uniqlo and H&M manufacturer making reusable masks for Hong Kong government in Vietnam

The production of reusable masks for all Hongkongers was not for profit, a government official said as she revealed the manufacturer’s identity and defended the lack of a public tender for the project worth hundreds of millions of dollars.Annie Choi Suk-han, permanent secretary of the Innovation and Technology Bureau, said most of the masks were being made by Crystal International Group at a facility in Vietnam.The rest were assembled, disinfected and packed using three local facilities offered…




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University of Hong Kong study finds eyes are ‘important route’ for coronavirus, up to 100 times more infectious than Sars

The eyes are an important route for the coronavirus into the human body, according to University of Hong Kong research which found the strain was up to 100 times more infectious than severe acute respiratory syndrome and bird flu in two facial orifices tested by the public health experts.Laboratory tests revealed the “virus level” of SARS-Cov-2 – the strain of coronavirus that causes the Covid-19 disease – was far greater than for Sars in the upper respiratory airways and conjunctiva, the cells…




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Most of Hong Kong’s teachers were professional during protests, despite misconduct complaints: education chief

Most of Hong Kong’s 70,000 teachers remained professional during the anti-government protests, despite complaints being made against more than 170 of them for misconduct, the city’s education chief said in a Thursday interview with the Post.Reflecting on the movement that started almost a year ago, Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung Yun-hung said there would be more emphasis on teaching proper values and knowledge about mainland China.However, he said there were no plans for schools to…




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100 days of Covid-19 - SCMP Series

1. Pandemic drives rethink of Hong Kong’s hospital needs More isolation beds and more land to hold them among key concerns going forward, Hospital Authority chief tells the Post. 2. Inadequate links between public, private hospitals ‘Non-urgent’ cases postponed as overburdened public hospitals focus on Covid-19 patients. 3. Musician recounts horror from Covid-19 bar cluster Mark Anthony Balcueva struggled to breathe and had to be put on a cocktail of drugs, with only the thought of his…




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Coronavirus survivors: I fought Covid-19 with a Hong Kong karate champ while mom was in a coma in the UK

As a journalist, you want to report the story – you never want to be the story. So after weeks of covering the coronavirus crisis, it was a shock to learn I had tested positive for Covid-19.Unfortunately, though I did not know it at the time of my diagnosis, my story with the disease would soon be taking an even darker turn when it left my 73-year-old mother Lien comatose and struggling for her life.I had arrived in Hong Kong from Britain on Monday March 23, following a holiday to see my family…




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Impact of COVID-19 on Tourism in Small Island Developing States

Pamela Coke-Hamilton, Director, Division on International Trade and Commodities, UN Conference on Trade & Development (UNCTAD)

The post Impact of COVID-19 on Tourism in Small Island Developing States appeared first on Inter Press Service.




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Global Impact of New Corona Virus and Population Issues

The new coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to wreak havoc across the world, as the number of infections and deaths rapidly rise. It has the potential to infect anybody regardless of age or gender. There are grave concerns that the economic fallout from COVID-19 may be comparable to that of the Great Depression. According to Johns Hopkins […]

The post Global Impact of New Corona Virus and Population Issues appeared first on Inter Press Service.




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Q&A: COVID-19 Means we Must Innovate Data Collection, Especially on Gender

The current coronavirus pandemic can offer insight into how to shake-up traditional methods of data collection, and might provide an opportunity to do it in more innovative ways, in turn enhancing progress towards gender equality. “Necessity is the mother of invention, and when you look at society’s crisis – whether that’s a health crisis or […]

The post Q&A: COVID-19 Means we Must Innovate Data Collection, Especially on Gender appeared first on Inter Press Service.




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COVID-19 Pandemic Vulnerable to Exploitation by Proliferators, Terrorists & Criminals

Richard Cupitt is a Senior Fellow and Director of the Partnerships in Proliferation Prevention program at Stimson. His areas of expertise include WMD nonproliferation, export controls, and foreign policy.

The post COVID-19 Pandemic Vulnerable to Exploitation by Proliferators, Terrorists & Criminals appeared first on Inter Press Service.




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Enforced Disappearances, Arbitrary Detentions, Hate Speech & Attacks on Civilians – ICC Report on Libya

The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Tuesday highlighted crimes against humanity and grave mismanagement of the law in Libya during a release of their latest report on the North African nation.  Fatou Bensouda, Chief Prosecutor of the ICC, said enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions, hate speech, and severe maltreatment of detainees remains a massive concern in […]

The post Enforced Disappearances, Arbitrary Detentions, Hate Speech & Attacks on Civilians – ICC Report on Libya appeared first on Inter Press Service.




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World’s Poor Hit by Double Jeopardy: a Deadly Virus & a Devastating Debt Burden

The world’s poorer nations, reeling under an unrelenting attack on their fragile economies by the COVID-19 pandemic, have suffered an equally deadly body blow: being buried under heavy debt burdens. Abiy Ahmed, prime minister of Ethiopia who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019, said last week that in 2019, 64 countries, nearly half […]

The post World’s Poor Hit by Double Jeopardy: a Deadly Virus & a Devastating Debt Burden appeared first on Inter Press Service.





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Religion & its Discontents: Considerations Around COVID-19 & Africa

Dr. Azza Karam is the Secretary General of Religions for Peace International and Professor of Religion and Development at the Vrije Universiteit (VU), Amsterdam; Dr. Mustafa Y. Ali is the Secretary General of the Global Network of Religions for Children (GNRC) based in Nairobi, Kenya.

The post Religion & its Discontents: Considerations Around COVID-19 & Africa appeared first on Inter Press Service.




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Former Child Bride Holds Pakistan to Account for Wrongful Imprisonment in Historic Legal Challenge

A former Pakistani child bride, who was wrongly accused of killing her husband at 13 and subsequently spent almost two decades in prison, is making history by being the first victim of a miscarriage of justice to seek compensation from the state, say legal human rights experts.   This March, Rani Tanveer, who was released in […]

The post Former Child Bride Holds Pakistan to Account for Wrongful Imprisonment in Historic Legal Challenge appeared first on Inter Press Service.




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News24.co.ke | Kenya warned against closing world's largest refugee camp

Another major aid group is warning Kenya not to close the world's largest refugee camp, saying the move is pressuring tens of thousands of Somali refugees to return to their deeply unstable country.




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News24.co.ke | 'Beyond Zero' campaign mobile clinic in Nairobi remains unused

A mobile clinic which was donated by First Lady Margaret Kenyatta remains unused causing much frustration.




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News24.co.ke | Kisii County teacher busted for impersonating KCSE pupils

A high school teacher in Kisii County was arrested on Tuesday for impersonating a 20-year old girl during a KCSE exam.




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Bill Gates, in rebuke of Trump, calls WHO funding cut 'as dangerous as it sounds'

The Microsoft co-founder said halting funding for the World Health Organisation during a world health crisis was "as dangerous as it sounds".




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Donald Trump wanted his own two-hour radio show during the pandemic

The US President said he envisioned a show running two hours a day, according to White House officials, and would do it were it not for the risk of encroaching on Rush Limbaugh, the conservative host.




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Countries rally behind WHO after Trump suspends payments

While Trump's criticism of the WHO is being shared by others, US allies disagreed with a suspension of payments.




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'Banana republic': Trump threatens to unilaterally suspend Congress

The President's remarkable threat - which came on the day US recorded its highest number of coronavirus deaths - drew immediate criticism from constitutional experts.




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US investigating whether virus came from Wuhan lab: Trump

The source of the virus remains a mystery, although the broad scientific consensus holds that SARS-CoV-2, its official name, originated in bats.




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What doctors on the front lines in New York wish they’d known a month ago

Ironclad emergency medical practices — about when to use ventilators, for example — have dissolved almost overnight.




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Ivanka Trump, disregarding federal guidelines, travelled to New Jersey for Passover

Donald Trump's eldest daughter left Washington for another one of her family's homes, even as she has publicly thanked people for self-quarantining.




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‘Eerily quiet’: Qantas pilot flies Australians home in near-empty skies

While the route is familiar, the Qantas pilot of a flight bringing Australians in the UK home said he had never seen the skies so "eerily quiet."




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Readers angered by Donald Trump's 'propaganda' briefing

The story about TV networks cutting away from the US President's press briefing generated the most online discussion with our readers this week.




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Donald Trump's three-phase plan to reopen economy to take months

Federal officials have warned that some social distancing measures may need to remain in place through to the end of the year to prevent a new outbreak.




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Trump Administration fuels rumours that virus came from China lab

Without the weight of evidence, they're trying to blame China for sickness and death from COVID-19 in the United States.




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From 'Xi's doing a great job' to 'The WHO really blew it’: Trump's coronavirus response in tweets

The US President has been able to use Twitter to shape what the public talks about in the realm of politics. He's gone into overdrive on the coronavirus pandemic.




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Trump, at war with states over lockdowns, calls on people to rise up

US President Donald Trump has urged his supporters in three states to "liberate" themselves from stay-at-home orders aimed at containing COVID-19.




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Trump's 'LIBERATE MICHIGAN!' tweets incite insurrection. That's illegal in the US

Using the current crisis to encourage a backlash against lawful and expert-recommended public health measures enjoys no protection under the US Constitution.




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Coronavirus analysis shows weight elevates risk of complications

An analysis of 15,100 patients across Britain hospitalised with COVID-19 finds carrying excess weight increases the likelihood of severe complications.




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Encouraged by Trump, protesters pressure governors over lockdown

Governors eager to rescue their economies and feeling heat from President Donald Trump are moving to ease restrictions despite warnings from experts.




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Trump-aligned states ready to reopen for business from this week

Republican governors, including in Georgia, are reopening gyms, churches, bowling alleys and hairdressers later this week despite COVID-19 cases still rising.




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'Invisible enemy': Trump to suspend immigration due to virus

President says he will be signing an executive order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States.




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Amid oil price plunge, Trump says he will add to oil reserves

Trump acknowledged that global demand for oil has plummeted. "The problem is nobody's driving a car, anywhere in the world, essentially," he said.




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Coronavirus study shows more deaths, no benefit from Trump's drug treatment suggestion

Researchers did not track side effects, but noted a hint that hydroxychloroquine might have damaged other organs, too.




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Chinese envoy takes veiled swipe at Trump for politicising coronavirus

Speaking at a webcast event, Cui Tiankai also defended the handling of the disease by China, which has drawn fire from Trump.




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Coronavirus: Ontario allows school employees to be voluntarily redeployed to congregate care

The government said hospitals, long-term care homes, retirement homes, and women's shelters are in need of staff including custodial and maintenance workers. 




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Deepika Padukone highlights importance of music, songs

The actress is in self-isolation with husband Ranveer Singh and the couple has been keeping their fans updated on social media.