Covid-19: China bars foreign visitors as imported cases rise

BEIJING, March 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — China has announced a temporary ban on all foreign visitors, even if they have visas or residence permits. The country is also limiting Chinese and foreign airlines to one flight per week, and flights must not be more than 75% full. Although China reported its…

Covid-19: Tanzania president says virus ‘won’t stop October elections’

President John Magufuli says people must continue to work despite the coronavirus threat DAR ES SALAAM, March 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Tanzanian President John Magufuli has said the general elections planned for October, in which he is expected to seek re-election, will go on despite the coronavirus outbreak. He said there…

Xi tells Trump China and US must ‘unite to fight virus’

BEIJING, March 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — China and the United States should “unite to fight” the deadly coronavirus pandemic that has ravaged the globe, said President Xi Jinping in a call with his US counterpart on Friday, according to state media. The two countries have clashed in recent weeks over the…

Covid-19: Sweden and Denmark, the neighbours at opposite ends of the coronavirus fight

MALMO/COPENHAGEN, March 27 (NNN-Agencies) — Only an 8-kilometre bridge separates neighbours Sweden and Denmark, but while the streets of the Danish capital Copenhagen lie deserted, life in Swedish city Malmo rumbles on as the countries adopt starkly different approaches in fighting the coronavirus outbreak. Denmark has restricted public assembly to…

Covid-19: EU marks 25th anniversary of open-border Schengen pact with closed frontiers

A lorry traffic jam near the German-Polish border in Frankfurt/Oder during the spread of COVID-19 in Germany BRUSSELS, March 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The European Union marked the 25th anniversary of its open-border Schengen agreement on Thursday with all its land borders shut or subject to heavy checks imposed in an…

Covid-19: Fearing coronavirus, African city dwellers flee to the countryside

Passengers are seen at taxi station NAIROBI/JOHANNESBURG, March 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Each morning at a crowded bus station east of Nairobi, Kenyans load their bags on to minibuses emblazoned with the faces of pop stars and Jesus, heading to their villages in the hope of escaping the coronavirus. “I am…

Venezuela blasts US Maduro indictment as ‘coup’

CARACAS/WASHINGTON, March 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Venezuela’s foreign minister accused Washington of a coup attempt Thursday after the US Justice Department indicted President Nicolas Maduro for “narco-terrorism.” Jorge Arreaza charged that President Donald Trump was “once more attacking the Venezuelan people and its democratic institutions, using a new form of coup d’etat…

Covid-19: Singapore may jail people who stand close intentionally

SINGAPORE, March 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Singaporeans could be jailed for up to six months if they intentionally stand close to someone else, under tough new rules announced Friday to halt the spread of the coronavirus. The city-state has introduced a series of new measures to tackle the virus, including closing…

Covid-19: France reports 365 more deaths, including 16-year-old

PARIS, March 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — France on Thursday reported that 365 people, including a 16-year-old girl, had died from the coronavirus over the last 24 hours, the country’s highest daily toll. Top French health official Jerome Salomon told reporters that a total of 1,696 people had died in hospital in…

Update: Pres Trump proposes dividing US by risk levels as it tops world in coronavirus cases

WASHINGTON, March 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — President Donald Trump, keen for an early lifting of economically costly social distancing measures against the coronavirus, said he would propose dividing the United States by risk levels. In a letter to state governors released by the White House, Trump said that better testing now…