Covid-19: Wall Street retreats as trade war fears compound virus woes

NEW YORK, May 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — US stocks dropped on Friday as signs of deteriorating trade relations between the United States and China added to economic worries due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. The Trump administration moved to block semiconductor shipments to China’s Huawei Technologies from global chipmakers. China was…

Brexit: UK warns ‘very little progress’ made in EU trade talks

The UK said it will not extend the process beyond Dec 31 LONDON/BRUSSELS, May 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Very little progress” has been made in the latest round of UK-EU trade talks, the UK government said. The UK’s negotiator David Frost said a far-reaching free trade agreement could be agreed before…

Burning EU and other flags can now bring German 3-year jail term

Protesters burning an EU flag in Cyprus in 2013 BERLIN, May 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Germany has made public burning of the EU flag or that of another country punishable by up to three years in jail, classing it as a hate crime. The vote in the Bundestag (parliament) on Thursday…

Covid-19: Barber who defied lockdown in New York tests positive

NEW YORK, May 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A barber who defied New York’s strict coronavirus lockdown for several weeks to cut customers’ hair has tested positive for COVID-19, health officials said. The Ulster County Department of Health urged people who recently received a haircut from a barbershop on Broadway in Kingston,…

Covid-19: Mexico at ‘peak moment’ of crisis after biggest daily rise in cases

This was the first time the daily rise in new cases was more than 2,000 MEXICO CITY, May 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Mexico has reached “the peak moment” of its coronavirus outbreak, officials said, as the country recorded its largest one-day rise in cases so far. More than 2,409 new cases…

Covid-19 vaccine: Macaque monkey trial in US offers hope

Elisa Granato was the first volunteer to be injected in a human trial WASHINGTON/LONDON, May 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A vaccine against coronavirus appears to have provided protection against the disease Covid-19 in six rhesus macaque monkeys. It gives early to hope for the vaccine, which is now undergoing human clinical…

New bank notes amid Zimbabwe cash crunch

The new notes have various security features HARARE, May 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Zimbabwe’s central bank is to introduce higher bank note denominations next week as the country battles high inflation and cash shortages which have fuelled a currency black market. In a circular, the bank says the Z$10 note (worth…

Ethiopian Airlines sees crash settlement with Boeing by end-June

ADDIS ABABA, May 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Ethiopian Airlines expects a settlement with planemaker Boeing by end of June over the crash of an 737 MAX plane in March 2019, CEO Tewolde Gebremariam said. Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 bound for Kenya crashed six minutes after take-off from Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa,…

Benin set for controversial local poll despite virus

Benin gears up to hold local elections without key opposition parties COTONOU, May 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Benin gears up to hold local elections without key opposition parties Sunday as the authorities push ahead with the vote despite the coronavirus threat and calls for a delay. The West African nation of…

Covid-19: Miss Rwanda Plus-Size on her coronavirus recovery

Vivine Uwizeye KIGALI, May 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Vivine Uwizeye, also known as “Miss Vivy”, is the only coronavirus patient to have been publicly identified in Rwanda. It happened when a photo of the beauty queen on a hospital bed in critical condition went viral on social media last month. The…