Brazil to deploy army to fight Amazon deforestation, wildfires

RIO DE JANEIRO, May 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro authorized the army to fight Amazon wildfires and deforestation, amid warnings the world’s biggest rainforest is disappearing even faster than during record devastation last year. The far-right leader has faced criticism on the world stage for record-breaking wildfires in…

Covid-19: Thousands of migrants stranded worldwide by pandemic – UN

GENEVA, May 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Many thousands of migrants have been left stranded by the coronavirus pandemic, unable to move due to lockdowns and border closures around the globe, the United Nations said. The UN’s International Organization for Migration said in southeast Asia,east Africa and Latin America, many were attempting…

Covid-19: Domestic violence surges in locked down Europe – WHO

COPENHAGEN, May 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Emergency services across Europe have seen a sharp rise in domestic abuse calls under sweeping coronavirus lockdowns imposed across the continent, the World Health Organization said. Billions of people are subject to some form of stay-at-home orders acrossthe globe, and experts say women and children…

Covid-19: US April employment to see largest collapse in history

WASHINGTON, May 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — With shops and factories closed nationwide due to COVID-19, nearly all of the jobs created in the US economy in the last decade have been wiped out in a single month. That shocking job losses figure, along with a historic surge in the unemployment rate,…

China, US commit to implement trade deal despite virus row: official

BEIJING, May 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Chinese and US trade representatives agreed to “create favourable conditions” for the phase one trade deal signed in January, Beijing officials said, despite recent tensions over the coronavirus pandemic. China’s Vice Premier Liu He, who had led Beijing’s negotiations, held a call on Friday morning…

North Korea lashes South for holding military drills as Kim praises China’s Xi

PYONGYANG, May 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — North Korea condemned the South for holding military drills, saying the situation was returning to before the diplomatic rapprochement of 2018, as leader Kim Jong Un — whose health was the subject of intense speculation in recent weeks — reached out to traditional ally Beijing.…

Covid-19: US deaths rise by 2,448 in 24 hours while Asia’s death toll passes 10,000

WASHINGTON, May 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United States recorded 2,448 coronavirus deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 75,543, according to the latest real-time tally reported by Johns Hopkins University. The country — hardest hit by the pandemic in terms of the number of fatalities — has…

Covid-19: Bangladesh reports 13 more deaths, 706 fresh positive cases

DHAKA, May 8 (NNN-BSS) — Bangladesh reported 13 more deaths fromthe novel coronavirus (COVID-19) overnight and recorded 706 fresh positivecases. “Thirteen more COVID-19 patients died in the last 24 hours, increasing thedeath count from the pandemic to 199,” DGHS Additional Director General(administration) Prof Nasima Sultana told a virtual media briefing…

Covid-19: Air France-KLM reports €815 million first-quarter operating loss

PARIS, May 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Two weeks of Coronavirus shutdown were enough to hit Air France-KLM with an 815 million-euro ($880 million) first-quarter operating loss, the airline group said – predicting demand could take “several years” to recover.In the month of March there was an “abrupt plunge in revenue that will obviously…

Israel signs deal to lease drones to Greece for border defence

An assembly line of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle JERUSALEM, May 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Israel said it will lease drones to Greece to defend its borders, in the first military deal between the two countries which includes an option to buy the system.The Israeli Defence Ministry said that the agreement with the…