News headlines in April 2020, page 7

NEW DELHI, Apr 14 (IPS) - On March 12, the first email came in. An email from a boutique hotel that said they needed to postpone their apron order. The hotel had decided to put a hold on all non-essential spending until everything was, according to them, back to normal.

SYDNEY and KUALA LUMPUR, Apr 14 (IPS) - Vietnam, just south of coastal China, is the 15th most populous country in the world with 97 million people.According to its Ministry of Health (MoH), as of 13 April, there were 262 confirmed cases of COVID-19with 144 recovering or discharged from hospitals, and no deaths.

UNITED NATIONS, Apr 13 (IPS) - Growing up in Ramallah in Palestine, Maher Nasser, Director of Outreach Division at the United Nations Department of Global Communications, never really liked running. "I only ran when I needed to: to catch a bus or to run from soldiers," he tells IPS. But now with three marathons under his belt -- which raised thousands for scholarships for Palestinian women's education -- Nasser is still running, albeit on his balcony.

Apr 13 (IPS) - In the second week of March the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic. By mid-March the disease had spread rapidly in many countries around the world.

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, Apr 13 (IPS) - In recent days we have seen the understandable decision reached to postpone the UN climate change conference – COP26 – which was due to take place this November. As the world reels from the widespread impacts of the coronavirus crisis, it is the right call.

OAXACA, Mexico, Apr 10 (IPS) - Rosa Manzano carefully arranges pieces of wood in a big mud igloo that, seven days after it is full, will produce charcoal of high caloric content.

BARCELONA, Apr 10 (IPS) - We have long speculated on the moment when the shift of global leadership from the United States to China would take place. From Washington to Beijing for the political power, from New York to Shanghai for the economic one. It seems that we are witnessing it now.

NEW DELHI, Apr 10 (IPS) - In addition to healthcare professionals, there is another group of people at the frontlines of the global crisis caused by COVID-19. They put their lives at risk every day and play a critical role in preventing the spread of the virus, by ensuring our streets, parks, public spaces, sewers, septic tanks, communities, and public toilets are kept clean and hygienic.

Apr 10 (IPS) - The World Health Organisation (WHO), in its quest to find efficacious therapies to treat COVID-19, plans to conduct a multi-arm, multi-country clinical trial. The trials have yet to begin, but ten countries have already signed up. Only one of them, South Africa, is on the African continent.

YORK, United Kingdom, Apr 10 (IPS) - In 1991, the share of seats held by women in the Ethiopian parliament was under 3 percent. Today it stands at 38 percent, almost twice the ratio of women in the United States Congress. Experts say when women are better represented in government office, the gains are likely to spill down and improve the lives of all women.