International

• Wednesday, April 15th 2020 - 10:04 UTC

  US will hold nations and individuals responsible for the pandemics accountable, announces Pompeo

  

  The United States is seeking to “fundamentally change” the World Health Organization, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Tuesday after Washington decided to withhold contributions during the coronavirus pandemic. The United States is the top donor to the WHO, offering US$400 million last year.

• Wednesday, April 15th 2020 - 10:02 UTC

  IMF approves immediate debt relief for 25 of the poorest country members

  

  IMF Managing Director Ms. Kristalina Georgieva announced that the Executive Board approved immediate debt service relief to 25 of the IMF’s member countries under the IMF’s revamped Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust (CCRT) as part of the Fund’s response to help address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Wednesday, April 15th 2020 - 09:40 UTC

  Morrisons supermarkets gives NHS workers a 10% discount support

  

  Morrisons, Britain's fourth-biggest supermarket group, said it is giving National Health Service (NHS) workers a 10% discount to support them through the coronavirus crisis. It is the first of Britain's 'Big Four' to give a monetary discount to 1.5 million NHS workers, who have already been offered priority shopping hours by market leader Tesco, Sainsbury's, Walmart owned Asda and Morrisons.

• Wednesday, April 15th 2020 - 09:37 UTC

  South Korea “breaks” lockdown and goes to the polls for parliamentary election

  

  Temperature checks on voters, separate booths for those with fever, special polling stations for the quarantined: South Koreans headed to the polls on Wednesday with a big turnout expected despite the coronavirus threat.

• Wednesday, April 15th 2020 - 09:31 UTC

  Trump halts funding of WHO over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic

  

  U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday halted funding to the World Health Organization over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic, drawing condemnation from infectious disease experts as the global death toll continued to mount.

• Tuesday, April 14th 2020 - 08:20 UTC

  “UK not past the virus peak”, so no lifting of lockdown anytime soon, Raab

  

  The British government warned on Monday it would not be lifting a nationwide lockdown anytime soon as the country remains in the grip of a coronavirus outbreak that has claimed more than 11,000 lives.

• Tuesday, April 14th 2020 - 07:59 UTC

  Macron extends lockdown to curb coronavirus until May 11

  

  French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday announced he was extending a lockdown to curb the coronavirus outbreak until May 11, adding that progress had been made but the battle not yet won.

• Tuesday, April 14th 2020 - 07:51 UTC

  Hopkins University reports over two million coronavirus confirmed cases and 120.000 deaths

  

  The number of coronavirus cases globally spiked to two million on Monday evening. According to Johns Hopkins University, which has been keeping a tally of the number of coronavirus cases around the world, the number of confirmed cases jumped to 2,019,320

• Tuesday, April 14th 2020 - 07:48 UTC

  Exxon raises US$ 9,5bn to bolster its finances; shares have lost 38%

  

  Exxon Mobil Corp on Monday raised US$ 9.5 billion in new debt, with the largest U.S. oil producer seeking to bolster its finances while debt markets remain open to new deals.

• Tuesday, April 14th 2020 - 07:19 UTC

  Ex Argentine scrum-half on campaign to become World Rugby chairman

  

  Former Argentina scrum-half Agustin Pichot has launched his campaign to become chairman of World Rugby. Pichot has drawn up a six-point plan to force change in the world of rugby - with one part, in particular, catching the eye of many.