FAO's forecast for 2020 world wheat production remains unchanged in March from the previous month, at the near-record level of last year, which, coupled with ample inventories, will help shield food markets from turmoil during the coronavirus storm.
World food prices declined sharply in March, driven mostly by demand-side contractions linked to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the drop in global oil prices due mostly to expectations of economic slowdown as governments roll out restrictions designed to respond to the health crisis.
The European Union's competition chief told the Financial Times that member countries should buy stakes in companies to counter the threat of Chinese takeovers, with her comments coming as the EU formulates plans to protect its businesses amid the coronavirus outbreak.
Pope Francis prayed for tens of thousands of COVID-19 victims in an unprecedented live-stream Easter Sunday message delivered from a hauntingly empty Vatican to a world under lockdown.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson left the hospital on Sunday and thanked the staff for saving his life from COVID-19, but his government was forced to defend its response to the coronavirus outbreak as the national death toll passed 10,000.
Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa on Sunday expressed his thanks to a Portuguese nurse who had tended to coronavirus-stricken British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in intensive care, according to a statement by the presidency.
With a large improvised banner reading “Gracias Uruguay” (Thank you Uruguay) on starboard the COVID-19 infected “Greg Mortimer” finally docked in the port of Montevideo on Friday and at 22:00 Uruguay hour started the medical evacuation of over a hundred cruisers from Australia and New Zealand who are to be charter flown to Melbourne, and expected to arrive on Easter Sunday.
President Xi Jinping said China is ready to continue sharing COVID-19 prevention and control experience with Argentina and offering assistance within its capacity. Xi made the remarks in a recent exchange of messages with Argentina's President Alberto Fernandez.
More than 60 U.N. agencies and international organizations urged governments on Thursday to take immediate steps to address the unfolding global recession and financial crisis wrought by the coronavirus pandemic, especially in the world’s poorest countries.
The International Monetary Fund sees the world economy suffering its worst recession since the Great Depression this year, with emerging markets and low-income nations in Africa, Latin America and Asia at particularly high risk.