The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) rushed to defend his agency’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic after President Donald Trump threatened to cut U.S. funding to them. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus appealed for unity and a halt to “politicization” of the global health crisis, saying China and the United States should show “honest leadership.”
The World Health Organization said Tuesday it had received assurances from North Korea that it continues testing for the new coronavirus and has more than 500 people in quarantine. The leadership of North Korea, one of the world’s most repressive states, has so far claimed there are no confirmed cases of the virus, known as COVID-19.
China has been appointed to a panel on the controversial U.N. Human Rights Council, where it will help vet candidates for important posts — despite its decades-long record of systematic human rights abuse that the U.S. has said fueled the coronavirus pandemic.
Christians in China have reported ongoing harassment from government authorities during the coronavirus crisis. China is ranked as one of the world’s worst countries in the persecution of Christians, according to the Open Doors USA’s World Watch List.
Global coronavirus cases surpassed 1 million on Thursday with more than 52,000 deaths as the pandemic further exploded in the United States and the death toll climbed in Spain and Italy, according to a Reuters tally of official data.
With roughly half the world in lockdown and many politicians weak or ill, the largest Dutch daily concludes in a headline: “World searching for LEADER.” De Telegraaf (The Telegraph) also expresses that “Nobody takes the lead in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.” Its commentator, Frank van Vliet, complained: “While the world is on fire, international politicians are running in one direction to put out their fire. No leader has taken the lead, and solidarity is lacking. They did not read author Alexander Dumas’ Three Musketeers because “one for all and all for one” has been replaced by “own people first.”
A Christian watchdog group in the UK published a new report this week on the erosion of religious freedom in China under President Xi Jinping, whose ‘sinicization’ campaign has set out to absorb faith into the Chinese socialist system.
A New York Times op-ed published Friday is casting blame on the evangelical movement for the Wuhan coronavirus plaguing the nation.
Israeli pharmaceutical company Teva is donating to US hospitals over 6 million doses of hydroxychloroquine sulfate, a medicine that may cure patients of COVID-19. Already approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treating malaria, lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis, the drug raised hopes after a study in France found it had killed the virus in 26 patients.
The global tally of coronavirus infections reached more than half a million people on Thursday after a spike in cases reported in Italy.
American companies that produce essential goods in China should plan to shift their operations back to the United States or other Western countries, according to a senior Republican lawmaker.
Global giant India joined the countries ordering their citizens to stay at home Tuesday, putting a third of the world on lockdown as the coronavirus epidemic forced Japan to postpone the Olympics.
China is using the widespread coronavirus outbreak within its borders as an opportunity to attack Christian faith, with the communist government demolishing churches or removing their crosses over the month of March.
The ongoing spread of the coronavirus has spurred government agencies to warn its citizenry against the use of paper currency and coins. Meanwhile, Central Banks around the world are considering the use of cryptocurrency in the future.
The number of people to have died from coronavirus in Italy has now surpassed that of China, where the disease originated, according to figures released Thursday.
China has called for using electromagnetic attacks on U.S. warships transiting the South China Sea, according to a state-run Chinese outlet.
Early trials have shown that a Japanese flu drug is effective in treating the coronavirus, according to reports on Wednesday.
China is revoking the press credentials of three major US media organizations, in a move that has been censured by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as a further step toward secrecy by the communist administration of Xi Jinping.
The U.S. Supreme Court announced Monday it is postponing scheduled oral arguments through the month of March.
The White House Monday issued new COVID-19 guidelines for Americans to follow over a crucial 15-days period, as President Donald Trump said that ongoing efforts to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus could continue on until the middle of summer or even longer.