Politics

Bloomberg Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government announced an executive order to ensure the safety of medical staff after they threatened to protest against rising incidences of violence over fears doctors are spreading the deadly coronavirus. Cabinet on Wednesday amended laws to convert such violent acts into non-bailable offenses and provide compensation for injury or loss to property. Prison terms range ...

Bloomberg Spain reported a small increase in the number of new coronavirus cases, though the numbers remain steady as the country readies for at least two more weeks of lockdown. There were 4,211 new infections in the 24 hours through Wednesday, up from 3,968 on April 21 and taking the total to 208,389, according to Health Ministry data. The number ...

Bloomberg Santiago’s central square looks a little like India this week, with police and army units enforcing a tight lockdown — no one moves without a permit. Down the street, it feels more like Sweden with its soft approach to the pandemic — the produce market there is thronged with shoppers and many stores are open. Chile, South America’s richest ...

Bloomberg Ethiopia, already battling Covid-19, is at high risk of a second scourge after yellow fever was reported in the south of the nation, the World Health Organization (WHO) said. The first two cases were reported on March 3 in the SNNP Region and had risen to six by April 6, the WHO said in an emailed statement. “The high ...

Bloomberg Mystery surrounded Kim Jong-un’s health after US and South Korean officials gave differing accounts of the North Korean leader’s condition following his unusual absence from recent holiday celebrations. Kim was in critical condition after undergoing cardiovascular surgery last week and the Trump administration wasn’t sure of his current health, said US officials, who asked not to be identified. One ...

Bloomberg Italy will present a plan this week to ease its rigid lockdown, joining Germany, France and Austria in pursuing a gradual return to normality as coronavirus infection rates fall and pressure mounts to reopen businesses. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte aims to roll out a detailed restart program beginning on May 4, indicating that the process will take time to ...

Bloomberg President Donald Trump said he’ll sign an executive order temporarily suspending immigration into the US as the country tries to contain the spread of the coronavirus. Trump made the announcement by tweet, and did not offer specifics, such as the time frame or the scope of who would be affected. The White House did not immediately respond to a ...

Bloomberg The threat of social and political unrest around the world is rising as the coronavirus crisis fuels discontent amid food shortages, job losses and lockdowns. That may particularly impact nations that are already battling food crises, according to a report from 16 organisations including United Nations agencies and the European Union. The number of people facing acute food insecurity ...

Bloomberg As many as 15,000 people in Mumbai, including many in Dharavi, Asia’s most crowded slum, will be given an anti-malarial drug as a preventive therapy to ward off the deadly coronavirus. The first-of-its-kind mass experiment of using hydroxychloroquine as a prophylaxis is being undertaken in the state of Maharashtra — home to India’s financial centre that’s racing to curb ...

Bloomberg A top Wuhan laboratory official has denied any role in spreading the new coronavirus, in the most high profile response from a facility at the center of months of speculation about how the previously unknown animal disease made the leap to humans. Yuan Zhiming, director of the Wuhan National Biosafety Laboratory, hit back at those promoting theories that the ...