Blogroll

Ever since the novel coronavirus reached Cuba, a tall cardboard box with arms and legs can be seen tottering around a Havana suburb, popping into the bakery or butchers, or browsing the newspaper stand.

Russia on Thursday lifted a ban on the Telegram messaging app that had failed to stop the widely-used programme operating despite being in force for more than two years.

Sweden's hopes of getting help from herd immunity in combating the coronavirus received a fresh blow on Thursday, when a new study showed fewer than anticipated had developed antibodies.

The European Union said on Thursday it could impose taxes on digital giants such as Google , Amazon and Facebook even without a global agreement by the year-end, after Washington quit talks and stoked fears of a new trade war.

Germany wants to rescue talks with the United States on how to tax big digital firms such as Google , Amazon and Facebook , the finance ministry said on Thursday after Washington pulled out of the negotiations.

Failure to work towards an international deal on taxing big digital companies could trigger a dangerous trade war, the OECD said on Thursday, urging countries to remain engaged in talks after Washington announced it was pulling out of them for now.

The World Health Organization hopes hundreds of millions of doses of coronavirus vaccine can be produced this year and 2 billion doses by the end of 2021, chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan said on Thursday.

Medtronic said on Thursday it had partnered with Foxconn to boost production of its ventilators to 10,000 over the next year amid surging demand as the respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus overwhelms hospitals.

Russia said on Thursday it was already preparing for a new wave of the coronavirus pandemic in the autumn, after officials reported their lowest daily rise in new infections since May 1.

Pfizer Inc and Sangamo Therapeutics Inc said on Thursday their gene therapy helped maintain levels of a vital protein for up to 14 months in patients with a rare genetic disorder in which blood does not clot easily.

Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) will buy a 2.32% stake in Reliance Industries' digital unit Jio Platforms for 113.67 billion rupees ($1.49 billion), the Indian conglomerate said on Thursday.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson discussed the need for an independent investigation into the origins of the coronavirus outbreak with his Australian counterpart, Downing Street said on Thursday.

China has found the trading sections for meat and seafood in Beijing's wholesale food market to be severely contaminated with the new coronavirus and suspects the area's low temperature and high humidity may have been contributing factors, officials said on Thursday.

China's capital has mandated coronavirus tests for hundreds of thousands of people as it widens measures against a new outbreak of the disease that has sent anxious residents flooding to clinics for voluntary tests, putting a strain on the system.

China's capital cancelled scores of flights, shut schools and blocked off some neighbourhoods as it ramped up efforts to contain a coronavirus outbreak that has fanned fears of wider contagion.

Thailand's central bank unveiled on Thursday plans to build a prototype of a payment system for businesses using central bank digital currency (CBDC), or traditional money but in digital form being developed by monetary authorities around the world.

Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund will invest 113.67 billion rupees ($1.49 billion) in Reliance Industries Ltd's Jio Platforms, the Indian oil-to-telecoms conglomerate said on Thursday.

Economy Minister Roberto Gualtieri said on Thursday Italy was still committed to a shared global deal on a tax on digital services, after the United States decided to quit global talks on how to tax sector giants.

Roche's rheumatoid arthritis drug Actemra failed to help patients with early-stage COVID-19 pneumonia in an Italian study, the latest instance in which an anti-inflammatory drug has fallen through in a coronavirus trial.

Russia has revised steeply higher, to nearly 500, the number of medical workers who have died after contracting COVID-19, illustrating the severe toll the pandemic has taken on its frontline doctors and nurses.