Blogroll

U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday extended for another year an executive order signed in May 2019 declaring a national emergency and barring U.S. companies from using telecommunications equipment made by firms posing a national security risk.

Love led a young Swiss doctor to emigrate to South Africa, his wife's home country. Years later, love for his disabled child brought him back to Switzerland.

Deaths from the COVID-19 epidemic in Italy climbed by 195 on Wednesday, against 172 the day before, the Civil Protection Agency said, but the daily tally of new cases fell to 888 from 1,402 on Tuesday.

Italian diagnostics group DiaSorin received on Tuesday approval from Canadian authorities to sell its COVID-19 antibody tests but will not supply its testing kits to the Italian government, Chief Executive Carlo Rosa said on Wednesday.

U.S. health officials said on Wednesday they will issue an alert telling doctors to report cases of a rare life-threatening inflammatory syndrome associated with COVID-19 in children to their state and local health departments.

Bristol Myers Squibb Co said on Wednesday it planned to resubmit its application for an experimental multiple myeloma therapy by the end of July after the U.S. drug regulator declined to review the treatment as it sought more information.

The World Health Organization said on Tuesday that some treatments appear to be limiting the severity or length of the COVID-19 disease, referring to the results of early studies of four or five treatments.

A candidate drug for treating the new coronavirus, favipiravir, has produced promising results in early clinical trials in Russia, according to the Russian Direct Investment Fund, which provided 150 million roubles ($2 million) in funding for the project.

As the spread of the new coronavirus in Canada slows, the western province of Alberta has rolled out a digital-tracing tool to monitor outbreaks as quarantine restrictions ease. The hard part is convincing people to use it.

(This May 12 story corrects Chinese name of lab to Huo-Yan, not Huo-Yun)

Amazon.com Inc on Wednesday launched three new versions of its Fire tablets with more storage and faster performance.

Russia on Wednesday reported 10,028 new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, pushing its nationwide tally to 242,271.

Alphabet Inc-owned Google's planned $2.1 billion buy of fitness trackers company Fitbit may harm consumers and hinder innovation, European consumer group BEUC said on Wednesday, calling it a game-changer deal in the health and digital markets.

Lesotho recorded its first case of COVID-19 on Wednesday, the health ministry said, becoming the last country in Africa to be afflicted by the virus.

Beijing resident Wang Yukun was happy to comply in April when the construction firm he works for told him he'd need to take a test for the novel coronavirus before he could come back to work, even though he was at low risk of having the disease.

PT Freeport Indonesia, operator of the world's second-biggest copper mine, is to conduct "extensive testing" among its employees after coronavirus cases in the area where the mine operates topped 100.

Yemen's Saudi-backed government reported the first coronavirus case in Marib province and four other infections elsewhere, taking the tally of cases in areas under its control to 70, including 12 deaths.

Russia on Wednesday suspended the use of some Russian-made medical ventilators after two fatal hospital fires reported to involve the machines, a setback in its fight against the novel coronavirus.

The European Commission is weighing using a $2.6 billion emergency fund to boost pharmaceutical labs' capacity, fearing that even if a COVID-19 vaccine is developed the EU may not be able to produce enough shots, a document seen by Reuters shows.

The European Commission urged EU governments on Wednesday to use COVID-19 contact tracing apps on a voluntary basis as part of efforts to lift border restrictions and revive the European Union's tourism and travel industries.