Author: News Desk

Six months after the World Health Organization learned of “viral pneumonia” cases that would become the COVID-19 pandemic, life in Wuhan, the city where it emerged, is returning to normal, although masks remain ubiquitous and emotional scars linger. A city of 11 million, Wuhan was locked down for two months starting in late January in a draconian measure that helped stamp out the virus at its initial epicentre. Hubei province and its capital city Wuhan accounted for most of China’s 83,531 new coronavirus cases and 4,634 deaths. “As time goes on, the epidemic situation is slowly getting better and the…

Egypt’s Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources said on Tuesday a gold deposit with estimated resources of 1 million ounces had been discovered in the southeast of the country. The deposit lies in the concession area of the military-controlled Shalateen Mining Company in the Eastern Desert’s Iqaat area, it said in a statement. More than $1 billion is expected to be invested to develop the deposit over the next 10 years, the statement said, without giving details on the methodology used to determine the deposit’s size. Egypt has been seeking to attract investors to its mining sector and in March…

The coronavirus lockdown persuaded retired speech therapist Anne-Marie Arnaud a better future could be had, one with emptier skies, fresher air and quieter streets rid of diesel-belching cars. And so the pensioner from Lyon switched her vote in last Sunday’s municipal election, among the first worldwide to be held after countries began emerging from lockdown, in favour of the Green party. The results, which saw the Greens take control of or become an alliance partner in no fewer than 11 city halls, may point to a broader shift in voting patterns as governments, companies, and citizens adjust to the COVID-19…

Kuwait has reported 671 new coronavirus cases, of which 435 are citizens, taking the total confirmed cases in the country to 46,195, according to the Ministry of Health. 4 patients died of the coronavirus in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of deaths to 354. 717 new recoveries have been reported in the country, raising the total recoveries to 37,030. Kuwait has done 4,045 NP swab tests in the past 24 hours, as the country ramps up its efforts to test more people and detect cases early, according to the health ministry. So far, the country has conducted…

UAE records 421 cases, and 1 fatality from coronavirus in the past 24 hours, taking the total cases in the country to 48,667, according to the Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP). The new death takes the total fatalities to 315. 490 new recoveries were also announced, bringing the total recoveries to 37,566. This means over 77 percent of the confirmed cases have fully recovered from the virus. ♦ Abu Dhabi to open for those with negative COVID-19 results ♦ Mosques to reopen with 30 percent limit on worshippers The new cases were found after conducting more than 63,000 coronavirus tests across the…

An Indian ban on dozens of Chinese apps following a border clash between the two nations has possibly derailed a $1 billion India expansion plan of China’s ByteDance, while also sparking an uproar from users of its popular TikTok video app. TikTok was removed from Google and Apple app stores in India after New Delhi said on Monday night it was among the 59 apps which it believed posed a “threat to sovereignty and integrity”. The government order didn’t name China, or cite the border clashes. App analytics firm Sensor Tower said all the 59 apps named were of Chinese…

Several Indian cities prepared to extend their lockdowns to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus on Tuesday, as daily cases in the country remained close to 20,000. India reported 18,522 new cases over the previous 24 hours, according to federal health data released on Tuesday, down slightly from Sunday’s record of 19,906. With more than 550,000 total infections, India lags only the United States, Brazil and Russia in total cases. More than 16,000 people have died in India – a low figure when compared with countries with similar numbers of cases – though experts fear its hospitals will be…

Oman has registered 7 deaths and 1,010 new cases of coronavirus, most of the new cases are from citizens by 776 and the rest 234 from foreigners, taking the total cases to 40,070. The death toll reached 176 after reporting the new deaths. Most of the dead are elderly people. Meanwhile, 1,003 new recoveries were announced, bringing the total to 23,425. 3,121 tests were conducted in the past 24 hours, across the sultanate. https://twitter.com/OmaniMOH/status/1277890362527363077?s=20

Bahrain has announced two more deaths from coronavirus, a female citizen aged 34 and a male expatriate aged 57. So far the total has reached up to 86. The MOH expressed its condolences to the family of the deceased. ♦ About half of the population tested, confirms Jameela Al-Salman ♦ Bahrain gives utmost safety for health workers ♦ Making the COVID-19 cases zero is not a miracle, but an achievement: Al-Qahtani The total cases have driven to 26,239 of which 20,928 have recovered, which means that over 79 percent of the confirmed cases have recovered from the virus. Currently, there are 5,225 active cases. Also,…

China said on Tuesday it was concerned about India’s decision to ban Chinese mobile apps such as Bytedance’s TikTok and Tencent’s WeChat and was making checks to verify the situation. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters during a daily briefing that India has a responsibility to uphold the rights of Chinese businesses. India on Monday banned 59 mobile apps in its strongest move yet targeting China in the online space since a border crisis erupted between the two countries this month. A statement by the information technology ministry said a decision had been taken to block 59 applications…