France to extend its lockdown again, will run beyond April 15: Elysee
France will extend its national lockdown put in place to contain the spread of the new coronavirus for a second time, meaning it will run beyond April 15, the French presidential palace said on Wednesday.
France’s Macron ‘refuses to see WHO locked into U.S.-China war’: Elysee
French President Emmanuel Macron offered his full support to the World Health Organization (WHO) in a call with its director on Wednesday, a day after U.S. President Donald Trump criticised the international organisation.
Russia moves to ban ‘undesirable’ U.S. research group
Russia on Wednesday labeled the U.S. research and analysis institute the Jamestown Foundation an “undesirable organisation”, potentially paving the way for the group to be banned in the country.
U.N. seeks $130 million to prevent hunger catastrophe in Zimbabwe
The United Nations food agency said on Wednesday it needed $130 million to fund emergency operations in Zimbabwe until August and prevent a catastrophe in the southern African nation, as climate- and recession-induced food shortages deepened.
Dutch use ice rink for drive-in coronavirus testing
The Netherlands is ramping up testing for the new coronavirus with drive-in locations for healthcare personnel, including one site at an ice rink.
Jordan announces a 48-hour nationwide curfew starting Thursday midnight: government spokesman
Jordan announced a 48-hour sweeping nationwide curfew that would start from Thursday midnight, in a stepped-up bid to stem the spread of the coronavirus, the government spokesman said.
Top EU court orders Poland to suspend disciplinary chamber
The European Union’s top court told Poland on Wednesday to suspend a panel created to discipline judges, saying it was not independent and breached EU law.
France knife attack suspect charged with terrorism offences, murder
A man who killed two people in a knife attack in southeastern France at the weekend is a refugee from Sudan and has been charged with terrorism offences and murder, the French anti-terrorist prosecutor’s office said on Wednesday.
Cubans cast aside coronavirus fears to search for scarcer food
From the seafront capital Havana to the foothills of the Sierra Maestra mountains, Cubans are defying fear of the new coronavirus to search for food as global trade disruptions worsen shortages of basic goods on the Caribbean island.
U.S. concurs with new findings on Syria’s use of chemical weapons: Pompeo
A new report by the global chemical weapons watchdog is the latest addition to a “large and growing body of evidence” that the Syrian government uses chemical weapons against its people, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday.




