World Bank moving forward on first $1.7 billion in pandemic aid projects
The World Bank’s executive board is expected to consider later this week the first fast-track funds to help Afghanistan and Ethiopia respond to the coronavirus pandemic, the Bank’s president said on Sunday.
Bogota prison riot over coronavirus kills nearly two dozen
A prison riot in Colombia’s capital Bogota late on Saturday left 23 prisoners dead and 83 injured, the justice minister said on Sunday, as detainees protested sanitary conditions amid the global outbreak of coronavirus.
Italy bans internal travel as a further 651 die from coronavirus
Italy banned travel within the country on Sunday in yet another attempt to slow the spread of the coronavirus, as data showed a further 651 people had died from the disease, lifting the number of fatalities to 5,476.
Egypt’s coronavirus cases rise by 33 to 327, four new deaths
Egypt has recorded 33 new coronavirus cases, the health ministry said on Sunday, raising its total number to 327.
Taliban-Afghan government Skype call breathes life into peace process
The Taliban and the Afghan government held a “virtual” meeting on prisoner releases on Sunday, officials said, offering some hope of a breakthrough on a matter that has deadlocked the two sides and threatened a nascent peace process.
Algeria to import pharmaceutical products worth $100 million for coronavirus
Algeria will allocate $100 million to import pharmaceutical products and equipment to fight the coronavirus outbreak, the government said on Sunday.
Syria confirms first coronavirus case
Syria on Sunday confirmed its first case of coronavirus, in a person who had come from abroad.
Turkey’s coronavirus death toll up nine to 30 as 289 new cases diagnosed – health minister
Turkey’s death toll from coronavirus increased by nine to 30 on Sunday as the number of confirmed cases rose by 289 to 1,256, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said.
‘We are at war’ says Spain of its coronavirus efforts, seeking extended state of emergency
The Spanish government sought to extend until April 11 a state of emergency that it has imposed to try to control Europe’s second-worst outbreak of coronavirus while some regions on Sunday asked for harsher confinement measures to combat the pandemic.
Coronavirus supplies donated by Alibaba’s Ma arrive in Africa
A first planeload of protective and medical equipment donated to Africa by Chinese billionaire and Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma to help it fight the coronavirus arrived in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on Sunday.
