FACTBOX-Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus

8/3/2020 - 2:37:44 PM

Australia's second-biggest city Melbourne entered its first day of tougher restrictions and the Philippines decided to reimpose a stricter lockdown in and around the capital, reflecting worries about getting the coronavirus pandemic under control.

Victoria's capital of Melbourne is already under a reimposed six-week stay-home order after coronavirus cases surge.

ASIA-PACIFIC

* China said 36 of its new confirmed cases were locally transmitted, including 28 in Xinjiang, while another seven were imported infections involving travellers from overseas.

* Indian Interior Minister Amit Shah has been admitted to hospital after catching the coronavirus, he said on Sunday (August 2), becoming the most senior politician in the country to test positive for the disease.

AMERICAS

* White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said on Sunday he was not optimistic on reaching agreement soon on a deal for the next round of legislation to provide relief to Americans hit hard by the pandemic.

* Honduras will extend its coronavirus curfew for another week through to Aug. 9, the security ministry said.

* Argentina broke past 200,000 COVID-19 cases on Sunday and Colombia set a daily record as grim milestones topple in Latin America, pushing the world's worst affected region towards a combined 5 million cases.

EUROPE

* Millions of COVID-19 tests able to detect the virus within 90 minutes will be rolled out to British hospitals, care homes and laboratories, the country's health minister said.

* Cyprus will introduce compulsory testing for all arrivals from Greece from Aug. 6, health authorities said.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

* Flights between Turkey and Iraq have been suspended because of rising coronavirus infections in Turkey, Iraq's Aviation Authority said.

* Kuwait has banned until further notice commercial flights to 31 countries it regards as high risk due to the spread of the coronavirus, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said on Saturday.

ECONOMIC FALLOUT

* Asian share markets turned mixed on Monday (August 3) as US lawmakers struggled to hammer out a new stimulus plan amid a global surge of new coronavirus cases, though a squeeze on crowded short positions gave the dollar a rare bounce.

* Asia's factory pain continued to ease in July with contraction slowing in big export-reliant nations, adding to hopes the region is steadily emerging from the devastating hit of the coronavirus pandemic.

* France will push for financial sanctions under the EU's EUR750 billion (US$880 billion) coronavirus recovery fund against states that undermine fundamental human rights, its junior European affairs minister told the Financial Times newspaper.

Source: NDO

Optimistic signals of the world economy

The world economy has overcome a challenging year, but has proven more resilient than expected. The Financial Times (UK) commented that 2023 was a positive year for the world economy as the economic surprise index collated by Citigroup shew that actual data have underwhelmed economists’ predictions for much of the past months. These economic trends are the basis for optimism about the world economy in 2024.

Laos announces theme, logo of ASEAN Chairmanship 2024

Laos has announced the theme and logo for its the Chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2024.

Vietnam elected Vice President of UNESCO General Conference

Vietnam was elected a Vice President of the 42nd session of the UNESCO’s General Conference, representing the Asia-Pacific, on November 8.

Safe and responsible use of AI promoted

Since the "blockbuster" ChatGPT was launched a year ago, the prospects for the development of artificial intelligence (AI), as well as concerns about the risks from this technology, have become hot topics in the technology world.

Successfully completing the training program to improve the capacity of implementing the Government’s policy in Korea

(HBO) - From September 12 - 23, in Seoul, South Korea, the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) organized a training program under the project "Supporting the Academy of Journalism and Communication to improve the the capacity of implementing the Govermmment’s policy” in phase 2 with the coordination and the coordination of Hyundai Research Institute (HRI).

KOICA fellowship programme 2023 opens in Republic of Korea

(HBO) – The Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) opened a fellowship programme in Seoul on September 13 under Phase 2 of a project that helps Vietnam’s Academy of Journalism and Communication (AJC) enhance its capacity of implementing government policies.