The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has approved a USD 250 million loan for Bangladesh as the country grapples with the fallout of novel coronavirus or COVID-19.
Tag: Int’l relations
EU mobilising over €334mn for fight against Covid-19 in BD
Dhaka, May 21 – The European Union (EU) on Wednesday said the team Europe is mobilising over €334 million or around Tk 31 billion for the fight against Covid-19 and its consequences in Bangladesh.
BAF aircraft leaves for Maldives with 11 doctors, equipment
A C-130B transport aircraft of Bangladesh Air Force left Dhaka for Maldives on Saturday with daily essentials as souvenir and 11 Bangladeshi doctors who could not join their workplace in Maldives due to coronavirus situation.
WTO chief to step down early as global economic crisis rages
GENEVA (BSS/AFP) – The World Trade Organization chief announced Thursday he will step down on August 31, a year before his term ends, despite the COVID-19 pandemic ravaging the global economy. Roberto Azevedo said it had been a “personal decision”…
WTO DG to relinquish office before end of his term
Geneva, 14 May (D. Ravi Kanth) – The World Trade Organization director-general Roberto Azevedo is expected to inform members Thursday that he would be relinquishing charge soon before completing his term of office on 31 August 2021, said sources familiar…
Covid-19: C’wealth Health Ministers convene virtually 14 May
By William Ellis TORONTO, May 13 2020 (IPS) – The Coronovirus pandemic has been an unforgiving test of advanced economies. Health systems in the United States, France, Italy, Spain, and the UK have been put under immense pressure, with shortages…
German court decision ends treaty pretences
by John Weeks on 11th May 2020 @johnweeks41 With ‘coronabonds’ stymied, an exit from the crisis had depended on ECB monetary operations—until the German constitutional court weighed in. On May 5th the German constitutional court issued a ruling likely to…
Brexit, transition and Ireland
by Brendan Donnelly 6th May 2020 Eight months before the end of the transition period the British government seems intent upon two courses of action which will exacerbate the inevitable political and economic damage to the United Kingdom when it…
EU draft for WHA on “COVID-19 Response” lacks clarity: CSOs
Geneva, 4 May (TWN) – The European Union’s draft resolution on “COVID-19 Response” for the upcoming Seventy-third World Health Assembly (WHA) lacks clarity on the way forward with regard to shortages on access to medical products, according to civil society…
Flyover salutes US healthcare workers fighting COVID-1
The U.S. Navy Blue Angels and U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds conducted a flyover on Saturday in Washington D.C., Northern Virginia and Prince George’s County in Maryland in support of the frontline healthcare workers fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.
Coronavirus most destructive in 100 years, DU Alumni of USA
New York, May 3 – The Dhaka University Alumni Association of USA Inc. (DUAA) at a virtual conference on Saturday, May 2, discussed the coronavirus situation faced by its members in North America (USA and Canada), prayed for those members…
Bangladesh retain No.9 Test ranking as Afghans face no match
DHAKA (BSS)-Bangladesh could retain their ninth position in the latest ICC Test rankings but largely because Afghanistan is yet to play enough matches to figure on the rankings table. Afghan’s rating point at this moment is 57 while Bangladesh has…
Russian construction minister tests positive for COVID-19
Moscow, UNB/Xinhua, May 2 – Russian Minister of Construction, Housing and Utilities Vladimir Yakushev and his deputy Dmitry Volkov have tested positive for COVID-19, the TASS news agency reported on Friday, citing the press service of the ministry.
Forbidden City, parks reopen in Beijing after months
After months of closure due to the coronavirus pandemic, China on Friday reopened its parks and museums in Beijing, including the Forbidden City, to the public.
UK PM Johnson and partner announce birth of baby boy
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his partner Carrie Symonds have announced the birth of their baby. Johnson”s office says Symonds gave birth to a “healthy baby boy at a London hospital earlier this morning” and both mother and baby…
Wuhan lab director trashes COVID-19 conspiracy theory
Claims that the novel coronavirus came from China’s National Biosafety Laboratory at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) were groundless and contradict all available evidence, said its director Yuan Zhiming in a recent written interview with Reuters.
US COVID-19 Cases Top 1 Million, deaths above 57,000
The number of coronavirus cases in the United States topped the 1 million mark Tuesday even as several states began taking small steps to reopen for business. According to the count by Johns Hopkins University, 1 million is by far…
WHO and China: A case of geo-political misdirection
By Hassanal Noor Rashid WHO IS AT FAULT? The Covid-19 pandemic has been a real roller-coaster ride as far as geopolitics is concerned. Through the chaos and the barrage of information and updates on the on-going pandemic, there are still…
400 CSOs for fair benefit sharing of corona medical products
Geneva, 27 Apr (Kanaga Raja) – Nearly 400 civil society organizations (CSOs) and individuals have called for the operationalization of fair and equitable benefit sharing arising from the sharing of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) digital sequence information and…
WHO initiative for equitable access to COVID-19 tools
Austin, Texas, 27 Apr (Edward Hammond) – At a dramatic press conference on Friday (24 April) afternoon in Geneva, the World Health Organization (WHO) unveiled what it calls a “landmark collaboration” that aims for “equitable global access to innovative tools…
Protect workers both now, after lockdowns ease: ILO
The International Labour Organization (ILO) has urged governments to take action to prevent and control COVID-19 in workplace, with active involvement and dialogue with employers’ and workers’ organisations as the pressure mounts on countries to ease their lockdown restrictions
UK PM Boris Johnson to return to work Monday
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will return to work on Monday, a month after he was diagnosed with the virus.
Will Global Governance Prove Itself?
By Carl Manlan and Henri-Michel Yéré LOMÉ/BASEL – COVID-19 poses the greatest threat yet to the systems of international integration instituted during the twentieth century. As with the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, the lethality and contagiousness of the coronavirus has…
What makes a difference on COVID-19 death rate?
While governments worldwide are still racing against the clock to contain the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) within their own countries, U.S. President Donald Trump took comfort in his accusations over death toll numbers in different countries. The U.S. president said…
Chinese firm donates protective gears to Bangladesh
China Machinery Import and Export Co (CMC) has donated urgent anti-epidemic materials to Bangladesh as part of its social responsibilities during this global coronavirus pandemic. The items include 10 lakh masks, 10,000 protective suits, 10,000 goggles and 2,000 forehead thermometres.…
COVID-19 cases China’s in Hubei drop below 50 for first time
The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Hubei, the central China province hardest hit by the epidemic, dropped to below 50 Thursday for the first time, a health official said Friday.
PM places five proposals, for global partnership on COVID-19
DHAKA (BSS) – Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today called for forging a collective global partnership and greater unity to fight the coronavirus pandemic as she placed a five-point proposal that includes devising meaningful strategies. “The world is perhaps facing the…
China to donate $30 million more to WHO
China has decided to give another US$ 30 million to the World Health Organization (WHO) in support of global efforts to fight COVID-19 and the construction of public health systems in developing countries, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said here Thursday.…
Trade policy choices during and after Covid-19 pandemic
New Delhi, Apr (Ranja Sengupta) -The Covid-19 pandemic, caused by the novel coronavirus, has now unleashed its destructive force across the world and countries are reeling. There are impacts in terms of continuously increasing infections and deaths, coupled with testing,…
WHO had been warning on COVID-19 from day one, says DG
Geneva, 21 Apr (Kanaga Raja) – The World Health Organization (WHO) has been warning about the novel coronavirus (and the disease it causes in humans) from day one, and nothing had been hidden from the United States, the WHO Director-General…