Although China is claiming success in its battle against the coronavirus, millions have lost their jobs in the economic fallout, throwing into jeopardy an ambitious target to eradicate poverty this year.
Beijing has been working to fire up the economy again after bringing it to a near standstill to curb the spread of COVID-19, but many firms have had a bumpy restart and workers are bearing the brunt of the pain.
Despite being a country of skyscrapers and high-tech innovations, China still has millions of people on meagre incomes.
About 5.5 million rural Chinese live in poverty, defined by the government as surviving on less than 2,300 yuan ($326) a year.
A slowing economy puts pressure on a key Communist Party goal to become a "moderately prosperous society" by the end of 2020, an ambition in place long before the virus emerged.
It also threatens a long-held tacit agreement between people and party that freedoms can be sacrificed in return for economic progress, an understanding that .

Rising unemployment from virus fight threatens China's poverty targets

PTI Automatic

A handful of priests celebrated Easter on Sunday at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, built on the site where Christians believe Jesus was crucified and resurrected.
In the heart of Jerusalem's Old City, the church -- which had not been closed over Easter for at least a century -- has been shuttered to worshippers along with all cultural sites in the Holy Land to curb the spread of the COVID-19 respiratory disease.
"Easter is a time for life," said Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, apostolic administrator of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, who arrived at the church under the watchful eye of Israeli security forces.
"Despite the signs of death everywhere, life will prevail as long as someone is giving life out of love for others," he added, before entering the church.
A few faithful had gathered at the church's inner courtyard, including one man in an immaculate white gown who had prayed in front of the closed door.
The Sepulchre is considered the holiest site in Christianity, and .

Muted Easter Sunday at Jerusalem's Church of Holy Sepulchre

Chinese representatives tried to influence German government officials to give positive comments about Beijing's management of the coronavirus outbreak, Germany's Die Welt newspaper reported Sunday.
The virus first emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December and Beijing has been criticised by some -- most notably US President Donald Trump -- over its initial handling of the crisis.
Senior officials and staff at German government ministries were invited "to speak in positive terms about China's management of the coronavirus," Die Welt said, citing a confidential foreign ministry document.
The foreign ministry recommended that all German governmental departments reject such approaches, the newspaper added. The ministry has declined to confirm or deny the report.
However a German intelligence source told Die Welt that "Chinese officials are pursuing an intensified information and propaganda policy with regard to the coronavirus".
Beijing has sought to counter the narrative that the .

China chasing coronavirus praise from Germany: report

A small van zips through the streets of Casablanca to deliver food to single mothers, as economic paralysis caused by the coronavirus crisis puts pressure on Morocco's poor.
"We have to be quick," says Bouchra, a coordinator from NGO INSAF who is supervising the day's rounds.
The lockdown to curb the spread of the COVID-19 disease, and a lack of work and money, are creating tensions in the working-class neighbourhoods of the country's economic capital.
Each year, INSAF helps over 500 young women who have fallen pregnant out of wedlock -- viewed as a "sin" by a society marked by religious conservatism.
The organisation usually supports the mothers with medical and psychological assistance, tries to mediate between them and their families and helps find jobs for the pregnant women.
But that all changed when the coronavirus pandemic struck, with the first distress calls arriving some 15 days after the government declared a health emergency around mid-March.
"The epidemic touches ...

Morocco NGO delivers emergency supplies to single mums in lockdown

Sub-Saharan Africa has not been as badly hit by the coronavirus pandemic as some other parts of the world, but the economy is being pummelled.
For the first time in 25 years sub-Saharan Africa is about to go into recession, according to World Bank estimates.
Following 2.4 percent growth last year, the estimate for 2020 is between -2.1 and -5.1 percent as the economy contracts.
This is in part a knock-on effect from the economic hits being taken by Africa's main trading partners: China, the EU and the United States.
Add to that the slump in the key markets of raw materials and tourism as well as the effect of measures to confine populations at home and you have the perfect economic storm for the continent.
The African Development Bank remains less pessimistic but still sees a fall into recession of between -0.7 and -2.8 percent.
The African Union estimates that around 20 million jobs, in formal and informal sectors, are under threat.
The United Nations puts the figure much higher, at ..

African economies hard hit by coronavirus pandemic

With New York's nightlife spots closed digital dance parties are all the rave, as DJs stream sets while revellers don their nipple pasties and disco-ball facemasks for clubs online.
The city that proudly never sleeps has seen more than 90,000 of its residents test positive for the potentially fatal coronavirus, whose rapid spread has severely restricted public life.
But clubgoers are finding new ways to stay up all night long.
The velvet rope is tight at Club Quarantine, one of the internet's hottest spaces that requires a $10-cover charge -- $80 will get you a private video room with more exclusive performances -- and has seen pop celebrities including Charli XCX drop by.
And celebrity DJ D-Nice has drawn massive virtual crowds to his marathon Instagram Live sets including everyone from Rihanna and John Legend to Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden.
The Brooklyn venue House of Yes -- known for its drag shows, burlesque, aerial performers and elaborate costumes -- also has gone digital, ...

In da (digital) club: Life under quarantine fuels parties online

The Taliban are set to release 20 prisoners in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, the group's spokesman said Sunday, in what appeared to be a major breakthrough after the insurgents called off meetings over the issue last week.
"Today, 20 prisoners of the Kabul administration will be released," Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen said on Twitter.

Taliban set to release 20 prisoners: insurgent spokesman

It's a grim truth that times are good for the coffin business when they're bad for people, and the coronavirus pandemic is no exception.
At a factory belonging to Europe's largest coffin maker, OGF, in eastern France, workers are doing overtime to meet demand from families parting with their loved ones.
"Due to the epidemic, we decided to manufacture just four models of coffins that are top sellers with families" compared to the 15 types usually on offer, said factory director Emmanuel Garret.
The change "allowed us to optimise production", he added.
Output has risen to 410 coffins per day, compared to 370 normally. Workers are putting in nearly an extra hour per day.
"People have been forewarned and are ready to come in and work on Saturdays," said Didier Pidancet, who heads up the team that selects the wood for the coffins.
France has been one of the countries worst hit by the coronavirus.
"We're proud to be participating in this national effort, we're doing our best to ensure that .

Overtime for French coffin industry as COVID-19 deaths surge

Some Japanese office workers are facing a small, but insurmountable hurdle to staying home under the state of emergency declared in parts of the country over the virus: personal signature stamps.
A reliance on paper filing systems in parts of Japan's business world is forcing employees to go into work to put their unique seal on documents.
To do this they use tiny traditional stamps known as hanko or inkan -- tools that date back centuries, but are still popular nationwide.
Usually cylindrical with a surface no larger than a fingernail, the tiny stamps are used with red ink to sign contracts, approve proposals and verify who has viewed what.
"I need to physically be in the office because I need to submit paper documents and stamp them," Mizuho, who works at an IT firm in Tokyo, told AFP.
Even though her company is tech-savvy in other ways, hanko are still the norm there, said Mizuho, who asked to be identified by her first name only.
"We use Microsoft software as a communication ...

Traditional Japanese seal system hampers telework for some

North Korea called for stronger measures against the rapidly spreading coronavirus pandemic at a meeting presided by leader Kim Jong Un, state media reported Sunday, without acknowledging whether the country had reported any infections.
The already isolated, nuclear-armed North quickly shut down its borders after the virus was first detected in neighbouring China in January, and imposed strict containment measures.
Officials in Pyongyang and its state media have repeatedly insisted that the North remains totally free of the virus, but Sunday's report did not make that assertion.
The coronavirus epidemic -- which has infected more than 1.7 million worldwide -- had become "a great disaster threatening the whole mankind, regardless of borders and continents", the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.
"Such environment can become a condition creating some obstacles to our struggle and progress," it said, adding Pyongyang maintained "very stable anti-epidemic situation".
The meeting .

North Korea calls for stronger coronavirus measures

The coronavirus outbreak has proven a sobering experience for vintners across California as they try to navigate the pandemic by organizing virtual wine tastings and slashing prices to remain afloat.
"We had to close down our tasting room and normally, we have many visitors to the winery at this time of the year," lamented Valerie Von Burg, co-owner of The Wine Foundry.
The small winery which produces 11,000 cases of wine a year is located in the famed Napa Valley, north of San Francisco, one of the first regions in the United States to impose a lockdown to slow the spread of the deadly virus.
Although wineries are considered "essential" businesses and as such are still allowed to operate, with tourism dead in the region, so are sales.
Vintners say that with wine tasting rooms and restaurants shuttered, they expect to lose at least 50 percent of their business this year.
"It's hard. We're still calling the grocery stores and we tell them we can ship the wine ... but even though ...

US vintners try to say 'cheers' despite virus

Abortion rights advocates on Saturday called on the US Supreme Court to urgently intervene to force Texas to reinstate the right to abortion, which has been suspended in the state since the start of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
This is the first appeal related to COVID-19 to reach the highest American court, which has been operating only in writing for nearly a month.
The Court, which legalized abortion in 1973 in its landmark Roe v. Wade decision, will have to decide whether a state can suspend the case law in the name of a public health emergency.
This case will be a test for the Supreme Court, which has been profoundly reshaped since the election of President Donald Trump.
During his campaign, the Republican billionaire promised to appoint only anti-abortion judges to the court. Since then he has brought in two new judges out of nine.
The petition concerns Texas's decision -- later followed by other conservative states -- to include abortion on the list of "non-emergency" ...

US Supreme Court to hear appeal on abortion during virus crisis

"Is it halal to buy shares in Tesla?" a young Muslim would-be investor asks on Twitter.
Islamic finance -- an amalgamation of Sharia law and modern banking -- has become a $2 trillion business over the past two decades, covering everything from bonds to buying cars.
But with complex standards set out by a number of Islamic bodies, it's not easy for observant Muslims to decide whether or not an investment is halal (religiously permissible).
Yet new technology is helping.
Tesla, the American electric car pioneer, for example, is considered 96 percent Sharia compliant, according to the Zoya mobile application.
The app screens US-listed stocks based on criteria issued by the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions, one of several bodies that set Islamic finance standards.
Islamic funds are banned from investing in companies associated with tobacco, alcohol, pork or gambling. Earning interest is also banned as "usury".
US-based Wahed Invest, an online halal .

Is this stock halal? Islamic finance charts high-tech future

Algeria faces economic and social turmoil if crude prices continue to collapse, experts have warned, with the oil-dependent country reeling from a year of popular protests, political turmoil and now, coronavirus.
The North African country is an example of how hydrocarbon economies are likely to face unrest if oil prices remain at near two-decade lows due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a price war between key players Saudi Arabia and Russia.
Oil cartel OPEC announced that major producers had proposed to cut output between May and June by 10 million barrels per day.  But G20 countries failed to agree on cuts at a virtual summit Friday.
Even if a deal is reached, Algeria will not be out of the woods, oil expert Nazim Zouioueche told official news agency APS, as any impact would be "temporary" due to the worldwide pandemic.
In Algeria, the price collapse has destroyed revenue projections, with President Abdelmadjid Tebboune acknowledging the "vulnerability" of the country's oil-dependent ...

Oil prices, virus, instability put Algeria on edge

Canadian lawmakers passed a wage subsidy program Saturday heralded as the largest economic measure in the country since World War II, to help businesses and their employees get through the coronavirus crisis.
Parliament is suspended but held an exceptional session in the middle of Easter weekend to adopt the USD  52 billion program, which aims to pay companies 75 percent of their employees' salaries to avoid massive layoffs.  Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attended the session. He had been in isolation in his home for a month after his wife contracted the virus.
Apart from leaders of the main parties, only about 30 MPs out of 338 sat in order to comply with social distancing orders.
The House of Commons passed the bill in the afternoon, following in the evening by the Senate.
Trudeau, referring to Canada's sacrifices in both world wars, stressed that the fight against the virus "is not a war," but "that doesn't make this fight any less destructive." "The front line is everywhere, in ...

Canadian lawmakers approve vast pandemic economic aid program

Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, was declared winner of the Alaska primary after the state shifted to postal voting due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The state's ballots were sent out before Biden's rival Bernie Sanders pulled out of the race last week, meaning the Vermont senator also took a proportion of the vote.
However Biden emerged as the clear winner with 55.3 per cent of the vote ON Saturday and nine of the state's 15 delegates, Alaska Democrats tweeted from the party's official account.
Sanders took 44.7 per cent of the votes and eight delegates, according to the tweet.
He has stressed he will remain on the ballot and seek to gain as many delegates as possible in order to "exert significant influence" over the direction of the party.
Biden, like most Americans, is under stay-at-home orders due to the global coronavirus pandemic, and has marked becoming the de facto 2020 nominee with press releases and comments broadcast online from his basement.
He ..

Joe Biden wins Alaska primary

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's powerful younger sister has been reinstated to a key decision-making body, state media reported Sunday, marking her rise in the isolated nation.
Long one of her brother's closest advisers, Kim Yo Jong was reappointed an alternate member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee in a reshuffle of top officials Saturday, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.  The meeting to decide on the appointment was presided over by Kim Jong Un, it added.
Analysts say Kim Yo Jong is believed to have been removed from the position last year after the collapse of a second summit between her brother and US President Donald Trump in Hanoi.
"The restoration is part of Kim Yo Jong's recent rise within the North's hierarchy," Ahn Chan-il, a North Korean defector and researcher in Seoul, told AFP.
Kim Yo Jong acted as her brother's envoy to the South at the time of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in 2018, which ushered in a rapid diplomatic ...

Kim Jong Un's sister rises in North Korea hierarchy

The coronavirus pandemic poses a huge global challenge to auction houses large and small, but those that have embraced technology could prosper as nervous investors seek a safe haven, according to experts.
Major London-based house Sotheby's has closed its London, Hong Kong, Dubai, Geneva, Milan, Paris and New York offices, throwing their marquee May auctions into doubt.
Main rival Christie's, meanwhile, said it was "working swiftly" to reschedule postponed auctions.
"It's a threat to all of us, but I do think we'll get through it," Giles Peppiatt, director for modern and contemporary African art at fellow London-based auction giant Bonhams, told AFP.
Although no longer able to hold live auctions, the pandemic has accelerated the move to online sales.
"We thank our stars that we have online bidding," said Peppiatt.  "When online sales first started, all the auctioneers thought it would suck the life out of the auctions.
"But it's amazing that the thing we feared most at the time is ...

Evolve or perish: Virus reshaping art auction market

More than 10 per cent of the 4,800 crew of the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier have tested positive for the coronavirus, the Navy has said, days after the navy chief resigned over his mishandling of the outbreak.
"92 per cent of the TR crew have been tested. As of today, 550 were positive, 3,673 were negative," a US Navy spokesman told AFP on Saturday.
The spokesman said 3,696 have been moved to hotels and barracks available on Guam, where the ship has been docked since its former captain blew the whistle on the outbreak, igniting a public standoff with the Pentagon that culminated in the resignation of US Navy Secretary Thomas Modly on Tuesday.
Modly stepped down five days after removing the Roosevelt's captain, Brett Crozier, for writing a letter -- that was leaked to the media -- describing the virus-struck vessel's dire situation and alleging the Pentagon was not paying adequate attention to it.
The removal of Crozier, respected in the military and popular with his crew, ..

More than 10% of US carrier's crew test positive for virus: Navy

Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios has apparently followed through on a promise to help people going hungry in the coronavirus shutdown, with social media images showing boxes of essential items prepped for delivery.
The controversial Kyrgios, infamously outspoken and known for his fiery on-court antics, said on Monday he would personally drop food on doorsteps after COVID-19 restrictions closed down entire industries, forcing huge numbers of people out of work across Australia.
People queueing for welfare payments across the country have been likened to scenes from the Great Depression.
"Please don't go to sleep with an empty stomach," Kyrgios, the world number 40, posted on Instagram Monday.
"Don't be afraid or embarrassed to send me a private message. I will be more than happy to share whatever I have.
"Even just for a box of noodles, a loaf of bread or milk. I will drop it off at your doorstep, no questions asked!" he said in a post that attracted almost 100,000 likes.
His ...

Kyrgios delivers on food pledge for people going hungry

Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish has been discharged from hospital after testing positive for coronavirus and hailed medical staff as "absolutely brilliant."
Dalglish, 69, found he had the virus after being admitted to hospital on Wednesday for treatment for a separate infection which required intravenous antibiotics.
"They (the hospital staff) were absolutely brilliant," Dalglish told the Sunday Post on Saturday after being discharged.
"As a nation, we are all very fortunate to have them and I wish them all well as they work tirelessly to help the country through this pandemic."
He added: "People may think my name got me the best of care but every patient in the National Health Service gets the best of care." On Friday, Dalglish's family said that he had tested positive for COVID-19 despite having previously displayed no symptoms of the illness.
Earlier Saturday, Dalglish's son thanked the world of football for the "truly humbling" messages of support.
Paul Dalglish, also a former ...

AFP

AFP

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