U.S. President Donald Trump addresses the daily coronavirus task force briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S., April 20, 2020. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst   WASHINGTON, April 21 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Monday he will suspend all immigration into the United States temporarily through an executive order in response to the coronavirus outbreak and to protect American jobs.   The move, which the Republican president announced on Twitter, effecti

Beijing, April 21 (IANS) Chinese health authority on Tuesday said it received reports of 11 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on the mainland on Monday, of which four were imported. The other seven new cases were domestically transmitted, the National Health Commission said in a daily report, noting that six cases were reported in Heilongjiang Province and one in Guangdong Province, Xinhua reported. No death was reported Monday on the mainland. Three new suspected cases, including

United Nations, April 21 (IANS) UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned against a retreat from climate action at a time when the world is preoccupied with the coronavirus. "Currently all eyes are on the COVID-19 pandemic, the biggest test the world has faced since the Second World War. We must work together to save lives, ease suffering, lessen the shattering economic and social consequences and bring the disease under control. But, at the same time, let us not lose focus o

Washington, April 21 (IANS) International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva on Monday said countries have responded strongly in the initial phase of the COVID-19 crisis, but there is much more to be done to avoid a painful and protracted recession.   "We need to think hard about where this crisis is headed and how we can be ready to help our member countries, being mindful of both risks and opportunities," Georgieva wrote in a blog, which is part of

Washington, April 21 (IANS) Anthony Fauci, the top infectious disease expert in the US, has urged caution American states to reopen, as anti-quarantine protests were taking place across the country. "Clearly this is something that is hurting from the standpoint of economics and the standpoint of things that have nothing to do with the virus, but unless we get the virus under control, the real recovery economically is not going to happen," Xinhua news agency quoted Fauci, director of

Seoul/Washington, April 21 (IANS) The US is looking into intelligence that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is "in grave danger after a surgery", a media report said on Tuesday. The Seoul-based Yonhap News Agency quoted a CNN report which cited an unidentified "US official with direct knowledge" as saying, but offered no further details. The report came after a South Korean internet news outlet reported that Kim has been receiving medical treatment at a villa in the resort county

Berlin, April 21 (IANS) German Chancellor Angela Merkel has called for a "gradual" and "cautious" exit strategy from COVD-19 measures, saying "despite everything, we are still at the very beginning of the pandemic and are far from out of the woods". On Monday, Merkel thanked German citizens who would had borne all government restrictions with "supreme discipline and overall a lot of patience", reports Xinhua news agency. As of Monday, shops in Germany with a maximum sales area of

Medical staff stand next to asylum seekers evacuated from a hostel as they arrive at the Central Mosque to be tested for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Lisbon, Portugal on April 19, 2020. (REUTERS Photo)   LISBON, April 20 (Reuters): The coronavirus has swept through a hostel in the Portuguese capital Lisbon, infecting 138 of the 175 asylum seekers housed there, a municipal official said on Monday.   Residents were evacuated from the hostel on Sunday

A man puts Ramadan decorations on a street ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, during a countrywide lockdown over the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Beirut, Lebanon on April 19. (REUTERS Photo)   ALGIERS/CAIRO/JAKARTA, April 20 (Reuters): Days before the holy fasting month of Ramadan begins, the Islamic world is grappling with an untimely paradox of the new coronavirus pandemic: enforced separation at a time when socialising is almost sacred.   The

A 12-meter-tall crucifix made from solar panels is seen at a church in Pleszew, Poland on December 20, 2019. (REUTERS File Photo)   PLESZEW, Poland, April 20 (Reuters): By night, the 40-foot-tall cross on the Catholic church in central Poland offers a neon light show of blue, red or purple. By day, the cross produces the electricity to power the church's lighting, heating and air conditioning.   The cross, made of 18 solar photovoltaic panels, is th

German Chancellor Angela Merkel briefs the media about measures to avoid further spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID -19) after a government meeting at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany on April 20. (REUTERS Photo)   BERLIN/FRANKFURT, April 20 (Reuters): Germans returned to the shops on Monday, craving retail therapy after a month of lockdown, but Chancellor Angela Merkel urged them to remain disciplined to avoid a relapse in the fight against the coronavirus

IANS File Photo   SAN FRANCISCO, APRIL 20 (IANS): Using aggregated public data from a survey conducted by Carnegie Mellon University, Facebook on Monday released its first county-by-county map of the US showing prevalence of self-reported COVID-19 symptoms, adding that such maps will soon be released for other countries globally to prevent the spread of the deadly disease.   The US map shows an estimated percentage of people with COVID-19 symptoms,

A student at the Homeless Youth Connection office in Arizona, USA, looks through hygiene items, school supplies and clothing before the coronavirus pandemic. (Handout photo by Homeless Youth Connection)   WASHINGTON, America, (Thomson Reuters Foundation): For U.S. student Samantha Kinney, high school is about more than education: It has also given her a support network, a sense of accomplishment — and, at times, even access to daily necessities like food and hygiene p

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro leaves Alvorada Palace, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Brasilia, Brazil on April 14, 2020. (REUTERS File Photo)   SAO PAULO, April 20 (Reuters): Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said on Monday that he hoped this would be the last week of stay-at-home measures to try to slow the spread of the coronavirus, wishing for an end to a policy he has branded an ill-founded jobs killer.   Speaking with supp

A worker from the city's center for disease control and prevention draws blood from a man to conduct a test for antibodies against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Suifenhe, a city bordering Russia in China's Heilongjiang province on April 16, 2020. (REUTERS Photo)   BEIJING/SHANGHAI, April 20 (Reuters): China's health authority called for a stronger and more rigorous testing regime to ensure that the new coronavirus does not escape detection, whether in trave

Customers buy garden supplies at Lowe's store, as many people turned to planting more fruits and vegetables at home during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) spread, in Round Rock, Texas, US on April 7, 2020. (REUTERS File Photo)     CHICAGO, April 20 (Reuters): Jaime Calder all but gave up on gardening after moving from the fertile soils of Illinois to dusty Texas, but the coronavirus changed her mind.   The magazine editor and her family of five pla

Customs officers inspect a shipment of sorghum from the U.S. on a cargo ship at the port in Nantong, Jiangsu province, China on February 11, 2020. (REUTERS File Photo)   BEIJING/SHANGHAI, April 20 (Reuters): The global coronavirus pandemic threatens to cause a huge shock to international food trade and trigger a new food crisis, a top agriculture official in China said on Monday.   The comments came as coronavirus outbreaks roiled global agriculture supply ch

Pope Francis leads Mass and the Regina Coeli prayer in Rome's Santo Spirito in Sassia church without public participation due to an outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Rome, Italy on April 19, 2020. (REUTERS Photo)   VATICAN CITY, April 20 (Reuters): Pope Francis urged politicians on Monday to put aside partisan differences in order to deal with the coronavirus crisis in a united way.   Francis' private morning Mass has been transmitted li

Pic Credits IANS   Vatican City, April 20 (IANS) Pope Francis said the process of exiting the coronavirus pandemic was a chance to eliminate inequalities and the "virus" of selfishness.   On Sunday, the Pope held a mass without an audience at the Vatican City on the occasion of Mercy Sunday in the Christian calendar, reports Efe news.   "Now, as we start to think about a slow and arduous recovery from the pandemic, we risk this danger: forgetting what w

 People wear face masks at Shinagawa station during the rush hour after the government expanded a state of emergency to include the entire country following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Tokyo, Japan, April 20, 2020. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo   TOKYO, April 20 (Reuters) - Japan’s government is boosting its new economic stimulus package by 8% to $1.1 trillion to fund cash payouts to lessen the pain from the coronavirus outbreak, a draft obtain