Foreign

Fire broke out Wednesday at the central Berlin site where the German imperial family’s palace is being reconstructed but was quickly brought under control. Around 80 firefighters responded to the call from the Humboldt Forum in the rebuilt Stadtschloss palace, a spokesman for the Berlin fire service said. The fire …

UK scientists say the coronavirus is “hit and run” and not as well shielded from the immune system as some others – meaning it could be easier to develop a vaccine. The University of Southampton researchers who made the discovery called it “very encouraging”. They created a model of the …

Jurgen Klopp claims he was unsure about Sadio Mane during his “first encounter” with the Liverpool forward but he’s revealed how his perception soon changed. Mane has scored 77 goals in 161 appearances in all competitions for Liverpool, including 18 so far this season, and has been one of the …

France has entered into a recession as a result of measures to stem the spread of coronavirus, the country’s national bank said on Wednesday. The French economy shrank by six  per cent in the first quarter of 2020, according to initial Banque de France estimates published on Wednesday. GDP already …

More than 600 Iranians have died from the consumption of high-concentrated alcohol believing it protects against the coronavirus. Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency quoted a spokesperson for the Iranian judiciary, Ghulam Hussein Ismaili, as saying that the number of deaths due to drinking neat alcohol had reached a disturbing figure, …

President Cyril Ramaphosa has placed Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies, Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, on a two-month special leave after she violated lockdown regulations, the Presidency said on Wednesday. Of Ndabeni-Abrahams’ two months special leave, one month will be unpaid, the Presidency said in a statement. “As to allegations that the …

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson spent a second night in intensive care and was in a stable condition on Wednesday after receiving oxygen support for COVID-19 complications, an official said. “He is comfortable, he’s stable, he’s in good spirits; while he’s had oxygen, he hasn’t been on a ventilator,” Edward …

China sealed off Wuhan, a central city of 11 million people, on Jan. 23, a drastic step that came to symbolise its aggressive management of the virus. More than 50,000 people in Wuhan were infected, and more than 2,500 of them died, about 80% of all deaths in China, according …

The number of cases of the new coronavirus in the Czech Republic has risen past 5,000, although a slowing growth rate has given the government confidence to start easing some lockdown measures that have hit the economy. The Health Ministry on Wednesday reported 195 new cases the previous day, a …

Wuhan, the Chinese metropolis at the origin of the current coronavirus pandemic, is due this week to lift the final restrictions after more than two and a half months of stringent lockdown. From midnight on Wednesday, (1600 GMT on Tuesday) traffic is set to return to normal. Flights are also …