International News: 05/08/2020

ASIA

-Coronavirus  

New Cases:  78,329

Total Cases:  4,601,589

New Deaths: 1423

Total Deaths: 102,369

-Indonesia: Bali is reopening for domestic tourists starting July 31 and for international tourists on Sep 11. A Bali tourist guide claims her income has plunged to zero due to COVID-19 pandemic. So far 5,388 people have died from COVID-19 among 115,056 confirmed cases.

-South Korea: South Korea's heavy rain, which lasted for four straight days has left 14 people dead and 12 others missing. More than 1000 people has been displaced.

-Iraq: As temperature soars reaching 52 degree celsius in Baghdad, Iraq's power supply has fallen short of demand. Iraq has also imposed a strict lockdown and 24-hr curfew due to surge in coronavirus cases. 

        Power cuts, coinciding with stay-at-home orders and scorching temperature poses painful new choices for Iraqis: stay at home in the sweltering heat with electricity cut off for hours, or go out and risk the virus.

-Philippine: More than 27 millions of people on the main island of Luzon, including the capital Manila, went back into partial lockdown for next two weeks. The Philippines' Health Ministry reported 6,352 new coronavirus infections, marking the biggest daily jump in cases.

NORTH AMERICA

-Coronavirus

New Cases: 64,819

Total Cases: 5,775,795

New Deaths: 1,753

Total Deaths: 224,572

-USA: William English, the engineer and researcher who helped build the first computer mouse died on July 26, in California. He was 91. The cause of his death was respiratory failure.

-USA: Kanye West has officially picked Michelle Tidball as vice-president. Tidball is a self-proclaimed 'biblical life coach' who runs an online Bible study.

SOUTH AMERICA

-Coronavirus

New Cases: 82,188

Total Cases: 4,368,330

New Deaths: 2,222

Total Deaths: 150,555

-Brazil: Army General Walter Souza Braga Netto, has tested positive for COVID-19, becoming the seventh Brazilian minister to have contracted the virus.

-Brazil: A load of Brazilians soybeans exported to northern China was hold up because ten Brazilian crew members tested positive after the ship arrived at the port of Yantai, in China. The crew members were taken to the hospital and others were remained in quarantine.

-Uruguay: While the virus still rages on throughout the Americas, Uruguay's daily count of new cases had been single digit for most days since May. On June 29, about 250,000 students returned to classrooms. Uruguay reached a post COVID-19 normalization despite the fact that it is the country with high percentages of population over 65 years old.

EUROPE

-Coronavirus

New Cases: 19,476

Total Cases: 2,943,198

New Deaths: 417

Total Deaths: 204,470

-Spain: As Spain investigates ex-king Juan Carlos for alleged money laundering, the retired king has left the country for unknown destination. Juan Carlos, 82, announced the move in a letter to his son, King Felipe VI. The move comes less than two months after Supreme Court prosecutors opened a money-laundering probe against him following reports that he had taken over $100 million from Saudi Arabia. In the letter to his son, he says he had 'always wanted the best for Spain and the Crown'.

(Juan Carlos had been king of Spain for almost 40 years and had handed power to his son, Felipe, six years ago. The former king had already left when the letter was released. It is still unclear where Juan Carlos is).

AFRICA

-Coronavirus

New Cases: 9,759

Total Cases: 982,219

New Deaths: 472

Total Deaths: 21,143

-Zimbabwe: With COVID-19 aggravating, an already severe hunger crisis in Zimbabwe, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) is appealing for an additional US$250 million to support a rapidly expanding emergency operations for millions of people at risk. 

OCEANIA

-Coronavirus

New Cases: 417

Total Cases: 20,524

New Deaths: 11

Total Deaths: 257

-New Zealand: Thousands of Americans have visited New Zealand's immigration website hoping to escape from the coronavirus pandemic and ride out on the island. In July, US citizen visiting New Zealand's immigration website is at a rate of once every 30 seconds. New Zealand has reported just 1,569 confirmed COVID-19 cases and only 22 deaths according to John Hopkins University.