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Here are today’s picks from our editors.
China to donate another 30 mln USD supporting WHO's fight against COVID-19
China decided to donate another $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 Thursday.
Spokesperson Geng Shuang said to support the WHO is to defend the principles of multilateralism and safeguard the status and authority of the United Nations at a crucial time of the battle against the pandemic, adding that the virus is the common enemy of humankind, and the international community can only defeat it through unity and cooperation.
In March, China donated $20 million to the WHO to support the global fight against COVID-19. (Xinhua)
EU leaders weigh massive virus economic recovery measures
The new coronavirus is devastating lives, health care systems, and economies, and European Union leaders must work together to rebuild and restore public faith in the EU project, the head of the bloc’s parliament said in a speech to the 27 leaders at the beginning of the video-conference summit on Thursday.
Referring to the massive US aid package in 1948 that helped Europe rebuild after World War II, European Parliament President David Sassoli said, “we’ve all called for this new Marshall Plan for Europe, but with a major difference, of course. The funds will not be coming from abroad this time, but rather from European countries and economies.”
The consensus is that it should total at least 1.5 trillion euros and target the economic sectors and European regions hit hardest by the coronavirus. (AP)
Daily recoveries surpass infections for the first time in Italy
The daily number of patients who recovered from COVID-19 on Thursday surpassed new infections for the first time in Italy since the pandemic began in the country's northern region late February, according to the latest numbers released by the country's Civil Protection Department.
The death toll on Thursday was 464, bringing the nationwide fatalities to 25,549.
There were 2,646 new coronavirus infections and 3,033 additional recoveries compared to Wednesday, bringing the nationwide totals to 106,848 and 57,576, respectively. (Xinhua)
Virus pushes US unemployment to highest since the Depression
Unemployment in the US has swelled to levels last seen during the Great Depression of the 1930s, with 1 in 6 American workers thrown out of a job by the coronavirus.
More than 4.4 million laid-off workers applied for unemployment benefits last week, the government said Thursday. In all, roughly 26 million people have now filed for jobless aid in five weeks.
The high unemployment levels of the Great Depression lasted for a decade and peaked at around 25%. Economists have forecast that the unemployment rate for April could go as high as 20 percent. (AP)
DPRK leader Kim Jong Un sends thank-you message to Syria's Al-Assad
Kim Jong Un, the top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), sent a message to Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad on Wednesday to thank the latter for his note on Kim's grandfather's birth anniversary, KCNA reported.
In his message, the DPRK leader said the friendly and cooperative DPRK-Syria ties would grow stronger, adding that he wished the Syrian president good health and greater success. (Xinhua)
Israeli scientists develop rapid home COVID-19 test
Israeli scientists have developed a rapid and simple coronavirus detection method that requires only saliva sample, reagents, and a thermal cup, the Israel Institute of Technology (Technion) in northern Israel said Thursday.
According to the team, further development can make this method a mass testing kit in workplaces, households, nursing homes, airports and more.
In the new method, the saliva sample is immersed in a test tube containing the reactive material and then in the thermal cup with hot water. If the color of the reaction changes, that indicates the presence of the coronavirus. (Xinhua)
Impossible to delay Olympics again, says Tokyo chief
The Tokyo 2020 Olympics cannot be delayed beyond the year-long postponement already forced by the coronavirus outbreak, the organizing committee's president has warned in comments published Thursday.
Tokyo 2020 president Yoshiro Mori said there is "absolutely no" chance of postponing the Games beyond their rescheduled July 23, 2021 opening, according to Kyodo News agency.
Earlier this week, a Japanese expert who has criticized the country's response to the coronavirus warned he is "very pessimistic" that the postponed Olympics can be held in 2021. (Xinhua)
Thanks for listening, and be sure to catch us tomorrow.
And now for the Question of the Day:
What is the largest two-digit prime number?
(Answer: 97.)
Today’s quote is from English poet William Wordsworth (1770-1850).
"The best portion of a good man's life is his little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of love."
(Produced by Nancy Yan Xu, Ryan Yaoran Yu, Lance Crayon, and Elaine Yue Lin. Music by Eugene Loner.)