By Robert Preidt HealthDay Reporter MONDAY, Sept. 21, 2020 (HealthDay News) — The coronavirus pandemic could cause short-term decreases in life expectancy in many parts of the world, according to a new study. Using a computer model, the researchers concluded that infection rates of only 2% could cause a drop in life expectancy … Read more
This article is part of a Wall Street Journal guide comparing President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden on issues from climate change to health care and jobs. WASHINGTON—President Trump and Democratic opponent Joe Biden have profound differences in key areas of U.S. foreign policy, but hold similar views about some major goals, … Read more
The Covid-19 pandemic has driven nearly 37 million people into extreme poverty and reversed two decades of progress in vaccinating children against once-common childhood diseases, according to a new report by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The number of people living in extreme poverty globally has risen 7.1% so far this year in the … Read more
From India to Mexico and Brazil, the world’s biggest poor countries are witnessing some of the steepest economic contractions on record, throwing tens of millions out of work and turning back the clock on gains against poverty. Poor nations haven’t felt this kind of pain since the Great Depression. India’s economy shrank by nearly a … Read more
NEW DELHI—Investors across the globe are hoarding gold in the Covid-19 pandemic. In normally gold-obsessed India, there’s a glut, as struggling families stop buying and start hocking jewelry. International investors have lifted the price of gold to all-time highs this year, trying to get their hands on more gold coins, bars and exchange-traded funds. Many … Read more
NEW DELHI—India’s economy shrank by a record 23.9% last quarter—the biggest blow the coronavirus pandemic has dealt to a major economy so far—as a nationwide lockdown and fear of the fast-spreading pandemic strangled spending. Gross domestic product took a beating in the April-through-June quarter compared with the same quarter a year earlier, according to government … Read more
The global scramble to thwart the coronavirus has a vast blind spot: sub-Saharan Africa. In Tanzania, the government outlawed coronavirus testing and declared its national outbreak defeated, even as hundreds of people died monthly from unexplained respiratory problems. Last month in Zambia, 28 people died at home in a single day with Covid-19-like symptoms while waiting to be tested. In South Sudan, … Read more
TABUK, Saudi Arabia—This desert kingdom is pushing ahead with multibillion-dollar plans to build a spate of new cities despite the coronavirus pandemic and depressed oil prices, betting that projects closely associated with the crown prince will kick-start its economic recovery. The developments include a futuristic city-state called Neom in the country’s remote northwest Tabuk province, … Read more
JOHANNESBURG—South Africa’s $1.5 billion wine industry is reeling after a series of pandemic-induced shocks, including successive bans on the sale of alcohol totaling some 14 weeks. The country’s Chardonnays and Cabernet Sauvignons have become household staples world-wide, and wineries centered in the rolling farmlands around the Western Cape are among South Africa’s most successful and … Read more
Europe’s economic recovery slowed in August while Japan saw another drop in activity, an indication that the return to pre-pandemic levels of global output is likely to be slow and uneven for as long as fresh outbreaks of the novel coronavirus continue to threaten. Economies around the world saw record contractions in the three months … Read more