General forecasts of the AFP at 21:00 GMT

VIRUS-HEALTH: The world exceeds 100,000 killed by coronavirus and commemorates Easter confined

The world exceeds 100,000 killed by coronavirus and commemorates Easter confined

Hundreds of millions of Christians commemorate this Good Friday locked in their homes, following solitary ceremonies for the first time on the internet or television, due to the coronavirus pandemic, which exceeded the symbolic threshold of 100,000 deaths worldwide.

By Catherine MARCIANO with María Isabel SÁNCHEZ in Paris and the AFP offices around the world

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PHOTOS, INFOGRAPHY, VIDEO, VIDEOGRAPHICS

The new coronavirus claims 100,000 lives in three months and continues its unstoppable harvest

On January 9, a 61-year-old Chinese died in Wuhan. It was the first officially known fatality from a new virus, SARS-CoV-2. More than three months later, 100,000 people have succumbed to the pandemic, known as COVID-19.

By the data team and AFP offices around the world

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Obese men, very frequent victims of the coronavirus

Why is COVID-19 particularly vicious with the obese male population? In resuscitation services in cities like Paris, London and New York, doctors keep pondering this question.

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Mass events, coronavirus spread factors

The meeting of a South Korean sect, an evangelical rally in Alsace or football matches in Europe. Mass demonstrations have contributed to the spread of the coronavirus around the world, raising questions about the organization of end-of-confinement and long-term events.

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WHO action on coronavirus, phase by phase

These are the main actions taken by the World Health Organization (WHO) from the appearance of the new coronavirus, in late December in China, to the declaration of the pandemic, on March 11.

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DIFFERENT CITIES OF THE WORLD:

Wednesday at 4pm, 16 empty cities in the world

AFPTV journalists installed their cameras on Wednesday at 4:00 pm in 16 cities around the world, with half of humanity confined. Result: all deserted, including the very busy Navona Square in Rome or Tahrir Square in Baghdad.

For AFP videographers around the world

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KEY WORDS TO FIND THE VIDEOS: PANDEMIC POSTCARDS

OTHER NEWS FROM THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC BY REGIONS AND TOPICS:

Easter through a screen due to the pandemic

Catholics and Protestants celebrate this weekend their most important holiday, Easter, in front of televisions, tablets and computers, following the cancellation of traditional masses and processions in much of the world by the new coronavirus.

By Catherine MARCIANO with the AFP offices around the world

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The Church Facing Epidemics: From Cat Hunting to the Internet

The Catholic Church, which this year celebrates Easter with mass without the faithful, transmitted over the internet, was once a vector of the spread of epidemics with processions of flagellants or massacres of cats.

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UK with daily record for coronavirus deaths, as Johnson improves

The British government asked the population on Friday to respect the confinement despite the spring time of this Easter weekend, after reporting a daily record of almost 1,000 deaths from the coronavirus, which infected the prime minister, convalescing in hospital.

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“The real nightmare begins when I wake up”, says an Italian doctor

Sitting in an amphitheater in a hospital on the outskirts of Rome, a dozen doctors and nurses in white masks and gowns close their eyes and hold their breath during a relaxation session for medical personnel fighting the coronavirus.

By Gildas LE ROUX and Sonia LOGRE

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Coronavirus pandemic prevents slaughter of Easter lambs

Spring was announced prosperous for sheep farmers around the world, due to the concentration of religious festivals, synonymous with family meals with lamb as the main dish. That was before the COVID-19 pandemic caused the confinement and closure of restaurants.

By Isabel MALSANG, with Vassilis KYRIAKOULIS in Thessaloniki and the AFP offices

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Easter Masses in a drive-in in Germany in the midst of the COVID-19 epidemic

Several hundred Christians attended a Good Friday mass at a drive-in in Düsseldorf, Germany, where they were able to be “together” in communion … despite being strictly separated.

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In Spain, an open respirator model to face the emergency of COVID-19

The Spanish doctor Manel Puig Domingo has supervised the design and production of a new respirator, in a factory of the automotive company SEAT. It is not as complete as a conventional one, but the urgency of COVID-19 has imposed it at a speed that “did not even cross our minds.”

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Spain will distribute masks on public transport

Spain will distribute masks on public transport starting Monday, when the non-essential economic activity resumes, while the daily mortality of patients with coronavirus reached its lowest level since March 24.

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PHOTOS, VIDEO, INFOGRAPHIC

Drones to detect quarantine offenders and take their temperature in Italy

“Attention! You are in a forbidden zone. Get out immediately.” In the town of Treviolo, in northern Italy, there is a drone that does not limit itself to detecting those who do not comply with the confinement, but also takes their temperature at a distance.

By Francesco GILIOLI and Miguel MEDINA

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International drug trafficking in times of coronavirus

Surviving a crisis financially means being creative and forewarned. A rule that also applies to drug traffickers around the world, under pressure from the new coronavirus pandemic.

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Coronavirus disrupts criminal justice in Europe

Trials postponed, prisoners released or deprived of visits, unemployed lawyers. Although the new coronavirus has caused an unprecedented health crisis, it also disrupts the operation of criminal justice in Europe, forced to operate at half gas.

By David HARDING with the AFP offices in Europe

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Why is New York so hit by the coronavirus?

Almost 160,000 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus in New York state, more than in any country in the world, and nearly 8,000 deaths: why has this state of 19 million inhabitants been so affected by the pandemic? Did you underestimate her and take time to take radical steps?

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Florida considers worst case scenario: a hurricane during the pandemic

What could get worse at a time when a pandemic disrupts everyone’s lives, collapses healthcare systems and destroys the world economy? A hurricane in the midst of the crisis. Less than two months from the start of the season, Florida already contemplates this possibility.

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We will relate again as before the virus, says neurophysiologist Rodolfo Llinás

Will we relate again as before the pandemic? Rodolfo Llinás, one of the most reputed scientists of the human brain in the world, does not hesitate: after the crisis, kisses and hugs will return, and the confinement of months will not alter brain function.

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Central America runs to manufacture respirators to deal with pandemic

The rapid spread of the new coronavirus put Central American countries on the run to manufacture their own ventilators, with a view to covering a potential explosion in cases of emergency due to the disease.

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Uruguayans stranded in Venezuela are “hostages” of an ideological stance, says family member

Uruguayans stranded in Venezuela are “hostages” to Montevideo’s ideological stance on the government of Nicolás Maduro, the husband of a Uruguayan woman who is trying to be repatriated from Caracas told AFP on Friday.

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Sex workers in the US helpless in the face of the pandemic

For a month Bruno has stopped serving clients to avoid exposing himself to the coronavirus. But, seeing his income fall, this sex worker rethinks the situation.

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The coronavirus, the great spoilers of weddings in the US

Kinnon Chapman and Cullom Walker had everything ready for their wedding: the place, the flower arrangements, the band, the food, the dress, the tuxedo … but the new coronavirus arrived and the plans fell apart.

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There has been no miracle in Jerusalem, the Holy Sepulcher remains closed for Easter

Palestinian Palestinian Sawsan Bitar places egg-shaped figurines and stuffed rabbits at home to give a normal appearance to Easter in Jerusalem where, because of the coronavirus, the Holy Sepulcher will be closed for the first time in more than a weekend of a century.

By Hiba ASLAN and Claire GOUNON

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RAMALA, Palestinian Territories:

Palestinian Prime Minister Outshines Mahmud Abbas During Coronavirus Crisis

In the West Bank, the dynamism of Mohamad Shtayyeh, which multiplies the deep analysis live, eclipses a Mahmud Abbas who gives few speeches and seems tired in the middle of the coronavirus crisis.

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First case of coronavirus in Yemen, devastated by war

Yemen, a war-torn country and the scene of the planet’s worst humanitarian crisis, announced a first case of the new coronavirus in the government-controlled southern province of Hadramut on Friday.

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Crime drop in a confined South Africa relaunches debate on alcohol ban

South African authorities link falling crime to a ban on selling alcohol during confinement to curb the coronavirus, which has encouraged the police minister to launch a crusade for a ‘dry law’.

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Burundi, protected by “God’s grace” against the coronavirus, life goes on

In Burundi, preserved until now by the worldwide advance of the new coronavirus by “the grace of God”, the detection of the first three cases of infection last week has not changed daily life at all and its leaders are confident that the “power of God “keep manifesting.

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Latin America facing “brutal” crisis and with a recession due to COVID-19, according to experts

The coronavirus will cause in Latin America “a brutal havoc” and a crisis of “high magnitude”, warned experts who explained that the pandemic found the region at a time of meager growth and will lead it to a recession in 2020.

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IDB forecasts contraction of Latin American GDP of up to 5.5% in 2020 due to COVID-19

The Latin American and Caribbean economy will contract between 1.8% and 5.5% in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) said on Thursday.

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Mexico and the US agree to cut oil production

The presidents of Mexico and the United States confirmed on Friday that they reached an agreement to help reduce oil production in the Latin American country and be able to comply with the cut in world supply decided by the producing countries to stop the collapse in prices.

By Yussel GONZALEZ with Alina DIESTE in Washington

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For what and for whom will the EU’s € 500 billion plan be?

European finance ministers agreed on Thursday on a crash plan to support the European Union’s battered economy due to the coronavirus, allocating more than € 500 billion to states, businesses and the unemployed, and the creation of a future “stimulus fund”.

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Oil producers, except Mexico, agree to lower supply

Oil producers except Mexico agreed to cut world production by 10 million barrels a day in May and June, OPEC announced Friday, at a time when Saudi Arabia is hosting a meeting of G20 energy ministers.

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Latest study on chloroquine against COVID-19 raises new criticism

The team of French doctor Didier Raoult, a fervent defender of hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19, presented a new study highlighting its virtues, but the methodology used was again criticized by the scientific community on Friday.

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The great chefs, between action and reflection in the face of the debacle

Ferran Adrià put on his apron again, Joan Roca innovates in the privacy of his home, Andoni Aduriz supports local producers, others cook for hospitals for free. Chefs remain active during the pandemic as they reflect on their own survival.

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Stars at home and technicians without work: COVID-19 hits Latin American music

The Colombian J Balvin promotes a new album without leaving home; the Chilean Mon Laferte plays an acoustic from her kitchen; The Argentinean Fito Páez covers the Brazilian Caetano Veloso in the living room. Latin American music stars thus face the hard times of confinement by the coronavirus.

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The virus makes Easter bitter to Belgian chocolatiers

At these Easter festivals, Belgian chocolatiers do not usually supply. But this year, Laurent Gerbaud from Brussels is alone in his closed shop, preparing the ordered chocolate packages online.

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Beer, a collateral victim of the coronavirus in Europe

Bars are closed, festivals are suspended and sporting events are postponed. Europe’s brewers are predicting a catastrophic year and fear that the big annual date, the Oktoberfest, will be canceled.

By Nicolas GUBERT and the AFP offices in Europe

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OTHER NEWS IN THE WORLD

Beatles popularity lasts 50 years after split

They shattered millions of hearts when they broke up in the early 1970s, but half a century later the Beatles retain their popularity intact and continue to reign in the world of pop music.

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— SPECIAL FORECASTS ONE YEAR AFTER THE FIRE IN NOTRE DAME DE PARIS —

The reconstruction of Notre Dame, paralyzed a year after the fire

An immense crane hovers over Notre Dame, covered by its scaffolding like a cobweb: the coronavirus stopped the reconstruction of the Paris cathedral, a year after the devastating fire that shocked the world.

By Jean-Louis DE LA VAISSIERE

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PHOTOS ARCHIVE VIDEO ARCHIVE INFOGRAPHIC

Still unanswered about the origin of the Notre Dame fire

A year after the fire in the Notre-Dame cathedral, investigations continue to try to determine the causes of the incident. The following is a summary of the investigations, which are proceeding at a slow pace.

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The future Notre Dame, a puzzle still incomplete

The rebuilding of Notre Dame de Paris cathedral continues to raise many questions, from what its final appearance should look like to the management of the latest lead-polluting waste.

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