Yahoo International news

International Headlines

Trump mulls sending all who cross border illegally to Mexico

The Trump administration is considering a plan to turn back all people who cross the border illegally from Mexico, two administration officials said Tuesday, using powers they say the president has during pandemics like the coronavirus outbreak to mount what would be one of the most aggressive attempts to curtail illegal immigration. The officials said the president has authority to take such action in a pandemic and that Mexico's efforts to stop the spread of the coronavirus, along with Venezuela's, have been the weakest in North and South America. Mexico, which had no immediate comment on the U.S. proposal, has been slow to adopt public-distancing policies and cancel events, though that is starting to change.

How the Ivorian president stunned West Africa by calling it quits

Ivory Coast's President Alassane Ouattara confounds critics by announcing he will step down.

AP VoteCast: Biden chips away at Sanders coalition

Joe Biden on Tuesday chipped away at Bernie Sanders' coalition of young, liberal and Latino voters to secure solid wins in the presidential primaries of Florida and Illinois. With concerns growing about the spread of the new coronavirus, more Florida and Illinois voters said they trusted the former vice president on health care issues than the Vermont senator. Most Democratic voters in Florida, Arizona and Illinois said they have anxieties about contracting the COVID-19, but their worries are notably measured considering the pandemic that has all-but shuttered public life across the U.S.

South Africa Steps Up Travel Bans Amid Rise in Coronavirus Cases

Italy struggles to make room for onslaught of virus patients

Three weeks into Italy’s coronavirus crisis, Dr. Sergio Cattaneo has seen an unused ward outfitted into an intensive care unit in six days, a hospital laundry room converted into a giant stretcher-filled waiting room and a tented field hospital erected outside to test possible new virus patients. "What is really shocking — something we had not been able to forecast and brought us to our knees — is the quickness the epidemic spreads,” Cattaneo told The Associated Press during an exclusive tour of Brecia’s newest ICU.

UN urges Libyans to halt fighting, battle virus

The United Nations and nine countries on Tuesday called on Libya's warring parties to cease hostilities to allow health authorities to fight against the new coronavirus. The United Nations Support Mission in Libya joined the call, urging asking all parties "to join forces immediately before it is too late to face this overwhelming, fast-spreading threat". War-torn Libya is largely divided between forces backing the Government of National Accord (GNA) and those of eastern-based military commander Khalifa Haftar, who backs a rival administration in the country's east.

Hospitals fear shortage of ventilators for virus patients

U.S. hospitals bracing for a possible onslaught of coronavirus patients with pneumonia and other breathing difficulties could face a critical shortage of mechanical ventilators and health care workers to operate them. The Society of Critical Care Medicine has projected that 960,000 coronavirus patients in the U.S. may need to be put on ventilators at one point or another during the outbreak. Also, many ventilators are already being used by other patients with severe, non-coronavirus ailments.

Europe Shuts Its Borders in Desperate Effort to Stop Virus

Putin orders Russian constitutional vote despite virus fears

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday ordered a vote on changes to the constitution which could allow him to extend his rule to be held next month as planned, but warned it could be delayed if the coronavirus situation worsens. Putin issued a decree on holding the vote on April 22, a move that came a day after Russia's Constitutional Court approved a law on constitutional amendments that could allow him to remain in power for another 12 years after his current term ends in 2024. During a meeting with Russia's top election official, Putin warned, however, that the nationwide vote could be pushed back over the new coronavirus.

UK-Iranian woman temporarily freed from Tehran jail

A British-Iranian woman serving a five-year prison term in Tehran for sedition was released from jail for two weeks on Tuesday, her husband said. "The Free Nazanin Campaign is pleased to confirm -- as has long been promised –- that Nazanin (Zaghari-Ratcliffe) was this afternoon released temporarily on furlough for two weeks until 4 April 2020," Richard Ratcliffe said in an emailed statement. The 41-year-old last month warned she was in danger of contracting the new coronavirus inside Evin Prison, as Iran struggles to contain the global epidemic within its own borders.