British PM Johnson back at Downing Street after COVID-19 recovery

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson. (File/AFP)
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Updated 26 April 2020
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British PM Johnson back at Downing Street after COVID-19 recovery

LONDON: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson returned to 10 Downing Street on Sunday, Sky News reported, after spending a week in hospital with COVID-19 and two weeks recovering at his country residence.
A Downing Street spokeswoman declined to comment on Johnson’s whereabouts.
The government had previously announced he would be back at work on Monday. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who has been deputising for him in his absence, said Johnson was “raring to go.”

Britain on Sunday reported its lowest daily rise in coronavirus deaths in nearly four weeks as the government resisted calls for an early easing of countrywide lockdown rules.
The number of people who have died from the virus has risen by 413 to 20,732, officials said Sunday, the lowest reported daily increase in fatalities in all of April.
The last time the health department recorded a smaller increase was on March 31, at 381 deaths.
Despite the slowdown - which came at a weekend when the toll has often been lower - Environment Secretary George Eustice said now was not the time to relax strict social distancing rules.
"There are encouraging signs of progress," he said at the daily Downing Street press briefing.
"But before we consider it safe to adjust any of the current system distancing measures, we must be satisfied that we have met the five tests set last week."
These included making sure the British health service NHS was able to cope, and a "sustained and consistent" fall in the daily death rate.


China to scrap tariffs for most of Africa from May: Xi

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China to scrap tariffs for most of Africa from May: Xi

BEIJING: Beijing’s scrapping of tariffs for all but one African country will start May 1, Chinese President Xi Jinping said Saturday, according to state media.
China already has a zero-tariff policy for imports from 33 African countries, but Beijing said last year it would extend the policy to all 53 of its diplomatic partners on the continent.
China is Africa’s largest trading partner and a key backer of major infrastructure projects in the region through its vast “Belt and Road” initiative.
From May 1, zero levies will apply to all African countries except Eswatini, which maintains diplomatic relations with Taiwan.
China claims the democratic island as its own and does not rule out using force to take it.
Many African countries are increasingly looking to China and other trading partners since US President Donald Trump imposed steep tariffs worldwide last year.
Xi said the zero-tariff deal “will undoubtedly provide new opportunities for African development,” announcing the date as leaders across the continent gathered in Ethiopia for the annual African Union summit.