VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

PHOTO : WIVB

As India hit another grim milestone in the coronavirus pandemic on Friday, crossing 2 million confirmed cases and more than 41,000 deaths, community health volunteers went on strike complaining they were ill-equipped to respond to the wave of infection in rural areas. As stated by APNews.com (07/8) even as India has maintained comparatively low mortality rates, the disease has spread widely across the country, with the burden shifting in recent weeks from cities with robust health systems to rural areas, where resources are scarce or nonexistent. The Health Ministry reported 62,538 cases in the past 24 hours, raising the nation’s confirmed total to 2,027,074. It said 886 more people had died, for a total of 41,585. But the ministry said that recoveries were growing. India has the third-highest caseload in the world after the United States and Brazil. It has the fifth-most deaths but it//APNews

PHOTO : MORNING JOURNAL

The United States added 1.8 million jobs in July, a pullback from the gains of May and June and evidence that the resurgent coronavirus is weakening hiring and the economic rebound. As quoted by APNews.com (07/8) at any other time, hiring at that level would be seen as a blowout gain. But after employers shed a staggering 22 million jobs in March and April, much larger increases are needed to heal the job market. According to the Labour Department’s jobs report released on Friday the hiring of the past three months has recovered only 42% of the jobs lost to the pandemic-induced recession. And now, with much of the nation having paused or reversed plans to restore economic activity, many employers are still reluctant or unable to hire and consumers remain generally hesitant to shop, travel or eat out//APNews

PHOTO : BELOITDAILYNEWS

Like many countries across the globe, Colombia shut down in March as coronavirus cases surged in Europe and started trickling into the South American country. As reported by APNews.com (05/8), but while restrictions have been lifted in many places elsewhere, a nationwide stay-at-home order remains in effect in Colombia more than four months after being put into place. Isolation orders have been extended repeatedly as cases continue to rise and a limited economic reopening that began in April has inched forward only slightly// Colombia now has the ninth-highest total of Covid-19 infections worldwide, prompting President Iván Duque to prolong the quarantine again until late August// The effects of the long isolation are beginning to surface: In the capital of Bogota, the mayor’s office reports that suicide attempts are up 21% since the start of quarantine//APNews

PHOTO : AZERBAYCAN24

As Lebanon reeled in shock a day after the massive blast in Beirut and counted the dead, nations around the world promised it would not be alone. As reported by APNews.com ( 05/8), French President Emmanuel Macron announced he would fly to the shattered Lebanese capital, and two planeloads of French rescue workers and aid were expected to touch down on Wednesday afternoon (5/8). Other countries were sending search teams, stunned by the explosion that killed at least 100 people, injured thousands and left smoking rubble strewn for blocks around Beirut’s port. But the pledges of aid raised new questions for a country whose economic and political crisis has made donors wary in recent years//APNews