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European Union backs Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala for WTO role

The European Union has endorsed former Nigerian finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as the next director-general of the World Trade Organisation, Bloomberg reported. The business news outlet cited anonymous officials familiar with the matter that all the 27 EU member countries agreed on Monday in Brussels to support Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala. Bloomberg also reported that the United States has decided to back Yoo Myung-hee, South Korea’s trade minister, for the role. The position has been fiercely contested amongst candidates of different countries since Roberto Azevedo resigned in August. Last month, Okonjo-Iweala and Myung-hee were selected as the last two candidates in the contest. The EU’s endorsement is seen as a significant boost for Okonjo-Iweala’s candidacy, with the final winner expected...

WHO: Coronavirus may never go away

The new coronavirus may never go away and populations around the world will have to learn to live with it, the World Health Organization warned Wednesday. As some countries around the world begin gradually easing lockdown restrictions imposed in a bid to stop the novel coronavirus from spreading, the WHO said it may never be wiped out entirely. The virus first emerged in Wuhan in China late last year and has since infected more than 4.2 million people and killed nearly 300,000 worldwide. “We have a new virus entering the human population for the first time and therefore it is very hard to predict when we will prevail over it,” said Michael Ryan, the WHO’s emergencies director. “This virus may become just another endemic virus in our communities and this virus may never go away,” he told a ...