The usually buttoned-down world of the United Nations is having an unruly April as it copes with the global coronavirus pandemic in a city that is suffering terribly from it.
The UN Security Council's president is stuck in the Caribbean. Closed-door meetings of ambassadors have been leaked to news services. Video conferences have been disrupted by unintended guest appearances.
So far, the UN appears to have been largely spared the epidemic raging in New York, the epicenter of the disease in the United States.
Few in its 3,000-member workforce have tested positive for the disease, perhaps because it implemented working-from-home measures earlier than the rest of the city.
To keep working in such exceptional circumstances, however, calls for exceptional measures and, like most other organisations, the UN has experienced a few hiccups along the way.
The presidency of the 15-country Security Council rotates each month in alphabetical order. After China in March, it has been the turn of the Dominican Republic in April.
But Dominican ambassador Jose Singer is in Santo Domingo, stranded due to border closures.
Thanks to videoconferencing he has been able to conduct discussions but, according to one ambassador, endured some teasing when he showed up one day wearing his "local outfit."
Although they are normally quick to denounce news leaks of their conversations, Security Council ambassadors surprised journalists with how porous their first session on the COVID-19 pandemic became.
No sooner had the "strictly closed door" meeting begun Thursday than one country's mission posted a screen shot of the participants on Twitter.
Others followed with excerpts of speeches, some going so far as to email Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' speech to AFP before the session had ended.
"There is more transparency behind closed doors," quipped one UN official.
The diplomats have taken to video conferences with abandon.
"We see poorly; the sound isn't terrible," but "it forces us to be brief," said one ambassador. "We do WhatsApp and videos. It's a pain," but "it gets the job done."
The UN diplomats also have multiplied the use of Zoom to conduct informal briefings.
These too can be revealing. Diplomats have shown up on screen in their bedrooms. In one case, a diplomat mistakenly replaced himself on screen with a giant image of his wife.
Despite stay-at-home measures and orders closing schools, museums and theaters in New York, the UN headquarters remains open.
But it was emptied of its huge workforce in mid-March when most began working from home.
Before the pandemic, more than 11,000 people would enter the United Nations on a typical day. Now, no more than 140 do, according to UN figures.
Mr Guterres initially came in every day to work at his office. Now, he wears a mask and this month began splitting his time between the office and his residence, a house with a garden on the East River.
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Sinopharm vaccine explained
The Sinopharm vaccine was created using techniques that have been around for decades.
“This is an inactivated vaccine. Simply what it means is that the virus is taken, cultured and inactivated," said Dr Nawal Al Kaabi, chair of the UAE's National Covid-19 Clinical Management Committee.
"What is left is a skeleton of the virus so it looks like a virus, but it is not live."
This is then injected into the body.
"The body will recognise it and form antibodies but because it is inactive, we will need more than one dose. The body will not develop immunity with one dose," she said.
"You have to be exposed more than one time to what we call the antigen."
The vaccine should offer protection for at least months, but no one knows how long beyond that.
Dr Al Kaabi said early vaccine volunteers in China were given shots last spring and still have antibodies today.
“Since it is inactivated, it will not last forever," she said.
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Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
The biog
Name: Ayisha Abdulrahman Gareb
Age: 57
From: Kalba
Occupation: Mukrema, though she washes bodies without charge
Favourite things to do: Visiting patients at the hospital and give them the support they need.
Role model: Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, Chairwoman of the General Women's Union, Supreme Chairwoman of the Family Development Foundation and President of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood.
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Power: 450hp
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Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
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UK’s AI plan
- AI ambassadors such as MIT economist Simon Johnson, Monzo cofounder Tom Blomfield and Google DeepMind’s Raia Hadsell
- £10bn AI growth zone in South Wales to create 5,000 jobs
- £100m of government support for startups building AI hardware products
- £250m to train new AI models
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Stars: Ajith Kumar, Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Regina Cassandra
Rating: 4/5
Desert Warrior
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
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The specs
Common to all models unless otherwise stated
Engine: 4-cylinder 2-litre T-GDi
0-100kph: 5.3 seconds (Elantra); 5.5 seconds (Kona); 6.1 seconds (Veloster)
Power: 276hp
Torque: 392Nm
Transmission: 6-Speed Manual/ 8-Speed Dual Clutch FWD
Price: TBC
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