Bill Gates

Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft MSFT, +1.30%, offered up some "bad news" in a CNN interview on Sunday for those feeling optimistic over the imminent U.S. arrival of the first COVID-19 vaccine.

Over 75 per cent of people in Western Balkan countries believe many or some of the popular conspiracy theories about COVID-19, the latest survey by the Balkans in Europe Policy Advisory Group, BiEPAG, shows.

Interview by Markos Karasarinis

Seven of the top 10 businessmen in the list of the world's 500 richest people are engaged in technology, according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index data.

Elon Musk has overtaken Microsoft founder Bill Gates and is now the second-richest person on the planet, with a fortune of 127.9 billion dollars, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index published on Monday.

Governments around the world on June 4 pledged $8.8 billion for global vaccines alliance Gavi to help immunisation programmes disrupted by coronavirus, prompting calls for global cooperation to ensure a potential COVID-19 vaccine is available to all.    

The Orthodox Church in Moldova has denounced the potential use of a vaccine against COVID-19, calling it a satanic plan to microchip people, or introduce other foreign devices into the human body.

Despite so many flights being grounded, someone must be spraying us with chemicals, given the fresh passion that the coronavirus crisis has injected into our favorite national pastime, now a global one: conspiracy theories.

Bill Gates has hailed recent initiatives developed to adapt to the "new normal" imposed by the coronavirus crisis, such as teleworking and virtual software innovations, with emotional intelligence consultant Justin Bariso arguing that a platform launched by the Greek National Tourism Organization is one such "brilliant" response to the challenges of the crisis indicated by the US tech mogul.

The hour for a great redistribution of wealth has arrived.

The five American technological tech giants - Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and Apple should dig deep into their pockets and exhibit palpable solidarity with their global audience.

This is a moral duty because it is that global audience that embraced them, nurtured them, and led to their aggrandisement.