Breaking News, Latest Philippines Headlines, World, Entertainment, Politics, Weather & Video News
by Abhaya SRIVASTAVA NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — Low pay, 24-hour shifts and severe shortages of staff and protective gear have left many doctors on the frontlines of India’s brutal pandemic surge near breaking point and fearful for their lives. Coronavirus infections have killed at least 165,000 people in the vast South Asian nation — home to some of the world’s most densely populated cities — since the start of April. Although India’s latest Covid-19 […]
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AFP) — Malaysia scrambled jets to intercept 16 Chinese military aircraft off the country’s coast in the South China Sea, a rare incident that the foreign minister angrily denounced Tuesday as an “intrusion”. It took place Monday off the Malaysian part of Borneo island over the fiercely contested waters, where China and Malaysia have overlapping territorial claims. The Chinese air force transport planes approached Malaysian airspace in “tactical formation” and flew to […]
JERUSALEM, Undefined (AFP) — Israel inched closer to lifting Covid restrictions Tuesday as its caseload remains tiny following a sweeping nationwide vaccination campaign. People are no longer required to show vaccination certificates to enter restaurants and entertainment venues, and capacity limits on businesses have been lifted. Health Minister Yuli Edelstein said his office would discuss ending an indoor mask requirement over the coming two weeks. “The Israeli economy and public may have some more breathing” […]
by M. Jegathesan KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AFP) — Malaysia imposed a tough nationwide lockdown on Tuesday to battle a worsening coronavirus outbreak, as countries across Southeast Asia struggled with a resurgence in cases driven by infectious variants. Much of the region escaped the pandemic’s first wave last year relatively unscathed by rapidly closing borders and introducing curbs. But countries from Thailand to Vietnam are being hammered by fresh surges, with efforts to quell outbreaks hampered […]
YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — Schools in Myanmar will open on Tuesday for the first time since the military seized power, but teachers and students are set to defy the junta’s calls for full classrooms in a show of resistance. Four months of national turmoil have followed the February ouster of civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, with more than 800 people killed by security forces and a nationwide strike crippling the economy. Public school teachers […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Chinese authorities imposed fresh travel limits, cancelled flights and tested thousands of residents in Guangdong Monday after the Indian variant of the coronavirus was reported in the country’s most populous province. Travellers leaving Guangzhou — the capital of the southern province home to 100 million people — must show negative Covid-19 test results from the past 72 hours, starting from 10:00 pm on Monday, the city said in an announcement late […]
HANOI, Vietnam (AFP) — The international airport of Vietnam’s capital will suspend inbound flights from abroad beginning Tuesday, the country’s aviation body announced, as it grapples with a fresh wave of virus outbreaks. A “temporary suspension of receiving international flights” will begin at Hanoi’s Noi Bai International Airport from June 1 at midnight until June 7, the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam said in a statement on Monday. Vietnam’s health minister said over the […]
HANOI, Vietnam (AFP) — Vietnam has discovered a new Covid-19 variant which spreads quickly by air and is a combination of the Indian and British strains, health officials confirmed Saturday. The country is struggling to deal with fresh outbreaks across more than half of its territory, including industrial zones and big cities such as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. More than 6,800 cases including 47 deaths have been reported in Vietnam, with the […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China on Monday relaxed its two-child policy to allow couples to have three children, a shift aimed at tackling an ageing society. Here is a timeline of the country’s evolving family planning policy. – One child – In 1979, China imposed a policy forcing couples to have only one baby, introduced by top leader Deng Xiaoping to curb population growth and boost economic development. The population stood at 969 million […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China has relaxed its family planning policy to allow couples to have three children after a census showed its population is rapidly ageing, state media reported Monday, further unwinding four decades of controls in the world’s most populous nation which have strangled the birthrate. For almost 40 years, China enforced a controversial “one-child policy” — one of the strictest family planning regulations worldwide — which was relaxed in 2016 to […]
TERNATE, Indonesia (AFP) — Search teams are looking for one missing person after rescuing all other passengers from a large ferry that caught fire in Indonesia, an official said Sunday. The KM Karya Indah was heading to Sanana, a remote port in the northeast of the Indonesian archipelago when it was engulfed in flames. Shortly after departing, the ferry caught fire, forcing passengers and crew to jump into the sea to save themselves. […]
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AFP) — Malaysia announced on Friday it will impose a nationwide lockdown for the first time in over a year as it battles a rapidly escalating coronavirus outbreak that has strained the country’s healthcare system. Officials believe more infectious variants have contributed to the surge, as well as gatherings in the Muslim-majority country during the holy month of Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr holiday earlier this month. After a new daily record […]
