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WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US has “deep concerns” about the situation in Myanmar following February’s coup, urging the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to take action, the State Department said Tuesday. Myanmar has been in chaos and its economy paralyzed since the military ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s government earlier this year, accusing it of fraud during 2020 elections. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken “called on ASEAN to take joint action to […]
SINGAPORE, Singapore (AFP) — An ocean liner on a “cruise to nowhere” was forced to make an earlier-than-scheduled return to Singapore Wednesday after a coronavirus case was detected on board, reports said. The cruises — starting and ending in Singapore, with no stops — were launched last year as part of the travel industry’s attempt to bounce back from a pandemic-induced crunch. They have proved popular among those seeking an escape from the tiny city-state, […]
SHANGHAI, China (AFP) — Nine more people have been confirmed dead in the collapse of a budget hotel in eastern China, bringing the final toll to 17, as state media on Wednesday announced the end of search and recovery efforts. Six others were earlier rescued from the rubble of the Siji Kaiyuan hotel, which crumbled in a heap of shattered concrete and bent metal beams two days earlier in the picturesque city of Suzhou. All […]
SHIMLA, India (AFP) — Rescuers in northern India were digging through rocks and mud searching for the missing on Tuesday, after heavy monsoon rains triggered landslides and flash floods in two states, killing at least six people, officials said. Television footage and videos shared on social media showed roads, cars and homes being washed away in Dharamshala in the Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh, which has been lashed by torrential rains since the weekend. One […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — The developers of Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine said on Tuesday a deal had been struck with Indian vaccine maker the Serum Institute to produce 300 million doses annually. “The parties intend to produce over 300 million doses of the vaccine in India per year with the first batch expected in September 2021,” the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) said in a statement. Sputnik V was registered by Russia in August […]
BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — Thailand on Tuesday defended mixing two different Covid-19 vaccines to battle a surge in infections, after the WHO’s top scientist warned it was a “dangerous trend” not backed by evidence. The kingdom is struggling to contain its latest outbreak fuelled by the highly contagious Delta variant, with cases and deaths skyrocketing and the healthcare system stretched thin. Authorities said they will mix a first dose of the Chinese-made Sinovac jab with […]
NASIRIYAH, Iraq (AFP) — A fire that enveloped a Covid isolation unit in southern Iraq killed 64 people, a medical source told AFP in an updated toll on Tuesday. “Sixty-four (bodies) were retrieved and 39 identified and handed over to their families,” the source at the Dhi Qar Forensic Science Department said. The deadly Monday evening blaze at Al-Hussein Hospital in the provincial capital Nasiriyah, which medics said was fuelled by the explosion of oxygen […]
BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan (AFP) — Authorities in Kyrgyzstan said Tuesday the bodies of six people had been recovered and two children were missing after landslides swept rural areas of the poor Central Asian country. Fatal landsides affect mountainous Central Asia every year around springtime, blocking roads in a region lacking transport infrastructure and forcing families to rebuild homes from scratch. On Monday, landslides swept through the Aksy district in the west of the mountainous country, the […]
by Natsuko FUKUE TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Even under ordinary circumstances, feeding an Olympic Village is a mammoth task, with chefs preparing tens of thousands of meals a day for elite athletes from around the world. But at Tokyo 2020, there’s an added pressure: strict coronavirus rules forbid athletes from eating at local restaurants, so it’s their only chance to sample Japan’s famous cuisine. “I feel it’s a lot of responsibility for us,” admitted Tsutomu […]
SHANGHAI, China (AFP) — Rescuers have pulled another seven survivors out of the rubble of a small budget hotel that collapsed in the eastern China city of Suzhou, state media said Tuesday. The Siji Kaiyuan hotel collapsed on Monday afternoon, with authorities initially saying one person had died. The latest figures bring to 14 the number of those rescued, according to the People’s Daily. No further information was given on the number of people still […]
TEL AVIV, Israel (AFP) — Israel on Monday began administering a third shot of the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine to patients with compromised immune systems, as cases in the country rise, the health ministry said. Those immediately eligible for a third shot include people who have had heart, lung and kidney transplants and some cancer patients. “There is accumulating evidence that patients with immunosuppression do not develop an adequate antibody response after two doses of the […]
NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — Several people reportedly taking selfies near a historical fort in northern India were among nearly 80 killed by lightning strikes during the early stages of the annual monsoon season, officials said Monday. Deadly lightning strikes are common in the vast Asian nation during the June-September deluge, which bring respite from the summer heat across the northern Indian plains. Of the 76 killed, at least 23 people died in the mostly […]
