Asia

Singapore approves Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for teens

SINGAPORE, Singapore (AFP) — Singapore authorized the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid vaccine to teenagers aged 12 to 15, officials said on Tuesday, in a first for Asia. The city-state’s Health Sciences Authority extended the use of the vaccine — currently only approved for individuals aged 16 and above — after reviewing clinical data submitted by the manufacturer. Singaporean authorities “assessed that the Pfizer-BioNTech covid-19 vaccine demonstrated high safety and efficacy for this age group […]

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33 dead, dozens missing as cyclone batters Covid-stricken India

by Sam Panthaky MAHUVA, India (AFP) — At least 33 people died and more than 90 were missing on Tuesday after a monster cyclone slammed India, compounding the country’s woes as it posted a new record number of coronavirus deaths in 24 hours. The swirling system dubbed Cyclone Tauktae is the latest in what experts say is a growing number of increasingly severe storms in the Arabian Sea as climate change warms its waters. Hundreds […]

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Special delivery: man donates $550,000 in cash to Japan city

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — An elderly Japanese man has anonymously donated his life’s savings — in cash — to a city outside of Tokyo, an unexpected financial windfall as the economy reels from the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. The man, who did not identify himself, appeared at city hall in Yokosuka on Monday and asked that a backpack with a letter inside be given to the mayor, the official who met him told AFP. […]

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Death toll climbs in Israel-Gaza conflict amid UN deadlock

by Sakher Abou El Oun with Ben Simon in Jerusalem GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories (AFP) — Heavy air strikes and rocket fire in the Israel-Gaza conflict claimed more lives on both sides Tuesday as tensions flared in Palestinian “day of anger” protests in Jerusalem and the West Bank. Calls for a ceasefire intensified, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Israel would continue its onslaught on the coastal enclave “as long as necessary,” before a UN […]

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Israeli strike puts sole Gaza Covid lab out of action: ministry

  GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories (AFP) — The Palestinian enclave of Gaza’s only Covid-19 laboratory is no longer able to carry out testing due to an Israeli air strike Monday on the clinic housing it, local authorities said. Al-Rimal clinic, in the town of the same name in the Gaza Strip, was partly destroyed, while the territory’s health ministry and the office of Qatar’s Red Crescent were also hit, officials said. Medical personnel at the […]

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Monster cyclone makes landfall in Covid-stricken India

by Sam Panthaky MAHUVA, India (AFP) — A deadly cyclone blasted ashore in western India late Monday with fierce winds and drenching rains that turned streets into rivers, disrupting the country’s response to its devastating Covid-19 outbreak. Cyclone Tauktae, which local press reports called the biggest to hit the area in 30 years, has unleashed heavy weather since the weekend that killed at least 20 people in its approach to land. It made landfall in […]

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Three rockets fired from Lebanon towards Israel: Lebanese military source

BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — Three rockets were fired from southern Lebanon towards Israel on Monday evening, a Lebanese military source told AFP, prompting the Israeli army to respond with rocket fire. “Three Grad-type rockets were fired from the Shebaa Farms area,” not far from the Israeli border, the source said, adding that Israel responded with artillery fire. bek/kjl/jj © Agence France-Presse

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Blinken urges Israel and Palestinians to ‘protect civilians’ and children

  COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AFP) — US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday urged Israel and Palestinians to “protect civilians, especially children”, reiterating that Israel “as a democracy has an extra burden” to do so. “We’ll continue to conduct intensive diplomacy to bring this current cycle of violence to an end” and “we are ready to lend support, if the parties seek a ceasefire”, Blinken told a press conference in Copenhagen. He reiterated Washington’s support […]

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Miss Myanmar wins best nat’l costume with messsage “Pray for Myanmar” in Miss U pageant

  (Eagle News) — Miss Myanmar Thuzar Wint Lwin won the best in national costume in the recent 2020 Miss Universe competition held in Florida, USA. She brought to the world her message to “Pray for Myanmar” which is currently suffering under military rule where hundreds of protesters have so far died. Thuzar Wint Lwin, who also made it to the top 21 semi-finals, used the pageant to bring to the world’s attention the plight […]

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Gaza pummelled by fresh Israeli strikes, more than 200 dead in a week

by Adel Zaanoun with Claire Gounon in Jerusalem GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories (AFP) — Israeli air strikes hammered the Gaza Strip Monday, after a week of violence between the Jewish state and Palestinian militants left more than 200 people dead as international calls for de-escalation went unheeded. Overnight Sunday to Monday, Israel launched dozens of strikes in the space of a few minutes across the crowded coastal Palestinian enclave controlled by Islamist group Hamas, according […]

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Singapore warns new virus strains infecting more children, shuts schools

SINGAPORE, Singapore (AFP) — Singapore will close schools from Wednesday as authorities warned new coronavirus strains like the one first detected in India were affecting more children in the city-state. The government has been tightening restrictions following a recent rise in local transmissions after months of near-zero cases. At a virtual news conference late Sunday, authorities announced that primary and secondary schools as well as junior colleges would shift to full home-based learning from Wednesday […]

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Deadly cyclone bears down on Covid-stricken India

AHMEDABAD, India (AFP) — A major cyclone packing ferocious winds and threatening a destructive storm surge bore down on India on Monday, disrupting the country’s urgent response to its devastating Covid-19 outbreak. At least six people died over the weekend in torrential rains and winds as Tauktae, according to press reports the biggest to hit western India in 30 years, swept over the Arabian Sea with Gujarat state in its sights. The “Extremely Severe Cyclonic […]

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