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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AFP) — The UAE announced Wednesday it had given nearly 10 million vaccine doses, equal to one for every resident, after warning that those who remained unvaccinated would face restrictions on their movement. The United Arab Emirates has mounted an energetic coronavirus vaccination campaign for its citizens as well as the foreigners who make up the majority of the population. However, daily infection rates remain high after it became one of […]
by Raziye Akkoc KARAPINAR, Turkey (AFP) — Sinkholes wide enough to swallow a bus dot the drought-stricken breadbasket of the Turkish plains, worrying farmers as they spread and creep closer to residential homes. “The drought situation is getting worse,” said farmer Tahsin Gundogdu, whose harvest includes potatoes he sells to the US food giant PepsiCo. The 57-year-old has seen the huge holes yawn open in the past 10 to 15 years as the overuse of […]
by Abhaya SRIVASTAVA NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — India posted a global record of almost 315,000 new Covid infections on Thursday as hospitals in New Delhi sent out desperate warnings that patients could die without fresh oxygen supplies. India’s long-underfunded health system is being stretched to the limit by a devastating second wave blamed on a “double mutant” variant and “super-spreader” mass gatherings. Health ministry data on Thursday showed 314,835 new infections in the past […]
MUMBAI, India (AFP) — Twenty-two Covid-19 patients at a hospital in India were killed on Wednesday when the oxygen supply to their ventilators was disrupted by a leak. The tragedy comes as India battles severe shortages of medical supplies during a fierce second wave of coronavirus infections. The 30-minute leak from an oxygen tanker stationed outside Dr Zakir Hussain Hospital in Nashik, about 200 kilometres north of Mumbai, cut off supply to the ventilators of […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — South Korean President Moon Jae-in urged Joe Biden to open up talks with North Korea on its nuclear weapons and build on the ground-breaking talks his predecessor Donald Trump held with Pyongyang. In an interview with the New York Times published Wednesday, Moon suggested the US president needed to engage directly with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, and not consign denuclearization talks to lower-level officials haggling over preliminary details. Moon […]
QUETTA, Pakistan (AFP) — At least four people were killed and a dozen others wounded when a bomb exploded at a top hotel hosting the Chinese ambassador in southwestern Pakistan, officials said late Wednesday. The blast took place in the car park of the Serena — a luxury hotel chain throughout Pakistan — in the city of Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province where the military has been fighting a decade-long low level insurgency. “At […]
YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — The Myanmar military junta’s crackdown on anti-coup protesters has displaced close to a quarter of a million people, a United Nations rights envoy said Wednesday. The military has stepped up its use of lethal force to quash mass demonstrations against a February 1 coup which ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi. At least 738 people have been killed and 3,300 are languishing in jails as political prisoners, according to a […]
BAB AL-HAWA, Syria (AFP) — A first batch of Covid-19 vaccine doses was expected to arrive Wednesday in war-torn northwestern Syria, where millions of people live in dire humanitarian conditions, a UN official said. The 53,800 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine were dispatched to the rebel-dominated region as part of the Covax facility, which ensures the world’s poorest economies get access to jabs for free. “Once the vaccines arrive, we are prepared to start vaccination […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — President Vladimir Putin, whose United Russia party is deeply unpopular ahead of September elections, said Wednesday that the government’s main task was to boost Russians’ falling personal incomes. Putin’s popularity has long been based on his ability to provide stability and better living standards to Russians, but the economy has in recent years been hit by Western sanctions, stagnant oil prices and now the coronavirus pandemic. “The main thing is to […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday vowed that Russia, one of the world’s oil and gas producing giants, would do its part to fight climate change and develop carbon recycling. “We must respond to the challenges of climate change, create a carbon recycling industry,” Putin said in his annual state of the nation address. © Agence France-Presse
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Russia is aiming for herd immunity against the coronavirus by the autumn and hailed his country’s development of three vaccines. “Vaccination is now of paramount importance… to allow herd immunity to develop in the fall,” Putin said during his annual state of the nation address. “Our scientists have made a real breakthrough. Now Russia has three reliable vaccines against the coronavirus,” he added. The […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China’s President Xi Jinping will attend a virtual climate summit this week hosted by US President Joe Biden, the Chinese foreign ministry said Wednesday, as political tensions between the two countries remain high. Biden has invited 40 world leaders including Xi and Russia’s Vladimir Putin to the meet starting on Earth Day, meant to mark Washington’s return to the front lines of the fight against climate change after former president Donald […]
