DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (AFP) — Five civilians were killed on Wednesday when their car was hit in a bomb attack in Turkey’s southeast, local officials said. The governor of Kurdish-majority Diyarbakir province said the attack was carried out in the early hours by “members of the PKK terror organization”, referring to the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party. The PKK has fought an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984 and is listed as a terror group by […]
Asia
Russia ready to start testing coronavirus vaccines on humans in June
MOSCOW, United States (AFP) — The head of a top Russian research center told President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday that his lab was ready to start human trials of experimental coronavirus vaccines in June. Rinat Maksyutov, head of the Vektor State Virology and Biotechnology Centre, said his facility proposed first-phase clinical trials of three vaccines from June 29, on 180 volunteers. Maksyutov was speaking during a video-link meeting between Putin and the heads of top […]
Two South Koreans recover from coronavirus after plasma therapy
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — Two elderly South Korean coronavirus patients recovered from severe pneumonia after being treated with plasma from survivors, researchers said Tuesday, offering hope in the face of the global pandemic. Scientists have pointed to the potential benefits of plasma — a blood fluid — from recovered individuals who have developed antibodies to the virus enabling the body’s defenses to attack it. Since emerging in China in December, the coronavirus has killed […]
Iran virus infections show ‘gradual’ decline
TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — The trajectory of coronavirus infections in Iran appears to have started a “gradual” downward trend, the government said Monday, but it warned the disease is far from being under control. The COVID-19 outbreak claimed 136 lives in the past 24 hours, bringing Iran’s overall death toll to 3,739, health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour told a televised news conference. Iran registered 2,274 new cases of infection over the same period, he said, […]
Saudi imposes 24-hour virus curfew in five cities
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) — Saudi Arabia extended the duration of daily curfews Monday in four governorates and five cities, including the capital, to 24 hours to combat coronavirus as confirmed deaths from the disease hit 38. The kingdom imposed round-the-clock lockdowns on the cities of Riyadh, Tabuk, Dammam, Dhahran and Hofuf, the interior ministry said on Twitter. The same measures were also imposed on the governorates of Jeddah, Taif, Qatif and Khobar, the ministry […]
Japan PM proposes state of emergency over virus, $1-trillion stimulus
by Natsuko FUKUE Agence France Presse TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan’s prime minister Monday proposed a state of emergency for several major regions seeing a sharp rise in coronavirus cases, as well as a stimulus package worth $1 trillion to cushion the impact on the world’s third-biggest economy. The official declaration of the state of emergency would likely come as soon as Tuesday, Shinzo Abe told reporters, as the country grapples with a recent […]
130 Hong Kong police to be quarantined after colleagues infected with COVID-19
HONG KONG, Chinaa (AFP) — About 130 of Hong Kong’s frontline riot police officers will be sent to quarantine camp after two of their colleagues were confirmed to be infected with the coronavirus, a police source told AFP late Saturday. A 46-year-old sergeant, stationed in the city’s Kowloon West region, was confirmed to be infected early on the same day. He was deployed in a crowd control operation during a protest on Tuesday. Another officer, […]
China pauses in memory of virus victims and ‘martyrs’
by Jing Xuan TENG Agence France Presse WUHAN, China (AFP) — China came to a standstill on Saturday to mourn patients and medical staff killed by the coronavirus, as the world’s most populous country observed a nationwide three-minute silence. At 10 am (0200 GMT), citizens paused, cars, trains and ships sounded their horns, and air-raid sirens rang out in memory of the more than 3,000 lives claimed by the virus in China. In Wuhan […]
Turkey mayor urges lockdown for Istanbul
by Fulya OZERKAN ISTANBUL, Turkey (AFP) — Istanbul’s opposition mayor on Thursday called for a lockdown in Turkey’s largest city after it reported the country’s highest number of coronavirus cases and criticized the lack of coordination with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Turkey’s government has announced measures to contain the spread of the virus from shutting schools, banning mass prayers, suspending international flights to restricting intercity trips. But Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu’s demand is likely to put […]
Iran parliament speaker tests positive for COVID-19
TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — Iran’s parliament speaker tested positive for COVID-19, state television reported Thursday, becoming the latest official to contract the disease in the hard hit country. Ali Larijani “was tested for coronavirus after showing certain symptoms, and as the result was positive, he is currently in quarantine and undergoing treatment,” the report said. Larijani, 62, is close to the Iranian leadership and president and was re-elected in 2016 for a second term as […]
China county in lockdown as fears grow over second wave of virus
BEIJING, China (AFP) — A Chinese county of around 600,000 residents has gone into lockdown after a woman who visited the area tested positive for the coronavirus, underscoring concerns over the second wave of domestic infections. The tightening comes as China reported 35 new confirmed cases on Thursday, drastically down from the peak of the crisis. But they were all imported, bringing the tally of such cases to 841 and adding to fears about infections […]
N. Korea insists it is free of coronavirus
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea remains totally free of the coronavirus, a senior health official in Pyongyang has insisted, despite mounting skepticism overseas as confirmed global infections near one million. The already isolated, nuclear-armed North quickly shut down its borders in January after the virus was first detected in neighboring China, and imposed strict containment measures. Pak Myong Su, director of the anti-epidemic department of the North’s Central Emergency Anti-epidemic Headquarters, insisted that […]
