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MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Moscow on Monday imposed a lockdown in a bid to slow the spread of the coronavirus as Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin asked regional authorities to make similar preparations. The enforcement of the tough new rules, which were suddenly announced by Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin late Sunday, coincide with the beginning of a “non-working” week declared by President Vladimir Putin last week. Europe’s largest city announced the strict new isolation measures […]
CHENZHOU, China (AFP) — One person was killed and 127 injured when a passenger train derailed in central China on Monday after striking debris from a landslide that had fallen to the track, the state-run railway system said. The accident happened around midday in a rural part of Hunan province and came after recent heavy rains triggered landslides in the area, a statement said. One car caught fire and five were derailed, it said. A […]
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AFP) — The United Arab Emirates said it has launched a drive-through coronavirus testing facility as part of the Gulf state’s efforts to fight the disease. The facility, inaugurated by Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, will provide screenings within five minutes, using state-of-the-art equipment and a medical team, the Abu Dhabi government’s media office said. “A new drive-through testing facility for COVID-19 has launched … to offer safe […]
by Sunghee Hwang SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — Nuclear-armed North Korea successfully tested “super-large multiple rocket launchers”, state media said on Monday, but leader Kim Jong Un was not described as commanding the drill as analysts say Pyongyang seeks to normalize its launches. With the world focused on the coronavirus pandemic and North Korea insisting it has not had a single COVID-19 case, the isolated state has carried out four such firings this month. Unusually, […]
by Sunghee Hwang Agence France Presse North Korea fired what appeared to be two short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast on Sunday, the fourth such launch this month as the world battles the coronavirus outbreak. The string of weapons drills come as a prolonged hiatus in disarmament talks with the United States drags on, and despite recent overtures from Washington offering help to contain the pandemic. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — Three South Korean coronavirus test-kit makers have been given the green light to export their devices to the United States, officials said Saturday. The companies won pre-approval under emergency use authorisation from the US Food and Drug Administration that allows for the products to be sold in America, South Korea’s foreign ministry said, without naming the firms. The US has more confirmed cases of the coronavirus than anywhere else […]
by Jing Xuan TENG Agence France Presse WUHAN, China (AFP) — The Chinese city of 11 million people that was Ground Zero for what became the global coronavirus pandemic partly reopened on Saturday after more than two months of almost total isolation. Wuhan was placed under lockdown in January with residents forbidden to leave, roadblocks ring-fencing the city’s outskirts and drastic restrictions on daily life. But the major transport and industrial hub has now […]
China and the United States should “unite to fight” the deadly coronavirus pandemic, President Xi Jinping said in a call with Donald Trump on Friday, as he called for the US to improve relations. The two countries have clashed in recent weeks over the virus, and Chinese state media said Xi told Trump he hoped the “US will take substantive actions to improve Sino-US relations.” He also called for the two countries to work […]
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) — Saudi Arabia’s King Salman on Thursday urged G20 leaders to take “effective and coordinated” action to combat the global crisis triggered by the coronavirus pandemic and called on them to assist developing nations. While wealthy nations including the US have unveiled mammoth stimulus packages, there has so far been no collective action plan from the G20, and it has been criticized for its slow response. In opening remarks as G20 […]
by Jing Xuan TENG HUANGGANG, China (AFP) — Banners warning that playing cards together is suicide and guards yelling at crowds to separate: a Chinese city near the coronavirus ground zero remains far from normal even after emerging from a two-month lockdown. Huanggang, home to 7.5 million people, was among the worst-affected areas in Hubei, the province where the new coronavirus first emerged late last year before morphing into a deadly pandemic. Travel restrictions were […]
by Patrick GALEY PARIS, France (AFP) — The lockdown in the Chinese outbreak city of Wuhan brought the COVID-19 epidemic crashing to a halt, giving health systems crucial breathing room to deal with serious cases, new research showed Thursday. Chinese authorities ordered schools, universities and businesses shut following a cluster of COVID-19 cases in the transport hub in January, confining millions of people to their homes in a bid to contain the outbreak. The measures […]
TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — Iran on Thursday announced 157 new deaths from coronavirus, raising the official number of fatalities to 2,234, as it slapped a ban on intercity travel to try to curb the spread. Health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour also said that 2,389 new cases have been confirmed in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of declared infections in one of the world’s wost-hit countries to 29,406. “Fortunately, until today 10,457 of […]
