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PARIS, France (AFP) — France will offer Covid booster shots to the elderly and vulnerable from September, joining a growing list of countries offering third vaccine shots to fight new virus variants, President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday. “Yes, we will probably need a third dose, not for everyone straight away but at any rate for the elderly and the most vulnerable,” Macron said in the latest in his series of explanatory videos on the government’s […]
by Marina RAFENBERG ATHENS, Greece (AFP) — At least 150 houses were destroyed by a raging fire that surrounded a monastery and a dozen villages on the Greek island of Evia Wednesday, one of over 100 blazes burning in the country. Firefighters were also battling a blaze near Athens, while the mayor of Olympia, the birthplace of the Olympic Games, pleaded for help as flames threatened the site. The blazes erupted as Greece is in […]
PRAGUE, Czech Republic (AFP) — Two people died and dozens more were injured on Wednesday when two trains collided at a village in the west of the Czech Republic, police said. “We can confirm that two people lost their lives,” national police said on Twitter. “Dozens of injured people were reported at the scene. We are helping with the evacuation of passengers.” The police said the accident happened shortly after 8:00 am (0600 GMT) at […]
VARYMPOMPI, Greece (AFP) — Greek firefighters said Wednesday that they hope to bring a forest fire blazing near Athens under control “in the coming hours”. “The situation has improved and we hope to bring the fire under control in the coming hours,” the fire service said in a statement. More than 500 firefighters, a dozen water-bombing planes and five helicopters have been battling the blazes outside the capital since Tuesday afternoon. Around a dozen houses […]
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Fully vaccinated people in England were one-third as likely to test positive for Covid-19, according to an ongoing survey of the population released on Wednesday. The latest findings, from a long-running study by scientists at Imperial College London and market research company Ipsos MORI, were based on 98,233 swabs taken between June 24 and July 12. They showed one in 160 people infected with coronavirus, with a prevalence rate of […]
AJACCIO, France (AFP) –Health officials in France on Tuesday activated an emergency plan on the Mediterranean island of Corsica as a fourth wave of Covid infections spread across the country. The government also announced it was reactivating a package of measures designed to support medical staff as they brace for a fresh intake of cases. More of France’s popular coastal areas meanwhile reintroduced the compulsory wearing of masks in a bid to stem the incoming […]
MADRID, Spain (AFP) — Spain’s cabinet approved Tuesday the extension of measures to protect the most vulnerable from economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic, including a moratorium on home evictions until November. Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s coalition government first approved the package of social measures in March 2020 during the height of the first wave of the pandemic in Spain, one of Europe’s hardest-hit nations. The so-called “social shield” includes a ban on leaving […]
POINTE-A-PITRE, France (AFP) — France’s overseas territory of Guadeloupe is to return to lockdown for at least three weeks because of a “catastrophic” surge in Covid cases, officials announced Monday. The announcement comes days after Martinique, another region of France 190 kilometres (120 miles) to the south, returned to lockdown on Friday for at least three weeks. And the French island of Reunion entered a partial two-week lockdown this weekend, including a 6:00 pm to […]
ATHENS, Greece (AFP) — Greece is suffering its worst heatwave since 1987, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis warned on Monday, as forecasters said temperatures could hit 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) later. The intense heat has helped fan wildfires that have destroyed more than 3,000 hectares (7,400 acres) of pine and olive groves in the country’s west since Saturday. © Agence France-Presse
by Raziye AKKOC with AFP bureaus ANKARA, Turkey (AFP) — Dozens of villages were evacuated in tourist hotspots in southern Turkey on Sunday as wildfires that have claimed eight lives raged for a fifth day, while blazes also hit Greece, Italy and Spain. Fanned by soaring temperatures and strong winds — with experts saying that climate change increases both the frequency and intensity of such blazes — this year’s fire season has been significantly more […]
BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — Germany plans to start offering Covid-19 booster shots to the elderly and at-risk from September 1, according to a draft document seen by AFP on Sunday, as concerns grow about the spread of the Delta variant. The plan also recommends promoting vaccination for those aged 12-17, which would go further than earlier guidance issued by the country’s vaccine regulator. Health Minister Jens Spahn and Germany’s 16 regional health ministers are expected […]
Czech duo Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova added the Olympic women’s doubles title to their French Open crown by beating Swiss singles champion Belinda Bencic and Viktorija Golubic in Sunday’s final. The top seeds edged a tight opening set before racing through the second to win 7-5, 6-1 on their fifth match point. Krejcikova, who also won the Roland Garros singles trophy earlier this year, and Siniakova had needed deciding tie-breaks in their last three […]
