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REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AFP) — Iceland’s glaciers have lost around 750 square kilometers (290 square miles), or seven percent of their surface, since the turn of the millennium due to global warming, a study published on Monday showed. The glaciers, which cover more than 10 percent of the country’s land mass, shrank in 2019 to 10,400 square kilometers, the study in the Icelandic scientific journal Jokull said. Since 1890, the land covered by glaciers has decreased […]
by Juliette COLLEN PARIS, France (AFP) — France on Monday opened up Covid-19 vaccines to all adults, a week before Germany, as Europe races to avoid another wave of infections caused by new virus variants. So far, 25.4 million people have received a first shot of a vaccine, representing about 38 percent of the population and nearly one in two adults. Until now, people over 50, workers in professions particularly exposed to the virus and […]
MADRID, Spain (AFP) — Myanmar correspondent Mratt Kyaw Thu will arrive in Madrid on Tuesday to ask for asylum after fleeing the military junta in Yangon, said the Spanish news agency EFE, which he worked for. The 30-year-old correspondent, who will travel to Spain after failing to obtain asylum in Germany, won AFP’s Kate Webb award in 2017 for his outstanding coverage of the ethnic and religious conflicts in Myanmar. “Tomorrow he will fly from […]
by Robin MILLARD GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — Covid-19 variants are to be known by letters of the Greek alphabet to avoid stigmatizing nations where they were first detected, the World Health Organization announced Monday. The new system applies to variants of concern — the most troubling of which four are in circulation — and the second-level variants of interest being tracked. “They will not replace existing scientific names, but are aimed to help in public […]
BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — A Ryanair passenger plane made an emergency landing in Berlin before resuming its journey to Poland, German police said late Sunday without releasing further details. The flight from Dublin to Krakow made the unexpected diversion after a reported bomb threat, German newspaper Bild Zeitung said. With 160 people on board, the flight arrived at the Berlin-Brandenburg airport shortly after 8 pm (1800 GMT) Sunday, remaining on the tarmac into early Monday […]
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Britain on Friday approved the use of a fourth Covid vaccine, hoping to boost a countrywide inoculation drive to allow its economy to reopen fully despite concerns about a new variant. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) approved the single-shot Johnson & Johnson jab, after previously backing the Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Moderna shots. Prime Minister Boris Johnson called it “very welcome news and another boost to our hugely […]
GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The alleged bomb threat cited by Belarus as the reason why it diverted a plane to Minsk before arresting a journalist on board was sent after the plane was redirected, the email provider said. Proton Technologies, which is headquartered in Geneva and says it is the world’s largest secure email provider, said the sent time confirmed it came after the Ryanair passenger plane was diverted to Belarus. The Athens-to-Vilnius flight carrying […]
BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — Germany will start offering coronavirus jabs to children over the age of 12 from June 7, Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday. But she stressed that vaccination would not be compulsory and would have no bearing on whether children can attend school or go on holiday. The European Medicines Agency is expected to approve the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid jab for 12- to 15-year-olds on Friday. It is already authorised in the EU for […]
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — Johnson & Johnson’s single-jab vaccine against Covid-19 will be limited in Belgium to people aged 41 and over, authorities said on Wednesday following the death of a woman who received the jab. The country’s inter-ministerial health body focused on the pandemic said that restriction will be “provisionally” applied pending further guidance from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) on Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen vaccine. The move underlined the level of caution EU […]
by Giovanni GREZZI VERBANIA, Italy (AFP) — Italian police on Wednesday arrested three managers from the operator of a cable car that crashed into a mountain killing 14 people, accusing them of deliberately disabling the emergency brake. A five-year-old boy, the only survivor of Sunday’s tragedy on the Mottarone mountain overlooking Lake Maggiore in northwest Italy, remains in serious condition in hospital. The three suspects are accused of deliberately deactivating the brake that could have […]
by Serge Daniel and Malick Konate BAMAKO, Mali (AFP) — Mali’s interim president and prime minister resigned on Wednesday, a top junta aide said, two days after they were detained and stripped of their powers in what appeared to amount to the country’s second coup in nine months. President Bah Ndaw and Prime Minister Moctar Ouane, tasked with steering the return to civilian rule after a coup last August, resigned in the presence of mediators […]
by Matthieu DEMEESTERE BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — The European Union on Wednesday asked a Belgian court to impose penalties running to millions of euros per day on AstraZeneca for Covid-19 vaccine doses it has failed to deliver to the bloc. The request came as EU countries and their executive, the European Commission, began legal action against the Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical company for “flagrant violation” of its contract with Brussels. AstraZeneca’s lawyer Hakim Boularbah rejected the EU […]
