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by James PHEBY Agence France Presse LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Britain on Wednesday became the first country in the world to approve AstraZeneca and Oxford University’s low-cost Covid vaccine, raising hopes it will help tackle rising cases and ease pressure on creaking health services. The independent Medicines and Healthcare products and Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said the vaccine “met its strict standards of safety, quality and effectiveness”, and a roll-out was set for January […]
BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — Germany’s daily coronavirus death toll has crossed 1,000 for the first time, health authorities said Wednesday. A total of 1,129 people died in the previous 24 hours, according to figures from the Robert Koch Institute, up from the previous record of 962 logged last Wednesday. There were 22,459 new infections over the same period, it added. An apparent drop in new infections and deaths in recent days was a result […]
by Hugues HONORE PARIS, France (AFP) — France is considering starting its curfew earlier in the evening in parts of the country to try to contain the spread of the coronavirus, Health Minister Olivier Veran said Tuesday. The government has for the moment ruled out a return to a full lockdown, either nationally or at the local level, he added. The proposal is to extend the existing 8pm-6am overnight curfew, starting it at 6pm in […]
by Lajla VESELICA PETRINJA, Croatia (AFP) — A search for survivors in Croatia stretched into the night Tuesday after a powerful earthquake killed at least seven people in the country’s interior, tearing down rooftops and piling bricks in the streets. The 6.4-magnitude quake was felt as far afield as Vienna but the heavy damage was concentrated in and around Petrinja, a town of around 20,000 some 50 kilometres (30 miles) south of Croatia’s capital Zagreb. […]
ZAGREB, Croatia (AFP) — A powerful 6.4 magnitude earthquake tore down buildings in central Croatia on Tuesday, striking near the town of Petrinja where rescue teams raced to comb through the rubble. The tremor, one of the strongest to rock Croatia in recent years, collapsed rooftops in Petrinja, home to some 20,000 people, and left the streets strewn with bricks and other debris. “We are pulling people from the cars, we don’t know if […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Belarus on Tuesday began a vaccination drive against coronavirus using the Sputnik V jab, becoming the first country outside Russia to use the vaccine developed by Moscow. Belarus, with a population of around 9.5 million people, has registered more than 188,000 cases of coronavirus infections and nearly 1,400 deaths. “Today the first vaccine shipment has arrived in Belarus,” said the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) which financed Sputnik V. RDIF […]
ROME, Italy (AFP) — Storms hit much of northern Italy on Monday while business hub Milan woke up to a thick layer of snow. Around 20 centimetres(8 inches) of snow fell in the city, where a 76-year-old homeless man died in hospital after being found in the street. Falling trees disrupted traffic, with local authorities deploying dozens of snowploughs to clear main thoroughfares. The storms caused tailbacks on several motorways, notably the A26 bound for […]
ZAGREB, Croatia (AFP) — An 5.2-magnitude earthquake rattled central Croatia and the capital Zagreb early Monday morning, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said, with initial reports indicating no casualties. The tremor was felt at 530 GMT in Zagreb, with an epicentre some 50 kilometres south outside the town of Sisak, home to some 35,000 people, EMSC reported. “We have not yet been informed of damage,” Kresimir Kuk, head of the Croatian Seismological Institute, told the […]
BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — A 101-year-old woman in an elderly care home became the first person in Germany to be inoculated against coronavirus on Saturday, a day before the official vaccination campaign was scheduled to get under way in both Germany and the EU. Edith Kwoizalla was one of around 40 residents and 10 staff in a care home in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt to receive a jab of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, the home’s […]
by Robin MILLARD GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The coronavirus crisis will not be the last pandemic, and attempts to improve human health are “doomed” without tackling climate change and animal welfare, the World Health Organization’s chief said. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also condemned the “dangerously short-sighted” cycle of throwing cash at outbreaks but doing nothing to prepare for the next one, in a video message marking Sunday’s first International Day of Epidemic Preparedness. The WHO director-general […]
MADRID, Spain (AFP) — A 96-year-old living in a care home in central Spain became the first person in the country to be vaccinated against Covid-19 on Sunday, in an event broadcast by national television. She felt “nothing” from the shot, Araceli Rosario Hidalgo Sanchez said with a smile after being injected. With her short white hair, the pensioner living in the Los Olmos retirement home in Guadalajara got up slowly after pulling on her […]
ISTANBUL, Turkey (AFP) — A 5.5 magnitude earthquake struck eastern Turkey on Sunday, the US Geological Survey said, with initial reports indicating no immediate casualties. Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said there were no reports of material damage or casualties so far. The USGS said the quake was registered in the Sivrice district in Elazig province at 0637 GMT and struck at a depth of 10 kilometres. The Turkish government’s disaster agency AFAD reported a […]
