by Issam Ahmed, with Erin Conroy in Paris Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States and Europe on Tuesday fleshed out plans to administer Covid-19 vaccines as soon as they gain approval, with a US panel recommending that health care workers and nursing home residents be given top priority. Hopes are high that shots could be ready for use before the end of the year, with two frontrunner vaccines — […]
Europe
WHO says ‘will do everything’ to find Covid-19 origins
GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The World Health Organization insisted Monday it would do everything possible to find the animal origins of Covid-19, insisting that knowledge was vital to preventing future outbreaks. “We want to know the origin and we will do everything to know the origin,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters. He insisted the UN health agency was intent on getting to the bottom of the mystery, and urged critics who have accused […]
UK to impose tougher rules on Google, Facebook
by Anna MALPAS Agence France Presse LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Britain announced Friday it will set up a watchdog to regulate tech giants such as Facebook and Google, help protect smaller competitors and give consumers more control over personal data. Britain’s announcement comes as US tech giants are facing increasing scrutiny around the world over their power and as other countries step up their regulatory powers. “Our new, pro-competition regime for digital markets […]
UK asks regulator to study AstraZeneca vaccine
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — The British government said on Friday it has asked its independent medicines regulator to assess AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine as part of the formal approval process for the drug to be rolled out by the end of the year. More than 1.4 million people have died since the novel coronavirus emerged in China late last year, and three drug developers — Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca/Oxford University — are currently applying […]
Germany’s coronavirus infections pass one million
BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — Germany on Friday saw its total number of coronavirus infections pass one million, the Robert Koch Institute for disease control said. The institute recorded more than 22,000 new daily cases, pushing the country’s total beyond the one million mark. Germany had largely contained the spread of the virus in the spring but has been hit hard by a second wave of infections. The number of Covid-19 patients in intensive care nationwide […]
Tens of millions set for strictest curbs when England lockdown ends
by James PHEBY / Joe JACKSON LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — More than 23 million people will be under the tightest restrictions once England’s nationwide coronavirus lockdown ends next week, but London will escape the toughest rules, the government said on Thursday. England will return to a regional tiered system when the national stay-at-home order ends on December 2, and 23.3 million residents in the worst-hit areas are set to enter the “very high” alert […]
Swedish royal couple self-isolate after Covid diagnosis
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AFP) — Sweden’s Prince Carl Philip and his wife Princess Sofia are self-isolating after testing positive for the new coronavirus, the royal palace said Thursday. Carl Philip, the 41-year-old son of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia, and Sofia, 35, “have light flu symptoms” and are recuperating at home in Stockholm with their two young children, the palace said in a statement. The king and queen, as well as Crown Princess […]
Italy’s Covid-19 death toll tops 50,000
ROME, Italy (AFP) — Italy, the first European country to be hit by the global coronavirus pandemic, on Monday passed the threshold of 50,000 deaths from Covid-19. Most took place earlier this year, but around 15,000 deaths have been reported since the beginning of September. The health ministry recorded 630 new deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 50,453. There were 22,930 new cases, to total more than 1.4 million. Italy joins […]
Poorest must not be trampled in vaccines stampede: WHO
by Robin MILLARD GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — With Covid-19 vaccines on the horizon, the planet’s poorest must not be trampled as countries scramble to get their hands on them, the World Health Organization said Monday. WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the latest batch of promising results from final-phase candidate vaccine trials showed there was light at the end of the “long dark tunnel” of the coronavirus pandemic. But he said the world had to […]
AstraZeneca/Oxford say Covid vaccine shows 70% efficacy
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — British drugs group AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford on Monday said their jointly-developed vaccine against Covid-19 has shown “an average efficacy of 70 percent” in trials. “This vaccine’s efficacy and safety confirm that it will be highly effective against Covid-19 and will have an immediate impact on this public health emergency,” AstraZeneca chief executive Pascal Soriot said in a statement. The results ranged between 62 and 90 percent efficacy […]
Spain PM says virus battle plan ‘is working’
MADRID, Spain (AFP) — Spain’s strategy to curb a rise in coronavirus infections “is working”, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Sunday as he unveiled details of plans to vaccinate much of the population next year. The country has recorded less than 400 Covid-19 cases per 100,000 inhabitants over the last 14 days, compared to nearly 530 cases at the start of the month, he told a news conference after a two-day online summit of G20 […]
Dutch cull 190,000 chickens after bird flu outbreaks
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AFP) — Dutch authorities have culled some 190,000 chickens after a highly-contagious strain of bird flu broke out at at least two poultry farms, the agriculture ministry said Sunday. Health workers slaughtered around 100,000 hens at a poultry farm at Hekendorp outside Gouda while 90,000 chicks were culled at Witmarsum, in northern Friesland. In both cases “a highly-contagious strain of the H5 variant” was suspected, the ministry said in a statement. There […]





