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GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The UN patent agency has hailed the push to create a coronavirus vaccine and make it globally available, but warned against allowing copyright rows to overshadow and delay the process. “What we need in the first place here is innovation,” Francis Gurry, the head of the UN’s World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), told reporters in a virtual briefing. World Health Organization member states last week adopted a resolution recognizing that extensive […]
PARIS, France (AFP) — France on Tuesday reported 83 new deaths in hospital from the coronavirus over the last 24 hours as key indicators remained steady two weeks into the relaxation of a lockdown. A total of 28,530 deaths have now been recorded in France since the epidemic began, the health ministry said in a statement. This includes a slight revising down by 10 of the numbers who have died in nursing homes. The numbers […]
GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The World Health Organization said Tuesday that Dutch workers apparently infected with the coronavirus by minks could be the first known cases of animal-to-human transmission. The WHO told AFP that it was in close contact with Dutch researchers investigating three cases where the virus appears to have been passed to humans from minks. “This would be the first known cases of animal-to-human transmission,” the UN health agency told AFP in an […]
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government was hit by its first resignation Tuesday over the controversy surrounding top aide Dominic Cummings’ cross-country trip during the coronavirus lockdown when Douglas Ross, a minister for Scotland, quit in protest. Undermining attempts by ministers to try and move on from the crisis which has dominated British politics for four days, Ross said he could not justify Cummings remaining in post to his constituents. […]
MADRID, Spain (AFP) — Spanish health workers on the front line of the fight against coronavirus gathered on Monday outside hospitals in the Madrid region to rally against shortages of protective equipment. Nurses, doctors and other workers protested in their uniforms, some in scrubs, under the slogan “health workers essential”. They stood silently for two minutes at the gates of several institutions in and around the capital, holding placards and homemade signs that read “we […]
by Dmitry ZAKS Agence France Presse LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday failed to draw a line under a scandal over his top aide Dominic Cummings allegedly breaching coronavirus rules as pressure mounted on the Brexit mastermind to go. Johnson faces the threat of his government’s authority being undermined in the heat of a health crisis that has claimed nearly 37,000 lives in Britain and thrown one of […]
MADRID, Spain (AFP) — Thousands of Spaniards answered a call on Saturday from far-right party Vox to protest against lockdown measures and the increasingly beleaguered government of leftist Pedro Sanchez. Motorists thronged the roads of central Madrid, tooting their horns as others held placards and shouted “Sanchez, resign” and “freedom”. Vox called demonstrations in dozens of cities with its leader Santiago Abascal alleging the government “has been incapable of protecting its people, its elderly […]
by Taimaz SZIRNIKS with AFP bureaus Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — French churches were preparing to hold their first Sunday masses in more than two months after the government bowed to a ruling that they should be reopened — provided proper precautions were taken. Nearly two weeks into the relaxation of its shutdown, the government finally allowed churches, mosques and synagogues to reopen. Last Monday, the France’s Council of State, which instructs […]
BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — More than 40 people were infected with the new coronavirus after attending a mass in Frankfurt earlier this month, German media reported on Saturday. Six people were admitted to hospital, local health authorities told the news agency DPA. The service was held on May 10, a few days after the reopening of places of worship in Germany, the daily Frankfurter Rundschau reported. Officials in the nearby Main-Kinzig-Kreis district had announced on […]
by Alexandria SAGE ROME, Italy (AFP) — The sun is shining and it feels like summer. For many Italians, that means one thing — Aperol spritzes at a terrace cafe with friends. But just days after most coronavirus lockdown restrictions were lifted, authorities are saying not so fast. From Palermo to Turin, images of partygoers gathering in piazzas and outside bars have caused panic among regional leaders and mayors. They worry that crowds of mostly […]
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — The British government on Thursday announced that foreign care workers would be exempt from a charge imposed on migrants to fund the health service, after an outcry sparked by the coronavirus outbreak. Prime Minister Boris Johnson had defended the immigration health surcharge as recently as Wednesday, saying it raised much-needed funds for the state-run National Health Service (NHS). But Keir Starmer, the main opposition Labour leader, condemned the levy at […]
PARIS, France (AFP) — The number of coronavirus deaths registered in France over the last 24 hours dipped to 83 on Thursday, as a top doctor said he was not seeing a second wave of infections despite the country easing its lockdown. The latest deaths in hospitals and nursing homes brought France’s total toll from the pandemic to 28,215, the health ministry said in a statement. The trends remained optimistic, with 49 fewer people in […]
