Breaking News, Latest Philippines Headlines, World, Entertainment, Politics, Weather & Video News
by Natalia Cano and Sofia Miselem MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AFP) — Demands for justice mounted Thursday as relatives buried the victims of Mexico City’s metro disaster, accusing the authorities of negligence that cost the lives of 25 people. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has rejected accusations that his austerity drive was a factor in Monday’s accident, when a section of elevated track collapsed, bringing a train crashing down. But at funerals in the capital, devastated […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Americans filed 92,000 fewer applications for unemployment aid last week, the government reported Thursday, in the latest sign the widespread job losses caused by the Covid-19 pandemic was ebbing as businesses reopen. The Labor Department data showed there were 498,000 initial claims for jobless benefits made in the week ended May 1, seasonally adjusted, far fewer than expected and a new low since the pandemic began in March 2020 and […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Moderna said Thursday its Covid-19 vaccine is 96 percent effective among youths aged 12 to 17, according to the results of its first clinical trials. Two-thirds of the 3,235 participants in trials in the United States received the vaccine and one-third were given a placebo. The study “showed vaccine efficacy against COVID-19 of 96%; mRNA-1273 was generally well tolerated with no serious safety concerns identified to date,” the company said. […]
LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — One of California’s iconic giant sequoia trees was recently found to be still smoldering and smoking in an area of the state devastated by massive wildfires last summer, National Park authorities said Wednesday. “Scientists and fire crews were surveying the effects from the 2020 Castle Fire in Sequoia National Park, when they observed a still smoldering and smoking giant sequoia tree that appears to be caused from last year’s […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US biotech firm Moderna on Wednesday announced initial data from a small clinical trial that showed its booster shots improved people’s immune responses against key coronavirus variants of concern. “We are encouraged by these new data, which reinforce our confidence that our booster strategy should be protective against these newly detected variants,” said the company’s CEO Stephane Bancel. Forty participants were tested for their levels of neutralizing antibodies six to […]
by Heather SCOTT WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Joe Biden’s administration on Wednesday announced support for a global waiver on patent protections for Covid-19 vaccines, offering hope to poor nations that have struggled to access the life-saving doses. India, where the death toll hit a new daily record amid fears the peak is still to come, has been leading the fight within the World Trade Organization (WTO) to allow more drugmakers to manufacture […]
LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — One of the many Republican candidates vying to replace the governor of California in an upcoming vote caused a stir Tuesday by bringing a bear to his political rally. John Cox is campaigning on the theme of “beauty and the beast” — the “beauty” being current Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, known for his primped appearance in the state that is home to Hollywood. Cox has cast himself as the […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States on Tuesday urged authorities in Colombia to act with “utmost restraint” to avoid more deaths during anti-government protests that have resulted in at least 19 fatalities. Protesters in Colombia have called for fresh mass rallies after more than 800 people were wounded in clashes during five days of demonstrations against a proposed tax reform. “We urge the utmost restraint by public forces to prevent additional loss of […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP0 — Derek Chauvin, the white ex-policeman convicted of murdering the African-American man George Floyd, asked Tuesday for a new trial on claims of jury and prosecution misconduct. The 45-year-old — who knelt on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes — faces up to 40 years in prison after being found guilty last month in a case that prompted a national reckoning on racial injustice and police brutality. Chauvin’s attorney Eric […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Joe Biden wants 70 percent of adults in the US to have received at least one shot of the Covid-19 vaccine by the July 4 Independence Day holiday, the White House said Tuesday. Administration officials who asked not to be identified said Biden would announce the ambitious goal in a speech later Tuesday. In addition to getting 70 percent at least partially vaccinated, Biden wants “160 million Americans fully […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Joe Biden said Tuesday he expects to hold a summit with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin during a June trip to Europe. “That is my hope and expectation,” Biden said. Biden in April offered a meeting in a third country to discuss rising tensions over Russian sabre rattling around Ukraine, the treatment of jailed Putin opponent Alexei Navalny, and other flashpoints. A summit has not been confirmed but […]
by Sofia Miselem and Daniel Rook MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AFP) — Mexico’s president on Tuesday promised an in-depth investigation to find those responsible for the deaths of at least 24 people in the collapse of an elevated metro train line with a history of problems. The vow came as emergency services in the capital worked to retrieve the bodies of victims still trapped in the wreckage of the carriages that plunged towards the ground on […]
