MIAMI, United States (AFP) — Florida’s governor Ron DeSantis pleaded Monday for COVID-19 survivors to donate blood plasma to help save lives, as hospitals rapidly fill up and supplies of antiviral drugs run short. The situation in the Sunshine State is dire, with more than 9,500 coronavirus patients hospitalized and just 18 percent of intensive care beds available. Lines of people hoping to get a test can stretch for almost a mile and the results […]
North America
Three dead after glacier tour bus rolls over in Canada
MONTREAL, Canada (AFP) — A glacier-viewing bus overturned on Saturday at a popular tourist spot in the Canadian Rockies, killing three people and seriously injuring several others, news reports said. The all-terrain vehicle rolled off the road near the Columbia Icefield in Jasper National Park, Alberta, national broadcaster CBC said. Photos published by media outlets show the upturned red-and-white bus, equipped with monster-truck style tires for crossing ice, on a rocky slope below the road […]
US sets another virus record with 77,638 new cases: Johns Hopkins
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States marked a record number of coronavirus cases Friday for the third consecutive day, notching 77,638 new infections in 24 hours, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. The country also recorded 927 deaths in one day, according to the count by the Baltimore-based university at 8:30 pm (00:30 GMT Saturday). The country, the hardest-hit by the coronavirus in the world in absolute terms, has suffered […]
Florida at center of virus outbreak and battle over school reopening
by Chris Lefkow WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Florida is the new epicenter of the coronavirus epidemic in the United States and is shaping up as a key battleground in a partisan-tinged fight playing out nationally over reopening schools in the fall. While cities such as Houston, Los Angeles and New York plan to begin the school year virtually or on a restricted basis, Florida governor Ron DeSantis is insisting schools reopen fully in August. […]
US notches record 68,428 new virus cases in 24 hours: Johns Hopkins
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) –The United States on Thursday set yet another record for new coronavirus cases with 68,428 infections recorded in 24 hours, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. In that period the death toll also climbed by 974 people, the Baltimore-based university’s tracker showed at 8:30 pm (0030 GMT Friday). That brought the total death toll in the country since the pandemic began to 138,201, and the total number of cases […]
Pompeo hopeful for ‘senior’ talks soon with North Korea
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo voiced hope Wednesday of holding high-level talks soon with North Korea and did not rule out a summit, a break with recent pessimistic signs from both countries. Pompeo, without elaborating, said there was “more discussion than is publicly noticed” with North Korea. “I’m hopeful that we’ll be able to have a senior discussion before too long and hopefully advance the ball,” Pompeo said at […]
Twitter accounts of Apple, Musk, Gates, others hit in major hack
SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — The official Twitter accounts of Apple, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and others were hijacked on Wednesday by scammers trying to dupe people into sending cryptocurrency bitcoin, in a massive hack of the social media platform. The list of accounts commandeered simultaneously grew rapidly to include Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Uber, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, bitcoin specialty firms and many others. Posts, which were largely deleted, were fired off from […]
US to impose visa sanctions on some Huawei employees: Pompeo
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday the United States will ban visas to some employees of Chinese telecom giant Huawei, which Washington is seeking to isolate. “The State Department will impose visa restrictions on certain employees of the Chinese technology companies like Huawei that provide material support to regimes engaging in human rights violations and abuses,” Pompeo told a news conference. © Agence France-Presse
US clocks up another 63,000 virus cases in 24 hours
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States recorded 63,262 new coronavirus infections in the last 24 hours, according to a tally by the Johns Hopkins University on Tuesday. The total number of cases recorded in the country since the start of the pandemic now exceeds 3.42 million, according to the Baltimore-based university. COVID-19 also claimed 850 new victims in the United States in the past 24 hours, bringing the total death toll to 136,432, […]
Moderna COVID-19 vaccine enters final stage trial July 27: statement
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US biotech firm Moderna said Tuesday it would enter the final stage of its human trials for its COVID-19 vaccine on July 27, after promising early results were published in a journal. The Phase 3 trial will recruit 30,000 participants in the US, with half to receive the vaccine at 100 microgram dose levels, and the other half will receive a placebo. It is designed to learn whether the […]
California rolls back reopening as nations battle resurgent coronavirus
by Andrew MARSZAL and AFP bureaus Agence France Presse LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — California drastically rolled back its reopening plans Monday as coronavirus cases surged across dozens of US states and the World Health Organization warned that too many nations are mismanaging their pandemic response. Governor Gavin Newsom ordered all indoor restaurants, bars and movie theaters to close again across California — by far America’s richest and most populous state, with a larger […]
US records another 60,000 new virus cases in 24 hours
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States, the country hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic, on Sunday recorded 59,747 new cases over the last 24-hour period, according to a tally from Johns Hopkins University. The number of cases in the US has rocketed in recent weeks, hitting a record of 66,528 in 24 hours on Saturday. The country has now registered a total of 3,301,820 infections, the Baltimore-based university said in its latest […]





