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PARIS, France (AFP) — French officials have closed about 120 schools in areas that have reported the largest numbers of coronavirus infections, and more could be shuttered in the coming days, Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer said Tuesday. Both primary and secondary schools have been shut in the Oise department north of Paris, where the main cluster of French cases has emerged, and where two people who have died of the virus lived. Officials have reported […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korean President Moon Jae-in declared “war” against the coronavirus on Tuesday, as the country reported its biggest daily case increase to date, sending its total past 5,000 — the largest in the world outside China. South Korea has seen a rapid rise in infections in recent days and scores of events — from K-pop concerts to sports seasons — have been canceled or postponed over the contagion, with school […]
by Sarah Benhaida BAGHDAD, Iraq (AFP) — Protest-torn Iraq on Monday faced more political gridlock after prime minister-designate Mohammed Allawi withdrew overnight, accusing lawmakers of obstructing his attempt to form a government. Oil-rich but poverty-stricken Iraq has for five months been rocked by the biggest wave of anti-government demonstrations since the 2003 US-led invasion toppled former dictator Saddam Hussein. The mostly youthful protesters demand the ouster of Iraq’s entire political elite, which they accuse of […]
TIRANA, Albania (AFP) — Thousands protested on Monday in Albania’s capital city Tirana against a left-wing government that they accuse of trying to take control of the judiciary. President Ilir Meta, who organized the rally with the backing of the center-right opposition, accused Prime Minister Edi Rama of trying to control the nomination of judges to the Constitutional Court. Rama’s government launched a vetting procedure in 2016 aimed at rooting out corrupt judges and boosting […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Democrat Pete Buttigieg endorsed Joe Biden for US president on Monday, providing a major boost to the former vice president’s White House hopes just one day after the onetime Indiana mayor himself dropped out of the race. “I’m delighted to endorse and support Joe Biden for president,” Buttigieg said shortly before Biden was to take the stage at a rally in Dallas on the eve of Super Tuesday when residents […]
SAO PAULO, Brazil (AFP) — At least 18 people were killed when a riverboat sank in the Amazon rainforest region, Brazilian authorities said Monday, as survivors described fleeing the foundering boat in terror. The ferry was taking passengers up the Jari River, a tributary of the Amazon, when it suddenly began to tip over on Saturday at around dawn. Authorities said late Monday that beyond the 18 fatalities, they had rescued 46 survivors and 30 […]
DAKAR, Senegal (AFP) — Senegal confirmed its first case of the novel coronavirus on Monday, marking just the second infection in sub-Saharan Africa amid concerns over the continent’s vulnerability to outbreaks of contagious diseases. A French man who lives in Senegal visited France in mid-February, contracting the virus before returning to the West African country and being quarantined in the capital Dakar, Senegal’s Health Minister Diouf Sarr said. “The results of the tests carried out […]
by Nina Larson with Dave Clark in Brussels and Laurent Thomet in Beijing Agence France Presse GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The global death toll from the new coronavirus topped 3,000 on Monday, as airlines cancelled or reduced flights and stock markets swung wildly. Andorra, the Czech Republic, Indonesia, Jordan, Latvia, Portugal, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia were among countries that confirmed their first cases, along with Senegal, which became the second sub-Saharan African country to […]
by Laurent Thomet with Issam Ahmed in Washington PEQUIM, China (AFP) — The world has entered uncharted territory in its battle against the deadly coronavirus, the UN health agency warned, as new infections dropped dramatically in China on Tuesday but surged abroad with the US death toll rising to six. Globally, the virus has killed more than 3,100 people and infected over 90,000 even as a clear shift in the crisis emerges, with nine times […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea’s coronavirus case total — the largest in the world outside China — approached 5,000 Tuesday as authorities reported 477 new cases. Two more people had died, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, taking the toll to 28. South Korea has seen a rapid rise in infections in recent days as authorities carry out checks on more than 260,000 people associated with the Shincheonji Church of […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has overseen a “long-range artillery” drill, state media said Tuesday, after Pyongyang threatened to demonstrate a new weapon. Kim “guided” the drill on Monday, KCNA said. South Korea had said that North Korea fired what appeared to be two short-range ballistic missiles on Monday, but it was not immediately clear if the two incidents were the same. “As he ordered the sub-units to start […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Drugs to treat the novel coronavirus could be available by this summer or fall, US Vice President Mike Pence said Monday. “The vaccine may not be available until late this year or early next, but the therapeutics to give relief to the people who contract the coronavirus could be available by summer or early fall,” he told a news conference. The Gilead drug remdesivir has already been used to treat […]
