by Laurie CHEN Agence France-Press BEIJING, China (AFP) — China is experiencing a huge Covid-19 surge after years of hardline containment restrictions were dismantled last month. A growing number of countries are worried about a lack of data and transparency surrounding China’s outbreak. Here is why it is sparking concern: – Unreliable data – Beijing has admitted the scale of the outbreak has become “impossible” to track following the end of mandatory mass testing last […]
International
Brazil pays final respects to football giant Pele
by Rodrigo ALMONACID Agence France-Presse SANTOS, Brazil (AFP) — An emotional Brazil began paying its final respects Monday to football legend Pele with a wake at the stadium where he first took the world’s breath away with his dazzling skill. Throughout the day, thousands of fans and football dignitaries slowly filed through the Vila Belmiro, home to Pele’s longtime club, Santos. More continued to join the queue as night fell, waiting their turn to walk […]
Russia says scores of soldiers killed in Ukrainian strike
by Robbie COREY-BOULET Agence France-Presse KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) — Russia on Monday said more than 60 soldiers were killed in a Ukrainian strike on Russian-controlled territory in a New Year assault, the biggest loss of life reported by Moscow so far. Kyiv took responsibility for the strike, which it said took place in the occupied city of Makiivka in eastern Ukraine on New Year’s Eve. In a rare announcement that followed criticism by Russian military […]
Armed attack on Mexican prison leaves 14 dead
CIUDAD JUÁREZ, Mexico (AFP) — Gunmen attacked a prison in the northern Mexican city of Ciudad Juarez on Sunday, leaving 14 people dead and allowing 24 inmates to escape, the Chihuahua state prosecutors’ office said. An unknown number of gunmen aboard armored vehicles took part in the attack, and the dead included 10 prison guards and security agents, the office said in a statement. About five hours after the dawn incursion began, security forces managed […]
Israeli strike on Damascus airport kills 4 fighters: monitor
by Layal ABOU RAHAL Agence France-Presse BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — The Israeli army carried out a missile strike on Damascus International Airport on Monday that killed four people, including two Syrian soldiers, according to a human rights monitor. This is the second time in less than seven months that the Damascus airport, where Iranian-backed armed groups and Lebanese Hezbollah fighters are present, has been hit by Israel. The attack — which occurred around 2:00 am […]
New air attacks on Kyiv after Russia’s New Year assaults
KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) — A fresh aerial strike targeted Kyiv in the early hours of Monday, after a New Year’s day marked by dozens of Russian assaults that killed at least four people in the capital and other cities. The Ukrainian capital and other cities came under fire from missiles and Iranian-made drones on Saturday, killing three people, and a new attack Sunday killed one in the southern region of Zaporizhzhia. The capital was once […]
Lula returns vowing to rebuild, reunify Brazil
by Ramon SAHMKOW Agence France-Presse BRASÍLIA, Brazil (AFP) — Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took office Sunday for a third term as Brazil’s president, vowing to fight for the poor and the environment and “rebuild the country” after far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro’s divisive administration. The 77-year-old veteran leftist, who previously led Brazil from 2003 to 2010, took the oath of office before Congress, capping a remarkable political comeback for the metalworker-turned-president less than five years […]
Venezuela, Colombia finalize border reopening
UREÑA, Venezuela (AFP) — Venezuela and Colombia reopened the last stretch of their shared border Sunday that had remained closed for years in a diplomatic dispute now settled under new leadership. Cars honked and passengers waved flags as vehicles with license plates from both countries traversed the area’s Atanasio Girardot bridge, which had been blocked by containers amid high tensions. The bridge, which is also known as Tienditas, was the last to remain inaccessible since […]
World steps into 2023 after turbulent year
New York, United States (AFP) by Yuki IWAMURA with AFP bureaus The world’s eight billion people have been ushering in 2023, bidding farewell to a turbulent year marked by war in Europe, stinging price rises, Lionel Messi’s World Cup glory and the deaths of Queen Elizabeth, Pele and former pope Benedict. Many set aside pinched budgets and a virus that is increasingly forgotten, but not gone, to embrace a party atmosphere on New Year’s Eve […]
More countries roll out China traveller checks amid Covid surge
Beijing, China (AFP) Travellers from China now face restrictions when entering more than a dozen countries as concern grows over its surge in Covid-19 cases, with Australia the latest to demand a negative test before arrival. Last month, Beijing abruptly began dismantling its “zero-Covid” containment policy of lockdowns and mass testing, three years after the coronavirus first emerged in the city of Wuhan. As Covid overwhelms Chinese hospitals and crematoriums, officials have insisted that the wave is “under […]
Children among nine dead in Uganda New Year stampede
Kampala, Uganda (AFP) At least nine people died, most aged between 10 and 20, in a shopping mall crush as revellers rang in the New Year in Uganda’s capital, police said on Sunday. After fireworks outside the Freedom City mall in Kampala, “a stampede ensued, resulting in the instant deaths of five people and injuries to several others,” national police spokesman Luke Owoyesigyire said. Four others died on their way to hospital “largely due to […]
Russia’s New Year raids on Ukraine kill three, wound dozens
Kyiv, Ukraine (AFP) Russia’s New Year assault on Ukraine left three people dead and wounded another 50 as Moscow on Sunday claimed to have thwarted Kyiv’s “terror attacks” on the homeland. The Ukrainian capital and other cities came under fire from missiles and Iranian-made drones. The Ukrainian air force said Sunday 45 Iranian-made drones had been destroyed overnight. Thirteen were shot down at the end of 2022 and another 32 after midnight, the air […]
