International

Italy to screen all China arrivals for Covid

Rome, Italy (AFP) Italy is making coronavirus tests for visitors from China mandatory following an explosion in cases in China, the health minister said Wednesday. “I have ordered mandatory Covid-19 antigenic swabs, and related virus sequencing, for all passengers coming from China and transiting through Italy,” minister Orazio Schillaci said. The measure was “essential to ensure the surveillance and identification of any variants of the virus in order to protect the Italian population”, he said. […]

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2022 UK’s hottest year on record: provisional Met Office figures

This year is set to be the UK’s warmest on record, according to provisional figures released by the Met Office on Wednesday. It had the “highest annual average temperature across the UK, exceeding the previous record set in 2014 when the average was 9.88 degrees Celsius (49.78 degrees Fahrenheit)”, the Met said in a statement. The figure for 2022 would be announced later. Since 1884, each of the ten years recording the highest annual temperature […]

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US, EU urge immediate deescalation at tense Serbia-Kosovo border

Washington, United States (AFP) The European Union and the United States urged Kosovo and Serbia Wednesday to take “immediate” steps to deescalate tensions amid mounting unrest in their border region. “The European Union and the United States of America are concerned about the continued tense situation in the north of Kosovo,” they said in a joint statement. “We call on everyone to exercise maximum restraint, to take immediate action to unconditionally deescalate the situation, and […]

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Russia scraps pomp in New Year celebrations amid Ukraine fighting

Russians are used to celebrating the New Year — the country’s main holiday — with pomp, joy and high spirits. But this was a year like no other. After ten months of intense fighting and a chaotic mobilisation, few are in the mood for grand celebrations. While the streets of snowy Moscow are adorned with bright lights and decorations, they are also dotted with portraits of soldiers. At the end of a year marked by […]

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Caring with Covid: Infected doctors battle China virus surge

  Tianjin, China (AFP) by Matthew WALSH Doctors working despite being infected, beds filled with dozens of elderly straining to breathe — on the front lines of China’s worst-ever Covid outbreak, hospitals are struggling. Many Chinese were jubilant after Beijing announced the end of mandatory quarantines this week, effectively drawing the curtain on years of hardline virus controls that had isolated the world’s most populous country. But as China opens up, cases are surging. The […]

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US considering Covid entry restrictions for travelers from China

The United States is considering Covid entry restrictions for travelers from China, US officials said Tuesday, after Beijing dramatically loosened hardline containment measures this month. Infections have surged across China as key pillars of its containment policy have been dismantled, prompting US officials to express concern at the potential for new variants to be unleashed. That potential became even more real Monday when Beijing said it would scrap mandatory Covid quarantine for overseas arrivals from […]

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Fears of extremist campaign after attack on US power substations

Investigators probing vandalism at electricity substations in the western US state of Washington on Tuesday appealed for public help in tracking down those responsible for attacks that have fueled concerns of a right-wing extremist campaign. Local police gave no information on who they suspected was behind the vandalism, which knocked out power on December 25 for some 14,000 in Tacoma, a port city area south of Seattle. Tacoma Public Utilities, which owns two of the […]

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One dead in China highway pile-up involving hundreds of cars

  One person died during a highway pile-up involving hundreds of vehicles in central China, state broadcaster CCTV reported Wednesday, with images of the accident showing scenes of chaos. Aerial pictures showed hundreds of passenger cars, vans and lorries — many of which had smashed into one another — piled up on one section of the highway in dense fog. Other viral videos posted online showed the mangled remains of several vehicles that had crashed into […]

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Canadian police officer fatally shot in line of duty

A Canadian police officer was killed on Tuesday after being shot while investigating a traffic accident about 100 kilometers south of Toronto, authorities said. “It is with an extremely heavy heart that I regretfully advise that (Ontario Provincial Police) Provincial Constable Grzegorz Pierzchala was killed today while courageously serving in the line of duty,” Commissioner Thomas Carrique said on Twitter. Pierzchala “was investigating a motor vehicle collision when he was shot and killed this afternoon” […]

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Malaysian behind Singapore penny-stocks scam jailed for 36 years

Singapore, Singapore (AFP) A Malaysian businessman convicted of masterminding a stock scam that wiped US$5.8 billion off Singapore’s exchange was sentenced on Wednesday to 36 years in jail by a court in the city-state. John Soh Chee Wen orchestrated the scheme, according to court documents, and his accomplice, Singaporean Quah Su-Ling, was also given a 20-year jail term. Both were convicted in May of using more than 180 trading accounts to inflate the share prices […]

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Hong Kong asks Japan to reverse ‘hasty’ Covid flight curbs

  Hong Kong, China (AFP) Hong Kong authorities on Wednesday asked Japan to remove restrictions on direct flights from the city, which were imposed following the explosion of coronavirus cases in mainland China. The city deployed similar curbs during its own fight against Covid, including rapid bans on airlines for carrying virus-positive passengers and travel restrictions for nations with major outbreaks. Japan became one of the first countries to impose China-specific travel restrictions this week […]

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China Covid pivot sparks jitters worldwide

BEIJING, China (AFP) – Beijing’s sudden pivot away from containing Covid-19 has caused jitters around the world, with the United States saying it may restrict travel from China following its decision to end mandatory quarantine for overseas arrivals. China late Monday scrapped quarantine for inbound travelers from January 8 onwards, dismantling the last remaining piece of its stringent zero-Covid policy and ending some of the world’s harshest border restrictions. The move was greeted with jubilation by […]

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