International

WHO says heatwave caused 1,700 deaths in Spain, Portugal

Copenhagen, Denmark | AFP The World Health Organization’s European office on Friday said the heatwave baking Europe has caused over 1,700 deaths on the Iberian peninsula alone, calling for joint action to tackle climate change. “Heat kills. Over the past decades, hundreds of thousands of people have died as a result of extreme heat during extended heatwaves, often with simultaneous wildfires,” WHO regional director for Europe Hans Kluge said in a statement. “This year, we […]

Russia says Ukraine grain exports could be unlocked in ‘days’

Istanbul, Turkey | AFP Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said Friday that conditions were in place to unlock grain exports from Ukraine in the “next few days” and promised Moscow would not take advantage of de-mined Ukrainian ports. “Today we have all the prerequisites and all the solutions for this process to begin in the next few days,” Shoigu said, after signing a landmark deal with the United Nations and Turkey on resuming grain shipments. […]

Study finds 95% of monkeypox cases transmitted through sexual activity

Washington, United States | AFP Ninety-five percent of monkeypox cases have been transmitted through sexual activity, according to the largest study to date, which also noted new clinical signs such as single genital lesions. The research, published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Thursday, came as World Health Organization experts debated whether to classify the outbreak as a global health emergency, the highest alarm it can sound. Led by scientists at Queen Mary […]

Trump slams ‘kangaroo court’ probing his Capitol riot inaction

  Washington, United States | AFP Donald Trump lashed out overnight at the panel investigating the US Capitol riot, calling it a “kangaroo court,” trashing its vice chair Liz Cheney as a “sanctimonious loser” and reiterating his lie about the 2020 election being stolen. Hours after lawmakers wound up a forensic condemnation of his inaction during the January 6, 2021 insurrection, his social media posts confirmed he was closely following the hearing on how he […]

Xi sends sympathy message to Biden over Covid infection

Beijing, China | AFP Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a sympathy message to his United States counterpart Joe Biden on Friday, state broadcaster CCTV reported, a day after the 79-year-old US leader tested positive for Covid-19. Biden on Thursday insisted he was “doing great”, and said he would continue to work while isolating at the White House with mild symptoms. “I would like to express my deep sympathies to you and wish you a speedy […]

Italy heatwave peaks with 16 cities on red alert as Tuscany burns

Rome, Italy | AFP Italy faced the hottest day of the current heatwave Friday with red extreme heat warnings issued for 16 cities across the country, as firefighters battled blazes up and down the country. Worst hit is expected to be Milan in the north with temperatures hitting 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit), while Bologna to its south and the capital Rome could hit 39 degrees, according to official government estimates. Other major cities under […]

Heart issues after Covid jabs very rare but research lacks clarity

  Paris, France | AFP by Julien DURY Research shows that the risk of developing heart conditions after a messenger RNA Covid vaccine is very low, and should not call into question the value of life-saving vaccination campaigns rolled out across the world. But the risk is “non-negligible”, and the available evidence is difficult to assess precisely, researchers have said, calling for better data on the subject. “That we are now more than a year […]

US citizen detained in Myanmar: embassy

  Yangon, Myanmar | AFP An American citizen is being wrongfully detained in junta-ruled Myanmar, a US embassy spokesperson told AFP on Friday. “We are aware of the wrongful detention of a US citizen in Burma,” the spokesperson told AFP, using the country’s former name. The US has led Western criticism of the coup that ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s government last year and slapped sanctions on top-ranking members of the junta and military-linked companies. Several foreigners have […]

US records first polio case in almost a decade

New York, United States | AFP The United States on Thursday reported its first case of polio in almost a decade. New York state’s health department said a person living in Rockland County, 30 miles (48 kilometers) north of Manhattan, had tested positive for the disease. America last recorded a polio case in 2013, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The latest case was a type “indicative of a transmission chain from […]

Climate change drives Europe towards record fire year

Paris, France | AFP by Stephane ORJELLET and Patrick GALEY The fires that have torched through Europe are on course to make 2022 a record year for forest loss on the continent, as scientists warn climate change is already contributing to ever fiercer blazes. Fires in parts of France, Spain and Portugal have already burned more land so far this year than in all of 2021 — some 517,881 hectares (5,000 km2), or the equivalent […]

Japan regulator OKs release of treated Fukushima water

Tokyo, Japan | AFP | Friday 7/22/2022 Japan’s nuclear regulator on Friday formally approved a plan to release more than a million tonnes of treated water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant into the ocean. The plan has already been adopted by the government and endorsed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), but plant operator TEPCO must still win over local communities before going ahead. The country’s Nuclear Regulation Authority approved TEPCO’s plan, […]

Israeli strike kills three soldiers near Damascus: Syrian ministry

DAMASCUS, Syria (AFP) — An Israeli strike killed three Syrian soldiers and wounded seven others near Damascus early Friday, the Syrian defense ministry said. “The Israeli enemy carried out an air strike… from the direction of the occupied Syrian Golan… The aggression killed three soldiers and wounded seven others,” the ministry said in a statement. Syrian air defense intercepted some of the missiles, the statement said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said […]