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SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea said it would ease pandemic restrictions Friday, even as the country’s daily caseload crossed 100,000 for the first time, with officials citing economic concerns over social distancing measures. The country reported a record 109,831 new infections for Thursday, with health experts warning this number could rise to 270,000 new cases a day next month. Despite the spike in cases, Seoul officials said they would ease restrictions by […]
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AFP) – A five-year-old boy trapped for three days down a well in a remote Afghan village has died, several Taliban officials said Friday. The child, named Haidar, slipped Tuesday to the bottom of a well being dug in Shokak, a parched village in Zabul province, around 400 kilometres (250 miles) southwest of the capital Kabul. Rescuers worked non-stop to try to reach the boy, who officials said was still alive Friday morning […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russia said Friday it had begun withdrawing more tanks and other armoured vehicles from areas near Ukraine’s border after running war games that had raised concerns in the West. “Another military train carrying personnel and military equipment belonging to tank army units of the western military district returned to their permanent bases in the Nizhny Novgorod region after completing scheduled exercises,” the Russian defence ministry said in a statement. Separately, […]
by John Hadoulis Agence France-Presse ATHENS, Greece (AFP) – Two minutes into a Greek jobs fair interview, Hashim, a 21-year-old Afghan refugee, is offered work as a waiter at a swanky Corfu hotel. It’s his ticket out of the grim migrant camp he has called home for the past year, but there’s a caveat: he has to cut his ponytail. “Health and safety protocol,” his interviewer explains. Hashim, who won asylum in Greece a month-and-a-half […]
AHMEDABAD, India (AFP) – An Indian court sentenced 38 people to death on Friday over a string of bomb blasts in 2008 that killed dozens in the western city of Ahmedabad. The court had on February 8 convicted 49 people over the coordinated attacks that killed 56, launching shrapnel through markets, buses and other public places in Gujarat state’s commercial hub. “Special judge A R Patel awarded death sentence to 38 out of the 49 […]
by Sebastian Smith with Michael Mainville in Moscow and Dave Clark in Kyiv Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, D.C., United States (AFP) – The United States said Thursday that Russia is on the verge of unleashing a massive military attack against Ukraine, dismissing Moscow’s claim to be pulling forces back, as artillery fire hit a Ukrainian kindergarten. In a dramatic, previously unscheduled speech to the United Nations in New York, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said […]
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AFP) – New Zealand police ruled out forcibly clearing anti-vaccination protesters camped around parliament in Wellington on Friday, saying they did not want to provoke violence on the streets of the capital. Police have taken a hands-off approach after an attempt to take control of the lawns late last week resulted in violent clashes and 120 arrests. Commissioner Andrew Coster acknowledged growing frustration among Wellington residents and business owners as protest vehicles […]
MUNICH, Germany (AFP) – Russia is putting Europe’s security at risk with demands that hark back to the Cold War, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Friday, ahead of the annual Munich Security Conference set to be dominated by the Ukraine crisis. “With an unprecedented deployment of troops on the border with Ukraine and Cold War demands, Russia is challenging fundamental principles of the European peace order,” Baerbock said in a statement. Moscow needs to […]
GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — President Ignazio Cassis has tested positive for Covid-19, the government said on Thursday — the same day Switzerland lifted almost all remaining coronavirus restrictions despite high case numbers. Wednesday’s “test came back positive and the president went into self-isolation this morning as soon as he learned of the test result,” a government statement said. “Mr Cassis has no symptoms and is in good health.” The former cantonal doctor, aged 60, who […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan will ease its strict virus border rules to allow students and businesspeople into the country from March, but tourists will still be barred, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Thursday. The move comes with growing pressure on Japan from the business community and academics to loosen the border restrictions, which are the toughest in the G7 but have broad support from Japanese voters. Japan has barred tourists since the early […]
FRANKFURT, Germany (AFP) — A heavy storm swept across Germany on the night of Wednesday into Thursday, grounding flights and trains and forcing schools in several states to close. Police warned residents to stay home and avoid parks or forests, as gale-force winds whipped in from the north of the country. The strongest winds were felt on Brocken, the highest point in the Harz highlands in central Germany, with speeds of up to 152 kilometres […]
PORT-AU- PRINCE, Haiti (AFP) — The international community pledged $600 million Wednesday to help rebuild Haiti’s devastated south, where an earthquake killed more than 2,200 people six months ago. “These contributions went well above our expectations,” said Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry, after the conclusion of an international summit in Port-au-Prince. With a total estimated cost of $2 billion over four years to build back the areas hardest hit by the August 14 earthquake, the […]
