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by Robin MILLARD Agence France Presse GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The WHO Wednesday urged rich countries to pay their fair share of the money needed for its plan to conquer Covid-19 by contributing $16 billion as a matter of urgency. The World Health Organization said the rapid cash injection into its Access to Covid Tools Accelerator could finish off Covid as a global health emergency this year. The WHO-led ACT-A is aimed at developing, […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The husband of US Vice President Kamala Harris was evacuated Tuesday after a reported bomb threat at the Washington high school he was visiting to celebrate African American history, officials said. Douglas Emhoff, whose official title is second gentleman, was pulled away by his security detail during commemorations of Black History Month at Dunbar High School in Washington, DC. Pupils were also told to leave. “It was a bomb threat,” […]
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) – Saudi Arabia has said it filled and fortified thousands of abandoned wells across the country, after the tragic death of a boy in Morocco following failed rescue efforts. Five-year-old Rayan, who spent five days trapped down a well, was laid to rest on Monday in his village of Ighrane in Morocco’s Rif mountains. Following last week’s tragic incident, Saudi Arabia’s ministry of environment, water and agriculture said on Sunday: “To […]
DOSQUEBRAAS, Colombia (AFP) — At least 11 people died and 35 were injured in a mudslide triggered by heavy rains in Colombia on Tuesday, the national disaster agency said. The early morning rains touched off a landslide on a mountain in central-western Risaralda province, burying several homes in the impoverished municipality of Dosquebradas. “There are 35 people injured receiving hospital attention and 11 dead,” the state National Unit for Management of Risks and Disasters said […]
by Geneviève NORMAND OTTAWA, Canada (AFP) — Seated around a campfire flanked by big rigs, with a view of parliament, bleary-eyed protesters on their 12th day of occupying Canada’s capital say they are more determined than ever to stay put — and defend their “freedom.” “I am here to get my life back and so everyone else can too,” said protester Sebastien Beaudoin. Warming himself by the fire, the 39-year-old carpenter with a long beard […]
by Adele Dhayer Agence France Presse ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar (AFP) — Cyclone Batsirai swept out of Madagascar on Monday after killing 21 people, displacing 70,000 and devastating the drought-hit island’s agricultural heartland, leading the UN to warn of a worsening humanitarian crisis. Madagascar was already reeling from a tropical storm which killed 55 people late last month, and the latest extreme weather event came as South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said the continent is “bearing […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Democrats introduced a short-term bill on Monday to fund the US government ahead of a potential shutdown next week, when federal agencies run out of previously allocated money. Shutdowns typically lead to hundreds of thousands of government workers being sent home, while parks, museums and other federal properties and services are closed. With funding running out on February 18, President Joe Biden’s Democrats and opposition Republicans had been unable […]
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AFP) — Xiomara Castro, who last month became the first woman to win the presidency of Honduras, said Sunday that she was infected with Covid-19 but will continue working remotely. “The result of the PCR (test) yesterday (Saturday) was negative, today’s is positive,” the 62-year-old president, who replaced Juan Orlando Hernandez, announced on her Twitter account. “According to the tests it is mild. With the blessing of the Creator of the universe, I […]
CANCUN, Mexico (AFP) — At least eight people died and another 15 were injured in a bus accident Sunday near the popular Mexican resort of Cancun, authorities said. The ADO company bus was carrying around 45 passengers, several of them foreign nationals, according to local media. The vehicle was heading to Cancun from the city of Merida, in the neighboring state of Yucatan. According to preliminary information, the bus overturned after hitting a truck that […]
MONTREAL, Canada (AFP) — The ongoing truckers’ protest in the Canadian capital is “out of control,” the Ottawa mayor said Sunday, announcing a state of emergency as the city center remained blocked by opponents of anti-Covid measures. The protesters, who first reached the capital on January 29, have parked their big rigs on city streets and put up tents and temporary shacks — paralyzing the capital to the consternation of officials and the mounting frustration […]
HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Hong Kong’s “zero-Covid” policy was on the ropes Saturday as authorities announced a record number of new infections, sending officials scrambling to ramp up testing capacity and warning that a tightening of virus-control measures could be needed. Like mainland China and much of East Asia, Hong Kong has long followed a strategy of fighting the virus through contact tracing, targeted lockdowns and lengthy quarantines. And as much of the world […]
VIENNA, Austria (AFP) — Nine people died in three days during which more than 100 avalanches struck Austria, authorities said Sunday. Most of the avalanches hit the western Tyrol region and Friday alone saw five fatalities, rescue services said. Police said that one incident had claimed the lives of a group of Swedish skiers going off-piste with a mountain guide in the zone around Ischgl, near the Swiss border. The guide and four of the […]
