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FRANKFURT, Germany (AFP) — A third dose of the vaccine against Covid-19 developed by Pfizer/BioNTech is 95.6 percent effective against symptomatic infection, according to a study by the makers published on Thursday. The clinical phase three trial with “10,000 participants 16 years of age and older” showed “a relative vaccine efficacy of 95.6 percent against disease during a period when Delta was the prevalent strain”, the companies said in a statement. © Agence France-Presse
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Tokyo will lift curbs on bar and restaurant opening hours as virus cases in the Japanese capital hit their lowest level this year, officials said Thursday. It is the latest softening of virus restrictions in Japan, where cases have been in freefall for weeks, which experts ascribe to a rapid increase in the vaccination rate. Nationwide, new infections have plunged from record highs of over 25,800 in August to under 400 […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — A gas explosion at a restaurant ripped through a busy street in a major Chinese city on Thursday, killing at least four people and injuring dozens, local authorities said. Dramatic footage from a nearby car’s dashboard camera, published by state media, showed a large cloud of smoke and dust erupting over the street as people ran to safety. State broadcaster CCTV showed windows ripped out of several buildings in a street […]
PARIS, France (AFP) — More than 250,000 homes in France were without electricity on Thursday after gale-force winds swept the north of the country overnight, power grid operator Enedis said. Rail traffic was also affected by storm “Aurore”, which has been causing devastation since Wednesday afternoon. Transport Minister Jean-Baptiste Djebbari said in a tweet that the Ile-de-France region around Paris, Normandy, northern France and eastern Lorraine regions were the worst affected. Social media were abuzz […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea’s first domestically-developed space rocket failed to put its dummy payload into orbit after its maiden launch on Thursday, President Moon Jae-in said. The launch and all three stages of the Korea Space Launch Vehicle II worked, as did the payload separation, Moon said, but “putting a dummy satellite into orbit remains an unfinished mission”. © Agence France-Presse
NEW DELHI, India (AFP) – Nearly 200 people have died in floods and landslides in India and Nepal, officials said Thursday, with whole families buried in their homes and two young girls swept away as forecasters warned of yet more heavy rain. Experts say that they were victims of the ever-more unpredictable and extreme weather that has hit South Asia in recent years caused by climate change and exacerbated by deforestation, damming and excessive development. […]
by Aishwarya KUMAR Agence France Presse NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — India administered its billionth Covid-19 vaccine dose on Thursday, half a year after a devastating surge in cases brought the health system close to collapse. According to the government, around three-quarters of adults in the country of 1.3 billion people have had one shot and around 30 percent are fully vaccinated. However, hundreds of millions of Indians under 18 — who make up […]
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Britain’s government on Wednesday rejected calls to trigger “Plan B” measures to limit spiralling Covid infection rates, even as it warned that cases could reach as many 100,000 a day over the winter months. Healthcare leaders have urged the government to reinstate some restrictions to prevent the close-contact spread of the coronavirus, including the wearing of masks indoors, to ease pressure on hospitals. But Health Secretary Sajid Javid played down […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea is aiming to join the ranks of advanced spacefaring nations on Thursday when it attempts to put a one-tonne payload into orbit using its first fully homegrown rocket. The country has risen to become the world’s 12th-largest economy and a technologically advanced nation, home to the planet’s biggest smartphone and memory chip maker, Samsung Electronics. But it has lagged in the headline-making world of spaceflight, where the Soviet […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Wednesday authorized using a so-called “mix and match” strategy for people who require a booster shot of a Covid vaccine after their primary series. “The FDA has determined that the known and potential benefits of the use of a single heterologous booster dose outweigh the known and potential risks of their use in eligible populations,” the agency said in a statement. The […]
HOUSTON, United States (AFP) — A private plane crashed when attempting to take off Tuesday in Texas, with all 21 passengers and crew on board scrambling to safety before the aircraft burst into flames. Television images showed fire fighters spraying water onto the burning remains of the plane, which had plowed through a fence and come to a halt across a track in a field, surrounded by trees and bushes. The fuselage was reduced to […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States is ready to start vaccinating children aged 5-11 against Covid-19 starting next month, the White House said Wednesday, a move that will make 28 million more Americans eligible for shots. “Our planning efforts mean that we will be ready to begin getting shots in arms in the days following a final CDC recommendation,” the White House said, referring to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Drugmaker […]
