Beijing city officials on Sunday said all two million residents of a neighbourhood where a small cluster of coronavirus cases was detected will be tested, less than two weeks before the start of the Winter Olympics. China’s cases constitute a tiny fraction of the massive surge in countries around the globe, with the highly contagious Omicron variant driving a fresh spike in infections. Still, multiple small outbreaks around China — including in Beijing — have […]
International
US navy stops ship carrying ‘explosive precursor’ from Iran
The US navy said Sunday it had stopped a ship carrying 40 tons of a fertiliser that can be used to make explosives as it travelled from Iran along a route previously used to smuggle weapons to Yemen’s Huthi rebels. The navy said it boarded and searched the ship, which last year was caught carrying thousands of weapons and handed to Yemen’s coast guard, after intercepting it in international waters in the Gulf of […]
Coalition denies Yemen prison air strike that killed 70
The Saudi-led coalition on Saturday denied carrying out an air strike on a prison in Yemen’s rebel-held north that aid groups said killed at least 70 people, including migrants, women and children. Claims the coalition ordered the raid, which reduced buildings to rubble and left rescuers scrabbling for survivors with their bare hands, were “groundless”, the alliance said. The attack, which coincided with a coalition strike on the Yemeni port of Hodeida that killed three children […]
UK accuses Moscow of trying to install pro-Russia leader in Ukraine
by James PHEBY Britain on Saturday alleged that it had information that Moscow was “looking to install a pro-Russian leader in Kyiv” as fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine grow. Tensions have soared in recent weeks as tens of thousands of Russian troops mass on Ukraine’s border, along with an arsenal of tanks, fighting vehicles, artillery and missiles. London said it had seen evidence that several former Ukrainian politicians had maintained links with Russian […]
Samoa, Kiribati to lock down as virus lands in Pacific
Kiribati and Samoa entered lockdowns Saturday after overseas arrivals brought Covid to the Pacific island nations that had avoided the worst of the pandemic for two years. Until this month, Kiribati hadn’t reported a single virus case, while Samoa had only recorded two since the pandemic began, according to the World Health Organization. But authorities in both countries have been forced to put in place stay-at-home orders after the virus was detected in international arrivals. […]
Djokovic plans 2023 Australian Open return: tournament chief
Novak Djokovic intends to play the Australian Open in 2023, tournament chief Craig Tiley said Sunday while blaming “miscommunication” for his deportation ahead of this year’s event. The world number one’s visa was cancelled ahead of the season-opening Grand Slam over his Covid-19 vaccination status, an incident that tarred the lead-up. He flew out of Melbourne a week ago after failing in a last-gasp bid to stay and target a record 21st major title following […]
Covid-19 vaccines showed high efficacy against severe Omicron: US data
Covid-19 vaccines and boosters continued to have very high efficacy against severe outcomes during the Omicron wave of the virus, a large real-world study from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showed Friday. The paper evaluated data from more than 300,000 visits to emergency departments, urgent care clinics, and hospitalizations across 10 states from August 26, 2021 to January 5, 2022. During the period when the Delta variant was dominant, vaccine efficacy […]
US suspends 44 passenger flights to China operated by Chinese carriers
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States announced Friday that it was suspending 44 Chinese passenger flights from America to the Asian giant in response to restrictive moves by Beijing on US carriers under its Covid-19 protocols. China maintains strict controls over border entry including slashed flights and a “circuit breaker” policy where routes are halted if too many infections are brought in on the flights. China’s aviation authority used the circuit breaker policy […]
Myanmar sentences lawmaker from Suu Kyi’s party to death
A Myanmar military tribunal sentenced a member of Aung San Suu Kyi’s ousted party to death for terror offences on Friday, the junta said, ramping up a crackdown on the toppled leader’s party. The Southeast Asian country has been in chaos since the February coup, with more than 1,400 killed in a subsequent crackdown on dissent, according to a local monitoring group. Junta opponents — including allies of Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy — […]
UN secretary-general condemns airstrikes on Yemen prison
UNITED NATIONS (AFP) — UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned Friday the airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition on Yemen that left at least 70 dead at a prison and disrupted telecommunications. Guterres assailed the attack on the prison in Huthi territory in Saada and the strike on a telecommunications facility that killed at least three children in the port city of Hodeida, according to an aid group. That attack, Guterres said, knocked out “vital” internet services […]
Air strike on Yemen prison leaves at least 70 dead
SAADA, Yemen (AFP) — At least 70 people were killed in an air strike on a prison as Yemen’s long-running conflict suffered a dramatic escalation Friday that drew condemnation from UN chief Antonio Guterres. The Huthi rebels released gruesome video footage showing bodies in the rubble and mangled corpses from the attack, which levelled buildings at the prison in their northern heartland of Saada. Further south in the port city of Hodeida, at least […]
Taiwan woman faces execution over fire that killed 46
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — A Taiwanese woman faces the death penalty for allegedly starting the island’s deadliest fire in decades in an attempt to get back at a boyfriend she suspected was cheating on her. October’s inferno in the southern city of Kaohsiung raged through multiple floors of a dilapidated 13-storey apartment block for hours, killing 46 people. Authorities had said the blaze started when a resident, identified by her family name Huang, left […]





