SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Thousands of health care workers at Kaiser Permanente facilities in US states Oregon and California given a green light Monday for union officials to call strikes should contract talks fail. Sticking points in negotiations appeared to be staffing levels and wages for nurses and others who have been on the front line of the pandemic. “Health care workers are facing record levels of burnout after 20 months of the […]
International
North Korea’s Kim says US is ‘root cause’ of tensions
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — The leader of nuclear-armed North Korea, Kim Jong Un, has blamed the United States for tensions on the peninsula, state media reported Tuesday. The US is the “root cause” of instability, he said in an opening speech at a defence exhibition, according to the official Korean Central News Agency. Pyongyang is under multiple international sanctions over its banned nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes, which have made rapid progress under […]
Roche applies to market Covid antibody treatment in EU
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AFP) — Swiss pharma giant Roche on Monday applied to market its anti-Covid-19 cocktail in the European Union, the bloc’s medicines watchdog said, the final step before it can be released to the continent. The application to the European Medicines Agency comes just over two weeks after the World Health Organisation also recommended the treatment, which Roche co-developed with US biotech firm Regeneron. The “EMA is starting evaluating an application for marketing […]
Two dead as small plane hits houses in California
LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — A small plane crashed into a residential area of a California city on Monday, killing at least two people as a blaze devoured two houses and several vehicles. Aerial footage showed firefighters hosing down the charred remains of the residences in Santee, a suburb of San Diego. A burned out delivery truck was also seen on a nearby street corner. Fox 5 San Diego reported the plane was […]
Egypt arrests 3 over thousands of dumped Covid jabs
CAIRO, Egypt (AFP) — Egyptian authorities arrested three people accused of dumping thousands of unused Covid-19 vaccine jabs found last week in a water drain in a southern city, the public prosecution said. “An investigative committee… found a shortage of 18,400 vaccine doses in the Minya health directorate storage inventory worth 5,023,200 pounds ($319,000),” the prosecution said late Sunday in a statement posted on its social media accounts. The statement said 13,412 doses had been […]
Magnitude 6.9 quake hits Alaska Peninsula
(Eagle News) – A magnitude 6.9 quake hit the Alaska Peninsula region on Monday, Oct. 11, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). The quake was 69.1 kilometers deep and occurred 114 kilometers east of Chignik in Alaska at 9:10 a.m. UTC or 5:10 p.m. Philippine time. There were no immediate reports of damage. The quake in Alaska occurred hours after a magnitude 6.2 quake in the Hawaii region. (Eagle News Service)
Merck seeks FDA authorization for Covid treatment pill
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US pharmaceutical giant Merck said Monday that it has applied for emergency use authorization of its oral anti-Covid drug in the United States, a major step towards finding a simple pill to treat the disease. Merck has submitted the application for molnupiravir, which it said earlier this month was shown to reduce hospitalisations by 50 percent. It said it was working “with regulatory agencies worldwide to submit applications for emergency […]
Austria gets new leader after graft crisis engulfs Kurz
by Jastinder KHERA VIENNA, Austria (AFP) — Austria’s top diplomat Alexander Schallenberg took over as chancellor on Monday as the ruling party tries to emerge from a corruption scandal that cost the job of one of Europe’s youngest leaders. Sebastian Kurz, a 35-year-old once feted as a “whizz kid”, said late Saturday he was quitting the top job after being implicated in a corruption scandal. Schallenberg, 52, was sworn in by President Alexander Van der […]
Lebanon firefighters quell huge fuel tank fire
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — Firefighters in Lebanon put out a huge blaze that raged at a key fuel storage depot Monday to the relief of many in the country gripped by desperate energy shortages. There was no immediate report of casualties from the fire that sent large plumes of dark smoke billow into the sky. The fire broke out around 8:00am (0500 GMT) in a large petrol tank belonging to the army at the Zahrani […]
Thouands evacuated and coal mines shuttered as floods hit north China
BEIJING, China (AFP) — More than 120,000 people have been evacuated, coal mines shut and crops destroyed after unseasonably heavy rainfall flooded north China’s Shanxi province over the weekend, state media reported Monday, with more rain forecast. The deluge comes just months after record floods hit the country’s central Henan province in July — killing more than 300 people — and raises fears about ensuring the supply of energy ahead of the winter. Many parts […]
Sri Lanka president admits ‘not delivering’ as prices soar
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AFP) — Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa admitted his government is “not delivering” as shortages persist of food, medicines and other essential items because of a dire foreign exchange squeeze. “The people may have a sense of displeasure towards me and the government for not delivering as they expected,” Rajapaksa’s office quoted him as saying on Sunday. “I accept that. Not only me, but all ministers and Members of Parliament should accept […]
1 dead, 17 hurt in Chile as police clash with indigenous protesters
SANTIAGO, Chile (AFP) — One person died and 17 others were injured Sunday as riot police clashed with protesters in the Chilean capital during a rally by the indigenous Mapuche community. About a thousand activists — many wearing ponchos and traditional headbands, and playing ceremonial drums — marched near Plaza Italia in the center of Santiago, demanding autonomy for the Mapuche. When police moved in to disperse the protest with water cannon and tear gas, protesters […]
