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by Cyril JULIEN Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Several American cities, both large and small, have seen a record number of homicides this year, a deadly spiral born at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic last year and which the authorities are still struggling to control. A convergence of factors is to blame, according to experts interviewed by AFP: the painful reverberations of the coronavirus and of the varied traumas it […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — A Japanese billionaire was to return to Earth Monday after spending 12 days on the International Space Station, where he made videos about performing mundane tasks in space including brushing teeth and going to the bathroom. Online fashion tycoon Yusaku Maezawa and his assistant Yozo Hirano, who will be shepherded home by Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin, are set to parachute onto Kazakhstan’s steppe at 0313 GMT Monday. Their journey marked Russia’s […]
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — London mayor Sadiq Khan on Saturday declared a “major incident” in the British capital due to the spread of the Omicron variant. More than 65,000 new Covid cases were confirmed in London over the past seven days, and 26,418 cases reported in the last 24 hours -– the highest number since the start of the pandemic. A major incident is defined as an event with a range of serious consequences […]
JERUSALEM, Undefined (AFP) — Israel’s health ministry Sunday recommended banning Israelis from traveling to the United States, and added several European countries to its Covid “red list”, aimed at containing the Omicron variant’s spread. Barring US travel for Israeli citizens and residents would mark a significant step for Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s government, given the hundreds of thousands of dual nationals and close ties between the countries. Bennett said Israel was in the midst of […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Top US pandemic advisor Anthony Fauci on Sunday warned of a bleak winter ahead as the Covid-19 Omicron variant spurs a new wave of infections globally, sparking restrictions and concerns over hospital capacity. “One thing that’s very clear… is its (Omicron’s) extraordinary capability of spreading,” Fauci told NBC News. “It is just… raging through to the world.” Since it was first reported in South Africa in November, Omicron has been […]
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AFP) — More than 30,000 people were evacuated from their homes in Malaysia on Sunday as the country battles some of its worst flooding in years. The tropical Southeast Asian nation often sees stormy monsoon seasons towards the end of the year, with flooding regularly prompting mass evacuations. Downpours since Friday have caused rivers to overflow, submerging many urban areas and cutting off major roads, leaving thousands of motorists stranded. More […]
by Harumi OZAWA with Hiroshi HIYAMA in Tokyo Agence France Presse OSAKA, Japan (AFP) — At least 24 people were killed after a blaze gutted a mental health clinic in a commercial building in the Japanese city of Osaka on Friday, local media said, with police reportedly considering it a possible arson case. The fire broke out mid-morning and raged for half an hour on the fourth floor of the clinic, which also provided […]
by Peter HUTCHISON Agence France Presse NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — A defiant Ghislaine Maxwell said Friday that prosecutors had failed to prove her guilty of sex crimes, as her defense wound up in a trial that heard lurid claims she groomed minors for abuse by the late financier Jeffrey Epstein. Speaking for the first time since her sensational trial opened late last month, the 59-year-old British socialite addressed the New […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Twenty-seven people were feared dead after a blaze at a building in a commercial district of the Japanese city of Osaka on Friday, the local fire department said. TV footage showed dozens of firefighters working inside and outside the eight-storey building after the blaze was extinguished. The charred interior of the fourth floor of the narrow office building was visible through broken and blackened windows. The floor housed a clinic that […]
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — London Fire Commissioner spoke of his profound sadness on Thursday after four children were confirmed dead in a house fire in the south of the British capital. Eight fire engines and around 60 firefighters attended the house in Sutton, where they were faced with “an intense blaze throughout the whole of the ground floor,” according to a statement from London Fire Brigade. Firefighters gave four young children found inside immediate […]
by Marc BURLEIGH BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — EU leaders said on Thursday that vaccinations and booster shots would be vital to counter the Omicron coronavirus variant as countries stepped up restrictions to slow its startling spread. The EU summit they were participating in also emphasised the need for “coordinated efforts” based on science, amid go-it-alone measures applied notably by Italy. The joint conclusion, swiftly adopted at the beginning of the one-day gathering, underlined the urgency […]
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AFP) — Former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, 96, was admitted to hospital Thursday and will undergo a full medical check-up, the medical facility said. The National Heart Institute said Mahathir arrived at 7:00 pm (1100 GMT) and is expected to stay there for the next few days. It did not say why he had been admitted and his aides declined to give further details. Mahathir has had heart problems in the […]
