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MADRID, Spain (AFP) — The body of a man was pulled from a van trapped in floodwaters in northern Spain on Sunday, the second death linked to heavy rains which have caused rivers to burst their banks. Rescuers located the van in the Bidasoa river in the northern Navarra region on Saturday, a day after the 61-year-old was reported missing, a police spokesman said. Strong currents and poor visibility had prevented them from retrieving his […]
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AFP) — Thousands of people protested Sunday in El Salvador’s capital against corruption and what they see as a drift towards authoritarianism, days after the United States announced sanctions against a close aide of President Nayib Bukele. Bukele has drawn criticism for making bitcoin legal tender in the country, suggesting the volatile cryptocurrency will help revitalize its struggling economy, and for legal reforms which critics say are attacks on the independence […]
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — The UK has raised its Covid Alert Level due to the “rapid increase” in cases of the Omicron variant, the country’s four chief medical officers said on Sunday. The advisers said the public health risk assessment would move from level three to four — the second-highest level — which indicates “transmission is high and pressure on healthcare services is widespread and substantial or rising”. © Agence France-Presse
by Cyril JULIEN MAYFIELD, United States (AFP) — US emergency workers on Sunday desperately searched for survivors of ferocious late-season tornadoes that killed at least 94 across several states and left towns in ruins, including in the debris of a Kentucky candle factory, a symbol of the widespread devastation. But the state’s governor Andy Beshear warned that the search in that facility in Mayfield — a town almost completely wiped out by the twisters — […]
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AFP) — South African President Cyril Ramaphosa tested positive for Covid-19 on Sunday and is receiving treatment for mild symptoms, the presidency said in a statement. Ramaphosa, who is fully vaccinated, began feeling unwell after leaving a state memorial service for former deputy president F W de Klerk in Cape Town earlier in the day but was in good spirits and being monitored by doctors, it said. He would remain in self-isolation […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) –Amazon chief Jeff Bezos said he was “heartbroken” Saturday after at least six people were killed at an Amazon warehouse in the US state of Illinois when it was struck by a tornado. “The news from Edwardsville is tragic,” Bezos tweeted about the town where the facility was located. “We’re heartbroken over the loss of our teammates there, and our thoughts and prayers are with their families and loved ones.” […]
by Cyril JULIEN Agence France Presse MAYFIELD, United States (AFP) — Rescuers were desperately searching for survivors early Sunday after dozens of devastating tornadoes tore through six US states, leaving at least 83 people dead, dozens missing and towns in ruin. President Joe Biden called the wave of tornadoes, including one that travelled more than 200 miles, “one of the largest” storm outbreaks in American history. “It’s a tragedy,” a shaken Biden, who pledged […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China branded US democracy a “weapon of mass destruction” on Saturday, following the US-organised Summit for Democracy which aimed to shore up like-minded allies in the face of autocratic regimes. China was left out of the two-day virtual summit — along with countries including Russia and Hungary — and responded by angrily accusing US President Joe Biden of stoking Cold War-era ideological divides. “‘Democracy’ has long become a ‘weapon of […]
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — Taiwan on Friday said it was investigating whether a mouse bite may have been responsible for a worker at a high-security laboratory testing positive for the coronavirus, the island’s first local infection in weeks. Health officials are scrambling to work out how a female employee at Academia Sinica, Taiwan’s top research institute, contracted the virus last month. Thanks to largely closed borders and strict quarantines, Taiwan has managed to stay […]
by Gabriela Coutino with Jean Arce in Mexico City Agence France Presse TUXTLA GUTIÉRREZ, Mexico (AFP) — At least 53 migrants crammed into a truck traveling at high speed were killed Thursday in Mexico after the vehicle overturned in the southern state of Chiapas, a major transit point for those trying to reach the United States. Thousands of people attempt the long and hugely dangerous journey, often seeking a life free of violence and […]
MAGARET RIVER, Australia (AFP) — Australia battled twin natural disasters Friday, with bushfires cutting through a picturesque west coast region, while serious flooding and heavy rains lashed the country’s east. After weeks of high temperatures, fires flanked the western tourist hotspot of Margaret River — famed for its fine wine and big surf. No homes have been damaged or injuries reported, but flames have been seen over a wide area, sending smoke billowing high into […]
by Claire DOYEN JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AFP) — Access to the laboratory is strictly limited, for the risk of accidental infection is just too high. Here, technicians at whirring machines analyze 18,000 PCR tests a day, looking for signatures of coronavirus. Their work is so precise that just a handful of samples helped the team to discover Omicron — the new virus variant that has triggered global fears of yet another surge in the […]
