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GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The WHO warned Wednesday that the world was creating toxic conditions for new Covid-19 variants like Omicron to emerge and then spread around the globe. The World Health Organization said the combination of low vaccination coverage across the planet, mixed with very low testing to track the virus, was a fertile breeding ground. The UN health agency stressed that measures to stop the globally-dominant Delta variant would also hinder Omicron. The […]
by Roland JACKSON Agence France Presse LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Global stock markets rebounded Wednesday and oil prices surged following Omicron-driven losses and on the eve of a key output meeting of OPEC and its allies. European equities advanced, mirroring most rebounding Asian bourses, as dealers temporarily set aside news of record-high eurozone inflation. Oil surged about five percent, while the dollar extended gains against major rivals as the Federal Reserve is seen […]
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) — Saudi Arabia has recorded the Gulf’s first confirmed case of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus in a citizen returning from North Africa, a health ministry official said Wednesday. The strain, which was first announced by South Africa but has since been discovered to have been present earlier in Europe, has prompted governments around the globe to reimpose travel restrictions, despite warnings from the World Health Organization this could […]
by Andrew BEATTY Agence France Presse SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Pandemic-induced lockdowns caused Australia’s economy to shrink 1.9 percent in the third quarter, a downturn that bucked the trend of a steady recovery in other wealthy nations. The Australian Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday reported the country’s second quarterly contraction since the pandemic began — and one of the largest contractions on record — sparked by long-running containment measures in populous states. Sydney, Melbourne […]
by Julie CAPELLE with AFP bureaus THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AFP) — The Omicron coronavirus variant was present in Europe before the first cases were reported in South Africa, new data from the Netherlands showed Tuesday, as Latin America reported its first two cases in Brazil. In the week since the new virus strain was reported to the World Health Organization by South Africa, dozens of countries around the world have responded with travel restrictions […]
by Amber Wang with Jerome Taylor in Hong Kong TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — Chinese warplanes made 159 incursions into Taiwan’s air defence zone in November according to AFP’s database, the second-highest month on record as Beijing continues to pile military pressure on the democratic island. Self-ruled Taiwan lives under the constant threat of invasion by China, which views the island as its own territory and has vowed to seize it one day, by force if […]
MINNEAPOLIS, United States (AFP) — President Joe Biden on Tuesday said he would decide on a weekly basis whether to extend US travel bans on southern Africa, depending what happens with the worrying new Omicron variant of Covid-19. Asked how long travel restrictions that took effect Monday on South Africa and seven other southern African countries would remain in place, Biden said it “kind of depends.” The US president, who was boarding Air Force One […]
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AFP) — South African pharma giant Aspen said Tuesday it has reached an agreement in principle with US-based Johnson & Johnson paving the way for an anti-Covid vaccine “made in Africa for Africa”. “Today we are pleased to announce the intention for Johnson & Johnson to grant Aspen the rights to manufacture and sell Aspen’s own brand of the vaccine in Africa,” Aspen CEO Stephen Saad said in a statement. The preliminary […]
GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — Brazil’s health regulator on Tuesday reported the discovery of two “preliminary” cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant in a traveler from South Africa, where it was first detected, and his wife. Positive samples from the two Brazilians will now be sent for further laboratory analysis for confirmation, the Anvisa regulator said in a statement. If confirmed, they would be the first Omicron cases in Latin America. The passenger arrived at the […]
BRASILIA, Brazil (AFP) — Brazil’s health regulator on Tuesday reported the discovery of two “preliminary” cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant in a traveler from South Africa, where it was first detected, and his wife. Positive samples from the two Brazilians will now be sent for further laboratory analysis for confirmation, the Anvisa regulator said in a statement. If confirmed, they would be the first Omicron cases in Latin America. The passenger arrived at the […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Three students were killed and six other people including a teacher were wounded Tuesday in a shooting at a high school in rural Oxford, Michigan, local police said. A 15-year-old student was taken into custody and a handgun was seized after the shooting at Oxford High School, the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. “There was no resistance during the arrest and the suspect has asked for a […]
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AFP) — Dutch health authorities said Tuesday that the new Covid-19 variant was present in the Netherlands a week earlier than previously believed and checks are underway to see how far it has spread. The RIVM National Health and Environment Institute said it “has found the corona variant Omicron in two test samples that had already been taken in the Netherlands… on November 19 and 23”. The first cases in the […]
