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by Francesco FONTEMAGGI WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Joe Biden has invited Taiwan to a virtual summit on democracy alongside more than 100 countries — a move bound to anger China, which is not on the list. The conference was a campaign pledge by the US president, who has placed the struggle between democracies and “autocratic governments” at the heart of his foreign policy. The “Summit for Democracy” will take place online on December 9 […]
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AFP) — New Zealand said Wednesday it will not reopen to foreign travellers for at least another five months, as it slowly relaxes some of the world’s toughest pandemic border restrictions. The Pacific nation’s Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said New Zealanders stranded in Australia could return home from mid-January and Kiwis travelling from elsewhere would be allowed in a month later. But foreign nationals must wait until the end of April […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A child injured when a car plowed into a parade in the US state of Wisconsin has died, taking the toll from the tragedy to six, a local prosecutor said Tuesday as the suspect appeared in court. Darrell Brooks, 39, was charged with five counts of intentional homicide, and now faces a sixth murder charge, prosecutor Susan Opper said. Brooks allegedly steered his red SUV into marching musicians, dancers and […]
by Camille BAS-WOHLERT COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AFP) — Europe remains “in the firm grip” of Covid and the continent’s death toll could top 2.2 million this winter if current trends continue, the World Health Organization warned on Tuesday. Europe is battling an upsurge in the pandemic that saw Austria return to lockdown this week while Germany and the Netherlands are poised to announce new restrictions. A further 700,000 people in the 53 countries that comprise the […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States is shipping another four million Covid-19 vaccine doses to Vietnam, the White House said Tuesday, bringing the total of US doses donated globally to nearly 270 million. A senior administration official told AFP that 4,149,990 doses of the Pfizer vaccine are being sent, bringing the total delivered to Vietnam by the United States to 17,589,110 doses. Shipments began Tuesday. Globally, there have now been 268,472,780 doses sent […]
QUITO, Ecuador (AFP) — A tremor measuring 4.6 hit the Ecuador capital Quito on Tuesday, rattling the city of 2.7 million people but without causing any major damage, authorities said. The epicenter of the quake was a few kilometers from the city center, at a depth of some 12 kilometers, according to the Geophysical Institute of Ecuador. Hospitals and other public buildings were evacuated, and workers rushed out of office buildings as alarms sounded, to […]
SOFIA, Bulgaria (AFP) — At least 45 people were killed in an overnight bus accident on a highway south of the Bulgarian capital, officials said Tuesday. The cause of the accident has yet to be determined. “Forty-five or 46 people were killed” on a highway about 40 kilometres (26 miles) from Sofia, Nikolay Nikolov, head of the Fire Safety and Civil Protection department at the interior ministry, told public broadcaster BNT. “Seven passengers were saved” […]
Says “maintaining peace in the region” is the “greatest common interest” (Eagle News) – China’s President Xi Jinping announced the establishment of the China-ASEAN Comprehensive Strategic Partnership on Monday, Nov. 22, as he vowed China’s commitment to peace and stability in the region. President Xi, during the ASEAN-China Special Summit to Commemorate the 30th Anniversary of Dialogue Relations on Monday, Nov. 22, recalled how in the past 30 years, China have “cast away the […]
TEL AVIV, Israel (AFP) — Israel began rolling out Covid-19 vaccines for children aged five to 11 on Monday, becoming one of a handful of countries to inoculate children so young as it seeks to ward off another pandemic wave. Over the summer, the Jewish state experienced an upsurge in coronavirus infections, fuelled by the Delta variant, and launched one of the earliest campaigns for booster shots. As infections start to creep up again, Prime […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — China’s test of a globe-circling hypersonic weapon in July included the unprecedented launch of a separate missile from the ultra-high-speed vehicle, according to the Financial Times and Wall Street Journal. The test showed China’s development of its strategic, nuclear-capable weapons as more advanced than any had thought, surprising Pentagon officials, the two newspapers said. Neither the United States nor Russia has demonstrated the same ability, which requires launching a […]
OTTAWA, Canada (AFP) — Vital road and rail links between Vancouver and the rest of Canada that were severed by catastrophic floods and mudslides were mostly reestablished Monday, said officials. Air Canada has also significantly increased its cargo capacity into and out of the Pacific coastal city since Sunday to ease major supply chain disruptions. Torrential rains hit the region last week, causing widespread flooding and mudslides that damaged or destroyed roads and bridges, forced […]
PARIS, France (AFP) — French Prime Minister Jean Castex tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday evening, his office told AFP, adding that he would isolate for 10 days while continuing to work. Castex “immediately carried out a PCR test” after finding out that one of his daughters had tested positive, his office said. Castex had been in Brussels on Monday morning, where he met his Belgian counterpart Alexander De Croo. He was accompanied on the […]
