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International
Bus crash kills 20 in Pakistan-administered Kashmir
MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan (AFP) — At least 20 people including children were killed on Wednesday when a bus plunged into a ravine in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, officials said. “The bus carrying up to 40 passengers was going to Rawalpindi when it plunged into a deep ravine while negotiating a sharp turn,” local disaster management authority official Raja Moazzam told AFP. He blamed speeding for the accident and said “authorities are trying to retrieve bodies and injured from […]
Death toll climbs to 22 in Lagos high-rise collapse
by Louise Dewast and Joel Olatunde Agoi LAGOS, Nigeria (AFP) — Two more bodies were pulled out early Wednesday from the debris of a collapsed Lagos high-rise building, bringing the death toll to 22 people, the emergency services said. The 21-storey building was still under construction when it crumbled on Monday in the upscale Ikoyi neighbourhood of Nigeria’s commercial capital. Rescuers said Wednesday they had recovered 22 dead bodies so far and rescued nine people […]
Dutch reintroduce Covid curbs as cases rise: PM
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AFP) — The Netherlands is bringing back coronavirus measures including a requirement for face masks in many public spaces to combat a surge in cases, Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on Tuesday. He said the government was also reintroducing a 1.5-metre (five-foot) social distancing rule, extending so-called Covid passes to places such as museums and restaurant terraces. People are also being advised to work from home for at least half the week […]
10 dead in Colombian mudslide caused by heavy rains
MALLAMA, Colombia (AFP) — Ten people died after a mudslide caused by heavy rains in southwest Colombia engulfed a hotel Tuesday, rescuers said. Nine people were pulled out alive, two of them in serious condition. The mudslide happened in the early hours of the day in Mallama, a town of 7,000 close to the border with Ecuador. Eight of the dead were women, including some Venezuelans, Jader Gaviria, director of the national disaster management body […]
French police shoot knifeman at Paris station: sources
PARIS, France (AFP) — French transport police shot and gravely wounded a man at a Paris railway station who threatened them with a knife while shouting “Allahu Akbar” (God is Greatest) in Arabic, police and prosecutors said on Tuesday. The man rushed at police just before midnight on Monday at Saint-Lazare, one of the capital’s busiest train stations, a police source who asked not to be named told AFP, confirming a report first broadcast on […]
New York poised to elect Black ex-cop Adams as mayor
by Peter HUTCHISON and Diane DESOBEAU NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — New Yorkers voted Tuesday in a mayoral election that is virtually guaranteed to elect Black former policeman Eric Adams as the next leader of America’s biggest city. The centrist Democrat is expected to trounce Republican rival and volunteer crime fighter Curtis Sliwa in the liberal-voting bastion to become just the second African American to lead the Big Apple. Being New York’s mayor is […]
US poised for final approval of Pfizer’s Covid vaccine for children aged 5-11
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — An expert panel unanimously recommended Pfizer-BioNTech’s Covid vaccine for five- to 11-year-olds on Tuesday, the penultimate step in the process that will allow injections in young children to begin this week in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the top US public health agency, was expected to endorse that recommendation later Tuesday. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the vaccine for the age group […]
Relatives desperate for news after Lagos building collapse; at least 6 dead, more people trapped
by Louise Dewast and Joel Olatunde Agoi Agence France Presse Desperate relatives on Tuesday waited for news of missing people a day after a Lagos high-rise building collapsed suddenly, killing at least six people and leaving more trapped inside. The 21-storey building was still under construction when it fell abruptly into a pile of concrete slabs on Monday in wealthy Ikoyi district of Nigeria’s commercial capital. Rescuers say they have managed to pull four […]
Covid global death toll passes 5 million: AFP tally
PARIS, France (AFP) — Five million people have died worldwide from Covid-19 since the disease first emerged in China nearly two years ago, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP. Monday’s milestone, nearly four months after four million deaths were registered, came even as mortality rates slow thanks to a global vaccine rollout that has seen billions of people injected. While the number of daily deaths worldwide fell below 8,000 for […]
Man who handed Baldwin loaded gun breaks silence
LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — The crew member who handed Alec Baldwin the loaded gun that killed a cinematographer on the set of “Rust” expressed his shock and sadness Monday, in his first public comments since the tragedy. David Halls’ role in the accident on the New Mexico set of a 19th-century Western last month has been under scrutiny after he told police he had failed to fully check the firearm before the […]
Biden, Indonesia’s Widodo tell Myanmar junta to release prisoners
GLASGOW, United Kingdom (AFP) — US President Joseph Biden and Indonesian President Joko Widodo called on Monday on the Myanmar military junta to release political prisoners, the White House said. Meeting on the sidelines of the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, Biden and Widodo also highlighted “freedom of the seas” in the Indo-Pacific region, the White House said, using language that typically refers to criticism of China’s increasingly muscular presence. According to the White House, […]
