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by Kadir DEMIR and Fulya OZERKAN in Istanbul MILAS, Turkey (AFP) — Turkish rescuers on Thursday began evacuating hundreds of villagers by sea after a deadly wildfire engulfed the outer edges of a thermal power plant storing thousands of tonnes of coal. An AFP team saw firefighters and police fleeing the 35-year-old Kemerkoy plant in the Aegean province of Mugla as bright balls of orange flame tore through the surrounding hills. Hundreds of local villages […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) –The United States, which closed its borders to much of the world as the pandemic took hold, plans eventually to begin allowing fully vaccinated foreigners back in, a White House official said Wednesday. President Joe Biden’s administration, recognizing the importance of international travel, wants to reopen to visitors from abroad in a “safe and sustainable manner,” the official said. It is developing “a phased approach that over time will mean, with […]
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — Indonesia’s coronavirus death toll topped 100,000 on Wednesday as the country struggles to control the spread of the Delta variant. Southeast Asia’s biggest economy has now detected Delta in dozens of regions since it was first found in the archipelago in June. Scores of Indonesians are dying at home, unable to access hospital care or medical oxygen supplies as health care facilities are stretched to the limit. More than 3.5 million […]
TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — Covid infections in Iran surged again Wednesday, hitting a new one-day record for a third straight day and taking total cases to more than four million. Iran registered 39,357 new cases in the 24 hours to Wednesday, taking the total since the pandemic started to 4,019,084, the health ministry said. It recorded 409 deaths over the same period taking the total in Iran to 92,194. The official figures are widely believed […]
SINGAPORE, Singapore (AFP) — The Association of Southeast Asian Nations on Wednesday appointed an envoy to Myanmar after a months-long delay in diplomatic efforts to resolve the coup-hit country’s political crisis. ASEAN’s foreign ministers said in a joint statement, delayed by internal wrangling, that they welcomed the appointment of Brunei Second Foreign Minister Erywan Yusof as the bloc’s special envoy. Member state Myanmar has been in political chaos since the military junta ousted Aung San […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China on Wednesday tightened overseas travel restrictions for its citizens as part of efforts to contain rising coronavirus cases, after reporting its highest number of infections in months. The movement of people is coming under more restriction inside China – with localised transport closures and stay-at-home orders in places in some cities – and beyond China’s borders. China had previously boasted of its success in crushing Covid-19, with hard lockdowns in […]
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AFP) –Several lightning bolts hit a Bangladesh wedding party within a few seconds Wednesday, killing 16 people and injuring the groom, officials said. The group had just left a boat at the riverside town of Shibganj to take shelter from the thunderstorm when the lightning struck, a government administrator for the town said. The bride was not with the wedding party, Sakib Al-Rabby told AFP, confirming 16 people died as several bolts struck […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China on Wednesday reported its highest daily number of local coronavirus cases in months as mass testing and contact tracing campaigns uncovered a trail of Delta variant infections. Health authorities reported 71 domestic cases on Wednesday, the highest since January, as China battles its largest outbreak in months by testing entire cities and locking down millions. The official results of those tests have revealed a low caseload despite the outbreak spreading […]
PRAGUE, Czech Republic (AFP) — Two people died and dozens more were injured on Wednesday when two trains collided at a village in the west of the Czech Republic, police said. “We can confirm that two people lost their lives,” national police said on Twitter. “Dozens of injured people were reported at the scene. We are helping with the evacuation of passengers.” The police said the accident happened shortly after 8:00 am (0600 GMT) at […]
VARYMPOMPI, Greece (AFP) — Greek firefighters said Wednesday that they hope to bring a forest fire blazing near Athens under control “in the coming hours”. “The situation has improved and we hope to bring the fire under control in the coming hours,” the fire service said in a statement. More than 500 firefighters, a dozen water-bombing planes and five helicopters have been battling the blazes outside the capital since Tuesday afternoon. Around a dozen houses […]
HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Macau ordered compulsory coronavirus testing for all residents on Wednesday after a family of four was found to be carrying the Delta variant, breaking the city’s record of over 16 months virus-free. Over the next three days authorities plan to test all 680,000 residents at 41 testing centres, the government said. The testing is one of a host of new measures announced after the gambling hub recorded 491 days without […]
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AFP) — Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin refused to yield to mounting calls to quit Wednesday but said he would face a no-confidence vote in parliament in September. Political tensions have been escalating in the country after the king rebuked the administration for misleading parliament and hundreds staged a rare anti-government protest last weekend. The latest blow came Tuesday when several members of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the biggest party […]
