International

Mexican aid arrives in quake-hit Haiti

MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AFP) — Two Mexican military aircraft carrying 15.4 tons of food, medicine and water landed in Haiti on Monday following a powerful earthquake that left nearly 1,300 people dead, Mexico’s government said. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Mexico would continue to help Haiti’s impoverished population after yet “another misfortune befell them.” Another shipment of 3.6 tons of emergency aid including blankets, water filters, wheelbarrows and shovels was expected to arrive later […]

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Thousands evacuated in southern France as ‘fierce’ wildfire spreads

MARSEILLE, France (AFP) — Thousands of people, including tourists in campsites, have been evacuated from the Var region of southern France due to a wildfire, a spokeswoman for the fire department told AFP on Tuesday. “Thousands of people have been evacuated as a precautionary measure, but there are no victims. Around 750 firefighters are fighting the fire, which is still very fierce,” she said. © Agence France-Presse

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Japan’s ‘father of Sudoku’ dead at 69

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — The man dubbed the “father of Sudoku” for his role in popularizing the numerical brainteaser loved by millions, has died of cancer at 69, his Japanese publisher has announced. In a notice posted Monday, Nikoli said Maki Kaji died at home on August 10 after battling cancer, and a memorial service would be held at a later date. “Mr Kaji was known as the father of Sudoku and was loved by […]

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Japan to expand virus emergency to battle surge

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan’s government said Tuesday it will expand a coronavirus state of emergency to seven new regions as it battles a record wave of infections a week before the Paralympic Games. Virus emergency measures that ban restaurants and bars from selling alcohol and require them to close by 8 pm are already in place in Tokyo and five other regions, and had been due to end by August 31. But the government […]

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New Zealand records first local virus case in six months

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AFP) — New Zealand recorded its first locally transmitted case of Covid-19 in six months on Tuesday, sparking efforts to trace the origins of the infection as officials pondered a response. The health department said the case was identified in Auckland, the country’s largest city, adding “a link between the case and the border or managed isolation is yet to be established”. It said ministers would meet later Tuesday to determine how […]

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Fresh fires force evacuation of Greek villages

ATHENS, Greece (AFP) — Greek firefighters struggled to control two new blazes that broke out around Athens on Monday, forcing the evacuation of several villages and clouding the sky over the capital as they braced for a long night battling the flames. Greece’s prime minister has linked the devastating fires to the “climate crisis”, speaking last week as wildfires swept across the Mediterranean, engulfing parts of Greece, Italy and Spain. Scores of firefighters battled fresh […]

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Louisiana hospitals overwhelmed by surging Delta variant

by Valentin GRAFF HAMMOND, United States (AFP) — Barely clinging to life, patients in an intensive care unit in Hammond, Louisiana, lie in their beds, gray and emaciated, their faces marked by the tight grip of respirators and the ravages of Covid-19. As cases soar due to the more contagious Delta variant, medical units like the North Oaks Hospital are overwhelmed. Half of the Covid patients there are critical. The southern United States is finding […]

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Israel asks for international help to fight forest fires

JERUSALEM, Undefined (AFP) — Israeli firefighters battled flames for a second day Monday in the hills west of Jerusalem, forcing the evacuation of five communities and prompting the government to ask for international help. “The Greek foreign minister already said he will help as much as possible,” Foreign Minister Yair Lapid wrote on Twitter. Foreign Ministry spokesman Lior Haiat told AFP Greece and Cyprus had agreed to send firefighting planes to Israel. Italy, France and […]

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Ivory Coast starts Ebola jabs after first case in decades

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AFP) — Ivory Coast began a roll-out of vaccinations against Ebola on Monday, after the country recorded its first known case of the disease since 1994, the health ministry said. “Health workers, close relatives and contacts of the victim” were the first to be vaccinated, getting jabs from 5,000 doses sent from Guinea, spokesman Germain Mahan Sehi said. Ivorian health workers had previously said that vaccinations of “targeted groups” had already begun […]

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Pfizer submits data for 3rd dose approval in US

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Pfizer and BioNTech on Monday submitted preliminary clinical data to US health authorities as part of their effort to seek authorization for a third dose of their Covid-19 vaccine for all Americans. Last week, the United States approved the booster shot of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines for people with weakened immune systems. Pfizer and BioNTech presented the results of their Phase One trial that evaluated the safety and efficacy of […]

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Kabul airport has reopened: US general

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Kabul’s airport reopened early Tuesday Afghanistan time after being closed for hours by US forces following a breakdown in security on the tarmac that interrupted evacuation operations, a US general said. The airport reopened at 1935 GMT Monday, said Major General Hank Taylor, a logistics specialist on the Pentagon’s Joint Chiefs of Staff. He said a C-17 transport aircraft had landed with US Marines aboard, and a second one loaded […]

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Desperate search after Haiti quake as storm threatens

by Amelie BARON PORT-SALUT, Haiti (AFP) — Rescuers in Haiti used heavy equipment and their bare hands Monday to hunt for survivors under buildings flattened two days ago by a massive earthquake that killed more than 1,400 people, while an approaching storm threatened more suffering. Flash floods and mudslides were possible as the front bore down on the Caribbean nation’s southwestern peninsula, which was hard-hit by a 7.2-magnitude quake that toppled thousands of buildings early […]

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