Breaking News, Latest Philippines Headlines, World, Entertainment, Politics, Weather & Video News
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — JBS, one of the world’s biggest meat processors, has paid bitcoin worth $11 million in ransom to hackers to prevent any further disruption after a paralyzing cyberattack believed to have originated in Russia. Hackers targeted the computer systems of Brazil-based JBS last week, impacting production and operations in the United States, Australia and Canada, and issued a ransom demand to the global meatpacking giant. The company’s US subsidiary said Wednesday […]
YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — The Myanmar junta has hit deposed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi with corruption charges over claims she accepted illegal payments of gold and more than half a million dollars in cash, state media reported Thursday. The country has been in turmoil since the generals ousted Suu Kyi on February 1, with nearly 850 civilians killed in a brutal crackdown by security forces on near-daily protests against the coup. The 75-year-old […]
MUMBAI, India (AFP) — At least 11 people, including eight children, were killed when heavy monsoon rains caused a residential building to collapse in a Mumbai slum, Indian authorities said Thursday. Mumbai city authorities confirmed that seven other residents were injured in the incident late Wednesday even as search and rescue operations continued for several others feared missing. Residents have been evacuated from nearby structures considered to be in a dangerous condition. Of the injured, […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — At least nine people were killed when a five-storey building being demolished in South Korea suddenly collapsed, crushing a bus, officials said. Dramatic television footage showed the bus being buried in debris and smothered by a huge cloud of dust as the structure gave way. The bus, which had stopped in front of the site, was carrying 17 people when the accident occurred Wednesday in the city of Gwangju, southwest […]
by Jerome Cartillier with Sebastian Smith in Washington UNITED KINGDOM (AFP) — Joe Biden triumphantly announced that “the United States is back!” as he kicked off his first overseas tour as US president, urging global collaboration and consensus to rebuild after Covid and reset diplomatic ties after the divisive isolation of the Trump era. His multilateral charm offensive began even before he touched down in England for a packed week that takes in a G7 […]
by Anouk Riondet, with AFP bureaus PARIS, France (AFP) — The United States is set to buy 500 million Covid-19 vaccine doses to distribute around the world, media reported Wednesday, as France and Belgium relaxed virus restrictions to allow restaurants and cafes to serve indoors. The Washington Post and New York Times, citing people familiar with the matter, said President Joe Biden was due to formally announce the huge donation of Pfizer-BioNTech doses at a […]
OSLO, Norway (AFP) — Norway will offer the Johnson & Johnson Covid vaccine to volunteers under strict conditions from mid-July, the government said Wednesday, flouting the advice of various health authorities who say the risks outweigh the benefits. The Nordic country, which has dropped the AstraZeneca jab from its vaccination programme amid concerns about rare but severe blood clots, had also suspended the use of the J&J vaccine over similar concerns earlier this year. But […]
Nasal and anal samples taken from 28 elephants at a forest reserve in India COIMBATORE, India (AFP) — Twenty-eight elephants have been tested for Covid-19 at a forest reserve in southern India, officials said Wednesday, after the reported death of a rare Asiatic lion from the virus. In what is believed to be the first known death of an animal in India from the coronavirus, a nine-year-old lioness at a zoo in Chennai in […]
by AFP Bureaus France and Belgium further relaxed their Covid-19 restrictions Wednesday, allowing restaurants and cafes to serve indoors, while the United States eased travel warnings for dozens of countries as vaccinations boost hopes of a return to normal life. The pandemic’s impact on life around the planet was also illustrated Wednesday with a shake-up of the list of the world’s most liveable cities, with Auckland rocketing to the top on the back of […]
KOLKATA, India (AFP) — Lightning strikes killed 27 people and four passengers on a flight were hospitalized after severe turbulence during monsoon storms in eastern India, officials said Tuesday. Lightning strikes during the June-September annual monsoon are fairly common in India. Officials said West Bengal was hit by thunderstorms late Monday, with lightning strikes in parts of the state. “Many of the 27 killed on Monday evening… in the state were farmers and working in […]
HANOI, Vietnam (AFP) — Vietnam, once a model for its successful handling of the pandemic, has started asking for public donations to buy vaccines as it struggles to contain a new coronavirus wave. The Southeast Asian country has vaccinated only about one percent of its population of nearly 100 million, and authorities have become increasingly alarmed by a recent spike in cases. Since last week, mobile phone users have received up to three text messages […]
OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AFP) — Burkina Faso said Tuesday that more than 7,000 people had fled the country’s volatile north following the bloodiest massacre in a six-year-old jihadist insurgency. “Steps have already been taken to give (displaced people) a minimum level of comfort, lodgings, and food,” Prime Minister Christophe Dabire said, promising on a visit to the area that the attack “will not go unpunished”. Dabire’s advisers told AFP that 7,600 people had fled to […]
