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SHANGHAI, China (AFP) — Nine more people have been confirmed dead in the collapse of a budget hotel in eastern China, bringing the final toll to 17, as state media on Wednesday announced the end of search and recovery efforts. Six others were earlier rescued from the rubble of the Siji Kaiyuan hotel, which crumbled in a heap of shattered concrete and bent metal beams two days earlier in the picturesque city of Suzhou. All […]
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — London Mayor Sadiq Khan on Wednesday called for use of face coverings to remain compulsory on public transport in the British capital after government plans to relax Covid curbs begin on July 19. Under the plans passengers on Transport for London (TfL) services — which include the city’s tube, bus, tram, and rail networks — would be required to wear a face-covering after an England-wide requirement ends under plans set […]
SHIMLA, India (AFP) — Rescuers in northern India were digging through rocks and mud searching for the missing on Tuesday, after heavy monsoon rains triggered landslides and flash floods in two states, killing at least six people, officials said. Television footage and videos shared on social media showed roads, cars and homes being washed away in Dharamshala in the Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh, which has been lashed by torrential rains since the weekend. One […]
by Andrew BEATTY SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Sydney’s five million residents will be in virus lockdown for at least another two weeks, state premier Gladys Berejiklian announced on Wednesday, rejecting calls to tighten restrictions further. Australia’s largest city is already in its third week of a partial lockdown and struggling to bring a fast-spreading outbreak of the coronavirus Delta variant under control. In the past 24 hours, 97 new cases were recorded, more than the […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — The developers of Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine said on Tuesday a deal had been struck with Indian vaccine maker the Serum Institute to produce 300 million doses annually. “The parties intend to produce over 300 million doses of the vaccine in India per year with the first batch expected in September 2021,” the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) said in a statement. Sputnik V was registered by Russia in August […]
BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — Thailand on Tuesday defended mixing two different Covid-19 vaccines to battle a surge in infections, after the WHO’s top scientist warned it was a “dangerous trend” not backed by evidence. The kingdom is struggling to contain its latest outbreak fuelled by the highly contagious Delta variant, with cases and deaths skyrocketing and the healthcare system stretched thin. Authorities said they will mix a first dose of the Chinese-made Sinovac jab with […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — An Australian apartment block was placed under strict lockdown with police posted outside Tuesday, as authorities stepped up efforts to curb a fast-growing coronavirus outbreak. Police guarded both the front and rear exits of an apartment block in Sydney’s Bondi neighborhood, where nine people have tested positive for Covid-19, with movement in and out of the building restricted. A sign taped to one apartment window read “Send Beer” while another asked, […]
NASIRIYAH, Iraq (AFP) — A fire that enveloped a Covid isolation unit in southern Iraq killed 64 people, a medical source told AFP in an updated toll on Tuesday. “Sixty-four (bodies) were retrieved and 39 identified and handed over to their families,” the source at the Dhi Qar Forensic Science Department said. The deadly Monday evening blaze at Al-Hussein Hospital in the provincial capital Nasiriyah, which medics said was fuelled by the explosion of oxygen […]
BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan (AFP) — Authorities in Kyrgyzstan said Tuesday the bodies of six people had been recovered and two children were missing after landslides swept rural areas of the poor Central Asian country. Fatal landsides affect mountainous Central Asia every year around springtime, blocking roads in a region lacking transport infrastructure and forcing families to rebuild homes from scratch. On Monday, landslides swept through the Aksy district in the west of the mountainous country, the […]
by Natsuko FUKUE TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Even under ordinary circumstances, feeding an Olympic Village is a mammoth task, with chefs preparing tens of thousands of meals a day for elite athletes from around the world. But at Tokyo 2020, there’s an added pressure: strict coronavirus rules forbid athletes from eating at local restaurants, so it’s their only chance to sample Japan’s famous cuisine. “I feel it’s a lot of responsibility for us,” admitted Tsutomu […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US Food and Drug Administration updated its warning labels Monday for the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine to include information about an observed “increased risk” of a rare neurological disorder called Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS). The news is a further blow for the company, which was granted an emergency use authorization for its shot in February but has played a minor role in America’s coronavirus immunization campaign. Based on analysis […]
SHANGHAI, China (AFP) — Rescuers have pulled another seven survivors out of the rubble of a small budget hotel that collapsed in the eastern China city of Suzhou, state media said Tuesday. The Siji Kaiyuan hotel collapsed on Monday afternoon, with authorities initially saying one person had died. The latest figures bring to 14 the number of those rescued, according to the People’s Daily. No further information was given on the number of people still […]
