International

Indonesia to give medics Moderna booster jab after death of several fully vaccinated doctors

  JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — Health workers in coronavirus-hit Indonesia will get a third booster jab using the Moderna vaccine, authorities said Friday, after several fully inoculated medics died from Covid-19. The Southeast Asian nation, battling its most serious outbreak to date driven by the Delta variant, has relied heavily on the Chinese-made Sinovac jab in its vaccine roll-out. But out of 1,000 medical workers who have died of Covid-19, more than a dozen were […]

Assassination of Haitian president Jovenel Moise: what we know

  by Robenson Geffrard with Cyril Julien in Washington Agence France Presse The assassination of Haitian president Jovenel Moise has plunged the impoverished Caribbean nation into crisis. Here’s what we know about the attack: – The assassination – Early Wednesday, around 1:00 am local time, gunmen attacked Moise’s heavily guarded private residence in the capital Port-au-Prince. Moise was shot dead and his wife, Martine, critically wounded. She was rushed to a local hospital and later […]

Mystery around Haiti leader’s murder intensifies

  by Robenson Geffrard with Daxia Rojas in Washington and Amelie Baron in Paris Agence France Presse PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AFP) — A 28-member hit squad made up of Colombians and Americans murdered President Jovenel Moise, Haitian police say, but little is known about who masterminded the assassination and their motives as the investigation pressed on Friday. Seventeen suspected assailants in Wednesday’s pre-dawn attack have been arrested, including 15 Colombians and two Americans of Haitian origin, […]

Florida condo tower death toll rises to 64

  MIAMI, United States (AFP) — The death toll from the collapse of an apartment building in Florida has risen to 64, officials said Thursday, with 76 people still missing and presumed dead. Miami-Dade county mayor Daniella Levine Cava gave the new toll Thursday afternoon, admitting that reporting the numbers “has not gotten any easier” two weeks after the tragedy. Champlain Towers South, a 12-storey building in Surfside, a town north of Miami Beach, came […]

Indonesians ignore warnings in rush to buy anti-parasite drug, Ivermectin, for Covid

  by Agnes Anya / Haeril HALIM Agence France Presse JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — Indonesians have ignored health warnings to stock up on a “miracle cure” for Covid-19 backed by leading politicians and social media influencers, as an out-of-control virus surge sweeps the country. Authorities are reporting hundreds of deaths every day as the world’s fourth-most populous nation struggles with its worst outbreak since the pandemic began. Pharmacies across the country are running out of […]

5.9 magnitude quake hits California-Nevada border

LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — A 5.9-magnitude earthquake struck near California’s border with Nevada Thursday, rattling people in nearby cities including Sacramento, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties. The moderate, shallow quake in northern California hit around 50 miles (75 kilometers) away from Carson City in neighboring Nevada, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said, and was followed by a series of minor tremors felt in parts of both western […]

26 Colombians, 2 Americans behind Moise killing: Haiti police

  PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AFP) — At least 28 people carried out the assassination of President Jovenel Moise, Haitian police said Thursday, adding that 26 of them were Colombian and two were Americans of Haitian origin. “We have arrested 15 Colombians and the two Americans of Haitian origin. Three Colombians have been killed while eight others are on the loose,” national police director general Leon Charles said at a news conference. On Wednesday police said four […]

Assassins of president were ‘professional’ mercenaries: Haiti envoy

  WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The assassins Wednesday of Haiti’s president were “professional” mercenaries who disguised themselves as US agents and may have already left the country, Haiti’s ambassador to the United States said. The killers presented themselves at the residence of President Jovenel Moise as agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration but their conduct was not in keeping with forces from the US agency, Ambassador Bocchit Edmond said. “It was a well-orchestrated attack […]

Rockets fired at US embassy in Iraq after attacks on bases

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AFP) — Three rockets were fired at the US embassy in Iraq early Thursday, the Iraqi army said, at the end of a day marked by rocket and drone attacks on bases hosting American forces in Iraq and Syria. The embassy itself was not hit, the army said, but three nearby places in Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone were. A spate of recent attacks on US military and diplomatic facilities in Iraq has […]

Stay-at-home orders in Myanmar’s Yangon as Covid cases spike

YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — Myanmar authorities announced stay-at-home measures in parts of commercial capital Yangon on Wednesday, as the country reported its highest daily coronavirus caseload in months. From Thursday, a ban on more than one person leaving home for non-medical reasons will apply to 10 Yangon townships, which together are home to around 1.5 million people. No timeframe was given for the restrictions, on townships including Hlaing Thar Yar — scene of huge pro-democracy […]

Haiti police hunt down president’s assassins as uncertainty grows

by Robenson GEFFRARD PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AFP) — Haiti police killed four “mercenaries” they said were behind the assassination of President Jovenel Moise Wednesday and took two more into custody, as the impoverished and crisis-hit Caribbean nation was pitched into uncertainty. Police did not identify the suspects or say what their motives were for the gun attack on Moise and his wife Martine, who survived, at their private residence in the capital Port-au-Prince in the early […]

Moderna begins human trial for multi-strain mRNA flu vaccine

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US biotech firm Moderna said Wednesday it had dosed its first participants in a human study of an mRNA vaccine that targets multiple strains of influenza. The company intends to recruit 180 adults in the United States for the Phase 1/2 portion of the trial to evaluate the safety and strength of immune response to the shot, called mRNA-1010. It is based on the same messenger ribonucleic (mRNA) technology deployed […]