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by Phil HAZLEWOOD Agence France Presse LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Princes William and Harry set aside their differences on Thursday to unveil a new statue to their mother, Princess Diana, on what would have been her 60th birthday. The brothers will take the wraps off the tribute in the garden of Diana’s former London home at Kensington Palace, in a stripped-back ceremony due to the coronavirus pandemic. When the project was announced in […]
VANCOUVER, Canada (AFP) — Millions of people in western Canada and the northwestern United States were under heat alerts Wednesday as the region baked in record-breaking temperatures and police reported scores of deaths likely linked to the scorching conditions. The heat wave has stretched emergency services, with at least 134 people dying suddenly since Friday in the Vancouver area and hundreds more across British Columbia, according to Canadian police and the local coroner. “The temperatures […]
by Benoît PELEGRIN LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — The OPEC+ group of oil-producing countries are to meet Thursday and are expected to agree to boost output in August to meet demand and limit recent price rises. The cost of crude oil has surged back to levels last seen in October 2018, which would normally support arguments in favour of boosting production. India, the world’s third-largest consumer of crude, has urged OPEC+ to phase out its […]
LISBON, Portugal (AFP) — Health authorities in Portugal reported over 2,000 new cases of coronavirus in 24 hours Wednesday, a high in a new wave of infections blamed on the Delta variant. There were 2,362 reported cases in the country of 10 million people — the highest level since mid-February. More than half were in the Lisbon capital region, official figures showed, with the numbers of hospitalized people also rising. Latest figures also show that […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China is on an “irreversible historical course”, President Xi Jinping told a huge gathering in Beijing Thursday, as the country held 100th anniversary celebrations for his ruling Chinese Communist Party. The era of China “being slaughtered and bullied is gone forever,” Xi said at a podium in Tiananmen Square, adding the “great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation entering an irreversible historical course.” © Agence France-Presse
FRANKFURT, Germany (AFP) — Germany’s CureVac announced Wednesday that final trial results showed its coronavirus vaccine had an efficacy rate of just 48 percent, far lower than those developed by mRNA rivals BioNTech and Moderna. The outcome had been expected after poor interim results were released earlier this month. The company in part blamed “the unprecedented context of 15 strains circulating” among the trial volunteers, as well as varying responses across different age groups. The […]
PHUKET, Thailand (AFP) — Thailand prepared Wednesday to reopen the holiday hotspot of Phuket to tourists quarantine-free, even as the country registered its highest single-day death toll from Covid-19. High hopes have been pinned on the so-called “Phuket sandbox” — a model that will allow vaccinated travellers to visit without a quarantine period in an effort to revive Thailand’s battered tourism industry. But the lead-up to its July 1 launch has been plagued with uncertainty […]
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Emilio Flores Marquez from Puerto Rico has become the world’s oldest living man at an age of 112 years and 326 days old, Guinness World Records announced on Wednesday. Marquez, who was born in Carolina, east of the Puerto Rican capital of San Juan in 1908, was recognized by Guinness and awarded a certificate at his home just a few miles (kilometers) from his birthplace. Asked about his longevity, Marquez […]
Blinken cites US $2B pledge for COVAX, add’l 500M Pfizer doses to other countries by Shaun TANDON / Gildas LE ROUX Agence France Presse MATERA, Italy (AFP) — The United States led calls at a G20 meeting Tuesday for greater global cooperation in light of the coronavirus crisis as China insisted that multilateralism should not just be a slogan. Italy welcomed foreign ministers of the Group of 20 major economies to the southern city […]
VANCOUVER, Canada (AFP) — At least 69 people in the Vancouver area have died in a record-smashing heat wave engulfing western Canada and the US Pacific Northwest, police said Tuesday. Most of the dead in the Vancouver suburbs of Burnaby and Surrey over the past 24 hours were elderly or people with underlying health conditions, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said. “Although still under investigation, heat is believed to be a contributing factor […]
by Claire LEE SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un replaced several senior officials after a “grave incident” in the country’s efforts to defend itself against the coronavirus pandemic, state media reported Wednesday. Pyongyang closed its borders in January last year to defend itself against the pandemic that first emerged in neighbouring China and has gone on to sweep the world. It has not publicly confirmed any cases of the disease […]
by Bhuvan BAGGA NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — India authorized the emergency use of Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine on Tuesday as it seeks to ramp up inoculations in the wake of a record-breaking surge in infections and deaths. The vast nation of 1.3 billion people was hit by a massive spike in coronavirus cases in April and May that pushed the healthcare system to breaking point. Moderna’s shot is the fourth to be approved by New […]
