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by Robin MILLARD GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The Covax vaccine program secured another $2.4 billion from donors on Wednesday, but underlined it was still struggling to get enough doses to help poorer countries fight the Covid-19 pandemic. The scheme is trying to get enough vaccines for 30 percent of the population in 92 of the poorest participating territories — 20 percent in India — with donors covering the cost. But despite raising more than the […]
TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — A fire raged Wednesday at a southern Tehran oil refinery after a leak in a liquefied gas line triggered an explosion, the capital’s crisis team chief told state television. Intense flames and thick clouds of black smoke could be seen reaching high into the sky from across Tehran, AFP correspondents said. An “accident was caused by a leak from an emergency liquified gas line,” triggering “an explosion which caused the start […]
by Jean Luis Arce MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AFP) — Mexico holds elections Sunday in a key test of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s popularity after more than two years in office marked by the devastating pandemic and cartel-related violence. Around 95 million Mexicans are eligible to vote in the polls, which will elect 500 members of the lower house of Congress, 15 of 32 state governors and thousands of local politicians. The prospect of a […]
SAINT-CIRQ-LAPOPIE, France (AFP) — France will start offering Covid-19 vaccines to all young people aged 12-18 years starting on June 15, President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday. During a visit to the village of Saint-Cirq-Lapopie in southern France, Macron also noted that 50 percent of French adults have now received at least one Covid vaccine jab, calling it “truly a turning point” in the country’s inoculation drive. Vaccine supplies have increased sharply recently, prompting officials to […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US State Department posted a $7 million reward Wednesday for information leading to the location or identification of Abu Ubaydah Yusuf al-Anabi, the leader of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). The department said Anabi was declared the emir of the northern Africa region branch of Al-Qaeda in November 2020 and his predecessor, Abdelmalek Droukdel, was killed five months earlier. It said Anabi is an Algerian citizen also known […]
GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — More than 90 percent of people in Ethiopia’s war-torn Tigray region need emergency food aid, the United Nations said Tuesday, as it appealed for over $200 million to scale up its response. The UN World Food Programme voiced alarm that the conflict had caused an increase in hunger levels which were already high in Tigray. “A total of 5.2 million people, equivalent to 91 percent of Tigray’s population, need emergency food […]
ISTANBUL, Turkey (AFP) — Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday warned that the United States risked “losing a precious friend” if it tries to corner his country, speaking two weeks before his first meeting with US counterpart Joe Biden. Already tense, relations between the two NATO states have further deteriorated since Biden replaced Erdogan’s ally Donald Trump in January, with the new president making a point of highlighting Turkey’s dire human rights record. When […]
TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — An Iranian naval vessel sank in the Gulf of Oman Wednesday after efforts to put out a fire failed, but the crew safely disembarked, the navy said. The fleet replenishment tanker Kharg had caught fire on Tuesday near the port of Jask on the Gulf of Oman, the navy said, adding that firefighting efforts had gone on for 20 hours before the ship went down. © Agence France-Presse
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China reported the world’s first human infection of the H10N3 bird flu strain on Tuesday but said the risk of it spreading widely among people was low. A 41-year-old man was admitted to hospital with fever symptoms in the eastern city of Zhenjiang on April 28 and was diagnosed with H10N3 a month later, China’s National Health Commission (NHC) said in an online statement. “The risk of large-scale spread is extremely […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — A Belarusian political activist stabbed himself in the neck on the first day of his trial Tuesday and was rushed to hospital, a rights group said. Viasna, an independent rights group monitoring the trial of Stepan Latypov, said it believed the activist had tried to commit suicide following pressure in detention. Thousands of opposition activists and protesters have been arrested and gone on trial in a harsh crackdown on anti-government demonstrations […]
HANOI, Vietnam (AFP) — International flights to Vietnam’s two biggest cities are to resume, officials said Wednesday, reversing a short-lived ban imposed over fears of a new coronavirus wave. The Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam on Monday announced a temporary suspension for international passenger arrivals at Hanoi’s Noi Bai airport from June 1-7. A similar decision was in force for the airport in commercial capital Ho Chi Minh City until June 14, as the country […]
by John BIERS WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Joe Biden’s administration announced Tuesday it was halting petroleum development activity in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, reversing a move by former president Donald Trump to allow drilling. The Interior Department said it was notifying firms of the freeze, pending a comprehensive environmental review that will determine whether leases in the area known as ANWR should be “reaffirmed, voided or subject to additional mitigation measures,” […]
