International

Iraq receives first Covid vaccines, gift from China

Sinopharm vaccine delivery paves way for immediate vaccination BAGHDAD, Iraq (AFP) — Iraq on Tuesday received 50,000 Sinopharm vaccines donated by China, the health ministry announced, launching a long-awaited vaccination campaign. Health ministry spokesman Seif al-Badr told reporters that the first delivery in the early hours meant inoculations could begin. “The doses will be delivered to Baghdad’s three main hospitals, and maybe to some provinces,” said Badr, who confirmed the jabs were donations. “We will […]

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Indonesia volcano belches huge ash column

MEDAN, Indonesia (AFP) — An Indonesian volcano erupted on Tuesday morning spewing a spectacular column of ash thousands of metres (feet) into a powder blue sky. Vulcanologists recorded 13 separate blasts as Mount Sinabung leapt to life, belching debris up to 5,000 metres (16,400 feet) above Sumatra. There was no immediate danger to life or property, authorities said, with a five-kilometre (three-mile) ring around the volcano having been left unoccupied over recent years. No evacuation […]

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Five guards freed after new Ecuador prison riot controlled

QUITO, Ecuador (AFP) — Five prison guards held after a new riot broke out in an Ecuadorian prison were released Monday after the unrest was controlled without fatalities, a week after 79 inmates died in bloody gang warfare, the police said. “The servants of the security corps, who were held by the inmates, are safe and without damage to their physical integrity or health,” the prison authority said in a statement. “No deaths were recorded” […]

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Freezer firm to launch probe after Japan vaccines spoiled

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan said Tuesday an investigation would be launched after more than 1,000 coronavirus vaccine doses had to be thrown out when a freezer storing them malfunctioned. A medical institution reported that 172 vials of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, which must be kept between -80 and -60 degrees centigrade, were rendered useless after the freezer breakdown over the weekend, Japan’s health ministry said, wasting up to 1,032 doses. Japan began its inoculation program […]

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Ardern tells Kiwis to rebuke coronavirus rule-breakers

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AFP) — Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern urged New Zealanders to “call out” Covid-19 rule-breakers Monday, as public anger built over a series of infringements that forced the country’s largest city back into lockdown. A frustrated Ardern — who has won widespread praise for her pandemic response — said the breaches that led to Auckland being shut down for the second time in a month were intolerable. She said some people involved in […]

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Netanyahu blames Iran for boat attack, says ‘striking’ back

JERUSALEM, Undefined (AFP) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused arch-foe Iran on Monday of a recent attack on an Israeli-owned ship, noting his country was “striking back” the morning after a raid on Syria. “It is indeed an Iranian act, that’s clear,” he told public broadcaster Kan, referring to the MV Helios Ray, which was last week hit by a blast in the Gulf of Oman leaving two holes in its side. “Iran is Israel’s […]

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Novavax hopes to file for US vaccine approval in 2nd quarter of 2021

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US biotech company Novavax said Monday it hopes to file for British approval of its Covid-19 vaccine at the start of the second quarter of 2021, and to do the same soon after in the United States. The company has no assurance that US authorities will agree to consider the request, which currently is based on results from Phase 3 clinical trials led in the Britain. Similar trials are still […]

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Finland declares state of emergency as Covid cases rise

HELSINKI, Finland (AFP) — Finland on Monday activated emergency powers as the government prepared to introduce tougher restrictions to stem a rising tide of coronavirus infections. Prime Minister Sanna Marin signalled the move was imminent last week when she warned that controls limiting restaurants to takeaway service would come into force for three weeks from March 8 in some parts of the country. “The government along with the President of the Republic has declared a […]

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Colombia becomes first country in Americas to receive Covax shots

BOGOTA, Colombia (AFP) — Colombia became the first country in the Americas Monday to receive a delivery of coronavirus vaccines through the global Covax scheme that aims to ensure poorer countries are not left behind in the global immunization drive. “Today is a very important milestone,” said Colombia President Ivan Duque. With more than 50 million confirmed cases and over 1.2 million deaths, countries of the Americas have experienced the worst impact of the Covid-19 […]

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Huawei exec’s extradition fight enters final round in Canada

by David BALL VANCOUVER, Canada (AFP) — Chinese Huawei Technologies executive Meng Wanzhou was back in a Canadian court Monday to fight a final round against extradition to the United States, after more than two years of legal skirmishes and diplomatic barbs. The daughter of Huawei founder and chief executive Ren Zhengfei faces charges in the United States of bank fraud and conspiracy over the commercial activities of a former Huawei subsidiary alleged to have […]

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UK hunts for carrier of Brazil Covid strain

LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Britain on Monday appealed for a person infected with a powerful Covid-19 strain from Brazil to come forward, as experts fretted about its impact on new vaccines. The public appeal came a week before England is due to start slowly unwinding its third Covid lockdown, with progress hinging on the vaccines’ ability to curtail the pandemic. The variant that emerged in Manaus, northern Brazil, has been detected in six people […]

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France, Germany struggle to sell AstraZeneca vaccine safety

by Joseph Schmid with Michelle Fitzpatrick in Frankfurt PARIS, France (AFP) — Already facing a daunting Covid vaccination challenge, French and German authorities are fighting to convince more people that a jab from the pharma giant AstraZeneca is just as effective as others. Stocks of the vaccines from the British-Swedish firm are going unused in both countries despite the desire to end a pandemic that has sparked a social and economic calamity on a scale […]

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