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by Carol VALADE, with Philippe SIUBERSKI in Dakar CONAKRY, Guinea (AFP) — Five people have died of Ebola virus in Guinea, the health agency said on Monday, as the government and aid groups began to roll out their response to the outbreak. Guinea announced the outbreak on Saturday — the first in West Africa since a 2013-2016 epidemic that left more than 11,300 dead in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. According to an epidemiological report […]
CONAKRY, Guinea (AFP) — The head of Guinea’s health agency said Sunday that the country was in the midst of an Ebola “epidemic situation” with seven cases confirmed in the West African nation, including three deaths. “Very early this morning, the Conakry laboratory confirmed the presence of the Ebola virus,” Sakoba Keita said after an emergency meeting in the capital. Health Minister Remy Lamah had earlier spoken of four deaths. It was not immediately […]
LIMA, Peru (AFP) — Peru’s foreign minister resigned Sunday, the second top official to step down amid a growing scandal over politicians receiving Covid-19 vaccinations well before the general public. The South American nation has been badly hit by the pandemic, with its hospitals overwhelmed and a targeted vaccination program for health workers rolling out only from February 8. Public resentment over officials receiving vaccinations — despite there being no date for a wider […]
AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AFP) — Two new coronavirus infections which sent New Zealand’s biggest city into lockdown Monday are due to the UK variant of the disease, the first to be detected in the country, officials said. The Health Ministry said genomic sequencing identified the infections in Auckland as caused by the highly-contagious strain first found in the UK and said there was no link to any other positive cases detected so far in […]
YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — Myanmar cut internet service and deployed troops around the country on Monday in signs of a feared crackdown on anti-coup protests, hours after security forces fired to disperse a demonstration in the country’s north. The junta has escalated efforts to quell a burgeoning civil disobedience campaign which is demanding a return of the country’s ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Monday’s internet shutdown and a request from the United Nations for […]
by Mouctar Ba with Philippe Siuberski in Dakar CONAKRY, Guinea (AFP) — West Africa faced its first known Ebola resurgence since the end of a devastating outbreak in 2016 on Sunday, with Guinea responding to what its health chief called an “epidemic” after seven cases were confirmed. Despite the Covid-19 pandemic stretching health resources across the world, Guinea and the World Health Organization (WHO) say they are better prepared to deal with Ebola now than […]
by Joe JACKSON in London and AFP bureaus LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Britain’s coronavirus vaccination programme passed the 15 million mark on Sunday, hours after New Zealand, so far largely spared by the pandemic, ordered its largest city into lockdown. The European Union, facing criticism over the sluggish roll-out of its own programme, meanwhile, confirmed it would fast-track approval of vaccines updated to target variants of the original virus. Germany partially closed its borders […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell delivered a scathing rebuke of Donald Trump on Saturday despite voting to acquit the former president on an impeachment charge, saying he was responsible for the January 6 mob assault on the US Capitol. “There’s no question — none — that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day,” McConnell said in a speech following the vote that […]
by Chris Lefkow and Michael Mathes Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Donald Trump was acquitted Saturday on charges of inciting an insurrection at the US Capitol, after a majority of Senate Republicans closed ranks and refused to punish the former president in his historic second impeachment trial. The five-day trial saw Democratic prosecutors argue — bolstered by dramatic video of the January 6 riot — that Trump betrayed his oath by […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A strong 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck off Japan’s east coast late Saturday, rattling the region hit by the powerful 2011 quake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown just weeks before the disaster’s 10th anniversary. The quake produced powerful shaking along parts of Japan’s eastern coast, and was felt strongly in Tokyo, but triggered no tsunami alert. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga told reporters that no major casualties were reported, according to Kyodo news agency, […]
NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — At least 19 people were killed and dozens hurt in a blast at a firecracker factory in India, authorities said Saturday. The blast on Friday afternoon in Virudhunagar district was one of the worst such incidents in years in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. Local official R Kannan told AFP that the death toll was likely to go up in the next few hours. “So far 34 people […]
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — Hard-hit Brazil’s drive to vaccinate its population against Covid-19 has stumbled this week as a lack of doses forced authorities to slow or halt immunization in several key areas. Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo state and the northeastern city of Salvador have all run into vaccine shortages, fueling frustration with the government, which already faced criticism for President Jair Bolsonaro’s erratic handling of the pandemic. Brazil got its immunization […]
