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WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Joe Biden announced Wednesday the formation of a special Defense Department task force on China and ordered an immediate review of the military’s strategic approach to the challenge from Beijing. Speaking during a visit to the Pentagon, Biden said the review was crucial “so that we can chart a strong path forward on China-related matters that will require a whole-of-government effort.” “We need to meet the growing challenges […]
NOUMEA, France (AFP) — A 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck in the South Pacific on Thursday, generating a small tsunami that caused no damage to island nations in the region before authorities gave the all clear. The quake struck at just after midnight on Thursday local time (1320 GMT Wednesday) about 415 kilometres (258 miles) east of Vao in New Caledonia at a depth of 10 kilometres, according to the US Geological Survey. The US government’s NWS […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russia officially surpassed four million coronavirus infections Wednesday, days after the country dramatically revised upwards its fatality rate, cementing its place as one of the world’s worst-hit nations. A government tally showed infections had reached 4,012,710, which is the fourth-highest rate globally after the United States, India and Brazil. But Russia has come under fire for its official virus statistics and the government’s stated death toll of 78,134 in particular […]
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — A preliminary report on last month’s deadly crash of an Indonesian passenger jet was due to be released Wednesday, as the hunt continued for the plane’s still-missing cockpit voice recorder. All 62 passengers and crew, including nearly a dozen children, were killed when the Sriwijaya Air Boeing 737-500 plunged around 10,000 feet (3,000 meters) and crashed into waters off Jakarta on January 9. The 26-year-old plane — previously flown by US-based […]
LIMA Peru (AFP) — Peru on Tuesday began its coronavirus immunization program just two days after receiving 300,000 vaccine doses from state-owned Chinese company Sinopharm. The country has been hard hit by a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic sweeping Latin America. It has recorded around 1.2 million cases and more than 42,000 deaths from Covid-19 among its population of 33 million. Hospitals are overrun with almost 13,800 Covid patients while they have also reported […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A man who was unhappy with the treatment he had received at a Minnesota health clinic opened fire inside the facility Tuesday and wounded at least five people, authorities said. Police arrested the suspected shooter, identified as Gregory Ulrich, 67, who was known to law enforcement from previous encounters. He allegedly went into the Allina Health Clinic in Buffalo, Minnesota just before 11:00 am (1700 GMT) and opened fire. Images […]
YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — Myanmar’s military raided the Yangon headquarters of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s party late Tuesday, officials said, as the United States joined the UN in “strongly” condemning violence against protesters demanding a return to democracy. The latest assault on Myanmar’s civilian leadership came as anger at last week’s coup and the detention of Suu Kyi by the generals has driven hundreds of thousands of people into the streets, defying a […]
MADRID, Spain (AFP) — The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Spain, one of Europe’s hardest-hit nations, has topped three million since the start of the pandemic, the health ministry said Tuesday. Spain recorded another 16,402 cases in the last 24 hours, taking its overall figure to 3,005,487. Seroprevalence studies, which test for antibodies using a blood serum sample, suggest the real figure is far higher. Over the same 24-hour period, Spain also saw […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The Senate impeachment trial of former US president Donald Trump will “tear this country apart,” one of his defense lawyers said Tuesday. “This trial will tear this country apart,” David Schoen said on the opening day of Trump’s trial for inciting the January 6 storming of the US Capitol by his supporters. Schoen said the trial will leave the United States “far more divided and our standing around the world […]
WUHAN, China (AFP) — The WHO mission to China to uncover the origins of the coronavirus has failed to identify the animal source, scientists said Tuesday. Experts believe the disease — which has gone on to kill more than 2.3 million people worldwide — originated in bats and could have been transmitted to humans via another mammal. While transmission from animals was the likely route, so far “the reservoir hosts remain to be identified”, Liang Wannian, […]
by Jalees ANDRABI TAPOVAN, India (AFP) — Indian rescue workers battled through tonnes of rock and mud Tuesday searching for survivors in a choked Himalayan tunnel after a deadly flood — apparently triggered by a glacial burst — smashed through two mountain dam projects. More than 170 people were still missing, two days after a wall of water and debris hurtled down a valley in the northern state of Uttarakhand, destroying bridges and roads, hitting […]
TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — Iran began its vaccination campaign against Covid-19 on Tuesday to fight the Middle East’s deadliest outbreak of the illness, images broadcast by state television showed. “We begin our national vaccination against the Covid-19 virus… (in) memory of the martyrdom of health workers,” Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said at a ceremony at a Tehran hospital, referring to medical personnel who have died from the disease. Iran’s inoculation effort for its 80-million-plus population […]
