NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — Three people were confirmed dead and at least 150 were missing in northern India after a broken glacier caused a major river surge that swept away bridges and roads on Sunday, police said. The massive burst of water tore through the Dhauliganga river valley, destroying everything in its path, videos taken by terrified residents showed. Three bodies had been found and a desperate search was underway for more, police said, […]
International
Intruder at Canada PM’s residence pleads guilty
OTTAWA, Canada (AFP) — A heavily armed military reservist who crashed his truck onto the estate where Prime Minister Justin Trudeau lives pleaded guilty Friday to eight mischief and weapons charges. Corey Hurren, 46, had originally faced 21 counts of firearms violations and one of uttering threats against the prime minister. In July 2020 Hurren drove his pick-up truck into the main gate of Rideau Hall and was arrested without incident. The court heard […]
Spain detects first case of Brazil coronavirus variant
MADRID, Spain (AFP) — Madrid authorities on Friday confirmed the first case in the region of the Brazilian variant of coronavirus, which is feared to be particularly infectious, in the region. A 44-year-old man who arrived at Madrid’s airport on January 29 tested positive for the coronavirus and subsequent lab tests confirmed he had caught the new strain, the regional government of Madrid said in a statement. The case is the first report in […]
WHO urges collaboration to speed up Europe vaccinations
by Camille BAS-WOHLERT Agence France Presse Europe and pharma groups must work together to speed up Covid-19 vaccinations, the head of the European branch of the World Health Organization said Friday, expressing concern about the effectiveness of vaccines on virus variants. “We need to join up to speed up vaccinations,” WHO Europe director Hans Kluge told AFP in an interview, as Europe bids to overcome a slow start to its vaccination campaign amid tensions […]
Virus still ‘far from under control’ in Germany due to variants
by Deborah COLE Agence France Presse BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — The pandemic in Germany is still out of control, the head of its disease control institute said Friday, dampening hopes of a quick easing of its partial lockdown despite declining infection numbers. Robert Koch Institute (RKI) chief Lothar Wieler told reporters that the emergence of new, more contagious variants of the coronavirus posed a real danger to tentatively successful German efforts to curb its […]
Why India’s coronavirus cases have fallen so sharply
by Glenda Kwek, with Abhaya Srivastava and Nishant Saxena Agence France Presse NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — With its 1.3 billion population, India has the world’s second-highest number of coronavirus infections — more than 10.8 million — but new cases and deaths have fallen sharply in recent weeks. This week, new daily infections were the lowest in eight months, while deaths fell below 100 — the smallest single-day total since May. AFP looks at how […]
Trump asked to testify in Senate impeachment trial
by Paul HANDLEY Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Democratic lawmakers leading the impeachment case against Donald Trump requested Thursday the former president to testify in his looming trial for allegedly inciting insurrection in the attack on the US Capitol last month. Five days before the trial opens, Democratic Congressman Jamie Raskin, who will lead the prosecution, gave Trump until 5:00 pm (2200 GMT) on Friday to respond and warned that refusing […]
Biden pulls Yemen war support, welcomes refugees in US reset
by Shaun Tandon and Sebastian Smith Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Joe Biden on Thursday ended US support for Saudi Arabia’s devastating war in Yemen and dramatically increased the welcome to refugees, ushering in a major reset in American foreign policy. In his first major speech on foreign affairs as president, Biden also froze former president Donald Trump’s plans to redeploy troops from Germany and vowed a tough approach against […]
North Korea to receive Covid vaccine after making request
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea has requested Covid-19 vaccines and is expected to receive nearly two million doses, according to the Gavi vaccine alliance, part of the WHO-backed Covax programme, although the isolated country has insisted it is virus-free. It is the first official confirmation that the North has asked for international help, with the country’s medical infrastructure is seen as woefully inadequate for dealing with any large-scale outbreak. The Covax scheme, co-led […]
Biden demands Myanmar military ‘relinquish power
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Joe Biden on Thursday called on Myanmar’s military to “relinquish power” in the Southeast Asian nation and release the government officials and activists detained in this week’s coup. “There can be no doubt: in a democracy, force should never seek to overrule the will of the people or attempt to erase the outcome of a credible election,” Biden said in his first major foreign policy speech as president. […]
First US warship transits Taiwan Strait since Biden inauguration
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — A US warship sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Thursday, the American navy said, in the first such voyage since the inauguration of President Joe Biden. The Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer conducted a routine transit through the waterway separating the Chinese mainland and Taiwan, the US Seventh Fleet said in a statement. US warships periodically conduct navigation exercises in the strait, often triggering angry responses from China which claims self-ruled, […]
Brazil aims to buy 30 million Sputnik V, Covaxin shots
BRASILIA, Brazil (AFP) — The Brazilian government announced Wednesday it was negotiating the purchase of 30 million coronavirus vaccine doses from Russia and India, after regulators made it easier for the treatments to win emergency-use authorizations. Until now, only the AstraZeneca/Oxford shot and China’s CoronaVac have been permitted in Brazil, the second-hardest-hit country after the US, with more than 226,000 deaths from Covid-19. Brazil’s health surveillance agency said it would no longer require final […]





