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SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — A mammoth effort by Australian firefighters saved homes from an out-of-control bushfire near Perth overnight, authorities said Thursday, but warned strong winds and rough terrain posed an ongoing challenge. At least 81 homes have been destroyed in the blaze at the Perth Hills, on the eastern fringes of Australia’s fourth-biggest city, with surveys of areas burned earlier this week adding another 10 to the tally Thursday. Western Australia state Premier Mark […]
Editor’s Note: The following is the full text of the “Opening remarks by Executive Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis at the press conference on the transparency and authorization mechanism for exports of COVID-19 vaccines” on Jan. 29, 2021. (Also see: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/SPEECH_21_312) “Today the Commission has adopted an implementing Regulation making the export of certain products subject to an export authorisation. So this Regulation concerns the transparency and export of COVID-19 vaccines. The protection and safety […]
WHO says countries must work together as COVAX readies vaccine rollout (Eagle News) – The World Health Organization (WHO) Director General called on the world to seize the “window of opportunity” to defeat the pandemic through timely vaccine intervention, and thus prevent widespread transmission of the COVID-19 virus that had so far claimed more than 2 million lives. WHO chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that life-saving vaccines are a very limited resource right now, […]
LONDON, United States (AFP) — More than 10 million people have received a first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine across Britain, according to government figures published on Wednesday. The health ministry said 10,021,471 people have had a jab since the start of a mass vaccination campaign in early December. A further 498,962 have had a second dose. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has set a target of vaccinating 15 million of the most vulnerable by […]
by Robin MILLARD GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The Covax programme to ensure equitable worldwide access to Covid-19 vaccines on Wednesday published its first distribution list, with enough doses for countries to immunise more than three percent of their populations by mid-2021. The distribution plan comes with lower-income countries falling behind in the vaccination race — a problem Covax was set up to address. It broke down how the programme’s initial 337.2 million doses will be […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan passed a new law strengthening enforcement of its virus restrictions on Wednesday, allowing authorities to fine bars and restaurants that defy closure requests. People can also be fined up to 500,000 yen ($4,800) if they test positive for Covid-19 but refuse hospitalisation, although lawmakers scrapped plans to introduce prison sentences as punishment. With just six months until the pandemic-postponed Summer Olympics, Tokyo and other regions are currently under a state […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China plans to provide 10 million doses of Covid-19 jabs to the WHO-backed international vaccine distribution programme Covax, Beijing said Wednesday as it seeks to reframe perceptions of its role in the pandemic. The Covax programme, which aims to provide two billion doses of vaccine, pools funding from richer countries with the intention of ensuring poorer nations can inoculate their health workers and most vulnerable citizens, on the basis that […]
by Robin MILLARD Agence France Presse GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The Covax programme for Covid-19 vaccines published its first distribution list Wednesday, planning enough doses for dozens of countries to immunise more than three percent of their populations by mid-year. The list comes with concerns over whether lower-income countries will be left out of the immunisation race dominated by rich nations, a problem Covax was set up to resolve. It broke down for the […]
by Laurie CHEN BEIJING, China (AFP) — There will be no quick answers into the origins of the coronavirus, one of the World Health Organization experts on a mission to the Covid-19 ground zero in central China told AFP. Hung Nguyen-Viet, who is visiting various virus-linked sites in the city of Wuhan with the team, said starting the investigation more than one year after the pandemic began was not ideal, but added that the mission […]
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — Nearly 11,000 Hong Kongers moved to Taiwan in 2020 — almost double the number of a year earlier — after Beijing imposed a sweeping security law on the city. Democratic Taiwan has long attracted Hong Kong people seeking an alternative to their city’s frenetic pace and sky-high rents. But a new security law has accelerated an exodus, and the number of Hong Kongers granted short-term residency soared to 10,813 from 5,858 […]
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) — Saudi Arabia on Tuesday suspended entry from 20 countries, ranging from some neighbouring states to the United States, in a bid to curb a jump in coronavirus infections. The interior ministry announced the “temporary suspension” would be effective from 9.00 pm (1800 GMT) on Wednesday, according to the official Saudi Press Agency. The ban applies to neighbouring Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, and in the wider region, to […]
by Gina DOGGETT and AFP bureaus Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — Final-stage trial results published on Tuesday placed Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine on a par with its Western rivals, as German Chancellor Angela Merkel voiced openness to its use in the European Union once it receives the regulatory nod. Sputnik V, which has already been rolled out in Russia and several other countries, was found to be 91.6 percent effective against […]
