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NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — India will supply more locally made coronavirus vaccines to other countries, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Thursday, as he hailed the South Asian giant’s fight against the pandemic. India — home to the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer, the Serum Institute — has embarked on a form of vaccine diplomacy, gifting millions of doses to neighboring countries. It has also exported commercial shots to Brazil and Morocco and expects to supply […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A more transmissible variant of the coronavirus that was identified in South Africa has been detected for the first time on US soil, officials said Thursday. The cases were found in the state of South Carolina in two adults with no travel history and no connection to each other, according to a statement. “The arrival of the SARS-CoV-2 variant in our state is an important reminder to all South Carolinians […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US biotech firm Novavax said its Covid-19 vaccine candidate showed 89.3 efficacy in a major phase 3 clinical trial involving more than 15,000 people. “NVX-CoV2373 has the potential to play an important role in solving this global public health crisis,” said the company’s president and CEO Stanley Erck. But the positive news was offset by results that showed it was much less effective against a highly transmissible variant of the […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — At least six people died and another nine were injured Thursday in a liquid nitrogen leak at a food-processing plant near the US city of Atlanta, police said. There were “5 fatalities confirmed on the scene” of the leak, police from Gainesville, Georgia told reporters, adding that 10 people were transported to hospital. One of those died in hospital, with three others in critical care. The leak did not cause […]
NAIROBI, Kenya (AFP) — The African Union has secured an additional 400 million doses of coronavirus vaccines for its members, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said Thursday. This comes on top of an earlier announcement by the AU that it had secured 270 million vaccine doses. Most African countries have not begun vaccinating their populations, lacking the financial means to purchase the drugs which have largely been scooped up […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Brazil’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic has been ranked the world’s worst, while New Zealand topped the class, according to research published by a leading Australian think tank on Thursday. Sydney’s Lowy Institute assessed almost 100 countries on six criteria, including confirmed cases, deaths and testing metrics. “Collectively, these indicators point to how well or poorly countries have managed the pandemic,” according to the report by the independent body. Aside […]
by Sylvie LANTEAUME Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — One week into the job, US President Joe Biden has sent a clear warning to Beijing against any expansionist intentions in East and Southeast Asia. In multiple calls and statements, he and his top security officials have underscored support for allies Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the Philippines, signalling Washington’s rejection of China’s disputed territorial claims in those areas. On Wednesday, Biden told […]
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AFP) — A wildfire raging in the south of Argentina has consumed a vast swathe of forestland in three days, local authorities said Wednesday — an area half the size of Liechtenstein. About a hundred firefighters, 26 fire trucks, two water-bombing helicopters, and two planes are fighting to contain the blaze in a region unaccustomed to forest fires, officials said. The blaze, its origins unknown, is threatening a vast region around El […]
by Paul HANDLEY Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US Department of Homeland Security declared a nationwide terrorism alert Wednesday, citing the potential threat from domestic anti-government extremists opposed to Democrat Joe Biden as president. Extremists “emboldened” by the deadly January 6 assault on Congress by angry supporters of former president Donald Trump could undertake attacks against elected officials and government facilities, the alert said. The warning came as authorities in […]
WELLINGTON, United States (AFP) — New Zealand confirmed two new cases of the more virulent South African Covid-19 strain in the community Thursday, as investigators scrambled to determine how the virus breached border controls. Health officials said the pair, an adult and child, caught the virus in the same quarantine facility as a woman who tested positive over the weekend, ending a run of more than two months with no cases in the community. They […]
by Marc BURLEIGH with Jitendra JOSHI in London Agence France Presse BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — EU demands that AstraZeneca make up delays of its Covid-19 vaccine by supplying doses from its UK factories on Wednesday risked setting the bloc and Britain on a post-Brexit collision course. Both the European Union and former member Britain insisted the Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical company uphold contractual delivery promises to each of them — even as the company said there […]
by Agence France Presse bureaus Daily global deaths from Covid-19 topped 18,000 for the first time Wednesday, the latest reminder of the pandemic’s devastating impact as governments tightened restrictions in a bid to contain alarming new coronavirus strains. With vaccines seen as the only real chance of returning to some form of normality, a row erupted between the European Union and drugs firm AstraZeneca over supplies. And in Lebanon, a third night of clashes was […]
