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SUVA, Fiji (AFP) — Disease threatens to worsen an already desperate situation in Fiji, an official warned Sunday, where thousands of lives have been devastated in the wake of the deadly super cyclone Yasa. Agencies rushed food and clean water to areas where the storm smashed into the northern islands of the South Pacific nation on Thursday night, forcing more than 23,000 people to flee their homes. Four people died and entire villages were wiped […]
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) — Saudi Arabia on Sunday halted international flights and suspended entry through its land and sea ports for at least a week, after a new fast-spreading strain of coronavirus appeared in Britain. The kingdom is “temporarily suspending all international flights — except in exceptional cases — for a period of one week, which can be extended by another week,” the official Saudi Press Agency said. “Entry to the kingdom through land […]
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AFP) — The World Health Organization is calling on its members in Europe to step up measures against coronavirus in the face of the new variant circulating in Britain, its European branch said Sunday. Outside Britain, nine cases of the new strain have been reported in Denmark, as well as one case in the Netherlands and another in Australia, according to the WHO. “Across Europe, where transmission is intense and widespread, countries […]
by Agence France Presse Bureaus LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — European countries started banning flights coming from the UK on Sunday as government in London warned that a potent new strain of the virus was “out of control”. Following the example of the Netherlands, where a ban on all UK passenger flights came into effect on Sunday, a German government source said Berlin, too, was considering a similar move as “a serious option” for […]
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said Sunday that the government has imposed a strict lockdown in London and southeast England because a new strain of the coronavirus was “out of control”. Hancock warned that the strict measures that affect almost a third of England’s population could stay in place until the virus vaccine is fully rolled out. “We acted very quickly and decisively,” Hancock told Sky News, justifying the […]
by Nir Kafri in Ramat Gan and Stephen Weizman in Jerusalem Agence France Presse Ramat Gan, Israel (AFP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received a Covid-19 vaccine jab on Saturday, kicking off a national rollout over the coming days. Netanyahu, 71, and Israel’s health minister were injected with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine live on TV at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, near Tel Aviv. “I asked to be vaccinated first, together with Health […]
MONTREAL, Canada (AFP) — Canada surpassed 500,000 coronavirus cases Saturday, according to official figures, recording a 25 percent increase in just two weeks. The country’s death toll since the beginning of the pandemic stands at 14,128, according to regional figures quoted by broadcaster CBC. As in other countries, the pandemic is spreading fast in Canada, home to 38 million people. It shot up from 400,000 cases to 500,000 in just two weeks. By comparison, […]
by Robin MILLARD Agence France Presse GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has been authorized for use in Switzerland, regulators announced Saturday, with immunisation set to start within days as the country battles rising coronavirus cases and deaths. The Swissmedic regulatory authority said it had given the green light following a two-month rolling review. It is the first Covid-19 vaccine approved in the wealthy Alpine nation, with rivals being assessed. “After a meticulous […]
BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AFP) — Slovak Prime Minister Igor Matovic said Friday he had tested positive for Covid-19, a week after he attended an EU summit in Brussels. The summit is believed to be where French President Emmanuel Macron caught the virus, leading a host of European leaders and top French officials to go into self-isolation. “Today, I am one of you,” Matovic wrote on his Facebook page, attaching a screenshot of a text message […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Parts of Sydney were heading into a fresh lockdown on Saturday as officials in Australia’s most populous city said they hoped the restrictions would be enough to control a growing outbreak in time for Christmas. As a cluster of cases on the city’s northern beaches grew to 38, residents were ordered to stay at home from late Saturday until midnight on Wednesday, other than for essential reasons. “We’re hoping that […]
by Issam AHMED Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States on Friday authorized Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use, paving the way for six million doses of a second vaccine to soon begin shipping across the hardest-hit country in the world. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) chief Stephen Hahn said: “With the availability of two vaccines now for the prevention of Covid-19, the FDA has taken another crucial step in […]
NAIROBI, Kenya (AFP) — Burundi’s former president Pierre Buyoya has died in Paris of Covid-19 at the age of 71, relatives said Friday, just weeks after he resigned as the African Union’s special envoy to Mali and the Sahel. Buyoya, who was credited with helping push democracy in the small African country but was accused of involvement in his successor’s assassination, was hospitalised in Mali’s capital Bamako on Wednesday, a family member told AFP. […]
