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MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AFP) — Mexico on Thursday surpassed half a million confirmed cases of COVID-19 after registering 7,371 new infections in 24 hours, authorities said. The country now has 505,293 cases overall, with 55,293 deaths, the Ministry of Health said. © Agence France-Presse
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — If a COVID-19 vaccine is proven effective, the US will ensure it’s distributed for free to all Americans, officials said Thursday, underscoring there will be no shortcuts on safety. “We are not at all reducing the regulatory rigor with which we will evaluate and hopefully approve vaccines,” Paul Mango, a senior health department official, told reporters. Washington has invested more than $10 billion in six vaccine projects and signed contracts […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Donald Trump said Thursday he would host a summit for the signing of a historic peace accord between Israel and the United Arab Emirates in around three weeks. “I look forward to hosting them (the Israeli and UAE leaders) at the White House very soon to formally sign the agreement,” he told reporters. “We’ll probably be doing it over the next, I would say, three weeks.” © Agence […]
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AFP) — A combination of eased restrictions, less strict rule-following in summer and increased testing explains the rising number of COVID-19 cases seen around Europe, the European chapter of the World Health Organization (WHO) said Thursday. Nevertheless, deaths have not kept pace even as countries around Europe have seen an increase in cases. Richard Peabody, epidemiologist leading the High Threat Pathogens Team at the WHO Regional Office for Europe, insists “there is no […]
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast(AFP) — Thirty-three people in Niger have died and more than 80,000 have been affected by floods caused by heavy rains, the country’s emergency services said on Thursday. The worst-hit regions are Maradi in south-central Niger, Tahoua and Tillaberi in the west, and Dosso in the southwest. Rice, clothing, mats, blankets, and soap are being distributed to victims, emergency officials said. The Niger River and other waterways have burst their banks, and further […]
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — The European Union said Thursday it had reserved up to 400 million doses of a potential new coronavirus vaccine being developed by US giant Johnson & Johnson. Preliminary talks concluded Friday for a first purchase of 200 million doses followed by an equal number later, a statement said. “The envisaged contract with Johnson & Johnson would provide for the possibility for all EU Member States to purchase the vaccine, as well […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — Temperature checks, hand sanitizers, and face masks are being enforced across Pyongyang’s public transport system as North Korea intensifies its fight against the coronavirus pandemic. North Korea — whose crumbling health system would struggle to cope with a major outbreak — has long insisted it has not had cases of the disease. But it raised its state of emergency to the maximum level in July, saying it had discovered what […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — The head of a remote Russian region on Thursday said that herders and other residents of two districts on the border with Mongolia should be vaccinated against bubonic plague. The order was issued after Mongolia’s health ministry said Wednesday that bubonic plague killed a man in the country’s west. It was the latest in a handful of cases to emerge there and in neighboring China this year. The leader of the […]
EDINBURGH, United Kingdom (AFP) — Investigators were seeking answers Thursday over why a train derailed in northeast Scotland, killing the driver, conductor and a passenger. The 06:38 am passenger service from Aberdeen to Glasgow came off the tracks on Wednesday morning near the town of Stonehaven, which had been hit by flooding following heavy rain. Six people were hospitalized with minor injuries and police said the train had fortunately not been busy, with media reports […]
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — Indonesia’s Mount Sinabung erupted again Thursday with a string of blasts that sent plumes of ash two kilometres (1.2 miles) into the sky, triggering a flight warning and fears of lava flows. The activity marked at least the eighth time that the rumbling volcano on Sumatra island has erupted in less than a week, although there were no injures or major damage reported. Authorities issued a warning to planes flying near […]
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AFP) — New Zealand rushed to track the source of a sudden return of the coronavirus Thursday as the number of new cases in its biggest city rose to 17 and officials warned more infections were inevitable. National health chief Ashley Bloomfield said there were 13 new confirmed infections in Auckland, all linked to four family members found on Tuesday, ending the country’s record of 102 days without community transmission. The surge […]
BRASILIA, Brazil (AFP) — The Brazilian state of Parana signed a deal Wednesday to test and produce Russia’s new coronavirus vaccine, though officials stressed they would have to be sure of its safety and effectiveness first. The vaccine would have to receive Brazilian regulatory approval and complete Phase 3 clinical trials, or large-scale testing in humans, before being produced in Brazil, said officials from the southern state. Production, if it goes ahead, would likely only […]
