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“Evushield” to be used only for those who have a weakened immune system or those who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US health authorities on Wednesday authorized the use of synthetic antibodies developed by AstraZeneca to prevent Covid-19 infections in people who react badly to vaccines. It was the first time the Food and Drug Administration has given emergency authorization for such a purely preventative treatment. The FDA […]
by Haeril HALIM Indonesia (AFP) — Chef Ilhani used to serve up Japanese cuisine to holidaymakers every night, now he makes just $3 a day selling fried snacks on the near empty streets of once bustling Gili Trawangan. The coronavirus pandemic has shuttered almost all the resorts and restaurants across Indonesia’s Gili Islands, famed for their turquoise waters, sandy beaches, and diverse marine life. Situated close to Bali, tourism and the local economy had been […]
by David SALAZAR Agence France-Presse San José del Guaviare, Colombia (AFP) – In just a few minutes, an enormous century-year-old tree is felled by an electric saw in the middle of a protected national park. The giant collapses, sending a shockwave through the Colombian Amazon. Its executioner is a 40-year-old man with a scarf bound around his face. The purpose of the crime: to plant coca, used to make cocaine — the only means of […]
WASHINGTON D.C., United States (AFP) – President Joe Biden is to sign an order Wednesday to make the federal government carbon neutral by 2050 via a panoply of clean-energy initiatives including electric vehicles and environmentally friendly buildings. The executive order, announced by the White House, directs the government to replace its fleet of gas-guzzling vehicles with electric cars and trucks by 2035 and ensure federal buildings are carbon-free by 2045. “The president is building on […]
by Nikolay KORZHOV Agence France-Presse BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan (AFP) – Malik Mutaliyev walks by an abandoned amusement park in wintry Baikonur, a secretive town in Kazakhstan’s inhospitable steppe that appeared alongside the eponymous Baikonur Cosmodrome where the Soviet Union’s space programme rose to glory. “Our town has lived through a lot: Perestroika, the fall of the Soviet Union, electricity shortages. We’ve been through it all,” says the 67-year-old former chief architect of Baikonur. The settlement located […]
MIAMI, Florida (AFP) – Florida’s manatees — which are increasingly facing starvation, largely as a result of pollution — are going to be fed directly by wildlife officials, in what they called an “unprecedented” step to prevent further die-off. The pilot program will start with Indian River Lagoon, on the Sunshine State’s east coast southeast of Orlando, federal and state authorities announced Wednesday. Many manatees migrate to this area in winter, to bask in the […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US health authorities on Wednesday authorized the use of synthetic antibodies developed by AstraZeneca to prevent Covid-19 infections in people who react badly to vaccines. It was the first time the Food and Drug Administration has given emergency authorization for such a purely preventative treatment. The FDA warned the drug Evusheld is “not a substitute for vaccination in individuals for whom Covid-19 vaccination is recommended” and can only be authorized […]
by Sebastien ASH FRANKFURT, Germany (AFP) — Two doses of the BioNTech and Pfizer coronavirus vaccine may not be enough to protect against the Omicron strain, the companies warned Wednesday, but they stressed it was “still effective” after a third jab. The companies’ news was called reassuring by experts, and came as the first independent data from labs around the world emerged, suggesting that the new variant is better at evading vaccine-trained immunity […]
GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — Countries considering introducing vaccine mandates in the fight against Covid-19 must ensure they respect human rights, the UN rights chief said Wednesday, stressing that forced vaccination was never acceptable. Speaking to a Human Rights Council seminar via video message, Michelle Bachelet warned there were significant rights considerations that needed to be taken into account before making vaccination compulsory. Any “vaccine mandates must comply with the principles of legality, necessity, proportionality […]
by Nina Larson Agence France Presse GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — Omicron does not appear to cause more severe disease than previous Covid variants, and is “highly unlikely” to fully dodge vaccine protections, a top WHO official told AFP Tuesday. Speaking to AFP, the World Health Organization’s second-in-command, said that while a lot remained to be learned about the new, heavily mutated variant of Covid-19, preliminary data indicated it did not make people sicker than […]
BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) – A Thai tycoon accused of poaching wildlife in a national park lost his final appeal Wednesday, in a long-running saga that drew public outrage over the elite’s perceived impunity. Construction magnate Premchai Karnasuta was arrested in February 2018 when park officials found guns, animal carcasses — including of a kalij pheasant and a red muntjac — and the pelt of a black leopard at his campsite. Premchai was found not guilty of […]
by Nina Larson, with Issam Ahmed in Washington GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The Omicron variant appears to be no worse than other coronavirus strains, top scientists from the WHO and the United States told AFP, while cautioning that more research is needed to judge its severity. The hopeful assessments came as global concern grew over the heavily mutated variant, which has forced dozens of nations to re-impose border restrictions and raised the possibility of a […]
