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But none of 29 poorest countries has formally started vaccination drive by Jean-Philippe CHOGNOT Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — More than 100 million Covid-19 vaccines have been given around the world, an AFP tally from official sources found Tuesday. But none of the world’s 29 poorest countries has formally started mass vaccination drives, while the richest nations have given more than two-thirds of jabs administered. Israel leads the race by far, with […]
by Leo RAMIREZ / Hector RETAMAL Agence France Presse WUHAN, China (AFP) — A team of WHO experts investigating the origins of the coronavirus toured a propaganda exhibition celebrating China’s recovery from the pandemic in Wuhan on Saturday, after a meeting at the hospital that treated the first confirmed Covid-19 cases over a year ago. Details of the trip have been scant so far, with the media kept at arm’s length and information on […]
by Jan HENNOP with AFP Bureaus Agence France Presse The European Union on Friday approved the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine for use on all adults, as concerns grow around the world over the effectiveness of different jabs against new strains of Covid-19. Brussels’ announcement after a green light from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) marks the third vaccine approved for use in the EU, following the jabs made by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna. The pharma giant’s […]
by Sunghee Hwang Agence France Presse SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — Samsung Electronics, the world’s biggest smartphone and memory chip maker reported fourth-quarter net profits up by more than a quarter year-on-year Thursday, with coronavirus-driven working from home boosting demand for devices powered by its chips. But the figures were below market expectations according to Bloomberg News, and the company warned of persisting uncertainties over the pandemic, and lower profits in Q1 2021 due […]
Vaccine also prevented 85 percent of severe Covid-19 cases across all regions by Issam AHMED Agence France Presse Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose Covid-19 vaccine has an overall efficacy of 66 percent, the company said Friday after a huge multi-continent trial, but the shot does not protect as well against a variant first detected in South Africa. Encouragingly, the vaccine was able to prevent 85 percent of severe Covid-19 cases across all geographical regions however — […]
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AFP) — The Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus jab has no link to reported post-vaccination deaths and no new side effects, the EU’s medicines regulator said Friday based on the first data from the vaccine’s rollout. The European Medicines Agency said it had looked at the deaths, including a number in the elderly, and “concluded that the data did not show a link to vaccination with Comirnaty (the vaccine) and the cases do not raise […]
SINGAPORE (AFP) — Singapore has moved a step closer to a driverless public transport network with the launch of a new trial of self-driving buses. Orderly and high-tech, the Asian city-state has become a testbed for self-driving vehicles and has developed home-grown technology while inviting foreign companies to trial their own. In a three-month trial launched this week, passengers can book a bus ride through an app that takes them around Singapore’s Science Park, a […]
by Agence France Presse Bureaus WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States demanded a “robust and clear” international probe into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, as a team of World Health Organization experts in China waited Thursday for the green light to begin its long-awaited Covid-19 probe. The call came as coronavirus infections shot past 100 million and governments scrambled to get their hands on scarce vaccine doses, with a bitter row […]
by Sara HUSSEIN Agence France Presse Overfishing has wiped out over 70 percent of some shark and ray populations in the last half-century, leaving a “gaping, growing hole” in ocean life, according to a new study. Researchers found alarming declines in species ranging from hammerhead sharks to manta rays. Among the worst affected is the oceanic whitetip, a powerful shark often described as particularly dangerous to man, which now hovers on the edge of […]
Facebook profit surged in the final three months of last year as people enduring the holidays in a pandemic turned to the leading social network for work and pleasure, the company said Wednesday. Facebook reported profit of $11.2 billion on revenue of $28 billion, increases of 53 percent and 33 percent when compared with the same period the prior year. “We had a strong end to the year as people and businesses continued to […]
Apple said Wednesday that profits surged in the final three months of the year on growing sales of iPhones and services, which lifted revenues to an all-time record. Profit in the period ended December 26 rose 29 percent from a year ago to $28.7 billion, while revenues grew 21 percent to $111.4 billion, with international sales accounting for nearly two-thirds of sales. Sales topped the $100 billion mark for the first time as Apple won […]
PRETORIA, South Africa (AFP) — South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday lashed “vaccine nationalism,” accusing rich countries of bulk-buying coronavirus vaccines and hoarding them to the detriment of others. Addressing the all-virtual 2021 World Economic Forum (WEF), Ramaphosa said low- and middle-income countries were being shouldered aside by wealthier nations able to acquire “up to four times what their population needs”. “We are concerned about vaccine nationalism,” he warned. “Rich countries in the world are […]
