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HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Chinese leader Xi Jinping has called for Hong Kong to take “all necessary measures” to control an Omicron-fuelled Covid-19 outbreak, Beijing-affiliated newspapers in the city said Wednesday, a day after leader Carrie Lam ruled out a China-style hard lockdown. Hong Kong is currently in the throes of its worst-ever coronavirus outbreak, registering over a thousand confirmed cases a day as hospitals reach their breaking point. Lam this week insisted a […]
HANOI, Vietnam (AFP) — Vietnam will lift coronavirus restrictions on international flights for fully vaccinated passengers from Tuesday, the country’s aviation authority said in a statement. The communist nation has virtually closed itself to the world since March 2020 due to the pandemic, dealing a severe blow to its vital tourism sector. Authorities have slowly eased the curbs in recent months, with visitors trickling in under a bubble arrangement since November. Starting Tuesday (1700 GMT […]
GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala (AFP) — A 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck western Guatemala early Wednesday, the United States Geological Survey said. The epicenter of the quake, which had a depth of 84 kilometers (52 miles), was just under 100 kilometers southwest of the capital, Guatemala City. The Central American country is in a risk zone for earthquakes, located at a meeting point of three tectonic plates. © Agence France-Presse
(Eagle News) — The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) has a new chair, Leah Tanodra-Armamento, who succeeds the late chair Jose Luis Martin ‘Chito’ Gascon who died last October due to Covid-19 complications. This was announced by the CHR on its website on Wednesday, February 16, the same day that Tanodra-Armamento’s appointment paper was released. “The new CHR Chair is not new to the Commission. Chair Tanodra-Armamento was previously a Commissioner under the present […]
(Eagle News) — COVID-19 cases in the Philippines rose to 3,644,597 on Wednesday, Feb. 16, after the Department of Health reported 2,671 additional cases. According to the DOH, all laboratories were operational on Feb. 14 while six did not submit data to the COVID-19 document repository system. Of the total cases, 68,829 were active. Of these, 1130 were asymptomatic, 63037 were mild, 2920 were moderate, 1433 were severe, and 309 were critical. Recoveries rose to […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) – China will help its coal-fired power plants run at full capacity, the government has announced, raising further alarm about the fate of Beijing’s climate pledges. Swathes of the world’s second-biggest economy were paralysed last year because of power shortages, partly caused by a drop in coal supply as global prices of the fossil fuel soared. China is the world’s biggest emitter of the greenhouse gases responsible for climate change, and has pledged […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) – Russia on Wednesday said military drills in Moscow-annexed Crimea had ended and that soldiers were returning to their garrisons, a day after it announced a first troop pullback from Ukraine’s borders. “Units of the Southern Military District, having completed their participation in tactical exercises, are moving to their permanent deployment points,” Moscow’s defence ministry said in a statement. State television showed images of military units crossing a bridge linking the Russia-controlled […]
SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg laid out revamped company values Tuesday, urging workers to be “Metamates” who treat one another with respect and look to the future. Zuckerberg shared his note to employees on his Facebook page, the revamped credo coming on the heels of the internet giant being renamed Meta in October. “As we build the next chapter of our company as Meta, we just updated the values […]
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AFP) – New Zealand Covid-19 infections reached a record high Wednesday as anti-vaccine protesters claimed victory after police failed to clear vehicles blocking the streets around parliament. Health authorities reported 1,160 new coronavirus cases, the most since the pandemic began, as the Omicron variant continues to spread in a country that was largely virus-free until August. While there have only been 53 virus deaths in the nation of five million, some protesters […]
(Eagle News) – President Rodrigo Duterte vowed to finish “critical infrastructure projects” which his administration had started and to make sure that these would help improve the lives of Filipinos even beyond his term. During the inauguration of the South Luzon Expressway Elevated Extension Project on Thursday, February 15, President Duterte said continuing infrastructure development would further boost the economy which is slowly opening up and recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic. He commended the […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea marked the 80th birthday of leader Kim Jong Un’s late father with a mass outdoor meeting in sub-zero temperatures, state media reported Wednesday, but no missiles or military parade. Kim was joined by top officials in celebrating the “Day of the Shining Star” in snowy Samjiyon, a city near Mt Paektu, where official narratives say Kim Jong Il was born in a secret guerilla camp on February 16. […]
KINSHASA, DR Congo (AFP) – Environmental group Greenpeace on Tuesday said the Democratic Republic of Congo has failed to respect a multi-million-dollar agreement signed with Britain last year to finance protecting its ecologically vital forests. The DRC and Britain approved funds worth $500 million as part of the Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI) two months ago in Glasgow, which hosted the COP26 climate change conference. Greenpeace said Congo’s environment ministry failed to publish before the […]
