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HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Markets struggled in Asia on Wednesday following a tepid lead from Wall Street, with inflation and expected interest rate hikes returning to the key focus of concerns as Omicron fears fade for now. While the new Covid variant continues to spread rapidly around the world, forcing governments to maintain containment measures, its apparently milder symptoms have allowed traders to focus more on future economic policies and plans to rein in […]
The snow storm is over but the travel misery lingered: drivers on a major highway outside Washington reported Tuesday they were stuck in their cars in freezing weather for 24 hours or more. As families tried to return home from the long New Year weekend, I-95 in Virginia was dangerously icy, gas tanks were running low and for hours there was no help in sight, drivers said. Aerial footage showed seemingly endless lines of cars […]
by Sunghee Hwang North Korea has fired a projectile into the sea, the South’s military and the Japanese coast guard said Wednesday, in what would be the first such launch by Pyongyang this year. In the decade since Kim Jong Un took power, North Korea has seen rapid progress in its military technology at the cost of international sanctions. Despite severe economic difficulties during the coronavirus pandemic, Kim said last week the country would continue […]
by Isabelle TOURNÉ PARIS, France (AFP) — With new versions forcing vaccine makers to re-test jabs, the virus that causes Covid-19 has proven highly unpredictable. But the latest variant to sweep the globe has persuaded some experts that long hoped-for collective immunity is in sight, and that the virus may be evolving into a relatively benign seasonal illness. Omicron has proven particularly contagious, infecting people thought to have immunity conferred by vaccines or a bout […]
by Issam AHMED WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The James Webb Space Telescope fully deployed its tennis-court sized sunshield Tuesday, a critical milestone for the success of its mission to study every phase of cosmic history, NASA said. “All five layers of the sunshield are fully tensioned,” said an announcer at the observatory’s control center in Baltimore, where team members cheered, a live feed showed. The 70-foot (21 meter) long, kite-shaped apparatus acts like a […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Joe Biden announced Tuesday a doubling of US government purchases of new Pfizer therapeutic pills designed to combat the worst effects of Covid-19. At a meeting with his White House pandemic response team, Biden said the new order will take the stockpile to 20 million from 10 million pills. “These pills are going to dramatically decrease hospitalizations and deaths,” he said. “We already placed the largest order in the […]
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AFP) — Soaring Omicron cases around the globe could increase the risk of a newer, more dangerous variant emerging, the World Health Organization in Europe warned on Tuesday. While the variant is spreading like wildfire around the world, it appears to be far less severe than initially feared and has raised hopes that the pandemic could be overcome and life return to more normality. But WHO senior emergencies officer Catherine Smallwood sounded […]
by Daniel Lawler with AFP bureaus PARIS, France (AFP) — The US, Britain, France and Australia have all announced record numbers of daily Covid-19 cases as the WHO warned Tuesday that Omicron’s dizzying spread increased the risk of newer, more dangerous variants emerging. Britain breached 200,000 cases for the first time on Tuesday, Australia posted almost 50,000 and France registered more than 270,000, all three countries easily topping their previous records. But dwarfing even those […]
(Eagle News)–Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and Health Secretary Francisco Duque III are in self-quarantine after exposure to COVID-19 cases. According to Lorenzana, he was exposed to four of his household members who tested positive for COVID-19. Meanwhile, Duque said he got exposure from a staff member, who tested positive for the virus on Friday. “So bukas po magpapa-test ako and hopefully, negative. I’ll be under quarantine until the (January) 8th or 10 days in all,” […]
KHARTOUM, Sudan (AFP) — Sudanese security forces fired tear gas Tuesday at anti-coup protesters in Khartoum chanting slogans against the military days after the resignation of the country’s civilian premier, witnesses said. Protesters shouted “No, no to military rule” and called for the disbandment of Sudan’s ruling council headed by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who led an October 25 coup that derailed a transition to civilian rule. Thousands of protesters gathered across Sudan, including in […]
SAO PAULO, Brazil (AFP) — Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro will not need surgery, his doctors said Tuesday, a day after the far-right leader was rushed to the hospital with a partially blocked intestine. “President Jair Messias Bolsonaro’s intestinal subocclusion has been eliminated, with no need for surgery,” the Vila Nova Star hospital in Sao Paulo said in a statement. “The patient is making satisfactory progress in both clinical evaluations and laboratory exams, and will begin […]
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — An EU ban on tattoo ink and permanent make-up containing chemicals feared to cause cancers or other health risks went into effect on Tuesday, officials said. The prohibition covers hazardous substances such as certain azo dyes, carcinogenic aromatic amines, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), metals and methanol. “The restriction covers carcinogenic, mutagenic and reprotoxic substances, chemicals prohibited in cosmetics, skin sensitisers, skin and eye irritants, metal impurities, aromatic amines and some pigments,” […]
