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NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — US pharmaceutical giant Moderna announced Thursday it would build a plant in Africa, as pressure mounts on drugmakers to help ramp up Covid-19 vaccine production in areas that have received fewer doses. The biotech firm said it “will build a state-of-the-art mRNA facility in Africa with the goal of producing up to 500 million doses of vaccines each year.” Moderna said earlier this year it would increase global production […]
SAO PAULO, Brazil (AFP) — Unusually powerful sandstorms have left at least six people dead in Sao Paulo in recent weeks, local media said, as southeastern Brazil grapples with severe drought. Scenes of huge orange dust clouds rumbling across the countryside — with winds of up to 100 kilometers (62 miles) an hour — have been seen at least three times since the end of September, terrifying residents in urban and rural areas of Sao […]
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — A delivery of Covid vaccines has arrived in Antarctica to inoculate British researchers stationed in the polar wilderness, the UK foreign ministry said Thursday. The shipment was delivered to the British Antarctic Survey’s Rothera Research Station, making the outpost the furthest destination in the British Overseas Territories to be supplied with jabs. The AstraZeneca shots were flown from a Royal Air Force base in Britain via Senegal and the Falklands […]
ROME, Italy (AFP) — Two priests were acquitted on Wednesday of charges linked with sex abuse at a school for altar boys in the Vatican City, in the first criminal trial of its kind. Gabriele Martinelli, a former pupil at the St Pius X pre-seminary and now a priest, was accused of assaulting a fellow altar boy — years before he joined the clergy. Martinelli, now 29, was tried alongside priest Enrico Radice, the […]
GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The World Health Organization said on Thursday it was about to restart the process of approving Russia’s Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine following a series of problems with the dossier. WHO authorisation has been sought for the Sputnik V jab created by Russia’s Gamaleya research institute, which is already being used in 45 countries, according to an AFP count. Several Covid-19 vaccines have been given the WHO green light for emergency […]
LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — Bars, restaurants, gyms and cinemas in Los Angeles will all require proof of vaccination against Covid-19 from next month, after an ordinance passed Wednesday by the council in the second biggest city in the United States. The move, which also applies to shopping malls and beauty salons, brings the city into line with New York and San Francisco. It comes as the United States struggles to slow a […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A 6.1-magnitude earthquake jolted the Japanese capital Tokyo and surrounding areas Thursday evening, reportedly injuring more than 20 people, but the Japan Meteorological Agency said there was no tsunami risk. The quake sent buildings swaying, stranded commuters, knocked products off store shelves and triggered emergency warnings blaring from the phones of local residents, intended to give them time to take shelter. Initial information from the JMA put the epicentre of […]
KIEV, Ukraine (AFP) — An 18-month-old child has been left paralyzed after contracting polio in Ukraine in a new case linked to low vaccination rates in the country, the health ministry said Wednesday. The ministry said vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 caused the disease as opposed to the original wild virus. “The parents deliberately refused vaccinations because of their religious beliefs,” the statement said without providing further details of the case in the northwestern region of […]
by Sara HUSSEIN TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Dengue affects tens of millions each year, producing brutal symptoms that have earned it the moniker “breakbone fever,” but new research may have found the first-ever treatment for the virus. Tests in cell cultures and mice found that a newly identified compound can effectively disarm dengue, stopping it from replicating and preventing disease, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal Nature. And it appears to be […]
ZURICH, Switzerland (AFP) — Nestle is offering plant-based alternatives to eggs and shrimp as the Swiss food giant expands its menu in the growing vegan market, the company said Thursday. Nestle, owner of everything from chocolate to coffee and baby food brands, has for several years been reorganising its activities to focus more on health and wellness. The Swiss company has among other things been making a major push in vegetarian and vegan products. Its […]
by Andrew BEATTY SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australia’s largest city will emerge from a 106-day lockdown on Monday, as Sydney authorities confirmed coronavirus vaccination targets had been met. Stay-at-home orders will be lifted for the Harbour City’s five-million-plus people now that 70 percent of state residents over 16 have been double jabbed. “The light at the end of the tunnel is now very, very close,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Thursday, hailing the reopening announcement. […]
Spain (AFP) — Clouds of thick ash from the erupting volcano on La Palma on Thursday forced the island’s airport to close for the second time since the September 19 eruption, Spain’s airport authority said. “The airport is not in operation at the moment,” an AENA spokeswoman told AFP, saying “some cleaning work needs to be done” on the runways before it would reopen. But the closure “may not last very long” she added. On […]
