Other News

Japan toughens virus measures with new law

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan passed a new law strengthening enforcement of its virus restrictions on Wednesday, allowing authorities to fine bars and restaurants that defy closure requests. People can also be fined up to 500,000 yen ($4,800) if they test positive for Covid-19 but refuse hospitalisation, although lawmakers scrapped plans to introduce prison sentences as punishment. With just six months until the pandemic-postponed Summer Olympics, Tokyo and other regions are currently under a state […]

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China to offer 10 million vaccine doses to Covax

  BEIJING, China (AFP) — China plans to provide 10 million doses of Covid-19 jabs to the WHO-backed international vaccine distribution programme Covax, Beijing said Wednesday as it seeks to reframe perceptions of its role in the pandemic. The Covax programme, which aims to provide two billion doses of vaccine, pools funding from richer countries with the intention of ensuring poorer nations can inoculate their health workers and most vulnerable citizens, on the basis that […]

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WHO’s Covax Facility sets out vaccination plans in first distribution list

  by Robin MILLARD Agence France Presse GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The Covax programme for Covid-19 vaccines published its first distribution list Wednesday, planning enough doses for dozens of countries to immunise more than three percent of their populations by mid-year. The list comes with concerns over whether lower-income countries will be left out of the immunisation race dominated by rich nations, a problem Covax was set up to resolve. It broke down for the […]

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Spotify losses triple in 2020 despite more subscribers

STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AFP) — Swedish music streaming giant Spotify on Wednesday reported a tripled net loss in 2020, citing increased operating expenses, even as the number of paying subscribers continued to increase. At the end of 2020, the number of monthly active users was 345 million, a 27-percent increase compared with a year earlier. Paying subscribers, the main source of revenue for the streaming service, stood at 155 million, a 24-percent increase. Spotify, which is […]

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Myanmar’s Suu Kyi charged as calls to oppose coup grow

  YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — Myanmar’s ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi was formally charged on Wednesday two days after she was detained in a military coup, as calls for civil disobedience to oppose the putsch gathered pace. The Southeast Asian nation was plunged back into direct military rule when soldiers arrested key civilian leaders in a series of dawn raids on Monday, ending the army’s brief flirtation with democracy. Su Kyi, who has not […]

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WHO expert calls for patience over sensitive Wuhan probe

by Laurie CHEN BEIJING, China (AFP) — There will be no quick answers into the origins of the coronavirus, one of the World Health Organization experts on a mission to the Covid-19 ground zero in central China told AFP. Hung Nguyen-Viet, who is visiting various virus-linked sites in the city of Wuhan with the team, said starting the investigation more than one year after the pandemic began was not ideal, but added that the mission […]

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PHL health workers to be given 1st shots of COVID vaccines; masterlist completed by Feb 15

Unified COVID-19 vaccine registry to include those at risk, vulnerable to virus   (Eagle News) — Philippine health care workers will be the first to be immunized against COVID-19 in the country, with the vaccinators also prioritized to be given the vaccine doses so they will be protected while they give the shots to other vulnerable sectors of the community. Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said that the Department of Health is now in the […]

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PHL COVID-19 cases reach 530,118; 487,721 recover

(Eagle News) — COVID-19 cases in the country reached 530,118 on Wednesday, Feb. 3, after the Department of Health reported 1,266 additional cases. The DOH said of the total cases, 31,455 were active. Of these, 88.8 percent were mild, 5.8 percent asymptomatic, 2.4 percent severe, 2.5 percent critical and 0.53 percent were moderate. Recoveries rose to 487721, including the additional ones. The additional 68 deaths pushed the COVID-19 death toll in the country to 10942. […]

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Nearly 11,000 Hong Kongers moved to Taiwan in 2020

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — Nearly 11,000 Hong Kongers moved to Taiwan in 2020 — almost double the number of a year earlier — after Beijing imposed a sweeping security law on the city. Democratic Taiwan has long attracted Hong Kong people seeking an alternative to their city’s frenetic pace and sky-high rents. But a new security law has accelerated an exodus, and the number of Hong Kongers granted short-term residency soared to 10,813 from 5,858 […]

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Saudi bars entry from 20 countries as Covid-19 surges

  RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) — Saudi Arabia on Tuesday suspended entry from 20 countries, ranging from some neighbouring states to the United States, in a bid to curb a jump in coronavirus infections. The interior ministry announced the “temporary suspension” would be effective from 9.00 pm (1800 GMT) on Wednesday, according to the official Saudi Press Agency. The ban applies to neighbouring Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, and in the wider region, to […]

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Plastic straws, stirrers may soon be banned in PHL

(Eagle News) — Plastic straws and stirrers may soon be banned in the Philippines. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources said  on Wednesday, Feb. 3, this was after the two items were included in the list of non-environmentally acceptable products drawn up by the National Solid Waste Management Commission. The list of items which are supposed to be banned was drawn up in compliance with the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000. It […]

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Europe warms to Russian jab after positive trial results

  by Gina DOGGETT and AFP bureaus Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — Final-stage trial results published on Tuesday placed Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine on a par with its Western rivals, as German Chancellor Angela Merkel voiced openness to its use in the European Union once it receives the regulatory nod. Sputnik V, which has already been rolled out in Russia and several other countries, was found to be 91.6 percent effective against […]

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