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by Marc Preel with Agence France Presse bureaus STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AFP) — The head of the EU’s disease control agency warned Friday that the novel coronavirus could last indefinitely even as global infections slowed by nearly half in the last month and vaccine rollouts gathered pace in parts of the world. In an interview with AFP, ECDC chief Andrea Ammon urged European countries in particular not to drop their guard against a virus that “seems […]
(Eagle News) — Around 600,000 doses of the Chinese vaccine Sinovac will be arriving in the country by February 23, Malacanang said. Presidential Spokesperson Secretary Harry Roque Jr., said that this already includes the 100,000 doses to be donated by China for Philippine soldiers. “Ang bakuna po na Sinovac, galing naman po sa China, nakaukit na po sa bato ang pagdating. Ito po ay abente-tres ng Pebrero, 23 February darating po ang Sinovac, 600,000 pero […]
MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AFP)– Mexican regulators gave emergency approval Wednesday to the Chinese-made Covid-19 vaccines CanSino Biologics and CoronaVac. The approval was announced by deputy health minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell as Mexico struggles to manage the pandemic. “I have given the authorization for emergency use of both vaccines,” Lopez-Gatell, who serves as the spokesman for the government’s pandemic coordination, said during a press conference. In addition to CanSino and Sinovac’s CoronaVac, Mexico has authorized three […]
by Paul HANDLEY / Jerome CARTILLIER Joe Biden pressed Chinese leader Xi Jinping over human rights in Hong Kong and Xinjiang late Wednesday in their first call since the new US president took office on January 20, according to the White House. Setting the stage for what could extend the contentious relationship between the two superpowers, Biden offered Xi his “greetings and wellwishes” for the Chinese people on the occasion of the Lunar New Year […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US Secretary of State Antony Blinken voiced concern Wednesday over China’s incursions into Japanese territorial waters, recommitting to the ally’s defense. In a telephone call, Blinken and Japanese foreign minister Toshimitsu Motegi “expressed concern over increased Chinese assertiveness around the Senkaku Islands following China’s enactment of a new coast guard law,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said. “Secretary Blinken reaffirmed that the Senkakus fall within the scope of Article V […]
WUHAN, China (AFP) — The WHO mission to China to uncover the origins of the coronavirus has failed to identify the animal source, scientists said Tuesday. Experts believe the disease — which has gone on to kill more than 2.3 million people worldwide — originated in bats and could have been transmitted to humans via another mammal. While transmission from animals was the likely route, so far “the reservoir hosts remain to be identified”, Liang Wannian, […]
TAIYUAN, China (AFP) –The CEO and founder of Chinese telecom giant Huawei called Tuesday for an open approach from new US President Joe Biden, after the firm was battered by sanctions imposed by Donald Trump’s administration. Ren Zhengfei said his “confidence in Huawei’s ability to survive has grown” despite its travails across much of the western world where it is maligned as a potential security threat. After saying the firm’s “production capacity can be expanded”, […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan said Monday it has protested to China over two incursions into Japanese territorial waters that come after Beijing enacted legislation toughening its response to violations of its maritime territory. Japan and China dispute ownership of the uninhabited islets in the East China Sea that Tokyo calls the Senkakus and Beijing the Diaoyu. The rocky islets are administered by Tokyo, which has regularly protested what it calls the violation of its […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China’s Tianwen-1 probe has sent back its first image of Mars, the national space agency said, as the mission prepares to touch down on the Red Planet later this year. The spacecraft, launched in July around the same time as a rival US mission, is expected to enter Mars orbit around February 10. The black-and-white photo released late Friday by the China National Space Administration showed geological features including the Schiaparelli […]
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — A US warship sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Thursday, the American navy said, in the first such voyage since the inauguration of President Joe Biden. The Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer conducted a routine transit through the waterway separating the Chinese mainland and Taiwan, the US Seventh Fleet said in a statement. US warships periodically conduct navigation exercises in the strait, often triggering angry responses from China which claims self-ruled, […]
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 […]
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 […]
