Breaking News, Latest Philippines Headlines, World, Entertainment, Politics, Weather & Video News
WUHAN, China (AFP) — World Health Organization inspectors visited a laboratory in China’s Wuhan city on Wednesday that American officials suggested could have been the source of the coronavirus. The inspection of the Wuhan virology institute, which conducts research on the world’s most dangerous diseases, will be one of the most-watched stops on the team’s probe into the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic. The sensitive mission, which China had delayed throughout the first year […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — The military takeover in Myanmar and detention of Aung San Suu Kyi was “a major cabinet reshuffle” according to Chinese state media, who rolled out the euphemisms to avoid calling a coup a coup. As democratic leaders around the world slammed the Burmese military and President Joe Biden said the US was “taking note” of who was standing up for Myanmar’s people, China’s communist leadership took a softly-softly approach. Beijing […]
by Jerome TAYLOR / Yan ZHAO Agence France Presse HONG Kong, China (AFP) — A new visa scheme offering millions of Hong Kongers a pathway to British citizenship will go live later on Sunday as the city’s former colonial master opens its doors to those wanting to escape China’s crackdown on dissent. From Sunday afternoon, anyone with a British National (Overseas) passport and their dependents will be able to apply online for a visa […]
by Leo RAMIREZ / Hector RETAMAL Agence France Presse WUHAN, China (AFP) — A team of WHO experts investigating the origins of the coronavirus toured a propaganda exhibition celebrating China’s recovery from the pandemic in Wuhan on Saturday, after a meeting at the hospital that treated the first confirmed Covid-19 cases over a year ago. Details of the trip have been scant so far, with the media kept at arm’s length and information on […]
by Peter MURPHY Agence France Presse BUDAPEST, Hungary (AFP) — Hungary on Friday became the first EU member to approve the Chinese-made Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine, a week after it also broke ranks with Brussels by issuing a provisional permit for Russia’s Sputnik V jab. “Today the National Institute of Pharmacy and Nutrition (OGYEI) gave its approval for the Sinopharm vaccine,” Chief Medical Officer Cecilia Muller told a briefing. A few hours later Foreign Minister […]
by Leo RAMIREZ / Hector RETAMAL Agence France Presse WUHAN, China (AFP) — Experts from the World Health Organization visited a Wuhan hospital Friday as the fieldwork began in a closely watched coronavirus origins probe that will take in a food market presumed to be “ground zero” of the pandemic. The WHO investigation has been hobbled by delays, and there are fears over access and the strength of evidence a year after the virus […]
by Agence France Presse Bureaus WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States demanded a “robust and clear” international probe into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, as a team of World Health Organization experts in China waited Thursday for the green light to begin its long-awaited Covid-19 probe. The call came as coronavirus infections shot past 100 million and governments scrambled to get their hands on scarce vaccine doses, with a bitter row […]
by Sylvie LANTEAUME Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — One week into the job, US President Joe Biden has sent a clear warning to Beijing against any expansionist intentions in East and Southeast Asia. In multiple calls and statements, he and his top security officials have underscored support for allies Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the Philippines, signalling Washington’s rejection of China’s disputed territorial claims in those areas. On Wednesday, Biden told […]
HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Hong Kong has begun using “ambush lockdowns” to suddenly close off and test everyone inside neighbourhoods where coronavirus cases have spiked, as a spate of recent outbreaks lay bare the rampant inequality in the wealthy Chinese finance hub. Police cordoned off a row of densely packed tenement buildings in the Yau Ma Tei area overnight on Tuesday through to Wednesday morning to conduct mandatory tests. The new tactic involves authorities […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A US aircraft carrier group sailed into the South China Sea on a so-called “freedom of navigation” exercise, the first routine operation in the region under new President Joe Biden. Led by the USS Theodore Roosevelt, the carrier strike group entered the area Saturday, the US Indo-Pacific Command said, the same day Taiwan reported multiple Chinese jets and bombers had flown into its air defense zone. “It’s great to be […]
by Leo RAMIREZ / Sébastien RICCI Agence France Presse WUHAN, CHina (AFP) — Exactly one year after it thrust the word “lockdown” into the global conversation, Wuhan passed the anniversary with a mix of pride at emerging from Covid-19’s grip and caution over a possible relapse. A year ago Saturday, Wuhan shocked the world by confining its 11 million anxious citizens to their homes, beginning a traumatic 76-day lockdown that underscored the growing threat […]
HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Thousands of Hong Kongers will be ordered to stay in their homes for the city’s first coronavirus lockdown, local media reported Friday, as authorities battle an outbreak in one of its poorest and most densely packed districts. The order bans anyone from leaving their apartment unless they can show a negative test where cases have surged in recent days, and will last until everyone within the designated area has […]
