Tag: US

New York City mandates vaccines for teachers

NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — New York announced a vaccine mandate for all public school staff, including teachers and principals, Monday as the city escalates attempts to slow the spread of the hyper-contagious Delta variant. Mayor Bill de Blasio said every department of education employee must receive at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine by September 27. There will be no option of a weekly test instead. “We know this is going to […]

US VP Harris vows ‘enduring engagement’ in Asia

SINGAPORE, Singapore (AFP) — Vice President Kamala Harris vowed “enduring engagement” in Asia on Monday, offering reassurances of Washington’s commitment to the region following the United States’ withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Taliban takeover. “Our administration is committed to enduring engagement in Singapore, into Southeast Asia and the Indo-Pacific,” Harris said on a visit to Singapore, just days after the hardline Islamists seized power in Kabul. “The reason I am here is that the United […]

At least 21 dead in flooding in US state of Tennessee

    WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Devastating floods in the southern US state of Tennessee have left at least 21 people dead and dozens missing, local officials said Sunday in what they warned was a preliminary toll. Tennessee was hit Saturday by what meteorologists called historic storms and flooding, dumping 15 inches (38 centimeters) or more of rain. Rural roads, state highways and bridges were washed out and widespread power outages affected thousands of […]

Rare tropical storm lashes northeastern United States

by Peter HUTCHISON NEW YORK, United States (AFP0 — Tropical Storm Henri slammed into Rhode Island on the US east coast Sunday, knocking out power to thousands of Americans, uprooting trees and bringing record rainfall before weakening as it moved across New England. The storm — earlier downgraded from a Category 1 Hurricane — hit land near the town of Westerly at approximately 12:15 PM (1615 GMT), the National Weather Service said. Henri is a […]

US orders American airlines to aid Afghan evacuation

  The United States on Sunday enlisted several major airlines in its frantic evacuation of tens of thousands of Afghans, Americans and other foreigners from Kabul following its fall to Taliban extremists. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin activated the rarely-used Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF) to aid the onward movement of people arriving at US bases in the Middle East, the Pentagon said. “We’re going to try our very best to get everybody, every American […]

Elon Musk says Tesla’s robot will make physical work a ‘choice’

After dominating the electric vehicle market and throwing his hat into the billionaire space race, Tesla boss Elon Musk announced the latest frontier he’s aiming to conquer: humanoid robots. The irascible entrepreneur said Thursday he would have an initial prototype of an androgynous “Tesla Bot” by next year. Based on the same technology as the company’s semi-autonomous vehicles, the robot will be able to perform basic repetitive tasks with the aim of eliminating the need […]

US tells citizens to avoid Kabul airport due to ‘security threats’

The United States on Saturday urged its citizens in Afghanistan to avoid traveling to the Kabul airport, citing “potential security threats” near its gates. The warning from the US embassy in Kabul provided no detail on the danger, but a White House official later confirmed that aides had briefed President Joe Biden on “counterterrorism operations” in Afghanistan, including against the Islamic State group. Conditions outside Hamid Karzai International Airport have been chaotic amid the crush […]

Viral footage of US Marine aiding baby captures Kabul chaos

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A heart-breaking video showing a US Marine lifting a baby over a razor wire-topped wall at Kabul’s airport caught global attention Friday, amid the chaos of thousands trying to flee Afghanistan newly controlled by the Taliban. The video, which shows the infant, its diaper slipping off, being pulled up by one arm high above a crowd of Afghans seeking to enter the airport, took over social media nearly one week […]

ANALYSIS: Why didn’t Biden leave 2,500 troops in Afghanistan?

  by Paul HANDLEY Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The Taliban’s lightning-fast takeover of Afghanistan after President Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw US troops by August 31 has critics asking: why didn’t he just leave 2,500 troops there to fortify the now-fallen government? That was how many US forces remained in the country when Biden took office in January, after his predecessor Donald Trump slashed their numbers from 15,000. In appearances, the […]

US Afghan evacuations stall as receiving base overflows: Pentagon

  WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US officials confirmed that evacuation operations from Afghanistan stalled for several hours Friday because the receiving base in Qatar was overflowing and could not receive evacuees. US airlift flights out of the Kabul airport stopped for around seven hours as thousands of Afghans already flown to a US base in Qatar overwhelmed its capacity, said Major General Hank Taylor. That left thousands more Afghans already cleared to leave their […]

OFW tells story of how he sought Taliban permission to fetch other Filipinos for evacuation in Kabul

  (Eagle News) – An overseas Filipino worker tells his story of how he was able to leave Afghanistan and save other Filipinos stranded in the capital of Kabul. Elmer Presa posted on his Facebook page photos of him and other Filipino workers who managed to get a ride on a United States military plane at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul Afghanistan.  In his post, he also thanked the US Airforce for their […]

In Texas, an anti-vax mother’s dying wish: vaccinate her children

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A Texas mother of four refused a Covid-19 vaccine, but after losing her husband to the virus and contracting it herself, her dying wish was clear: get her children immunized. Lydia Rodriguez, 42, a piano teacher in the small town of La Marque died on Monday, two weeks after her husband, Lawrence, 49, succumbed to the virus. Rodriguez’ cousin Dottie Jones told the local television station ABC13 that the couple […]