Tag: US

New CDC study in health workers shows 94% efficacy of Covid-19 mRNA vaccines

https://youtu.be/VI3Ye2gcvak (Eagle News) — A new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study on a group of health care workers showed that COVID-19 mRNA vaccines authorized by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are effective in protecting health care personnel (HCP) against COVID-19 by as much as 94 percent. In a release from the US CDC, it said that the mRNA vaccines Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna “reduced the risk of getting sick with COVID-19 by […]

Huge Titanic replica to open as Chinese tourist destination

by Noel Celis and Qian Ye SUINING, China (AFP) — The Titanic is being brought back from the deep, more than a century after its ill-fated maiden voyage, at a landlocked Chinese theme park where tourists can soon splash out for a night on a fullscale replica. The project’s main backer was inspired to recreate the world’s most infamous cruise liner by the 1997 box office hit of the same name — once the world’s […]

Picasso painting sells for $103 million in New York: auction house

NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Pablo Picasso’s “Woman sitting by a window (Marie-Therese)” sold Thursday for $103.4 million at Christie’s in New York, the auction house said. The painting, completed in 1932, was sold for $90 million, which rose to $103.4 million when fees and commissions were added, after 19 minutes of bidding, Christie’s said. The sale confirms the vitality of the art market despite the Covid-19 pandemic — but also the special status […]

US tells citizens to ‘reconsider’ travel to Israel due to conflict

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US State Department on Thursday urged citizens to “reconsider travel to Israel” due to the recent surge in violence between the Jewish state and Palestinians. The travel advisory level, which had been lowered in recent weeks due to improvement in the country’s Covid-19 situation, was stepped up to Level 3, out of a maximum of four. “Reconsider travel to Israel due to armed conflict and civil unrest,” the department […]

US lifts indoor mask mandate for vaccinated people

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The top US health agency on Thursday announced it was lifting mask-wearing requirements for people fully vaccinated against Covid-19, a watershed moment in the pandemic. “Anyone who is fully vaccinated can participate in indoor and outdoor activities, large or small, without wearing a mask or physical distancing,” said Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Rochelle Walensky. “If you are fully vaccinated, you can start doing the things that you […]

Biden spoke to Netanyahu, hopes Israel violence ending ‘sooner than later’

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Joe Biden said Wednesday that Israel has a right to defend itself but after speaking with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu he hopes violent clashes with Palestinians will end quickly. “I had a conversation with Bibi Netanyahu not too long ago,” Biden told reporters. “My expectation and hope is that this will be closing down sooner than later, but Israel has a right to defend itself when you have […]

Panic buying shuts down US gas stations as pipelines begin to reopen

by Heather SCOTT and Virginie MONTET WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The major US pipeline network forced offline by a cyber attack began to reopen Wednesday, its operator said, after a five-day shutdown prompted motorists to frantically stock up on gasoline and some gas stations on the US east coast to close. But Colonial Pipeline warned that it will take “several days” before supplies return to normal. Faced with a growing shortage, a dozen states […]

Citing labor shortage, US states end pandemic jobless benefits

by Heather SCOTT WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A handful of US states have announced they will end extra unemployment benefits provided by the federal government, which they blame for creating a shortage of workers. Iowa on Tuesday joined Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Montana and South Carolina in cutting off the payments that through September are providing $300 a week on top of regular state benefits. But President Joe Biden pushed back against the argument that […]

Pipeline shutdown sparks fear of US gasoline shortage

by Heather SCOTT WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Fears the shutdown of a major fuel pipeline network would cause a gasoline shortage led to some panic buying and prompted US regulators on Tuesday to temporarily suspend clean fuel requirements in three eastern states and the nation’s capital. While it remained unclear the degree to which supplies would be affected, drivers lined up to fill their tanks at gas stations in the southeast, with some carrying […]

US approves its biggest offshore wind farm yet

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US announced on Tuesday that it had granted final approval for its biggest wind power project yet, which will be located off the coast of the eastern state of Massachusetts. The “Vineyard Wind” project calls for up to 84 wind turbines to be built 12 nautical miles off Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, two islands off the Massachusetts coast. The administration of President Joe Biden has set a goal of […]

NASA’s giant Webb telescope succeeds in key pre-launch test

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The world’s largest and most powerful space telescope unfolded its giant golden mirror for the last time on Earth on Tuesday, a key milestone before the $10 billion observatory is launched later this year. The James Webb Space Telescope’s 21 feet 4 inch (6.5 meter) mirror was commanded to fully expand and lock itself into place, NASA said — a final test to ensure it will survive its million-mile (1.6 […]

Nearly half of world leaders asking for US vaccine help: Biden

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Joe Biden said Tuesday that almost half the world’s leaders have contacted him, asking for US help in obtaining Covid-19 vaccines. “Every country in the world is now looking at us to provide for their lack of capacity to produce and/or have vaccines,” Biden said in a virtual meeting with US state governors. “I literally have, virtually 40 percent of the world leaders calling and asking, can we help […]