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MUMBAI, India (AFP) — The head of the world’s largest vaccine maker directly tweeted US President Joe Biden on Friday urging him to lift an export ban on raw materials desperately needed to make more coronavirus shots. The unusual step by Serum Institute (SII) chief Adar Poonawalla underlined the crisis in providing vaccines to developing nations, many of which rely heavily on the firm for supplies. “Respected @POTUS, if we are to truly unite […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — At least eight people were killed in a shooting in the US city of Indianapolis by a gunman who is believed to have then killed himself, police said. The victims were all found at a Fedex facility near the international airport where the shooting took place late Thursday, police spokeswoman Genae Cook told a news conference, adding several others had been taken to hospital. One man who said he […]
UNITED NATIONS (AFP) — The UN said Thursday it will maintain its political and humanitarian mission to Afghanistan despite the departure of US and NATO troops later this year. Stephane Dujarric, spokesman to the UN secretary-general, said it was “clear and obvious” that the troops’ departure “will have an impact on the country as a whole,” in response to questions about the mission’s future. “We will continue to study the situation, but our work […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The head of Pfizer said in an interview aired Thursday that people will “likely” need a third dose of his company’s Covid-19 shot within six to 12 months of vaccination, while elsewhere defending the relatively higher cost of the jab. CEO Albert Bourla also said annual vaccinations against the coronavirus may well be required. “We need to see what would be the sequence, and for how often we need […]
by Kyoko HASEGAWA TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan’s prime minister heads to Washington on Thursday to become the first foreign leader to hold face-to-face talks with US President Joe Biden, with concerns about China topping the agenda. Yoshihide Suga will be hoping to renew the all-important alliance with Washington after the Trump era, as well as compare notes on an increasingly assertive Beijing. The trip comes after two top US officials visited Japan in March, […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — One person died and 12 were missing after a commercial lift vessel capsized in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana, the US Coast Guard said Wednesday. Coast Guard ships and a fleet of volunteer vessels were deployed to search for survivors after the Seacor Power capsized Tuesday in an unexpectedly strong storm near Port Fourchon, about 160 kilometers (100 miles) south of New Orleans. Coast Guard Captain […]
by Sebastian Smith Agence France Presse US President Joe Biden announced Wednesday it’s “time to end” America’s longest war with the unconditional withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, where they have spent two decades in a bloody, increasingly futile battle against the Taliban. Dubbed the “forever war,” the US military onslaught in Afghanistan began in response to the September 11, 2001 attacks against the United States. Now, 20 years later — after almost 2,400 US […]
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — US President Joe Biden sent an unofficial delegation of former US officials to Taiwan on Wednesday in a signal of support for the democratic island as it faces increasingly hostile moves by China. Taipei said former senator Christopher Dodd and former deputy secretaries of state Richard Armitage and James Steinberg would land in the capital on Wednesday afternoon. “Once again this visit demonstrates the firm relationship between Taiwan and the […]
NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Pfizer has “ramped up production” of its Covid-19 vaccine and can deliver 10 percent more doses than expected to the United States by the end of May, its CEO Albert Bourla said on Tuesday. That would bring its delivery by the end of next month to 220 million doses, and Bourla said on Twitter the pharmaceutical giant can also “supply the full 300 million agreed on for the end […]
South Africa follows US lead in suspending J&J vaccine rollout by Issam AHMED Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US health authorities on Tuesday recommended pausing the Johnson & Johnson Covid shot over blood clot fears, with the company quickly announcing it would delay its European rollout, in a setback for global immunization campaigns. Out of nearly seven million Americans who have so far received the single dose vaccine, six women between age […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — NASA has delayed by at least several days the first flight of its mini-helicopter on Mars after a possible tech issue emerged while testing its rotors, the US space agency said Saturday. Ingenuity’s trip, which is to be the first-ever powered, controlled flight on another planet, was set for Sunday but is now on hold until at least April 14. A high-speed test of the four-pound (1.8 kilogram) helicopter’s […]
by Michael Mathes Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Joe Biden on Friday established an expert commission to study reforming the powerful US Supreme Court, including the explosive question of expanding its bench. The move follows months of debate over whether Democrats should seek to expand the court beyond its current nine justices, after moves during Donald Trump’s presidential term gave the bench a firm conservative majority. The Supreme Court […]
