Breaking News, Latest Philippines Headlines, World, Entertainment, Politics, Weather & Video News
Tokyo, Japan (AFP) Tourists will be able to visit Japan from next week on package tours without a guide, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Wednesday, as the country moves to ease strict Covid-19 controls. From September 7, Japan will also raise its daily cap on the number of people allowed to enter the country to 50,000, Kishida told reporters. Japan has kept strict border restrictions in place longer than many other major economies, and only […]
Copenhagen, Denmark (AFP) The World Health Organization said Tuesday it saw “encouraging” signs the monkeypox epidemic was slowing in Europe and heading “in the right direction”, calling on countries to double down on efforts. “There are encouraging early signs, as evidenced in France, Germany, Portugal, Spain, the UK, and other countries, that the outbreak may be slowing”, the WHO regional director for Europe, Hans Kluge, told reporters. “It’s going in the right direction”, he […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Millions of people in areas surrounding China’s capital were ordered into lockdown Tuesday, with authorities doubling down on efforts to contain Covid-19 ahead of a key ruling Communist Party meeting this year. Nearly four million people in Hebei province, which surrounds Beijing, were ordered to stay home until the end of the week as officials rush to curb a small virus flare-up. And more than 13 million in the neighboring port […]
GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The World Health Organization’s Covid chief said Friday it was time for a reality check on the virus after the millionth death from the disease this year. Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s technical lead Covid-19, said the toll was “heartbreaking” because the tests, treatments, vaccines and public health measures to control the disease were all available. “Given we’re in the third year of the pandemic, it’s… all the more so […]
by Joshua Melvin with Juliette Michel in New York Agence France Presse Moderna said Friday it is suing rival vaccine makers Pfizer and BioNTech, alleging the partners infringed on its patents in developing their Covid-19 shot administered to hundreds of millions around the world. The lawsuits set up a high-stakes showdown between the leading manufacturers of Covid-19 shots that are a key tool in the fight against the disease. “Moderna believes that Pfizer and […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea said Friday that the fever cases it detected earlier this week were found to be influenza, and not a Covid-19 resurgence as initially suspected. The state media announcement came a day after authorities said they had locked down parts of Ryanggang province — which borders China — after finding four new “fever” cases there. North Korea refers to “fever patients” rather than “Covid patients” in case reports, apparently […]
Seoul, South Korea (AFP) North Korea’s state media reported four new fever cases Thursday, saying they were suspected of being infected with the “malignant epidemic” — just two weeks after the country declared victory over Covid-19. The isolated nation, which has maintained a rigid blockade since the start of the pandemic, confirmed an Omicron outbreak in the capital Pyongyang in May. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un — who also fell ill during the outbreak […]
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — Indonesia has recorded its first case of monkeypox in a 27-year-old man who returned from travelling overseas, the country’s health ministry said on Saturday. The World Health Organization designated the outbreak of the virus an emergency last month — something it reserves for diseases of highest concern. Indonesian health ministry spokesperson Mohammad Syahril said the patient had a “high awareness and knowledge of the disease”. “So when he got the […]
by Nina LARSON Agence France Presse The World Health Organization called Wednesday for people infected with monkeypox to avoid exposing animals to the virus following a first reported case of human-to-dog transmission. A first case of human-to-dog transmission of monkeypox — between two men and their Italian greyhound living together in Paris — was reported last week in the medical journal The Lancet. “This is the first case reported of human-to-animal transmission… and we believe […]
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AFP) — A measles outbreak in Zimbabwe has killed at least 157 children, with more than 2,000 infections reported across the country, the government said on Tuesday. Cases have been growing rapidly in the southern African nation since authorities said the first infection was logged earlier this month, with reported deaths almost doubling in less than a week. “As of 15 August the cumulative figures across the country has risen to 2,056 cases […]
by Nina LARSON The World Health Organization, which is looking to rename monkeypox, called Tuesday for help from the public in coming up with a less stigmatising designation for the fast-spreading disease. The UN health agency has for weeks voiced concern about the name of the disease that emerged onto the global stage in May. Experts warn the name can be stigmatising to the primates it was named after, but who play little role in […]
by Claire Lee Agence France-Presse SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea’s Kim Jong Un declared a “shining victory” over Covid-19 as his sister revealed he had fallen ill during the outbreak, which she blamed on Seoul, state media said Thursday. Addressing a meeting of health workers and scientists, Kim announced a “victory… in the war against the malignant pandemic disease”, according to the official Korean Central News Agency. The isolated country, which has […]
