Breaking News, Latest Philippines Headlines, World, Entertainment, Politics, Weather & Video News
PARIS, France (AFP) — More than 200 million cases of Covid-19 cases have now been registered worldwide since the novel coronavirus emerged in China in December 2019, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP at 0700 GMT on Thursday. At least 200,065,905 cases have been officially recorded, but the actual number is believed to be even higher, since a large number of the less severe or asymptomatic cases remain undetected, despite intensified […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Tokyo reported another large jump in virus cases on Thursday, again shattering records, as the government expanded restrictions to eight more regions just days before the Olympics ends. Tokyo is already under a virus state of emergency but is seeing an exponential growth in cases, driven by the more contagious Delta variant. On Thursday, the city reported 5,042 cases, up from 3,865 a week earlier, and 1,979 the week before that. […]
PARIS, France (AFP) — France will offer Covid booster shots to the elderly and vulnerable from September, joining a growing list of countries offering third vaccine shots to fight new virus variants, President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday. “Yes, we will probably need a third dose, not for everyone straight away but at any rate for the elderly and the most vulnerable,” Macron said in the latest in his series of explanatory videos on the government’s […]
by Nivrita GANGULY MUMBAI, India (AFP) — C.S. Satheesha spells out “A-P-P-L-E” into his phone as he teaches remotely from the only place he can get a signal — a treehouse in his back garden in southern India. In the Kodagu district of Karnataka state, eight-year-old Shreeshma listens to Satheesha’s WhatsApp voice notes on her mother’s phone on her porch and repeats sentences such as: “This is a cat.” But in a country where schools […]
by Shafiqul ALAM DHAKA, Bangladesh (AFP) — Mohammad Masud braves Dhaka’s sweltering summer heat to pedal across the Bangladeshi capital in his rickshaw and queue at one of the last charities still feeding those left destitute by the pandemic. Nearby are hundreds of out-of-work or struggling security guards, transport workers, domestic servants and homeless children finishing their plates of rice and lentils at Mehmankhana, or the “dining place for guests”. “I have been hungry all […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) –The United States, which closed its borders to much of the world as the pandemic took hold, plans eventually to begin allowing fully vaccinated foreigners back in, a White House official said Wednesday. President Joe Biden’s administration, recognizing the importance of international travel, wants to reopen to visitors from abroad in a “safe and sustainable manner,” the official said. It is developing “a phased approach that over time will mean, with […]
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — Indonesia’s coronavirus death toll topped 100,000 on Wednesday as the country struggles to control the spread of the Delta variant. Southeast Asia’s biggest economy has now detected Delta in dozens of regions since it was first found in the archipelago in June. Scores of Indonesians are dying at home, unable to access hospital care or medical oxygen supplies as health care facilities are stretched to the limit. More than 3.5 million […]
TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — Covid infections in Iran surged again Wednesday, hitting a new one-day record for a third straight day and taking total cases to more than four million. Iran registered 39,357 new cases in the 24 hours to Wednesday, taking the total since the pandemic started to 4,019,084, the health ministry said. It recorded 409 deaths over the same period taking the total in Iran to 92,194. The official figures are widely believed […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China on Wednesday tightened overseas travel restrictions for its citizens as part of efforts to contain rising coronavirus cases, after reporting its highest number of infections in months. The movement of people is coming under more restriction inside China – with localised transport closures and stay-at-home orders in places in some cities – and beyond China’s borders. China had previously boasted of its success in crushing Covid-19, with hard lockdowns in […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China on Wednesday reported its highest daily number of local coronavirus cases in months as mass testing and contact tracing campaigns uncovered a trail of Delta variant infections. Health authorities reported 71 domestic cases on Wednesday, the highest since January, as China battles its largest outbreak in months by testing entire cities and locking down millions. The official results of those tests have revealed a low caseload despite the outbreak spreading […]
HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Macau ordered compulsory coronavirus testing for all residents on Wednesday after a family of four was found to be carrying the Delta variant, breaking the city’s record of over 16 months virus-free. Over the next three days authorities plan to test all 680,000 residents at 41 testing centres, the government said. The testing is one of a host of new measures announced after the gambling hub recorded 491 days without […]
by Aurélia END WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States has distributed more than 100 million Covid-19 vaccine doses overseas — more than all other countries combined, President Joe Biden said Tuesday as he touted his record on countering the Delta variant cutting a deadly swath across the planet. The announcement, which follows the administration belatedly achieving its July 4 target for getting 70 percent of American adults at least one shot, marked “just […]
