International

Brazil virus toll hits 50,000 as Spain reopens borders

by Eugenia LOGIURATTO with AFP bureaus Agence France Presse RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — Brazil registered its 50,000th death from the coronavirus outbreak on Sunday, underlining Latin America’s desperate struggle to contain the disease, as Europe’s gradual emergence from lockdown was marked by Spain reopening its borders. Brazil is the second worst-affected country behind the United States, and the spread of COVID-19 is accelerating across Latin America, with Mexico, Peru and Chile also hard-hit […]

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Saudi ends virus lockdown despite spike in infections

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) — Saudi Arabia on Sunday ended a nationwide coronavirus curfew and lifted restrictions on businesses, including hair salons and cinemas, after three months of stringent curbs, despite a spike in infections. International flights and religious pilgrimages, however, remain suspended and social gatherings of more than 50 people are prohibited, according to the interior ministry. But Saudi Arabia’s General Commission for Audiovisual Media announced the reopening of cinemas across the kingdom with […]

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Fears of second virus wave in Australia’s second city

MELBOURNE, Australia (AFP) — Australians were warned Monday to avoid travelling to Melbourne, as the country’s second biggest city tightened coronavirus restrictions amid fears of a second wave of the epidemic. Victoria state has recorded more than 110 cases in the past week — many of them in Melbourne — prompting leaders of other regions to warn against visiting the city’s six designated virus “hot spots”. The premier of neighbouring New South Wales state, Gladys […]

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With no flights, Argentine sails across Atlantic to see parents

MAR DEL PLATA, Argentina (AFP) — “Mission accomplished!” That joyful declaration came from Juan Manuel Ballestero, an Argentine sailor who, unable to fly home from Portugal due to the pandemic, crossed the ocean alone in his modest sailboat to see his aging parents. “I did it! I did it! I did it!” Ballestero exclaimed at dockside last week when he reached his hometown of Mar del Plata. The 47-year-old had completed an exhausting 85-day odyssey […]

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Three killed in Britain stabbing rampage

by Adrian DENNIS READING, United Kingdom (AFP) — Three people were killed and three seriously injured when an assailant went on a stabbing rampage in a park filled with people relaxing in the southern English city of Reading on Saturday, police said. The Thames Valley Police said they had launched a murder investigation and were not treating the incident as terror-related after making one arrest at the scene. Prime Minister Boris Johnson condemned the “appalling […]

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Malawi braces for historic presidential election re-run

by Jack McBRAMS LILONGWE, Malawi (AFP) — Malawi goes to the polls on Tuesday in a historic presidential re-run after a court overturned last year’s elections and ordered a fresh vote. Citing “grave” and “widespread” rigging, the country’s constitutional court ruled in February that President Peter Mutharika had not been duly elected, and mandated a new poll within 150 days. The landmark verdict, which reverberated across African politics, made Malawi the second country south of […]

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Morocco opens field hospital after spike in virus cases

MOULAY BOUSSELHAM, Morocco (AFP) — A new field hospital in eastern Morocco will from Sunday receive around 700 COVID-19 patients following a sharp spike in infections in the kingdom, the government said. Morocco reported a record single-day rise in novel coronavirus cases on Friday after an outbreak was detected in fruit packing plants in eastern Kenitra province, prompting Rabat to tighten restrictions in the region. The North African kingdom reported more than 500 cases on […]

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One killed, 11 wounded in Minneapolis shooting

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — One person died and 11 more were wounded in a shooting in the US city of Minneapolis, police said Sunday. Images streamed live to Facebook showed at least one person lying on the pavement as dozens gather around — some screaming for medical help. Other footage appeared to show businesses with shattered windows, and police cars at the scene. “12 people have suffered gunshot wounds,” Minneapolis police wrote on Twitter, […]

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Spain reopens border with France

LA JONGQUERA, Spain (AFP) — Traffic flowed again across Spain’s border with France on Sunday as the last of the strict Spanish coronavirus restrictions introduced in March were eased. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced earlier this month that Madrid would remove border checks with most other EU states from June 21, when its state of emergency also ended. Spain has been one of the worst affected countries, suffering more than 28,000 deaths, with its economy […]

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Iran reports over 100 new virus deaths for third day running

TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — Iranian health authorities reported over 100 new deaths from the novel coronavirus Sunday for the third day running, stressing that the outbreak had not yet peaked in the hard-hit country. Iran reported its first coronavirus cases on February 19 and has since struggled to contain the outbreak, the deadliest in the Middle East. The Islamic republic recorded its lowest single-day death toll in early May, before seeing a new rise in […]

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N. Korea says millions of leaflets readied against South

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea said on Monday it has readied thousands of balloons and millions of leaflets in preparation for “retaliatory punishment” against South Korea. The detail, in a state media report, came a day after the North said it was preparing to begin an anti-South leaflet campaign following a series of vitriolic condemnations of Seoul because of anti-North leaflets floated over the border. Defectors in the South send such leaflets which […]

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WHO warns of virus danger as Brazil cases hit one million

by Joshua Howat Berger, with Robin Millard in Geneva Agence France Presse RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — The World Health Organization warned Friday of a “new and dangerous phase” of the coronavirus pandemic, as infections continued to surge in the Americas, with Brazil registering more than one million cases. Colombia and Mexico also passed bleak milestones, as their death tolls topped 2,000 and 20,000, respectively, showing how the virus continues ravaging the Americas and […]

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