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by Helen Roxburgh and Laurent Thomet BEIJING, China (AFP) –The number of deaths and new cases from China’s coronavirus outbreak spiked dramatically on Thursday after authorities changed the way they count infections in a move that will likely fuel speculation that the severity of the outbreak has been under-reported. The hard-hit central province of Hubei reported 242 deaths in just one day and 14,840 new patients — by far its biggest one-day tally since the […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Donald Trump dismissed concerns Wednesday about the Philippines canceling a major military accord, saying the decision would save Americans money. The 1998 Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) created a legal framework for the presence of US troops in the Philippines and for organizing joint military exercises. Manila announced its decision Tuesday — a move the US embassy in the Philippines called a “serious step” — touching off a six-month […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A 112-year-old Japanese man has been crowned the world’s oldest male, claiming that smiling is the key to longevity. Chitetsu Watanabe, who was born on March 5, 1907, in Niigata, north of Tokyo, was officially given the title at his nursing home in the city, Guinness World Records said Wednesday. The previous record-holder, Masazo Nonaka, also Japanese, died last month at 112 years and 266 days. Watanabe, who is married with […]
GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The UN health agency on Wednesday cautioned it was “way too early” to say whether COVID-19 might have peaked or when it might end, following a drop in new cases. “I think it’s way too early to try to predict the beginning, the middle or the end of this epidemic right now,” Michael Ryan, head of WHO’s health emergency program, said at the agency’s daily news conference. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom […]
by Laurent THOMET Agence France Presse BEIJING, China (AFP) — The death toll from China’s new coronavirus epidemic climbed past 1,100 on Wednesday but the number of new cases fell for a second straight day, as the World Health Organization urged global unity to combat the “grave threat”. As Beijing scrambles to contain the virus, the number of people infected on a cruise ship off Japan’s coast rose to 174 — the biggest cluster […]
by Eva Xiao and Ludovic Ehret BEIJING, China (AFP) — Doctors on the frontline of China’s new coronavirus epidemic are facing a daunting task: treat an ever-growing number of infected patients and risk getting infected themselves due to a drastic shortage of masks and other protective equipment. Tired and understaffed, medical workers have had to deal with thousands of new cases per week in Wuhan, the city at the epicenter of the outbreak that first […]
by Miwa SUZUKI TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japanese lawmaker Yasuhiko Funago has a neurological disease that means he cannot speak and communicates by blinking to his carer or operating a computer system with his mouth. But he is demanding to be heard as he fights to improve the lives of people with disabilities in Japan, where many in the community complain of feeling “invisible”. “I was a corporate soldier before I had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis […]
by Su Xinqi HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Hotpot has become the latest casualty of the coronavirus outbreak after ten members of a family in Hong Kong became infected after sharing the dish, a much-loved favorite during winter. Comprised of a vat of soup at the center of a table, hotpot is a deeply communal dish. Those enjoying it dip a variety of meats, seafood, and vegetables into the bubbling broth which becomes more intense […]
MANCHESTER, United States (AFP) — Tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang, who campaigned on giving every adult American $1,000 a month, suspended his campaign for president Tuesday after failing to make an impact in the New Hampshire primary. “You know I am the math guy and it is clear tonight from the numbers that we are not going to win this race,” Yang told cheering supporters as he bowed out. “I am not someone who wants to […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Heavy rain has given hope to Australia’s drought-stricken regions, but scientists warned Tuesday sustained falls were needed to end a years-long dry spell. Stormy weather has brought days of chaos and destruction in the country’s east, with one man missing after his car was swept off a road in Sydney’s north and hundreds more rescued from floodwaters. In the small town of Stanthorpe, Queensland, Tracy Dobie said the rain had been […]
by Kyoko HASEGAWA TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — An additional 39 people on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship off the Japan coast have tested positive for the new coronavirus, authorities said Wednesday, as thousands more steel themselves for a second week in quarantine. The ship that originally had 3,700 passengers and crew onboard has become the largest single cluster of the newly named COVID-19 disease outside its origin in China, where it has killed more […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — The number of fatalities from China’s new coronavirus epidemic jumped to 1,110 nationwide on Wednesday after hard-hit Hubei province reported 94 new deaths. In its daily update, Hubei’s health commission also confirmed another 1,638 new cases in the central province, where the outbreak emerged in December. © Agence France-Presse
