International

China confirms 5,974 virus cases, exceeding nation’s SARS total; death toll jumps to 132

WUHAN, China (AFP) — The number of confirmed cases in the new virus outbreak in China reached 5,974 on Wednesday, overtaking the number of people infected in the mainland by the SARS epidemic in 2002-3. China’s national health commission reported more than 1,400 confirmed new cases on Wednesday, as the death toll rose to 132. There were 5,327 confirmed cases in mainland China during the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome epidemic. That outbreak killed more than […]

Germany confirms first human transmission of China virus; first human-to-human transmission in Europe

  A German man who contracted the novel strain of coronavirus was infected by a colleague visiting from China, officials said on Tuesday, in what appeared to be the first human-to-human transmission in Europe. Other confirmed cases in Europe of the viral outbreak have so far involved patients who had recently been to China. In this instance, the 33-year-old German attended a training session held by a visiting Chinese colleague on January 21 at the […]

Japan confirms virus in man who had not been to China; infected man just drove tourists from Wuhan

  TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japanese authorities said Tuesday a man with no recent travel to China has contracted the novel strain of coronavirus — apparently after driving tourists visiting from Wuhan, where a deadly outbreak began. The man in his sixties from Nara in western Japan drove two groups of Wuhan tourists earlier in January and was hospitalised on Saturday with flu-like symptoms, the health ministry said. Health Minister Katsunobu Kato said the country […]

In photos: Scenes of locust infestation threatening East Africa; UN warns numbers could double 500 times by June

      “Ravenous swarms” of desert locusts in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, already unprecedented in their size and destructive potential, threaten to ravage the entire East Africa subregion, the UN warned Monday. Recent weather in the region has created conditions that favour rapid reproduction of the crop-devouring insects. Left unchecked, their numbers could grow 500 times by June, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said. “The speed of the pest’s spread and the […]

US military jet crashes in Taliban territory in Afghanistan

  GHAZNI, Afghanistan (AFP) — A US military jet crashed in mountainous territory in eastern Afghanistan, where there is a heavy Taliban presence, the Pentagon confirmed Monday, rejecting the insurgents’ suggestions that it was shot down. Afghanistan US Forces spokesman Colonel Sonny Leggett confirmed in a statement that the aircraft was a US Bombardier E-11A, a type of jet used as a military airborne communications node in the region. “While the cause of crash is […]

Brazil region swept by floods and record rains faces muddy desolation

SABARÁ, Brazil (AFP) – Valeria PACHECO Elaine Almeida looked at her aunt’s ruined house in Sabará, a town in a southeastern region of Brazil where at least 45 people have died in floods that followed record rainfall. “The water rose more than two meters, she lost everything,” Almeida said. She and her aunt tried pushing the door of the house open, but the mud inside was so deep they had to give up. In Sabará, a […]

Japan to send evacuation plane to Wuhan on Tuesday: Motegi

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) –Japan will send a plane to the Chinese city of Wuhan later Tuesday to begin evacuating citizens from the center of a deadly virus outbreak, the country’s foreign minister said. “We have finalized arrangements, and the Chinese side has communicated to us that it is now ready to accept one chartered flight. Arrangements have been made to secure transportation to the airport,” Toshimitsu Motegi told reporters. “We will dispatch the first flight […]

Foreigners prepare to flee as China virus toll tops 100

by Leo RAMIREZ WUHAN, China (AFP) — The United States and other nations raced to get their citizens out of the locked-down Chinese city at ground-zero of a virus epidemic on Tuesday, as the death toll surged to 106 and the number of confirmed infections doubled to over 4,500. The deadly virus, which experts believe emanated from a wild animal market in the city of Wuhan last month, has triggered a desperate Chinese containment effort […]

Foreigners prepare to flee as China virus toll hits 106, confirmed infections over 4,500

  by Leo RAMIREZ Agence France Presse WUHAN, China (AFP) — The United States and other nations raced to get their citizens out of the locked-down Chinese city at ground-zero of a virus epidemic on Tuesday, as the death toll surged to 106 and the number of confirmed infections doubled to over 4,500. The deadly virus, which experts believe emanated from a wild animal market in the city of Wuhan last month, has triggered a […]

Madagascar flood victims struggle to pick up the pieces

MAROVOAY, Madagascar (AFP) – Gaëlle Borgia Muddy currents have submerged parts of the town of Marovoay in northwestern Madagascar, flooding homes, swirling rubbish around tree tops and killing dozens. A week of torrential rains have forced thousands to leave their homes, swept buildings away and cut off road links to the rest of the poor Indian Ocean island nation. All of Marovoay’s rice paddies have turned into swamps. “Everything has been swept away by the […]

The global spread of the coronavirus: Where is it?

BEIJING, China (AFP) — A virus similar to the SARS pathogen has claimed 106 lives since emerging in a market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, and spread around the world. Here are the places that have confirmed cases of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus: CHINA  As of Tuesday, more than 4,000 people have been infected across China, the bulk of them in and around Wuhan. Most of the 106 who have died were in […]

UK fishermen angling for big catch post Brexit

NORTH SHIELDS, United Kingdom (AFP) – Roland JACKSON / William EDWARDS Just before dawn, the Good Fellowship trawler casts its nets deep into the North Sea’s cold swirling waters, fishing for prawns off England’s northeast coast. Britain finally departs the European Union on Friday but remains bound by the bloc’s Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) until the end of a transition period on December 31. The Good Fellowship’s captain, David Shiel, is cautiously hopeful that Brexit […]