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BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — The European Union said Thursday it had reserved up to 400 million doses of a potential new coronavirus vaccine being developed by US giant Johnson & Johnson. Preliminary talks concluded Friday for a first purchase of 200 million doses followed by an equal number later, a statement said. “The envisaged contract with Johnson & Johnson would provide for the possibility for all EU Member States to purchase the vaccine, as well […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — Temperature checks, hand sanitizers, and face masks are being enforced across Pyongyang’s public transport system as North Korea intensifies its fight against the coronavirus pandemic. North Korea — whose crumbling health system would struggle to cope with a major outbreak — has long insisted it has not had cases of the disease. But it raised its state of emergency to the maximum level in July, saying it had discovered what […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — The head of a remote Russian region on Thursday said that herders and other residents of two districts on the border with Mongolia should be vaccinated against bubonic plague. The order was issued after Mongolia’s health ministry said Wednesday that bubonic plague killed a man in the country’s west. It was the latest in a handful of cases to emerge there and in neighboring China this year. The leader of the […]
EDINBURGH, United Kingdom (AFP) — Investigators were seeking answers Thursday over why a train derailed in northeast Scotland, killing the driver, conductor and a passenger. The 06:38 am passenger service from Aberdeen to Glasgow came off the tracks on Wednesday morning near the town of Stonehaven, which had been hit by flooding following heavy rain. Six people were hospitalized with minor injuries and police said the train had fortunately not been busy, with media reports […]
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — Indonesia’s Mount Sinabung erupted again Thursday with a string of blasts that sent plumes of ash two kilometres (1.2 miles) into the sky, triggering a flight warning and fears of lava flows. The activity marked at least the eighth time that the rumbling volcano on Sumatra island has erupted in less than a week, although there were no injures or major damage reported. Authorities issued a warning to planes flying near […]
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AFP) — New Zealand rushed to track the source of a sudden return of the coronavirus Thursday as the number of new cases in its biggest city rose to 17 and officials warned more infections were inevitable. National health chief Ashley Bloomfield said there were 13 new confirmed infections in Auckland, all linked to four family members found on Tuesday, ending the country’s record of 102 days without community transmission. The surge […]
BRASILIA, Brazil (AFP) — The Brazilian state of Parana signed a deal Wednesday to test and produce Russia’s new coronavirus vaccine, though officials stressed they would have to be sure of its safety and effectiveness first. The vaccine would have to receive Brazilian regulatory approval and complete Phase 3 clinical trials, or large-scale testing in humans, before being produced in Brazil, said officials from the southern state. Production, if it goes ahead, would likely only […]
LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — A fast-moving brush fire north of Los Angeles prompted mandatory evacuation orders for some 500 homes on Wednesday as firefighters battled the flames that had burned 10,000 acres by early evening, authorities said. The Lake Fire erupted at around 3:30 pm (2230 GMT) near Lake Hughes, about a 90-minute drive from Los Angeles. Rapidly-spreading flames had scorched some 10,000 acres (4,050 hectares) within a little more than three hours, […]
NAIROBI, Kenya (AFP) — A shallow 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck southeast of the Tanzanian financial centre of Dar es Salaam late Wednesday, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said. The offshore quake struck at a depth of 15.5 kilometers (9.6 miles) just after 8 pm (1700 GMT) local time. The epicenter was 66 kilometers southeast of Vikindu, USGS said. Vikindu is just outside Dar es Salaam. There were no immediate reports of damage, but the tremor […]
WILMINGTON, United States (AFP) — Democratic White House hopeful Joe Biden and his vice presidential pick Kamala Harris — the first black woman tapped by a major party for the post — rolled out their campaign Wednesday with a call to restore a broken nation. Biden, speaking alongside Harris in his Delaware hometown of Wilmington, said it was time after one term of President Donald Trump to “rebuild this country.” “Everything we care about,” Harris […]
LONDON, United States (AFP) — A passenger train derailed in northeast Scotland on Wednesday, with reports of “serious injuries” in what First Minister Nicola Sturgeon described as “an extremely serious incident”. The crash, close to the town of Stonehaven around 25 kilometers (15 miles) south of Aberdeen, followed severe flooding across parts of the region overnight. Smoke could be seen rising from the scene in pictures broadcast on television news channels. “The emergency services are […]
ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia (AFP) — Bubonic plague has killed a man in western Mongolia, the country’s health ministry said Wednesday, the latest in a handful of cases to emerge there and in neighbouring China this year. At least one person dies of the plague every year in the landlocked Asian country, where the rare bacterial disease is usually spread by fleas clinging to the hair of the marmots native to the region. The government has responded […]
