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TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan’s Okinawa region has declared a state of emergency and asked people to stay home for two weeks as the popular tourist destination sees an “explosive spread” of coronavirus cases. Governor Denny Tamaki on Friday asked residents to avoid non-essential outings following a record new daily addition to the southern island’s total cases, the majority of which have been detected among US forces based there. “We’re seeing an explosive spread of […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Donald Trump said Friday he will bar fast-growing social media app TikTok from the United States as American authorities have raised concerns the service could be a tool for Chinese intelligence. US officials and lawmakers in recent weeks have voiced fears of the wildly popular video platform being used by Beijing for nefarious purposes, but the company has denied any links to the Chinese government. Media reports circulated earlier […]
by Leila MACOR MIAMI, United States (AFP) — Hurricane Isaias lashed the Bahamas as it churned toward Florida, bringing new dangers to a US state suffering record deaths from an unrelenting coronavirus outbreak. The category one storm, packing winds of up to 85 miles (136 kilometers) an hour, gained strength after sweeping over the Dominican Republic. As of 0600 GMT Saturday, it was an expansive storm, moving northwest at a speed of 14 mph, kicking […]
by Shatha Yaish DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AFP) — The oil-rich United Arab Emirates on Saturday announced the startup of its Barakah nuclear power plant, scoring another first for the Arab world. The announcement, coinciding with the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, comes hot on the heels of the UAE’s launch of the Arab world’s first probe to Mars. “UAE first nuclear reactor at the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant has achieved first criticality and successfully […]
BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — Japan has signed a deal to secure 120 million doses of a potential coronavirus vaccine, German pharmaceutical group BioNTech, which is developing the drug with US pharma giant Pfizer, said Friday. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed, with BioNTech saying the terms were based on the timing of the delivery and volume of doses. But an agreement announced recently between the labs and the United States put the price […]
by Amber WANG TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — Taiwan’s former president Lee Teng-hui, who defied China and earned the nickname “Mr Democracy” for the part he played in the island’s transition away from authoritarian rule, has died. He was credited with paving the way for Taiwan to become a modern, free society after decades of one-party dictatorship and became a champion of the island’s bid to be treated as a sovereign state internationally. Lee had been […]
MIAMI, United States (AFP) — Hurricane Isaias was barreling towards Florida on Friday, a day after the state registered a record 253 coronavirus deaths and authorities closed down some COVID-19 testing centers to prepare for the looming storm. Florida has emerged as a major new epicenter of the US battle against the disease, with confirmed cases recently surpassing New York and now second only to California. The state toll has leapt over the past week […]
BUKAVU, DR Congo (AFP) — Health workers in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have launched a bid to vaccinate more than a million people against cholera in five days after their region was hit by heavy floods. Immunization teams have started fanning out in the territories of Fizi, Idjwi, Minova, Nundu and Uvira, near Lake Kivu and Lake Tanganyika, where cholera is endemic, Eugene Kabambi, of the DRC branch of the World Health Organization (WHO), […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan will from next week lift a ban on the re-entry of some foreign residents, imposed to limit the spread of coronavirus, the foreign ministry has announced. Up to 90,000 foreign nationals with residence permits, including students, business people and trainees, are currently stuck outside Japan after authorities banned re-entry from over 100 countries in response to the global pandemic. From August 5, those who left Japan before their destination countries […]
by Florence GOISNARD / with Jorge SVARTZMAN in Rio de Janeiro SAO PAULO, Brazil (AFP) — In Brazil, health care workers are on the front line of the coronavirus pandemic in more ways than one, treating patients but also volunteering to test some of the most promising experimental vaccines. Brazil is the country with the second-highest number of infections and deaths in the pandemic, after the United States, and the virus is still spreading quickly […]
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — Brazil registered record daily numbers of infections and deaths from the new coronavirus Wednesday, sending its overall death toll surging past 90,000 people. Despite the record figures, the government issued a decree reopening the country to foreign visitors arriving by plane, ending a four-month travel ban in hopes of reviving a lockdown-devastated tourism industry. Brazil, which has been hit harder than any country except the United States in the […]
MIAMI, United States (AFP) — A tropical storm warning was issued for Puerto Rico as still-forming Tropical Storm Isaias approached the Caribbean island, meteorologists said Tuesday. The storm is expected to touch down in Puerto Rico on Wednesday. The cyclone system is packing winds of 40 miles (65 kilometers) per hour, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC), which has not officially named the storm yet and has identified it as “Potential Tropical Cyclone Nine.” […]
