The effectiveness of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against Covid-19 declines faster than that of the AstraZeneca jab, according to a new study published on Thursday. “Two doses of Pfizer-BioNTech have greater initial effectiveness against new COVID-19 infections, but this declines faster compared with two doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca,” researchers at Oxford University said. The study, which has […]
Facebook said it shut down a campaign that sought to spread vaccine hoaxes by recruiting unwitting social network influencers — what the company called a San Francisco (AFP) – Facebook on Tuesday said it shut down a disinformation operation which sought to spread Covid-19 vaccine hoaxes by duping social media influencers into backing false claims. […]
Protests against Coronavirus policy in Brazil – A policeman pushes a man holding a camera during a protest against the Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro government’s policies during the pandemic, as the number of cases of the Delta variant continues to rise. – Andre Borges/ Thousands of people took to the streets throughout Brazil on Saturday […]
A new attempt at purifying New Delhi’s notoriously polluted air will see forty giant fans push out filtered air in the heart of the Indian capital’s posh downtown shopping district. But the $2 million “smog tower” has no shortage of doubters who say it will not help a city notorious for some of the world’s […]
PARIS (Reuters) -More than a hundred thousand people marched across France on Saturday to protest against President Emmanuel Macron’s plans to force vaccination of health workers and require a COVID-19 free certificate to enter places such as restaurants and cinemas. Macron this week announced sweeping measures to fight a rapid surge in coronavirus infections, which […]
Monsoon season in India – Commuters drive on a road during heavy rain. At least 26 people were killed after several homes collapsed in Mumbai following landslides triggered by heavy monsoon rains, officials said Sunday. The monsoon season in India lasts from June to September. – Sri Loganathan/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa At least 26 people were […]
MUMBAI (Reuters) – India said on Sunday it had temporarily brought back officials from its consulate in Kandahar, a major city in southern Afghanistan, as Taliban fighters continue to gain control amid the withdrawal of international forces. “Due to the intense fighting near Kandahar city, India-based personnel have been brought back for the time being,” […]
The global Covid-19 death toll has crossed four million, with the worst of the pandemic only just starting to hit some parts of the Asia-Pacific and cases rising again in the United States. The more infectious Delta virus variant is accelerating outbreaks, and while some nations have started easing restrictions, the World Health Organization warned […]
About 10 million Australians have been ordered into lockdown as Covid-19 spreads across the country, after Brisbane on Tuesday became the fourth major city to issue stay-at-home orders. The three-day snap lockdown for Brisbane, starting on Tuesday evening, comes on top of similar orders imposed in Sydney, Perth and Darwin residents in recent days. “These […]
A young Indian billionaire has admitted to cheating in a shock win over five-time chess world champion Viswanathan Anand, saying it was for “fun and charity”. Online brokerage firm founder Nikhil Kamath took on Anand during an online charity event on Sunday and caused quite a stir when he came out on top in a […]
Britain on Tuesday reported zero daily deaths from Covid-19 for the first time since July 30 last year despite a recent rise in cases linked to the Delta variant. According to the latest government figures, 127,782 people in the UK have died within 28 days of a positive test since the start of the pandemic […]
The coronavirus variant first detected in India has now been officially recorded in 53 territories, a World Health Organization report showed Wednesday. Additionally, the WHO has received information from unofficial sources that the B.1.617 variant has been found in seven other territories, figures in the UN health agency’s weekly epidemiological update showed, taking the total […]
Several thousand coronavirus patients in India have contracted a deadly and aggressive fungal infection, compounding the country’s woes as it reels from the pandemic. – What is the fungus? – Mucormycosis, dubbed “black fungus”, is caused by a mould found in soil and in decaying organic matter like rotting leaves, according to the US Centers […]
Special hospital wards will be set up in India’s capital New Delhi to fight ‘black fungus’, authorities said Thursday as the life-threatening infection surged among coronavirus patients. A rare disease in normal times, authorities say thousands have developed Mucormycosis — or black fungus — across India as it battles a Covid-19 wave that has killed […]
The Pfizer and Moderna Covid vaccines should remain highly effective against two coronavirus variants first identified in India, according to new research carried out by US scientists. The lab-based study was carried out by the NYU Grossman School of Medicine and NYU Langone Center and is considered preliminary because it has not yet been published […]
A surge in the coronavirus’ Indian variant is raising concerns in Britain, with some areas seeing a rise in infections and experts warning against loosening lockdown rules too soon. In Scotland, epidemiologist Deepti Gurdasani on Friday warned of a “loss of control” and urged the government not to lift restrictions prematurely, according to the PA […]
Indian authorities launched a probe Friday into the deaths of at least 18 elephants, as a leading conservationist raised doubts that the animals were killed by lightning. The dead herd was found in the hilly Kandali Proposed Reserve Forest in the northeastern India state of Assam on Thursday. Forest officials and a local lawmaker, Jitu […]
The World Health Organization on Monday classified a coronavirus mutation first detected in India as a “variant of concern” for global health, warning that it appears to be more contagious than other strains. Experts believe the variant, formally known as B.1.617, could be a key driving force behind the devastating coronavirus surge in India, which […]
The U.S. has sent a number of large military transport planes loaded with supplies, including desperately needed oxygen, to India for its lethal battle against COVID-19, a top security official said Sunday. India is home to more than a third of the world’s new COVID-19 cases, according to U.S. officials, and that grim tally soared […]
The percentage of people with favorable views of the United States has increased in at least a dozen countries since former President Donald Trump left office, according to a new poll released Tuesday. “President Joe Biden inherited a tarnished American image abroad when he took office on Jan. 20 following four years of President Donald […]
By Andrea Shalal WILMINGTON, Del. (Reuters) -The United States is deeply concerned by a massive surge in coronavirus cases in India and will race additional support to the Indian government and health care workers, a White House spokeswoman said on Saturday. “We are in active conversations at high levels and plan to quickly deploy additional […]
As campaigners worldwide continue their efforts to unleash live-saving vaccine patents and technology from the profitable control of major pharmaceutical corporations this week, new reporting by The Intercept details the “army of lobbyists” Big Pharma has aimed at U.S. lawmakers in order to kneecap the global push to lift intellectual property through a waiver at […]
India will lock down its capital New Delhi for a week from Monday night to try and control a raging coronavirus outbreak, as the hard-hit United States passed a hopeful milestone of giving at least one Covid-19 vaccine dose to half its adults. There was good news from Australia and New Zealand as well as […]
By Rajendra Jadhav and Aditya Kalra NEW DELHI (Reuters) -India’s capital New Delhi recorded 24,000 coronavirus cases in a 24-hour period and is facing an acute shortage of hospital beds, its chief minister said on Saturday, as the country overall recorded more than 200,000 cases for a third day. “The situation is very critical, worrying. […]
So far India has administered around 117 million shots Mumbai (AFP) – The head of the world’s largest vaccine maker directly tweeted US President Joe Biden on Friday urging him to lift an export ban on raw materials desperately needed to make more coronavirus shots. The unusual step by Serum Institute (SII) chief Adar Poonawalla […]
Hundreds of people have tested positive for coronavirus in India at the site of the world’s biggest religious festival, officials said Wednesday, as huge crowds of mostly maskless Hindu devotees descended on the River Ganges. The virus was detected in more than 1,000 people in just 48 hours in the city of Haridwar, which lies […]
Surging coronavirus cases in many parts of the world overshadowed the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan on Tuesday, with festivities curtailed by contagion fears. Europe, the worst-hit continent, passed the threshold of one million coronavirus deaths, while South Asian countries battle a spiraling outbreak of the disease that has crippled the global […]
Deadly small particle pollution in four of five nations exceeded World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations last year despite Covid lockdowns, according to a report released Tuesday. The partial or complete shutdown of transport and industry for months at a time in 2020 reduced average levels of so-called PM2.5 pollution across the world, including in major […]
By Devjyot Ghoshal CHAMPHAI, India (Reuters) – When Tha Peng was ordered to shoot at protesters with his submachine gun to disperse them in the Myanmar town of Khampat on Feb. 27, the police lance corporal said he refused. “The next day, an officer called to ask me if I will shoot,” he said. The […]
By Shilpa Jamkhandikar, Aditya Kalra and Euan Rocha MUMBAI (Reuters) – Controversy in India over Amazon’s political drama “Tandav” has put Bollywood and global video streaming giants on edge, prompting a closer scrutiny of scripts for possible offence to religious sentiments in a key growth market. Companies like Amazon’s Prime Video and Netflix are inspecting […]