Category: WORLD NEWS

At the end of May, Chen Pei-jer, a member of an expert committee in Taiwan to evaluate COVID-19 vaccines for use on the island, resigned. Chen’s resignation came after he learned that Taiwan’s Food and Drug Administration planned to take a regulatory shortcut in approving two vaccines being developed in Taiwan. The shortcut would allow the shots to be given to people for emergency use before the vaccines have finished the final stage of testing. The proposed shortcut comes as Taiwan scrambles to get vaccines amid its worst outbreak of…

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Protests against President Jair Bolsonaro spread across Brazil on Saturday, a day after a Supreme Court justice authorised a criminal investigation into his response to allegations of potential corruption involving a vaccine deal. Demonstrators gathered by the hundreds or thousands in more than 40 cities to demand Bolsonaro’s impeachment or greater access to vaccines against COVID-19. “If we have a minute of silence for each COVID death, we would be quiet until June 2022,” read a poster held aloft by a man in Belem, the capital of Para state. More…

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Countries across Europe are scrambling to accelerate coronavirus vaccinations and outpace the spread of the more infectious delta variant, in a high-stakes race to prevent hospital wards from filling up again with patients fighting for their lives. The urgency coincides with Europe’s summer holiday months, with fair weather bringing more social gatherings and governments reluctant to clamp down on them. Social distancing is commonly neglected, especially among the young, and some countries are scrapping the requirement to wear masks outdoors. Incentives for people to get shots include free groceries, travel…

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Rescuers searching for a fifth day for survivors of a Florida condo building collapse used bucket brigades and heavy machinery Monday as they worked atop a precarious mound of pulverised concrete, twisted steel and the remnants of dozens of households. Authorities said their efforts were still a search-and-rescue operation, but no one has been found alive since hours after the collapse on Thursday. Two more bodies were recovered Monday, bringing the confirmed death toll to 11. More than 150 others are still missing in the community of Surfside, just outside…

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Aiming to preserve a fragile bipartisan deal on infrastructure, President Joe Biden endorsed it without hesitation Saturday, walking back from a threat to veto it if Congress also didn’t pass an even larger package to expand the social safety net. Biden said he didn’t mean to suggest in earlier remarks that he would veto the nearly USD 1 trillion infrastructure bill unless Congress also passed a broader package of investments that he and fellow Democrats aim to approve along party lines, the two together totalling some USD 4 trillion. Speaking…

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Parts of Sydney will go into lockdown late Friday as a coronavirus outbreak in Australia’s largest city continued to grow. Health authorities reported an additional 22 locally transmitted cases and imposed a weeklong lockdown in four areas, saying people could leave their homes only for essential purposes. The outbreak of the highly contagious delta variant was first detected last week, and 65 people have been infected. If you live or work in those local government areas, you need to stay at home unless absolutely necessary, said Gladys Berejiklian, the premier…

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Five years ago Wednesday, Britons voted in a referendum that was meant to bring certainty to the UK’s unsettled relationship with its European neighbors. Fat chance. Voters’ decision on June 23, 2016 was narrow but clear: By 52% to 48%, they chose to leave the European Union. It took over four years to actually make the break and the former partners are still bickering, like many divorced couples, over money and trust. And five years after a fractious referendum campaign that sparked family arguments and neighbourhood disputes, Britain is still…

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New Zealand’s medicines regulator Medsafe has granted provisional approval of the Pfizer vaccine for youth aged 12 to 15, and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern expects cabinet approval to follow next week. Once cabinet approves, 12-15-year-olds will become eligible for vaccination towards the end of the year, after older groups have had their turn. Although children are at lower risk of serious illness or death from COVID-19 than older people, it is still essential to vaccinate them for two reasons. First, if children catch the virus they can spread it to…

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Marine Le Pen’s far right party is riding high on her tough-on-security, stop-immigration message as French voters start choosing regional leaders Sunday in an election that’s seen as a dress rehearsal for next year’s presidential vote. President Emmanuel Macron’s young centrist party is expected to fare poorly, lacking a strong local political base and suffering from frustration at his government’s handling of the pandemic. Turnout in Sunday’s first round could hit a record low. Those who do show up to vote must stay masked and socially distanced and carry their…

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President Joe Biden is facing a formidable to-do list now that he’s back from his summit-filled trip to Europe, with pressing legislative challenges, foreign policy follow-up and a need to steer the country’s reopening as the coronavirus threat recedes. His overseas tour was meant to showcase the U.S. return to global leadership a central pledge of Biden’s 2020 campaign for the White House but he now faces a critical juncture for securing other planks of his agenda. From voting rights and immigration to his massive legislation on jobs and infrastructure,…

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