Beijing (AFP) April 9, 2022 China is battling its biggest spike in coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic, with millions under lockdown and the healthcare system feeling the pressure. One of the last countries sticking to a zero-Covid strategy, China aims to stamp out every infection with strict lockdowns and by sending all cases to secure facilities. That is placing a strain on … Continue reading China’s health system faces raft of challenges as Omicron hits

Washington (AFP) April 8, 2022 The United States on Friday authorized the “voluntary departure” of non-essential personnel from its consulate in Shanghai and recommended that Americans not travel to China due to tough Covid restrictions there. The families of all US personnel are also allowed to leave, the State Department said in a statement. The agency warned US citizens against traveling to Shanghai, China’s economhttp://dlvr.it/SNJ3nX Continue reading US OKs departure of non-essential personnel from Shanghai due to Covid

Shanghai (AFP) April 9, 2022 The United States on Saturday warned of “arbitrary” Covid-19 measures in China and said it would let some staff leave its Shanghai consulate amid a surge of infections in the locked-down megacity. Until March, China had kept cases low with snap lockdowns, mass testing and travel restrictions, but more than 100,000 cases have been reported in Shanghai since March in … Continue reading US warns of ‘arbitrary’ Covid measures in China

New York (AFP) March 22, 2022 Cotton prices rose to their highest level in more than a decade on Monday, due to a prolonged drought in parts of the central United States. The plant fiber reached $1.3171 per pound (about 453 grams) on the key US futures contract, the highest since July 2011. Rainfall has been exceptionally low since early January in the northwest part … Continue reading US drought pushes cotton prices to ten-year high

Mougon, France (AFP) March 23, 2022 In a field in western France, the small purple and white flowers quivering among tender shoots of wheat are a clue that this is not conventional single-crop farmland. In fact, this whole area is part of scientific work to help farmers cut down on their use of pesticides, herbicides and chemical fertilisers. “I felt that these products were dangerous,” … Continue reading The scientists helping farmers kick the chemical habit

Washington (AFP) March 23, 2022 A large tornado destroyed homes and claimed at least one life near the US city of New Orleans on Tuesday night, according to media reports. “Large tornado on the ground in New Orleans! Take shelter now!” tweeted the National Weather Service’s local office at 8:35 pm local time (0235 GMT). “Severe damage to homes” was reported in Arabi, an eastern … Continue reading Tornado kills at least 1, destroys homes near US city of New Orleans

Paris (AFP) March 19, 2022 Eastern Antarctica has recorded exceptionally high temperatures this week, more than 30 degrees Celsius above normal, say experts. The Concordia research base at Dome C of the Antarctic, which is at an altitude of 3,000 metres (9,800 feet), on Friday registered a record -11.5 degrees Celsius (11.3 Fahrenheit), Etienne Kapikian, a meteorologist from France-Meteo tweeted. Normally, temperahttp://dlvr.it/SM2TpS Continue reading Antarctica hits record temperatures, say experts

Sulaimaniyah, Iraq (AFP) March 20, 2022 A woman burned alive by her husband, others shot dead by a father or a teenage brother – bloody violence against women has spiked in northern Iraq’s Kurdish region. The autonomous area, keen on projecting an image of a relative haven of stability and tolerance in war-battered Iraq, has seen a sharp rise in femicide, killings motivated by gender. … Continue reading Deadly attacks on women rise sharply in Iraqi Kurdistan

Lviv, Ukraine (AFP) March 18, 2022 Ukraine on Friday said “hundreds” of civilians were trapped in the wreckage of a theatre bombed by Russia, as the United States demanded China get tough with its “war criminal” allies in the Kremlin. Russian missiles struck an aircraft repair site close to Lviv’s airport in Ukraine’s far west, extending the war to a relatively unscathed region near the … Continue reading Ukraine fears hundreds trapped in razed theatre as US presses China

Shanghai (AFP) March 19, 2022 China reported two Covid-19 deaths on Saturday, its first in more than a year, underlining the threat posed by an Omicron outbreak that has triggered the country’s highest case count since the pandemic’s onset. The National Health Commission said both deaths occurred in Jilin, the northeastern province which has been hardest hit by a nationwide rise in cases that has … Continue reading China reports two Covid-19 deaths, first in more than a year