Fears of ‘chaos’ as Italy adopts tough Covid pass regime

ROME (AFP) - Italy will require all workers to show a coronavirus health pass from Friday, one of the world‘s toughest anti-Covid regimes that has already sparked riots and which many fear will cause “chaos”. 　More than 85 percent of Italians over the age of 12 have received at least one shot of a Covid-19 vaccine, making them eligible for the so-called Green Pass certificate. 　But according to various estimates, about 2.5 million of the country’s 23 million workers

Oct. 13, 2021

Facing high debt, countries must ‘calibrate’ spending: IMF

WASHINGTON (AFP) - After debt loads surged last year amid the pandemic, governments now must take care to “calibrate” spending, the IMF said Wednesday. 　Global debt in 2020, including public and private borrowing, “jumped by 14 percent to a record high $226 trillion,” according to the International Monetary Fund‘s Fiscal Monitor report. 　Public debt amounts to $88 trillion, close to 100 percent of GDP, and is expected to decline only gradually, said Vitor Gaspar

Oct. 13, 2021

[Interactive] Child labor swells for first time in two decades: UN

  The world has marked the first rise in child labor in two decades and the coronavirus crisis threatens to push millions more youngsters toward the same fate, the United Nations said. In a joint report, the International Labor Organization and the UN children’s agency UNICEF said the number in child labor stood at 160 million at the start of 2020 - an increase of 8.4 million in four years. The hike began before the pandemic hit and marks a dramatic reversal of a downward trend that h

Oct. 13, 2021

How India marshalled its resources to contain deadly COVID wave

NEW DELHI -- Strong political leadership and earnest implementation of policies by a committed bureaucracy have been two key factors in India’s relative success in containing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, a senior health official said. The two key factors, along with the strategy of regular testing for COVID-19 and vaccination, are the weapons that India and other countries can use to stave off a possible third wave, said Pratyaya Amrit, additional chief secretary at the Health Dep

Oct. 12, 2021

[Interactive] Taliban's return casts shadows over Afghan women's fate

Oct. 5, 2021

In R. Kelly verdict, Black women see long-overdue justice

For years, decades even, allegations swirled that R&B superstar R. Kelly was abusing young women and girls, with seeming impunity. They were mostly young Black women. And Black girls.  And that, say accusers and others who have called for him to face accountability, is part of what took the wheels of the criminal justice system so long to turn, finally leading to his conviction Monday in his sex trafficking trial. That it did at all, they say, is also due to the efforts of Black women

Sept. 28, 2021

Japan to lift all coronavirus emergency steps nationwide

Japan's government announced Tuesday that the coronavirus state of emergency will end this week to help rejuvenate the economy as infections slow. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said the emergency will end Thursday and virus restrictions will be eased gradually "in order to resume daily lives despite the presence of the virus." He said the government will create more temporary COVID-19 treatment facilities and continue vaccinations to prepare for any future resurgence. Government offi

Sept. 28, 2021

China's factories, households grapple with power cuts

Global shoppers face possible shortages of smartphones and other goods ahead of Christmas after power cuts to meet government energy use targets forced Chinese factories to shut down and left some households in the dark. In the northeastern city of Liaoyang, 23 people were hospitalized with gas poisoning after ventilation in a metal casting factory was shut off following a power outage, according to state broadcaster CCTV. No deaths were reported. A components supplier for Apple Inc.'s iPhone

Sept. 27, 2021

UK climate activists block entrance to Dover ferry port

LONDON (AP) -- Climate protesters blocked the entrance to Britain's busiest ferry port on Friday to highlight the climate crisis and fuel poverty in the UK. Vehicles were stuck in queues as more than 40 protesters from the climate group Insulate Britain blocked the main road into the English Channel port. The Port of Dover is Europe's busiest ferry port and handles 17 percent of the UK's trade in goods. "Port of Dover confirms protesters are currently blocking the entrance to the port,&qu

Sept. 24, 2021

Hazara farmers say Taliban have ordered them off their lands

KABUL (AFP) -- Residents of a Hazara-dominated farming community in central Afghanistan say they have been ordered out of their homes by Taliban fighters doing the bidding of Pashtun landlords who want to seize their crops and stores. Mohammad Mohaqeq, a Hazara political leader exiled since the Taliban takeover last month, raised the alarm earlier this week in a letter published on social media. He said more than 800 families had been ordered out of their homes in a remote district straddling

Sept. 24, 2021

US special envoy to Haiti resigns over migrant expulsions

The Biden administration's special envoy to Haiti resigned in protest of "inhumane" large-scale expulsions of Haitian migrants to their homeland as it is wracked by civil strife and natural disaster, US officials said Thursday. Daniel Foote was appointed to the position only in July, following the assassination of Haiti's President Jovenel Moise. Even before the migrant expulsions from the small Texas border town of Del Rio, the career diplomat was known to be deeply frustrated with w

Sept. 24, 2021

[Photo News] ‘Fashion’s biggest night out’

Met Gala, also known as the “fashion’s biggest night out”, is an iconic event in the fashion industry. After the cancelation last year due to the coronavirus crisis, the annual gala was postponed from May to September as virus infections showed no signs of slowing down. The Met Gala was first held by Vogue in 1948 to fundraise for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Under the theme of “American Fashion,” the hottest movie stars, models, and numerous inf

Sept. 19, 2021

UN nuclear agency reaches deal with Iran on surveillance equipment

VIENNA (AFP) -- Iran and the UN nuclear agency said Sunday they have agreed to allow inspectors to service the agency‘s surveillance equipment as Tehran has restricted access since earlier this year. “IAEA’s inspectors are permitted to service the identified equipment and replace their storage media which will be kept under the joint IAEA and (Iran‘s) AEOI seals in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The way and the timing are agreed by the two sides,” they said in a j

Sept. 12, 2021

Taliban say will allow women at universities, but mixed classes banned

KABUL (AFP) -- Afghan women will be allowed to attend university as long as they study separately from men, the Taliban‘s new higher education minister said Sunday. Women’s rights in Afghanistan were sharply curtailed under the Taliban’s 1996-2001 rule, though since returning to power last month the hardline Islamists have claimed they will implement a less extreme rule. But speaking to reporters about the new regime’s plans for the country‘s education, Minister

Sept. 12, 2021

Hong Kong police raid shuttered Tiananmen museum

HONG KONG (AFP) -- Hong Kong police on Thursday raided a museum that houses exhibits commemorating Beijing‘s deadly crackdown on Tiananmen Square in 1989, a day after they arrested four members of the group that ran the venue. The raid came as police accused one of the four arrestees -- prominent barrister Chow Hang-tung, vice-chairwoman of the group -- of inciting subversion, according to Chow’s lawyers and relatives. Officers from the newly created national security unit w

Sept. 9, 2021

Sri Lanka asks women to delay pregnancy over Covid risks

COLOMBO (AFP) - Sri Lankan women were urged to delay getting pregnant after more than 40 expectant mothers died of Covid-19 in four months, the health ministry said Thursday. 　The island nation, which recorded its first maternal coronavirus death in May, is battling a spike in Delta variant infections after travel restrictions were eased for local new year celebrations in mid-April. 　“Usually, we have 90 to 100 maternal deaths a year, but since the start of the third wave we have record

Sept. 9, 2021

[Photo News] Hurricane Ida pummels US East Coast

Hurricane Ida originated from the Caribbean sea on Aug. 26. After drenching Cuba on Aug. 27, Ida made landfall in Louisiana. The hurricane then barreled into New York and New Jersey, causing flash flooding and claiming lives. The National Weather Service in the US announced a “flash flood emergency” in New York City for the first time in history, with Central Park in Manhattan recording 7.9 centimeters of rain in an hour. The hurricane has halted hundreds of flights to New York

Sept. 4, 2021

IS claims rocket attack on Kabul airport: statement

The Islamic State-Khorasan group claimed a rocket attack Monday on the airport in Afghanistan's capital. "The soldiers of the caliphate targeted Kabul's international airport with six... rockets," the group said in a statement. The rockets fell as US troops were racing to complete their withdrawal from Afghanistan and evacuate allies. President Joe Biden has set a deadline of Tuesday to withdraw all US forces from Afghanistan, drawing to a close his nation's longest military conflic

Aug. 30, 2021

Rockets fired at Kabul airport as US troops pull out

Rockets were fired at Kabul's airport on Monday where US troops were racing to complete their withdrawal from Afghanistan and evacuate allies under the threat of Islamic State group attacks. President Joe Biden has set a deadline of Tuesday to withdraw all US forces from Afghanistan, drawing to a close his nation's longest military conflict, which began in retaliation for the September 11 attacks. The return of the hardline Islamist Taliban movement, which was toppled in 2001 but took back pow

Aug. 30, 2021

[Photo News] Sea Turtles Returning to Their Native Sea

Hanwha Aqua Planet officials send sea turtles back to their homes at the Sea Turtle Discharge Event on Thursday, hosted by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. Hanwha Aqua Planet officials and observers watch a sea turtle waddling to the waters of Jungmun Saekdal Beach in Jeju Island. Hanwha Aqua Planet officials gently place sea turtles onto the sand for the first time. Hanwha Aqua Planet officials carefully examine the sea turtles one last time before releasing them back home. (Photos: Y

Aug. 28, 2021