Global COVID-19 infections have surpassed 10 million as the rate of new cases surges, an Agence France-Presse (AFP) tally yesterday showed.
One million new cases were recorded in only six days, while the worldwide death toll is also nearing 500,000.
The US, the hardest hit country, has surpassed 2.5 million cases alone.
Photo: Reuters
Infections are also up in some other parts of the world that have reopened, with Europe now registering more than 2.6 million, according to the AFP tally based on official sources.
New clusters of cases at a Swiss nightclub and in the central English city of Leicester showed that the virus is still circulating widely in Europe, while experts say all the figures significantly undercount the true toll, due to limited testing and missed mild cases.
On Saturday alone the US recorded more than 43,000 new cases, a tally by Johns Hopkins University showed. US deaths exceed 125,000, about one-quarter the world total.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican, has conceded there has been an “explosion” in new cases in his state, which on Saturday recorded 9,585 cases in 24 hours, a new daily record.
US President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign has confirmed that events featuring Vice President Mike Pence in Arizona and Florida this week have been postponed “out of an abundance of caution.”
Russia yesterday recorded 6,791 new cases, bringing its confirmed infections to more than 634,000, the third-highest number in the world after the US and Brazil.
Brazil recorded 990 deaths on Saturday, the highest toll in the world that day, while Mexico recorded the second-highest at 719.
The EU on Saturday pushed back a final decision on a list of “safe countries” from which travelers can visit Europe.
Meanwhile music stars and groups, including Coldplay and Jennifer Hudson, on Saturday lent support to a European Commission-led drive that raised 6.15 billion euros (US$6.9 billion) to support vaccine research and help make it available to poorer nations.
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
IMPORTANT BACKER: China seeks to expel US influence from the Indo-Pacific region and supplant Washington as the global leader, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said China is preparing for war to seize Taiwan, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said in Washington on Friday, warning that Taiwan’s fall would trigger a regional “domino effect” endangering US security. In a speech titled “Maintaining the Peaceful and Stable Status Quo Across the Taiwan Strait is in Line with the Shared Interests of Taiwan and the United States,” Chiu said Taiwan’s strategic importance is “closely tied” to US interests. Geopolitically, Taiwan sits in a “core position” in the first island chain — an arc stretching from Japan, through Taiwan and the Philippines, to Borneo, which is shared by
RSS