WELLINGTON -- A strong 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck off the east of New Zealand’s North Island on Friday, prompting a tsunami warning that was later withdrawn, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre (PTWC) said, although residents were asked to stay alert. “There is no longer a tsunami threat from this earthquake,” PTWC said in a statement. There were no immediate reports of damage, but the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) advised people in some coastal areas to move immediately to high ground.. Local civil defence authorities said the tsunami threat would continue for several hours. “Coastal inundation (flooding of land areas) is expected in areas under Land and Marine threat,” NEMA said in a tweet. The closest major city to the epicentre is Gisborne with a population of about 35,500. People near the coast from Cape Runaway to Tolaga Bay were told to evacuate. “Hope everyone is ok out there - especially on the East Coast who would have felt the full force of that earthquake,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern posted on Instagram. There was threat to the capital Wellington and other regions, but civil defence authorities asked residents across the country to stay away from beaches and marine areas as there could be strong and unusual currents. More than 60,000 people reported feeling the quake on GeoNet’s website, with 282 describing the shaking as “severe” and 75 saying it was “extreme”. Most others described it as light. Aftershocks were still being recorded in the area. …
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World News in Brief: March 4
* Mainland China reported 10 new cases on March 3, matching the figure from a day earlier, the country's national health authority said. * New infections of COVID-19 are dropping in the United States, Canada and Mexico, but in Latin America vaccinations have hardly begun, raising the risk of dangerous new variants emerging, the Pan American Health Organization said. * Brazil's economy shrank by 4.1% last year due to the pandemic, its worst drop in decades, as a devastating second wave threatens to cut short a stronger-than-expected rebound at the end of 2020. * The US Senate is expected to begin debating President Joe Biden's US$1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package on Thursday after agreeing to phase out payments to higher-income Americans in a compromise with moderate Democratic senators. * Europe's medicines regulator said it has started an ongoing review of the Sputnik V vaccine developed by Russia's Gamaleya Institute for possible approval in the region, while the European Commission said that there were no talks under way to buy Russia's vaccine. * Chancellor Angela Merkel and German state leaders have agreed a phased easing of coronavirus curbs along with an "emergency brake" to let authorities reimpose restrictions if case numbers spike again, while France is preparing for a possible easing of restrictions from mid-April. * Italy will administer a single vaccine dose to those who have already been infected with COVID-19, the health ministry said. * Hungary will close all shops except foodstores and pharmacies and shift to remote learning in primary schools as cases are spreading fast. * Brazil set a daily record for COVID-19 deaths for a second straight day on Wednesday, as a resurgence of the virus led Sao Paulo state to shutter businesses and the government to try to clinch vaccine deals with Pfizer and Janssen. * Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro said authorities have detected the Brazilian variant of the coronavirus in the country. …
VIETNAM NEWS HEADLINES MARCH 3
Clip expresses gratitude toward doctors in COVID-19 fight A video clip comprising a series of paintings by children on doctors, who are called intimately as white blouse warriors during the COVID-19 fight, has been published recently by the Ministry of Health. The paintings by child artists are part of a campaign initiated by the Vietnamese Ministry of Health and United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). They depict doctors as white-blouse soldiers who have relentlessly fought against the pandemic, through which children’s gratitude toward health workers is expressed. The video also conveys a message of solidarity in the fight against COVID-19./. 110 foreign experts to be isolated for COVID-19 combat The administration of Quang Ngai province, central Vietnam, has outlined plans to put a total of 110 foreign experts into isolation in concentrated places in an effort to prevent the potential spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The foreign experts are scheduled to pass though Huu Nghi international border gate in the northern province of Lang Son and then travel to Quang Ngai to work for Hoa Phat Dung Quat Iron and Steel Integrated Complex. The provincial administration requested relevant agencies to create favourable condition for the experts during their travel and quarantine back in Quang Ngai. At present, Quang Ngai is yet to record any positive COVID-19 cases this year, although local authorities have advised relevant agencies to closely control people entering from COVID-19 hotspots in the fight against the virus. Cases that violate the Health Ministry’s COVID-19 prevention and control measures will be punished, whilst local medical workers will take samples for testing of relevant cases, especially foreigners currently working in Quang Ngai. Daily Mail hails Vietnamese driver as hero after saving life of local girl The Daily Mail newspaper of the UK has posted an article hailing the bravery of a local delivery …
