Asia - The African Mirror

Jun

2023

African fruits exports boom

AFRICA is enjoying increased fruit exports to Europe, the United Kingdom and Asia, helping to fill a growing supply gap occasioned by low harvests in those markets, helped by increased production methods and yields across the continent. According to the EU Citrus Semi-Annual Report, the production of citrus fruits in Europe is expected to decrease by 10% in the 2022/23 season, with Spain experiencing the largest decline, and African producers are stepping in to fill the gap. The combined impact of insufficient spring rains, a warmer summer and drought experienced up to May 2023, the report said, have compromised the…

Aug

2021

By The African Mirror

Delta variant rampant in Asia; Tokyo, Thailand, Malaysia post record COVID infections

WORLD

THE Olympics host city Tokyo, as well as Thailand and Malaysia, has announced record COVID-19 infections, mostly driven by the highly transmissible Delta variant of the disease. Cases surged in Sydney as well, where police cordoned off the central business district to prevent a protest against a strict lockdown that will last until the end of August. Police in Sydney closed train stations, banned taxis from dropping passengers off downtown and deployed 1,000 officers to set up checkpoints and to disperse groups. The government of New South Wales reported 210 new infections in Sydney and surrounding areas from the Delta…

Jun

2021

By The African Mirror

US to share millions of vaccines

COVID-19

JEFF MASON THE White House has laid out a plan to share 55 million U.S. COVID-19 vaccine doses globally, with roughly 75% of the doses allocated to Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia and Africa through the COVAX international vaccine-sharing program. The plan fulfils President Joe Biden's commitment to share 80 million U.S.-made vaccines with countries around the world. The president sketched out his priorities for the first 25 million doses from that pledge earlier this month. "As we continue to fight the COVID-19 pandemic at home and work to end the pandemic worldwide, President Biden has promised that the…

Jan

2021

By The African Mirror

After a harrowing 2020, Asia tiptoes into the New Year

WORLD

AS Asia says goodbye to 2020 - a tumultuous year that saw the planet roiled by a deadly pandemic - celebrations will be smaller, shorter and more muted amid fears of coronavirus flare-ups. In Beijing, the capital of the world's most-populous country, an annual New Year light show at the China Central Television Tower scheduled for Thursday through Sunday has been called off. The Beijing Yonghe Lama Temple, a tourist site, has also cut the number of visitors allowed by half since Thursday. Many Chinese tourists are staying home or taking shorter domestic trips. The coronavirus emerged a year ago…