Portugal

Official data showed that the expenditure on the country’s health system increased by 11.3 percent in January 2021 compared to the same period last year, with most of it being paid for professionals and medical equipment.

The Ministry of Health has reported having contracted 981 hospital beds by the end of January this year, with 745 beds from the private and social sectors and 236 from the Armed Forces.

The number of ventilators for the treatment of COVID-19 patients has almost doubled, now totaling 2,216 pieces of equipment available through the health system.

Beds in intensive care units more than tripled, rising from 431 beds in January 2020 to 1,411 on Feb. 10 this year.

According to the latest data from the Directorate-General for Health, Portugal currently has 861,922 people vaccinated against the coronavirus: 596,812 with the first dose and 265,110 with the second dose.

Portugal’s confirmed COVID-19 cases stood now at 804,562.

As the world is struggling to contain the pandemic, vaccination is underway in some countries with the already-authorized coronavirus vaccines.

Meanwhile, 255 candidate vaccines are still being developed worldwide — 73 of them in clinical trials — in countries including Germany, China, Russia, Britain, and the United States, according to information released by the World Health Organization on Feb. 23.

AFP

A sensational overhead strike from Real Madrid substitute Gareth Bale and two calamitous errors by Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius gave the Spanish side a third straight Champions League title with a 3-1 win in an incident-packed final on Saturday.

Welshman Bale came on just past the hour with the score at 1-1 and after three minutes produced an astonishing bicycle kick finish and then netted with a speculative long-range effort that somehow went through the hands of the unfortunate Karius.

The German keeper had earlier handed Real a 51st minute lead when he threw the ball straight at striker Karim Benzema and the ball rolled into the unguarded net off the Frenchman’s leg.

“Great emotions. To lift three Champions League trophies with this club, this team is magnificent,” said Real’s Zinedine Zidane, who became the first coach to win Europe’s top trophy in three consecutive years. “We don’t quite realize what we have achieved yet. We are going to enjoy the moment. “

Liverpool, who crucially lost their leading scorer Mohamed Salah to a suspected dislocated shoulder in the 31st minute, had equalized in the 55th minute when Sadio Mane found the net from close range after Dejan Lovren headed the ball into the area.

In truth, though, despite their best efforts Liverpool never looked as much of a threat once Egyptian international Salah went down under a challenge from Real captain Sergio Ramos.

“We started well and played exactly like we wanted to,” said Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp, who has now lost his last six finals as a coach.

“The situation with Sergio Ramos (and Salah) looked really bad and it was a shock for the team, we lost the positive momentum and they immediately came up,” he said.

It was a night which confirmed Real’s ability to superbly manage the biggest of games.

Bale, who has not been first-choice at Real this season and whose future has been the subject of much speculation, was man of the match while 24-year-old Karius ended the night in tears as he lay flat out on the turf of the NSC Olympic Stadium.

Real have become the first team since Bayern Munich in 1976 to win Europe’s elite club trophy three years in a row. The Spaniards won five straight European Cup trophies in the 1950s.

Deserved triumph

Real’s fourth Champions League triumph in five years, and 13th European Cup success in total, was fully deserved despite Liverpool, the competition’s top scorers this season, making an aggressive start to the game in an electric atmosphere.

The English side attacked with intent and Trent Alexander-Arnold tested Navas with a low drive but Real looked in charge following the departure, in tears, of Salah.

Real had their own injury blow with right-back Dani Carvajal having to go off, replaced by Nacho in the 37th, and ended the half with Benzema’s effort being disallowed for offside after Cristiano Ronaldo’s header was saved by Karius.

France striker Benzema was to get compensation though when he was alert to Karius’s ill-advised attempt to throw the ball out quickly, although Real’s lead lasted just four minutes.

Liverpool’s Senegal forward Mane was sharp to react when Lovren rose to head the ball goalwards and their traveling fans sensed the Anfield side’s spirit could turn the game around.

But then came Bale, leaping to produce a jaw-dropping left-foot overhead volley from Marcelo’s cross before trying his luck with a speculative long-range shot that defied Karius’s ham-fisted attempt to keep it out and put the result beyond doubt.

In between Liverpool’s Senegal forward Mane hit the post from the edge of the area as Liverpool, lacking their usual attacking potency in the absence of Salah, continued to battle.

Ronaldo, who now has five Champions League winners medals, could have added a fourth goal for Real near the end but the Portugal forward was distracted as he burst goalwards when a fan ran onto the pitch before being stopped by security.

This time it was Bale who had grabbed all the headlines as Real and Zidane continued their continental dominance.

PM joins G20 leaders’ video conference on COVID-19 combat

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc joined a G20 leaders’ video conference on COVID-19 prevention and control, held on the evening of March 26, as an initiative by Saudi Arabia which holds the presidency of G20.

The event featured the participation of leaders of G20 member nations and representatives from international organisations, including the UN, the WB, the IMF, the WTO, the WHO, the OECD and the ILO. In his address, PM Phuc stressed the significance of international and regional solidarity, cooperation and coordination in combatting the epidemic, while affirming Vietnam’s determination and commitment in the field.

NA Standing Committee convenes 43rd session

NA Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan speaks at the session. (Photo: VNA)

The 43 ^rd session of the National Assembly Standing Committee (NASC) took place in Hanoi from March 23-25 under the chair of NA Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan.

During the three-day sitting, the NASC listened to Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam’s report on the Covid-19 epidemic situation along with solutions and plans to prevent and combat the epidemic in Vietnam. Lawmakers also looked into and commented on a number of draft laws on which different views remain.

Google Doodle honours Vietnamese iconic ‘ banh mi’

Google Doodle honours Vietnamese iconic ‘banh mi’.

Search engine giant Google released its latest doodle on March 24, featuring the savoury and satisfying Vietnamese street-food sandwich known as ‘b anh mi ’ to mark nine years since banh mi was admitted into the Oxford English Dictionary.

In its description, Google hailed ‘ banh mi ’ as a smorgasbord of flavours that represents a true melting pot of cultures and ingredients alike. Together with ‘ pho’ , ‘ banh mi ’ is an iconic dish representing Vietnamese cuisine that has won the favour of eateries worldwide over the past few decades. The baguette has been introduced in many foreign newspapers, TV food shows, travel shows, food blogs, and social media.

Vietsovpetro joins International Maritime Contractors Association

Vietsovpetro is certified as a member of the International Maritime Contractors Association (IMCA). (Photo: Vietsovpetro)

Vietnam-Russia oil and gas joint venture (Vietsovpetro) has officially become a member of the International Maritime Contractors Association (IMCA), a leading trade association which represents the vast majority of contractors and the associated supply chain in the offshore marine construction industry worldwide.

This is an important milestone affirming Vietsovpetro’s brand in providing offshore marine services in the domestic and international markets. As a member of IMCA, Vietsovpetro will receive consultancy from the IMCA to effectively and professionally providing underground survey services to both external and internal projects.

Vietnam wins ASEAN Tourism Awards Japan 2019

Two tourism products in Vietnam, including the tour “Discover Vietnam in Style with Vietnam Airlines’ Business Class” and the tour “For Female Solo Travelers, a Panoramic Experience in Vietnam”, have triumphed at the ASEAN Tourism Awards Japan 2019 – an annual ceremony organised by the ASEAN-Japan Centre.

The products selected are attractive to international holidaymakers because they introduce cultural identities from across many regions in Vietnam via food and art performances. They are especially suitable for young explorers.

Ten Outstanding Vietnamese Young Faces of 2019 honoured

The award winners honoured at the ceremony. (Photo: Nhu Y)

Ten Outstanding Vietnamese Young Faces and ten Promising Young Faces of 2019 were honoured at a ceremony held by the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union Central Committee in Hanoi on March 25.

The annual award aims to honour outstanding Vietnamese youths under 35 years old who have made excellent achievements or contributions to the community in various areas. At the ceremony, the 20 award winners donated VND100 million (US$4,320) of the prize money to support the fight against the COVID-19 epidemic and VND100 million to support farmers affected by drought and saltwater intrusion.

Vietnam ranks 83rd in World Happiness Report 2020

Illustrative image (Photo: http://www.cpcs.vn/)

Vietnam has been ranked 83rd out of 156 countries in the latest World Happiness Report 2020 released recently by the United Nations, up 11 places compared to last year.

The special focus of the 2020 report was on the environment for happiness, which emphasizes more specifically on social, urban and natural environments for happiness. Finland topped the ranking, closely followed by Denmark, Switzerland and Iceland.

Vietnamese striker Le Cong Vinh named “ASEAN legend”

Vietnamese striker Le Cong Vinh has been named as one of the five ASEAN legends by the AFC.

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has honoured Vietnamese striker Le Cong Vinh as one of five ASEAN legends on its Facebook page, alongside midfielder Kiatisuk Senamuang of Thailand, defender Soh Chin Aun of Malaysia, striker Bambang Pamungkas of Indonesia and Filipino goalkeeper Neil Etheridge.

Vinh won 85 national team caps from 2004-2016 and netted 51 goals, making him one of top five scorers in Southeast Asia. He also has the most caps and goals in the history of the Vietnamese national team. Vinh, now 34, was the first Vietnamese footballer to play abroad and the first to play in Europe. He played for Leixoes SC in Portugal in 2009 and Consadole Sapporo in Japan in 2013.

* Two new COVID-19 variants, one of which has been classified as a “concern”, have been identified in England with some similarities to the South African and Brazilian variants.

* Johnson & Johnson Chief Executive Officer Alex Gorsky told CNBC that people may need to get vaccinated against COVID-19 annually over the next several years, like seasonal flu shots.

* China reported 14 new COVID-19 cases on the mainland on Feb. 9, unchanged from a day earlier, as the latest wave of the disease appears to have subsided ahead of the Lunar New Year break.

* Japanese Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide said the country would begin COVID-19 vaccinations from the middle of next week.

* The US government will begin shipping COVID-19 vaccines directly to community health centres next week.

* Russia registered 14,494 COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, raising the national tally to 4,012,710, the country’s COVID-19 response center said Wednesday.

* Spain on Tuesday passed 3 million coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic and extended controls along its 1,200-km (750-mile) border with Portugal until March 1.

* The French Health Ministry said on Tuesday that 1.987 million people had received a first injection of the COVID-19 vaccine since the start of the vaccination campaign. The country’s hospital numbers went down after a two-day increase.

* The COVID-19 cases in Indonesia rose by 8,776 within one day to 1,183,555, with the death toll adding by 191 to 32,167, the Health Ministry said on Wednesday.

* New Zealand will first administer COVID-19 vaccines to quarantine personnel, front line health workers and airline staff, as the government formally approved its use on Wednesday.

* California surpassed New York on Tuesday as the US state with the most coronavirus deaths, a grim reminder of the pandemic’s toll even as the vaccine roll-out and a sharp drop in new cases buoyed hopes of life eventually returning to normal.

* Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Tuesday announced a full lockdown in the capital Athens and the surrounding region to curb a resurgence in coronavirus cases and ease pressure on badly stretched health services.

* Canada will step up its fight against COVID-19 by obliging citizens returning home overland from the United States to show they do not have COVID-19.

* US Senate on Tuesday voted to proceed with the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump. The Senate voted 56-44 that the impeachment trial of Trump is constitutional despite calls from some Republicans to dismiss proceedings. Six Republican senators voted with all 50 Democrats.

* The central bank of Sweden announced Wednesday that it will keep its benchmark interest rate at zero and projects the repo rate to remain at this level until the first quarter of 2024.

* Turkey expects to start the human trials of three COVID-19 vaccines developed locally in the upcoming period, Turkish Industry and Technology Minister Mustafa Varank announced on Wednesday.

* An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.5 jolted Indonesia’s western Bengkulu province on Wednesday evening, the meteorology and geophysics agency said.

* Ghana’s parliament has suspended most of its activities for three weeks after at least 17 MPs and 151 staff members were infected with the coronavirus.

* Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden on Thursday exchanged greetings on the occasion of the Chinese Lunar New Year.

* Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he has assured his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau that India would do its best to supply Canada with vaccines to fight the pandemic.

* A fleet of the People’s Liberation Army Navy on Thursday set off for Pakistan to attend a multilateral joint naval exercise at the invitation of the Pakistani navy, China’s Ministry of National Defense said. The drill, code-named “Peace-21,” is set to be conducted in waters near the city of Karachi, the ministry said in a statement.

* Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit welcomed the reconciliation reached among rival Palestinian factions following their two-day dialogue in Egypt’s capital Cairo, the pan-Arab body said in a statement on Wednesday.

* Mexico has authorized emergency use of the Chinese Sinovac and CanSino COVID-19 vaccines.

* Argentina topped two million COVID-19 infections on Wednesday, health officials said, as the country scrambles to ramp up a vaccination program in a race against time to tame the virus ahead of the fast-approaching southern hemisphere autumn.

* China reported the fewest number of new COVID-19 cases in over five months, official data showed on Thursday, after a combination of robust countermeasures helped stamp out a new wave of the disease in the northeast that emerged last month.

* India’s COVID-19 tally rose to 10,871,294 on Thursday as 12,923 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours, said the latest data from the federal health ministry. According to the official data, the death toll mounted to 155,360 as 108 COVID-19 patients died since Wednesday morning.

* The confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Indonesia increased by 8,435 in the past 24 hours to 1,191,990, with the death toll adding by 214 to 32,381, the Indonesian Health Ministry said on Thursday.

* The Department of Health (DOH) of the Philippines reported on Thursday 1,734 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 543,282. The death toll climbed to 11,469 after 68 more patients died from the viral disease, the DOH said.

* Thailand confirmed 201 cases of coronavirus infection on Thursday while the number of cases via daily active testing has gradually reduced, according to the Center for the COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA). Thailand has so far confirmed 24,104 cases of infection, of which 19,799 have fully recovered and been discharged from hospitals while 4,225 others are currently hospitalized with 80 fatalities.

* Republic of Korea reported 504 more cases of COVID-19 as of midnight Wednesday compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 82,434. The country tested more than 6.07 million people, among whom 5,905,960 tested negative for the virus and 81,614 are being checked.

* Health authorities in Australia’s Victoria state ramped up contact tracing and prepared for more mass testing of residents in Melbourne after a new COVID-19 cluster linked to a quarantine hotel grew to ten cases on Thursday.

* Germany is considering moving school teachers and daycare staff up the priority list for vaccinations against COVID-19.

* The first two cases of the new Brazilian variant of the coronavirus were detected in Portugal on Wednesday, broadcaster SIC said, two weeks after all flights to and from the South American nation were suspended.

* Spain said that people under the age of 55 without major health complications who have previously contracted coronavirus will have to wait six months from their diagnosis before receiving a vaccine.

* Ireland expects to retain strict COVID-19 health measures at least until Easter, Minister Micheal Martin said on Thursday.

* Pfizer said it could deliver its COVID-19 vaccine, which requires ultra-cold temperatures for storage and distribution, directly to points of vaccination in South Africa.

* Merck & Co said it was in talks with governments and companies to potentially help with manufacturing of COVID-19 vaccines that have been already authorized.

* Teva Pharmaceutical Industries is in talks with COVID-19 vaccine makers to co-produce some shots, Chief Executive Officer Kare Schultz told Reuters.

* Eli Lilly’s combination antibody therapy to fight COVID-19 has been granted emergency use authorization by the US Food and Drug Administration.

* The African Union’s disease control body is in discussions with Johnson & Johnson for the supply of more COVID-19 vaccine doses, its director John Nkengasong said on Thursday.

* Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez asked the World Health Organization to make the Central American nation a priority in deliveries of COVID-19 vaccines, citing the devastating effects of two hurricanes.

* Zimbabwe has purchased 600,000 COVID-19 vaccinations from China’s Sinopharm, in addition to 200,000 China has donated, Information Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said.