Foreign
UN official says it could take 14 years to clear rubble from Gaza
April 27, 2024, 11:14 am
ANKARA – The extensive amount of rubble left by Israel's devastating war in the Gaza Strip could take about 14 years to remove, a UN official said Friday. Pehr Lodhammar, an official with the United Nations Mine Action Service, told a briefing in Geneva that the war had left an estimated 37… Read More
Gaza faces epidemic risk as heat waves worsen conditions in camps
April 26, 2024, 5:56 pm
GAZA CITY, Palestine – The Gaza Civil Defense Agency warned Thursday of the spread of epidemics and diseases in displacement camps in the southern part of the enclave as heat waves intensified. "The suffering of displaced people in the displacement camps in the southern governorates of Gaza… Read More
Germany to industrialized nations: live up to your climate pledges
April 26, 2024, 4:14 pm
BERLIN – Germany on Thursday called on industrialized nations to live up to their climate pledges, and not to cut down funds for developing countries. “We in the industrialized countries need to continue to live up to our responsibilities,” Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told… Read More
Climate change may have aggravated rains in Gulf: Scientists
April 26, 2024, 3:29 pm
ANKARA – Scientists are looking into the possibility that torrential rains that hit the Gulf region last week may have been exacerbated by climate change. According to CNN, 21 scientists from the World Weather Attribution (WWA), an international academic collaboration, have studied the impact… Read More
Israel to present new deal to Hamas for prisoner swap – report
April 26, 2024, 3:19 pm
JERUSALEM – Israel has revealed a new proposed deal for a prisoner exchange with Hamas and a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, Israeli media reported Thursday. The Israeli security cabinet convened to advance a new initiative for the release of hostages held in Gaza, according to Israel's Channel 13.… Read More
More med professors considering weekly breaks amid doctors' walkout
April 26, 2024, 2:58 pm
SEOUL – Professors from around 20 major medical schools nationwide will decide Friday whether to take a weekly day off while struggling to fill the void of trainee doctors who have walked off their jobs for more than two months, officials said. The emergency committee for national medical… Read More
Earth's rotation slowing, making days longer, scientists say
April 26, 2024, 1:54 pm
ISTANBUL – Recent data from atomic clocks showed the Earth's rotational speed may be slowing, leading to longer days, according to the time and date website (timeanddate.com). In June 2022, the Earth experienced its fastest spin, resulting in the shortest-ever recorded days, it said. Since then,… Read More
No 'paradigm shift' to avert famine looming in Gaza: WFP
April 26, 2024, 12:51 pm
HAMILTON, Canada – The UN on Wednesday warned about the risk of famine looming in the northern Gaza Strip in May. "We're still heading towards a famine. We haven't seen that paradigm shift that is needed to avert a famine," Carl Skau, World Food Program's (WFP) deputy executive director, said… Read More
Number of Austrians living in poverty rises by more than half
April 26, 2024, 12:48 pm
GENEVE – The number of Austrians in absolute poverty has risen by more than 50 percent – from 201,000 in 2022 to 336,000 last year, the country's statistical office announced on Thursday. Measured against the population, this represents an increase from 2.3 percent in 2022 to 3.7 percent in… Read More
Russia vetoes UN resolution on weapons of mass destruction in space
April 25, 2024, 5:51 pm
UNITED NATIONS – Russia on Wednesday vetoed a UN Security Council draft resolution on the deployment of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) in outer space. The draft resolution, tabled by the United States and Japan, won the support of 13 of the 15 members of the Security Council. Russia, which… Read More
US student protests in support of Gaza spread despite crackdown
April 25, 2024, 3:58 pm
NEW YORK – The pro-Palestinian protest that started last week at Columbia University has now reached Harvard, Texas, Brown, and Southern California universities.Students in several other American universities also started their sit-ins on Wednesday in protest of the ongoing attacks in Gaza and… Read More
US mortgage rates hit highest since November 2023
April 25, 2024, 1:54 pm
ISTANBUL – US mortgage applications decreased last week, while mortgage rates hit their highest level since November 2023, according to a Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) report released Wednesday. The market composite index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, fell 2.7 percent on a… Read More
Global immunization saved 154-M lives over past 50 years: WHO
April 25, 2024, 12:57 pm
GENEVA – Vaccines are among the most powerful inventions, making once-feared diseases preventable, the World Health Organization (WHO) chief said Wednesday, adding that global immunizations have saved at least 154 million lives over the past 50 years. Speaking at a WHO press conference in… Read More
UN refugee agency seeks $1.2B for Gaza, West Bank amid Israeli attacks
April 25, 2024, 12:20 pm
ISTANBUL – The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) issued an urgent appeal on Wednesday for USD1.21 billion to address the humanitarian needs of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.“The scars of war are seen on a massive scale in Gaza. Meanwhile, violence is increasing in the… Read More
Gov't urges doctors to stop collective action
April 24, 2024, 7:10 pm
SEOUL – Second Health Vice Minister Park Min-soo on Tuesday called on doctors to stop their collective action as medical school professors were considering taking a day off every week, a move that deepens concerns over further disruptions in the country's health care system. About 12,000 trainee… Read More
Childbirths in S. Korea hit another low in February
April 24, 2024, 4:27 pm
SEOUL – The number of babies born in South Korea fell below the 20,000 level for the first time in any of February this year, data showed Wednesday, amid deepening woes about the country's demographics amid rapid aging and the ultra-low birthrate. A total of 19,362 babies were born in February… Read More
S. Korea to launch 1st nanosatellite this week
April 24, 2024, 3:55 pm
SEOUL – South Korea is set to launch a homegrown earth observation nanosatellite into space this week, as part of its plan to create the country's satellite constellation by 2027, the science ministry said Tuesday. The nanosatellite, the first unit of the envisioned satellite constellation, will… Read More
NASA's Voyager 1 returns intelligible signal for 1st time in months
April 24, 2024, 1:50 pm
ISTANBUL – The Voyager 1 space probe transmitted an understandable message to Earth for the first time in months after NASA engineers fixed a communication problem in the 47-year-old satellite, the US space agency announced Tuesday. Launched in 1977, Voyager 1 has been continuing its mission in… Read More
10 killed in Malaysia military helicopter collision
April 24, 2024, 12:05 pm
ANKARA – At least 10 personnel, including three women navy officers, were killed when two Malaysia Armed Forces helicopters collided mid-air at the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) base in Lumut, local media said on Tuesday. All victims were confirmed dead at the scene and their bodies were taken to a… Read More
WHO prequalifies new oral simplified vaccine for cholera
April 23, 2024, 4:55 pm
GENEVA – A new oral vaccine for cholera has received prequalification by the World Health Organization (WHO). The inactivated oral vaccine Euvichol-S has a similar efficacy to existing vaccines but a simplified formulation, allowing opportunities to rapidly increase production capacity. “The… Read More
