Foreign

HCM City hospitals perform Southeast Asia’s 1st fetal cardiac surgery

HCM City hospitals perform Southeast Asia’s 1st fetal cardiac surgery

January 10, 2024, 5:12 pm

HCM CITY – Doctors from Từ Dũ Hospital and Children’s Hospital 1 in Ho Chi Minh City successfully performed a fetal cardiac surgery on January 4, the first ever in Southeast Asia. It was done to unclog a fetus' heart valve through the mother’s womb. This, after the baby of a 26-year-old… Read More

Over 6.6K migrants died in 2023 trying to reach Spain – report

Over 6.6K migrants died in 2023 trying to reach Spain – report

January 10, 2024, 3:17 pm

OVIEDO, Spain – 2023 was the deadliest year on record for those trying to irregularly migrate to Spain, according to a report published Tuesday by Walking Borders, with 6,618 people losing their lives. The vast majority of the fatalities, 6,007, occurred on attempts to cross the vast ocean… Read More

2023 was hottest year on record, says EU’s C3S

2023 was hottest year on record, says EU’s C3S

January 10, 2024, 3:16 pm

ATHENS – Just-concluded 2023 was the hottest year in recorded history, and likely beyond, the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said on Tuesday in a report. “With the global-average temperature 14.98 C (58.96F), 2023 has replaced 2016 as the warmest calendar year on record,” it… Read More

SoKor passes law to ban dog meat

SoKor passes law to ban dog meat

January 9, 2024, 6:25 pm

ISTANBUL – The South Korean parliament on Tuesday passed a law to ban trade of dog meat by 2027. There were 208 votes in favor and two abstentions for the bill, which bans the breeding, butchering, distributing and selling of dogs for meat, Seoul-based Yonhap News reported. Law enforcement will… Read More

5,000 soldiers set to protect World Economic Forum in Davos

5,000 soldiers set to protect World Economic Forum in Davos

January 9, 2024, 6:04 pm

GENEVA – Up to 5,000 members of the armed forces will be deployed to protect this year's World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, the Swiss Defense Ministry announced on Monday. During this year's meeting, set for Jan. 15-19, the military will be deployed in the Landwasser Valley in the Davos… Read More

Another group of 32nd National Antarctic Expedition leaves Bulgaria

Another group of 32nd National Antarctic Expedition leaves Bulgaria

January 9, 2024, 10:00 am

SOFIA, Bulgaria – Yet another group of the 32nd National Antarctic Expedition took an ITA Airways flight on Jan. 7 from Sofia Airport for Rome en route to Buenos Aires, Rio Gallegos, Punta Arenas, King George Island and Livingston Island. The group consists of Assoc. Prof. Boris Tzankov, a… Read More

Pope calls for global ban on surrogacy

Pope calls for global ban on surrogacy

January 8, 2024, 9:19 pm

ROME – Pope Francis on Monday called for the practice of surrogate motherhood to be banned worldwide. "The path to peace demands respect for life, for every human life, starting with that of the unborn child in its mother's womb, which cannot be suppressed, nor become an object of… Read More

 2 more journalists killed in Gaza, pushes death toll to 109

2 more journalists killed in Gaza, pushes death toll to 109

January 8, 2024, 9:11 pm

ANKARA – Two more Palestinian journalists were killed in Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, bringing the death toll since Oct. 7 to 109, the government media office said. In a statement, the office identified the two victims as Hamza Wael Al-Dahdouh, the son of Al Jazeera Gaza bureau… Read More

 Germany vies for two-state solution for Israel, Palestine

Germany vies for two-state solution for Israel, Palestine

January 8, 2024, 9:03 pm

LONDON – German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock underscored the critical need for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, asserting that Israelis and Palestinians can only live side by side in peace "if one's security equals the other’s." “This can only be achieved when… Read More

Obama advises Biden to restructure campaign, fears resurgence of Trump

Obama advises Biden to restructure campaign, fears resurgence of Trump

January 8, 2024, 12:19 pm

ANKARA – Former US President Barack Obama has advised incumbent President Joe Biden to restructure his campaign, fearing a resurgence of Donald Trump, a potential Republican opponent for his second term in office. Obama expressed concern about the potential resurgence of former President Trump… Read More

Pope on Feast of Epiphany: See world's problems through kids' eyes

Pope on Feast of Epiphany: See world's problems through kids' eyes

January 7, 2024, 11:49 am

ROME – Pope Francis on Saturday called on the faithful to look at the problems of the world through the eyes of the children. In his Angelus address for the Feast of the Epiphany, which commemorates the visit of the Three Wise Men to Jesus after His birth, the Argentine Pope urged Christians to… Read More

Japan quake death toll climbs to 100

Japan quake death toll climbs to 100

January 6, 2024, 3:50 pm

ANKARA – The death toll from New Year's Day earthquakes in Japan climbed to 100 with more than 210 missing, media reports said Saturday. Tokyo-based Kyodo News said officials in Wajima, one of the hardest-hit areas, believe there are about 100 locations where victims are still trapped under… Read More

24 injured as subway train collides with out-of-service train in NY

24 injured as subway train collides with out-of-service train in NY

January 5, 2024, 9:32 pm

ANKARA – At least 24 people were injured on Thursday afternoon when a subway train carrying 300 people collided with an out-of-service train in Manhattan, New York, causing both trains to derail. The incident occurred at about 3 p.m. (2000GMT) near 96th Street and Broadway on the Upper West… Read More

Documents reveal Clinton, Trump, Prince Andrew in sex trafficking case

Documents reveal Clinton, Trump, Prince Andrew in sex trafficking case

January 5, 2024, 8:41 pm

ANKARA  – The unsealed court documents in Jeffrey Epstein's case, involving allegations of sex trafficking of minors, and pedophilia, reveal names like former US presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, Prince Andrew, and other celebrities. The case files publicly disclosed by US Judge Loretta… Read More

World food prices hit lowest in nearly 3 years, says UN food agency

World food prices hit lowest in nearly 3 years, says UN food agency

January 5, 2024, 7:49 pm

ANKARA – Global food prices decreased to nearly a three-year low in December 2023 led by significant declines in prices of sugar, vegetable oils and meat, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) revealed on Friday. The FAO food price index dropped 1.5 percent from a month earlier to 118.5… Read More

Türkiye’s 1st manned space mission to begin journey on Jan. 18

Türkiye’s 1st manned space mission to begin journey on Jan. 18

January 5, 2024, 4:02 pm

ANKARA – Türkiye’s first manned space mission will depart for the International Space Station at 01.11 a.m. local time on Jan. 18, a top Turkish official said Thursday. Col. Alper Gezeravci with the Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3) crew will head to the International Space Station, Turkish Industry… Read More

Minister hopes for Bulgaria to become full Schengen member by end-2024

Minister hopes for Bulgaria to become full Schengen member by end-2024

January 5, 2024, 9:00 am

SOFIA, Bulgaria – Minister of Transport and Communications Georgi Gvozdeikov said that he hopes that Bulgaria will become a full member of Schengen with removed land internal border controls at the end of 2024. Gvozdeikov, , who spoke on the Bulgarian National Television on Wednesday morning,… Read More

Pope Francis says war is madness

Pope Francis says war is madness

January 4, 2024, 3:50 pm

ROME – Pope Francis on Wednesday described war as "madness" as he reiterated his appeal for peace in Ukraine and Gaza and other areas of the world afflicted by conflict. "Let us not forget the peoples who are at war," the Pope said during his weekly general audience in the Vatican. "War is… Read More

Stabbing incident on Tokyo train leaves 4 injured, suspect arrested

Stabbing incident on Tokyo train leaves 4 injured, suspect arrested

January 4, 2024, 1:15 pm

ANKARA – At least four people were injured in a stabbing incident on a train in the Japanese capital city late Wednesday, according to local media. Public broadcaster NHK reported that a woman was wielding a knife on a train that had stopped at JR Akihabara Station in Tokyo. "So far, four people… Read More

Japan begins probe into planes collision at Tokyo airport

Japan begins probe into planes collision at Tokyo airport

January 3, 2024, 3:47 pm

ISTANBUL – Japan on Wednesday began an investigation into the collision of two planes which resulted in the death of at least five crew members. The Japan Transport Safety Board members and police visited the site of the crash at Haneda Airport in the capital Tokyo, Kyodo News reported. The… Read More