Foreign

China to continue Covid-19 vax support to Asean countries: FM

China to continue Covid-19 vax support to Asean countries: FM

November 15, 2021, 1:49 pm

BEIJING – Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with diplomatic envoys of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) countries on Sunday in Beijing. Wang said since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, Chinese President Xi Jinping has maintained close communication… Read More

Over 84M Chinese children vaccinated vs. Covid-19

Over 84M Chinese children vaccinated vs. Covid-19

November 14, 2021, 2:17 pm

BEIJING – Nearly 84.4 million children between aged 3 and 11 years old have been vaccinated against Covid-19 across China, and over 49.4 million among them have had booster shots, a health official said Saturday. The health authorities will continue to promote vaccination in this age group, Wu… Read More

APEC leaders issue declaration on policy actions for Covid-19

APEC leaders issue declaration on policy actions for Covid-19

November 13, 2021, 5:38 pm

JAKARTA – Leaders of 21 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member economies concluded this year's APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting on Friday by adopting a declaration that incorporates policy actions formulated to respond to Covid-19 (coronavirus disease 2019). The declaration was made… Read More

Young people deliver strong message to APEC leaders

Young people deliver strong message to APEC leaders

November 11, 2021, 7:54 pm

JAKARTA – Youth delegates participating in APEC Voices of the Future 2021 delivered a raft of practical approaches to help address global issues to Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders. Some 90 delegates from 21 APEC economies have been meeting online this week to discuss four key… Read More

Filipino fishermen saved by Vietnamese boat, islanders

Filipino fishermen saved by Vietnamese boat, islanders

November 11, 2021, 11:55 am

KHÁNH HOÀ – A Filipino fisherman was saved by the Vietnam Fisheries Resources Surveillance (VFRS) team on Tuesday night after falling into the waters off the Trường Sa (Spratly) Islands. Vessel KN 464 of VFRS Division No.4 found 32-year-old Benjamin Abdulla near Song Tử Tây (Southwest… Read More

Nearly 143K chickens to be culled in Japan over bird flu

Nearly 143K chickens to be culled in Japan over bird flu

November 10, 2021, 1:42 pm

TOKYO – Bird flu has been detected at a poultry farm in Akita prefecture in northeastern Japan, Kyodo News reported Wednesday. Nearly 143,000 chickens will be culled after avian flu was detected in 12 of 13 chickens tested at the farm in the Yokote region, according to the prefectural… Read More

Impoverished Afghans plead for bread in front of bakeries

Impoverished Afghans plead for bread in front of bakeries

November 9, 2021, 8:09 pm

KABUL, Afghanistan – Shekiba Sukur has been waiting for hours outside a bakery in Kabul as the impoverished Afghanistan is now grappling with cash crunch, which appears to have flown out with the exit of US forces in August after 20 years of operations. She is in queue with more than a dozen… Read More

Japan sends 9 satellites into space

Japan sends 9 satellites into space

November 9, 2021, 7:33 pm

ISTANBUL – Japan on Tuesday sent into space at least nine satellites aboard the Epsilon rocket, the country’s space agency said. The satellites will help Japan promote involvement by educational institutions and companies in space development, Tokyo-based Kyodo News reported. Satellites… Read More

UN warns Tigray conflict threatening to consume Ethiopia's future

UN warns Tigray conflict threatening to consume Ethiopia's future

November 9, 2021, 4:37 pm

WASHINGTON – The ongoing conflict between Tigray rebels and Ethiopian government forces threatens to "consume" the future of the East African country, the UN warned on Monday. Rosemary DiCarlo, the UN's top official for political and peacebuilding affairs, told the Security Council that the… Read More

UN warns over 3 million people need 'life-saving' aid in Myanmar

UN warns over 3 million people need 'life-saving' aid in Myanmar

November 9, 2021, 1:05 pm

WASHINGTON – Over 3 million people are in need of "life-saving" aid in Myanmar after the military there seized power and ousted the civilian government, the UN's humanitarian chief said on Monday. Martin Griffiths, the UN's emergency relief coordinator, said in the wake of the junta's Feb. 1… Read More

Historic pledges, youth climate activism mark 1st week of COP26

Historic pledges, youth climate activism mark 1st week of COP26

November 7, 2021, 4:36 pm

GLASGOW, Scotland – The first week of the COP26 climate summit saw a wide range of commitments with more than 40 countries pledging to phase out coal by 2050. And more than 100 leaders vowing to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030. This was also the first time that a COP… Read More

108 killed, 92 injured in fuel tanker explosion in Sierra Leone

108 killed, 92 injured in fuel tanker explosion in Sierra Leone

November 7, 2021, 1:38 pm

FREETOWN -- At least 108 people were killed and 92 others injured in a fuel tanker explosion here late Friday, Sierra Leone's National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) confirmed on Saturday. According to a statement by NDMA, a loaded fuel tanker and a truck carrying granite stones collided on a… Read More

Nations pledge to shift to low carbon farming at COP26

Nations pledge to shift to low carbon farming at COP26

November 7, 2021, 11:43 am

GLASGOW, Scotland – Twenty-six nations on Saturday made new pledges to alter their agricultural policies to become more sustainable and less polluting, and to invest in research needed for sustainable agriculture and protecting food supplies against climate change. All continents were… Read More

Pope to pay 5-day visit to southern Cyprus, Greece next month

Pope to pay 5-day visit to southern Cyprus, Greece next month

November 6, 2021, 1:58 pm

ANKARA – Pope Francis is scheduled to embark on a five-day visit to the Greek Administration of Southern Cyprus and Greece, the Vatican press office said on Friday. Next month's visit (Dec. 2-6) comes upon the invitation of the countries' "civil authorities and Bishops’ Conferences," said a… Read More

Pfizer raises Covid vaccine sales forecast to $36B for 2021

Pfizer raises Covid vaccine sales forecast to $36B for 2021

November 4, 2021, 10:05 am

ANKARA – Pfizer raised its revenue forecast from coronavirus vaccine sales to USD36 billion (PHP1.8 trillion) for 2021, according to a financial statement released Tuesday. The US pharmaceutical’s previous 2021 estimates were USD33.5 billion in July; and USD26 billion and USD15 billion, made… Read More

1B children at 'extremely high risk' of climate change’s impacts

1B children at 'extremely high risk' of climate change’s impacts

November 3, 2021, 6:45 pm

GENEVA – The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) on Tuesday said around 1 billion children worldwide are at "extremely high risk" from the consequences of climate change. "Two-thirds of countries' climate plans don't address the needs and priorities of children,"… Read More

Yahoo exits China citing 'challenging' business environment

Yahoo exits China citing 'challenging' business environment

November 3, 2021, 3:17 pm

ISTANBUL – US internet services company Yahoo has pulled out of China amid an "increasingly challenging business and legal environment," it said on Tuesday. "In recognition of the increasingly challenging business and legal environment in China, Yahoo’s suite of services will no longer be… Read More

Oxford dictionary names ‘vax’ as word of year

Oxford dictionary names ‘vax’ as word of year

November 1, 2021, 8:52 pm

ANKARA – Oxford English Dictionary on Monday announced “vax” was word of the year. "Vax is our 2021 Word of the Year. When our lexicographers began digging into our English language corpus data, it quickly became apparent that vax was a particularly striking term," it said, referring to the… Read More

More than 7B Covid-19 vax doses administered worldwide

More than 7B Covid-19 vax doses administered worldwide

November 1, 2021, 7:57 pm

MOSCOW – The number of coronavirus inoculations carried out globally has surpassed seven billion. More than half are accounted for by three countries – China (2.3 billion), India (1.1 billion) and the United States (0.4 billion), according to TASS’ estimates based on government data and… Read More

Global Covid-19 deaths surpass 5M in less than 2 years

Global Covid-19 deaths surpass 5M in less than 2 years

November 1, 2021, 6:41 pm

ANKARA – The number of people who have died from the coronavirus has exceeded 5 million worldwide in less than two years, according to Johns Hopkins University on Monday. Data from the US-based school showed more than 246.7 million have been infected by the virus that emerged in China in… Read More