Foreign
Trump impeachment team seeks to obscure blame for riot
February 13, 2021, 11:48 am
WASHINGTON – Lawyers representing former president Donald Trump in his second Senate impeachment trial sought Friday to obscure any blame their client may have for the fatal January 6 assault on the US Capitol. Making its sole arguments in the case, Trump's team launched salvos at the team of… Read More
US secures deals for 200M more vaccines Biden promised
February 12, 2021, 2:25 pm
WASHINGTON - The US has finalized agreements to secure 200 million more coronavirus vaccine doses, President Joe Biden announced Thursday. The announcement fulfills a pledge the president made in January to buy 100 million more doses each of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna's vaccine. The purchase… Read More
Myanmar junta releases over 23K prisoners
February 12, 2021, 2:09 pm
YANGON, Myanmar -- Myanmar began releasing tens of thousands of inmates Friday after an amnesty was announced, the first such release under the new military junta. The National Administrative Council (NAC), chaired by the coup leader and country’s military chief Sen. Gen Min Aung Hlaing,… Read More
SARS-CoV-2 virus present in France since November 2019
February 11, 2021, 2:42 pm
PARIS – The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 or SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) disease was found to be circulating in France since November 2019, a new study by the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM) has revealed. The… Read More
Biden forms China task force to meet growing challenges
February 11, 2021, 2:08 pm
WASHINGTON – US President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that the Department of Defense has established a China task force. "We need to meet the growing challenges posed by China to keep peace and defend our interests in the Indo-Pacific and globally," Biden told reporters during his first visit… Read More
UN Human Rights Council to hold special session on Myanmar
February 10, 2021, 10:25 am
GENEVA – The United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) said it is to hold a special session on Myanmar on Friday, on the day the UN office there voiced strong concerns over Tuesday's reported use of violence by security forces against demonstrators. "I call on the security forces to respect… Read More
Pfizer vaccine effective against UK, SA strains
February 9, 2021, 2:13 pm
ANKARA – The Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine is effective against the South African and United Kingdom variants of the virus, the companies announced Monday. They cited a study published in Natural Medicine that said the vaccine elicits antibodies that neutralized mutated versions of the… Read More
Rich countries at risk of their own vaccine nationalism
February 8, 2021, 1:52 pm
ANKARA – The world's richest countries would do well to hurry in supplying and distributing vaccines against the novel coronavirus, as failing to do so would eventually harm their economies more severely than projected by earlier studies, experts say. As the world tries to free itself from the… Read More
Thousands rally in Myanmar against military coup
February 7, 2021, 5:39 pm
YANGON, Myanmar – Tens of thousands of demonstrators, mostly young people, staged four separate rallies against the military coup in Myanmar on Sunday amid tight security and roadblocks on the major street of Yangon, the country's largest city. The police in Yangon are struggling to block the… Read More
UN Security Council to discuss situation in Myanmar
February 2, 2021, 1:02 pm
ANKARA – United Nations Security Council will meet on Tuesday to discuss the situation in Myanmar after the military seized power in the country, according to a schedule shared Monday by the international body. On Sunday, Myanmar's military declared a state of emergency hours after detaining de… Read More
US 'alarmed' after Myanmar military seizes power
February 1, 2021, 1:51 pm
WASHINGTON – The US said Sunday it is "alarmed" by reports that the Myanmar military has seized power and arrested the country's top officials. "The United States is alarmed by reports that the Burmese military has taken steps to undermine the country’s democratic transition, including the… Read More
Myanmar leader, other ruling party members detained
February 1, 2021, 1:36 pm
ANKARA – Myanmar’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior members of the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) party were reportedly detained early Monday. The detention of Suu Kyi, President Win Myint, and other senior figures follows days of rising tensions between the military and… Read More
January deadliest month for UK in fight vs. Covid-19
January 31, 2021, 11:45 am
LONDON – January has been the deadliest month for the UK in its fight against the coronavirus as new statistics reveal that on average every day more than 1,000 people have died. Saturday marks the one-year anniversary of when the country recorded its first death caused by the virus, with the… Read More
Biden signs memo condemning anti-Asian racism amid pandemic
January 27, 2021, 3:05 pm
WASHINGTON – US President Joe Biden on Tuesday signed a memorandum condemning the surge of anti-Asian racism in the country during the Covid-19 pandemic, while directing the Department of Justice to make more concerted efforts to address hate crimes and harassment against Asian Americans and… Read More
Global coronavirus cases surpass 100 million
January 27, 2021, 1:26 pm
ANKARA – The number of novel coronavirus cases surpassed the 100 million mark Tuesday, according to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University. More than 25.3 million cases were recorded in the US since the start of the pandemic. India has almost 10.7 million infections and Brazil exceeds 8.8… Read More
Indonesia's Covid-19 cases pass 1-M mark amid vaccination drive
January 26, 2021, 9:01 pm
JAKARTA – Indonesia has registered more than one million confirmed cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) since the first infection was confirmed in the country in March last year, amid the current vaccination drive. On Tuesday, the Covid-19 cases in the world's fourth most populous… Read More
UN urges donors to raise funds for climate change adaptation
January 26, 2021, 6:59 pm
UNITED NATIONS – United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday urged donor countries and banks to significantly increase the volume and predictability of their finance for climate change adaptation and resilience. "Donor countries and multilateral, regional, and national… Read More
China overtakes US as top destination for FDI in 2020: BBC
January 26, 2021, 4:32 pm
LONDON – China overtook the United States as the world's top destination for foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2020, showing China's growing influence on the world economic stage, the BBC reported Monday. Experts said the figures "underline China's move toward the center of the global economy,… Read More
Mexico’s president tests positive for Covid-19
January 25, 2021, 3:20 pm
MEXICO – Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Sunday announced that he has been diagnosed with Covid-19 and has started medical treatment. “I regret to inform you that I’m infected with Covid-19. The symptoms are mild and I’m already under medical treatment. As always, I am… Read More
Asean cooperation pushed to expedite digital transformation
January 24, 2021, 1:49 pm
JAKARTA – Indonesian Minister of Communication and Informatics Johnny G. Plate has highlighted the importance of cooperation between Asean member states and other countries to expedite digital transformation to support economic recovery amid the Covid-19 pandemic. “We believe that the spirit… Read More
