Foreign

UN verifies 15 deaths, 400 missing in Rohingya camps fire

UN verifies 15 deaths, 400 missing in Rohingya camps fire

March 23, 2021, 9:39 pm

DHAKA, Bangladesh – The United Nations (UN) has confirmed that 15 people were killed and over 550 were injured in Monday's deadly fire in Rohingya refugee camps in southern Bangladesh. "It has been confirmed that 15 people have tragically lost their lives, and around 560 are injured," UN High… Read More

US: Attack on supermarket in Colorado leaves 10 dead

US: Attack on supermarket in Colorado leaves 10 dead

March 23, 2021, 4:38 pm

NEW YORK – Ten people, including a police officer, died in an armed attack Monday on a supermarket in the US state of Colorado. The shooting occurred at a King Soopers supermarket in the city of Boulder, US media reported. The police officer was killed when the attacker, a shirtless man, opened… Read More

UN chief profoundly concerned over rising violence vs. Asians

UN chief profoundly concerned over rising violence vs. Asians

March 23, 2021, 4:05 pm

UNITED NATIONS – United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday expressed his profound concern over the rise in violence against Asians and people of Asian descent during the Covid-19 pandemic. The world has witnessed horrific deadly attacks, verbal and physical harassment, bullying… Read More

Vaccine inequity 'catastrophic moral failure': WHO

Vaccine inequity 'catastrophic moral failure': WHO

March 23, 2021, 10:17 am

GENEVA – Michael Ryan, Executive Director of World Health Organization (WHO) Health Emergencies Program, said on Monday that the "inequitable" vaccine distribution was a "catastrophic moral failure" and a "failed opportunity." Speaking at a virtual press conference from Geneva on Monday about… Read More

Covid-19 cases up by over 535,000 worldwide: WHO

Covid-19 cases up by over 535,000 worldwide: WHO

March 20, 2021, 1:41 pm

GENEVA – More than 535,000 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection were registered worldwide in the past day, with the overall number of such cases exceeding 121.46 million, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in its daily bulletin on Friday. As of 17:44 Moscow time on March 19,… Read More

Benefits of AstraZeneca Covid vaccine outweigh risks: WHO

Benefits of AstraZeneca Covid vaccine outweigh risks: WHO

March 20, 2021, 1:29 pm

GENEVA - The World Health Organizations’ (WHO) Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety has ruled that the benefits of vaccination with the UK-Swedish AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine outweigh the risks. "The AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine (including Covishield) continues to have a positive… Read More

Racism is a deeply rooted global evil: UN chief

Racism is a deeply rooted global evil: UN chief

March 18, 2021, 10:45 am

UNITED NATIONS – UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday called for the condemnation of racism, which he described as a deeply rooted global evil. Last year, people around the globe took to the streets to protest the vicious "global pandemic of racism." They recognized racism for what… Read More

US: At least 8 killed in Georgia spa shootings

US: At least 8 killed in Georgia spa shootings

March 17, 2021, 4:25 pm

WASHINGTON – At least eight people were killed Tuesday in a series of shootings at massage parlors in the US state of Georgia, according to multiple reports. Four people were fatally shot at two spas in northeast Atlanta and four people were killed at a Cherokee County spa, WSB-TV reported. Four… Read More

Moderna begins vaccine trials for children under 12

Moderna begins vaccine trials for children under 12

March 16, 2021, 9:02 pm

ANKARA – Moderna began Covid-19 vaccine trials on children aged between six months and 12 years, according to a statement on Tuesday. The first participants were administered doses in the Phase 2/3 study, called the KidCOVE study, the US pharmaceutical and biotechnology said. "We are encouraged… Read More

Ireland suspends Oxford vaccine rollout over clot fears

Ireland suspends Oxford vaccine rollout over clot fears

March 15, 2021, 8:34 am

LONDON – Following similar moves by other EU countries last week, Ireland on Sunday suspended the rollout of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine over fears of serious blood clots. After consulting with the Norwegian Medicines Agency on Saturday and discussions with the Health Products Regulatory… Read More

5 EU states urge talks on ‘fair’ vaccine distribution

5 EU states urge talks on ‘fair’ vaccine distribution

March 15, 2021, 8:33 am

BRUSSELS – Some 5 EU member states on Saturday called for a summit meeting on the "fair distribution" of vaccines developed for the novel coronavirus pandemic. Leaders of Austria, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Slovenia and Latvia sent a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen… Read More

WHO yet to validate ‘Indonesia strain’

WHO yet to validate ‘Indonesia strain’

March 14, 2021, 8:24 pm

JAKARTA – Vaccination spokesperson for the Health Ministry Dr. Siti Nadia Tarmizi said the mutation of the new coronavirus N439K, which was first detected in Indonesia in November 2020, has yet to receive special attention from the World Health Organization (WHO). "This is actually a single… Read More

Asteroid passing by near Earth on March 21 poses no danger

Asteroid passing by near Earth on March 21 poses no danger

March 13, 2021, 7:53 pm

ANKARA – A large asteroid around 0.9 kilometers (.56 miles) wide will pass close by the Earth on March 21, US space agency NASA said Thursday. Called 2001 FO32, it will make its closest approach to the Earth at a distance of 2 million kilometers (1.25 million miles), according to the NASA-owned… Read More

Prince William: 'We are very much not a racist family'

Prince William: 'We are very much not a racist family'

March 12, 2021, 9:18 am

LONDON – Prince William on Thursday denied that Britain’s royal family was racist, in his first public remarks since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, William’s brother and sister-in-law, made allegations in a TV interview. “We are very much not a racist family,” William told Sky News.… Read More

UK: Harry and Meghan spur freedom of speech debate

UK: Harry and Meghan spur freedom of speech debate

March 11, 2021, 6:17 pm

LONDON – The fallout from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's interview with Oprah continued apace on Wednesday, with journalist Piers Morgan dramatically quitting his position as host of one of the United Kingdom's (UK) top morning TV shows in defense of his freedom of speech. Morgan, 55, had been… Read More

Women leaders on rise worldwide

Women leaders on rise worldwide

March 9, 2021, 6:35 pm

ANKARA – The number of women who perform duties as leaders or high-ranking executives in international organizations has increased over recent years. A total of 58 countries were governed by a woman between 1960 and 2021, according to data from Germany-based statistics company Statista. In the… Read More

Virus saw calls to women's helplines rise fivefold: UN

Virus saw calls to women's helplines rise fivefold: UN

March 9, 2021, 2:23 pm

GENEVA – Calls to helplines have increased fivefold in some countries as rates of reported intimate partner violence increase because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the United Nations said Monday. Restricted movement, social isolation, and economic insecurity are increasing women's vulnerability to… Read More

42 of 100 people play mobile games once daily

42 of 100 people play mobile games once daily

March 7, 2021, 11:25 am

ISTANBUL – More than 40 out of 100 people play mobile games at least once a day, according to a recent survey. AdColony, global advertising, and marketing platform surveyed 1,250 people on mobile games and social media platforms in Europe, Middle East and the Africa (EMEA) region. While 88 of… Read More

'Stay the course', WHO urges amid rise in virus cases

'Stay the course', WHO urges amid rise in virus cases

March 4, 2021, 2:37 pm

GENEVA – A senior World Health Organization (WHO) doctor warned on Wednesday of a worrisome rise in Covid-19 cases after weeks of falling infections and urged people to observe counter-measures to check the virus even as vaccinations continue. Maria Van Kerkhove, one of the WHO's leading… Read More

WHO to allocate 237M COVAX shots by end of May

WHO to allocate 237M COVAX shots by end of May

March 3, 2021, 2:17 pm

GENEVA – The World Health Organization (WHO) chief said Tuesday 11 million vaccine doses to fight Covid-19 will be delivered this week, and 237 million shots allocated to 142 economies and countries through the COVAX facility by the end of May for equitable distribution of jabs. WHO… Read More