Foreign
Downward trend continues in weekly Covid deaths globally: WHO
October 14, 2021, 2:07 pm
GENEVA – The number of weekly reported deaths from Covid-19 continues to decline worldwide and is now at the lowest level in almost a year, the World Health Organization chief said Wednesday. WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus said at a coronavirus webinar that there are still three… Read More
US drug overdose deaths jumped by nearly 30%
October 14, 2021, 1:45 pm
CHICAGO, United States – The number of US drug overdose deaths jumped nearly 30% from March of 2020 to March of 2021, according to newly-released figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). There were a little more than 96,000 lives lost during that time. The CDC looked… Read More
G20 meeting on trade ends with commitment to multilateralism, WTO
October 13, 2021, 6:42 pm
ROME – Italy's foreign minister Luigi Di Maio on Tuesday called on ministers from the Group of 20 (G20) to reinforce the global trade system through the World Trade Organization (WTO). Speaking at the G20 Trade and Investment Ministerial Meeting in the southern Italian city of Sorrento, Di… Read More
UN chief calls for injection of liquidity into Afghan economy
October 12, 2021, 2:50 pm
UNITED NATIONS – United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday called for the injection of liquidity to keep the Afghan economy afloat. In addition to humanitarian aid, the international community needs to act to prevent the economic collapse of Afghanistan, he told reporters.… Read More
WHO advisory group urges extra Covid dose for immunocompromised
October 12, 2021, 2:33 pm
GENEVA – An advisory group to the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended Monday that people with weakened immune systems who have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) should get an additional dose of any WHO-approved Covid-19 vaccine. "SAGE recommended that… Read More
WHO says climate, health intimately linked
October 12, 2021, 1:43 pm
GENEVA – Climate and health are intimately linked, so countries must set ambitious commitments to sustain a healthy and green recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Monday. “The Covid-19 pandemic has shone a light on the intimate and delicate links… Read More
Japan’s vaccination showing results as Tokyo posts lowest cases
October 11, 2021, 9:50 pm
ANKARA – Japan’s anti-coronavirus vaccination campaign is showing results as the capital Tokyo registered the lowest Covd-19 cases in at least one year, authorities said Monday. The Japanese government revealed that more than 64 percent of the country’s 126 million population was “fully… Read More
240M Covid jabs at risk of waste in advanced countries: analysis
October 11, 2021, 9:12 pm
TOKYO – Developed countries hold hundreds of millions of excess Covid-19 vaccine doses at risk of expiring before they can be given to people in developing countries that have had greater difficulty in sourcing shots, according to a recent report by Nikkei Asia. An analysis by British research… Read More
Facebook, Instagram down again for some users
October 9, 2021, 11:55 am
ANKARA – Some users were unable to access Facebook and Instagram on Friday, the second time in a week. “We’re aware that some people are having trouble accessing our apps and products,” Facebook said in a statement on Twitter. “We’re working to get things back to normal as quickly as… Read More
IMF sees inflation returning to pre-pandemic level by mid-2022
October 7, 2021, 1:07 pm
ANKARA – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Wednesday said higher inflation will likely continue in the coming months, but it would return to pre-pandemic levels by mid-2022. "The economic recovery has fueled a rapid acceleration in inflation this year for advanced and emerging market… Read More
Pope expresses shame over sexual abuses of children
October 7, 2021, 10:54 am
VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis said Wednesday he was ashamed of the fact that over 216,000 children have been sexually abused in the French churches since 1950. Following a meeting at the Vatican, Pope Francis said: “I would like to express my sadness and pain for the trauma they experienced.… Read More
Covid-19 incidence declines by 9% worldwide in 1 week: WHO
October 6, 2021, 7:00 pm
GENEVA – Over 3.1 million people have contracted the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) infection worldwide, while just more than 54,000 new deaths were reported during the week from September 27 to October 3. The World Health Organization (WHO) reported on Wednesday that the number of new… Read More
Whistleblower says Facebook apps 'harm children, stoke division'
October 6, 2021, 2:00 pm
WASHINGTON – Facebook knows its family of apps causes sweeping damage across a number of areas, but chooses to ignore its problems in preference for profit, a whistleblower alleged Tuesday. Frances Haugen, an ex-Facebook product manager who leaked a trove of internal documents to the Wall Street… Read More
About 450M cyberattacks prevented during Tokyo Olympics
October 6, 2021, 1:19 pm
TOKYO – Around 450 million cyberattacks were avoided at the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics as attempts against the official website and organizing committee’s system were blocked each time, local media reported Tuesday. The cyberattack attempts took place from the opening of the Olympics on… Read More
Facebook blames ‘faulty’ configuration changes for global outage
October 5, 2021, 3:14 pm
NEW YORK – Facebook announced on early Tuesday that the global outage was caused by “faulty” configuration changes on the backbone routers and that there was no evidence that user data was compromised. “Our engineering teams have learned that configuration changes on the backbone routers… Read More
Facebook family of apps gradually returning to service
October 5, 2021, 1:20 pm
WASHINGTON – Facebook and its family of apps began to slowly return to service Monday following a six-hour worldwide outage whose cause remains unknown. Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp have resumed operations for some users, though the services appeared to be operating at a slower pace than… Read More
Fumio Kishida elected as Japanese PM to succeed Suga
October 4, 2021, 5:16 pm
TOKYO – Fumio Kishida, leader of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), was elected on Monday as the country's new prime minister to succeed Yoshihide Suga. As the ruling coalition led by the LDP controls both chambers, 64-year-old Kishida secured a majority of votes of both the House of… Read More
NoKor restores all inter-Korean communication lines
October 4, 2021, 11:47 am
PYONGYANG – North Korea decided to restore all communication lines with South Korea starting from 9 a.m. on Monday, according to the official Korean Central News Agency. The report said the decision was announced to follow the promise made by North Korean top leader Kim Jong Un in a speech last… Read More
Russia's royal family holds 1st wedding in more than 100 years
October 2, 2021, 4:24 pm
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia – A descendant of Russia's renowned House of Romanovs, Georgy Romanov, was married in St. Petersburg’s Saint Isaac’s Cathedral on Friday. Romanov's marriage to Italian writer Rebecca Bettarini was the first wedding of a royal family member in Russia in more than 100… Read More
California 1st US state with Covid-19 vax mandate for schools
October 2, 2021, 12:56 pm
LOS ANGELES – California became the first state in the United States to announce plans to require student vaccination for the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) by adding the vaccine to the list of vaccinations required for schools, such as the vaccines for measles, mumps, and rubella.… Read More
