Foreign
WHO appeals for $1.5B for key emergencies in 2024
January 16, 2024, 1:44 pm
ATHENS – The World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday launched an appeal for USD1.5 billion for 41 key emergencies around the globe in 2024. "The appeal covers the emergencies that demand the highest level of response from WHO, with the aim to reach over 87 million people," it said in a… Read More
Gaza death toll breaches 24K
January 16, 2024, 11:43 am
GAZA CITY, Palestine – At least 24,100 Palestinians have been killed and 60,834 others injured in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, the Health Ministry in the besieged Palestinian enclave said Monday. “The Israeli occupation (forces) committed 12 massacres against families in the… Read More
Pope Francis: Retirement 'a possibility,' but not considering it now
January 15, 2024, 4:12 pm
ROME – Pope Francis said Sunday that retirement remains an option open to all popes, but he is not contemplating it at present. “I am still alive," Francis responded when asked how he was by TV host Fabio Fazio, who interviewed the pontiff for about an hour during his show on the commercial… Read More
South Korea, Japan say North Korea launched ballistic missile
January 14, 2024, 6:02 pm
TOKYO – South Korea and Japan on Sunday said that North Korea has launched a ballistic missile. In a statement, the South Korean General Staff stated that North Korea launched a ballistic missile toward the Sea of Japan at 2.58 p.m. local time. It said that it was the first ballistic missile… Read More
China downplays Taiwan ruling party's election win
January 14, 2024, 1:57 pm
ISTANBUL – China downplayed the victory of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party's candidate (DPP) in Taiwan's presidential election Saturday, claiming that the result "cannot represent the mainstream public opinion." "The elections will not change the basic landscape and development trend of… Read More
33 dead, 19 injured in Colombian highway landslide
January 14, 2024, 11:38 am
BOGOTA, Colombia – At least 33 people were killed and 19 injured in a landslide in the Choco region of Colombia on a highway near the town of Carmen de Atrato. The landslide occurred due to heavy rains. "I deeply regret the death of 33 people in this tragedy, mostly children, according to… Read More
Global health risk from Covid-19 remains high – WHO
January 13, 2024, 3:18 pm
GENEVA – The global public health risks from the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) remain high, but it is not apparent, while deaths have dropped dramatically since two years ago, an expert on pandemic preparedness of the World Health Organization (WHO) said Friday. "The public risks from… Read More
Papua New Guinea under state of emergency as riots escalate in capital
January 12, 2024, 3:06 pm
SYDNEY – Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea James Marape has declared a state of emergency in the country amid large-scale riots in the capital of Port Moresby. Marape has placed the country under a 14-day state of emergency late Thursday and put 1,000 defense personnel on standby to deter… Read More
Man with deformed face who Pope hugged in 2013 dies
January 12, 2024, 12:01 pm
ROME – A man with a deformed face and head due to a rare disease and who hugged the headlines in 2013 after Pope Francis embraced him soon after his pontificate, died in a northern Italian hospital on Wednesday after a long battle with an illness. Vinicio Riva died at the age of 63 in the… Read More
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
