Foreign
Biden to convene 40 world leaders to discuss climate
April 22, 2021, 6:23 pm
WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden is set to convene world leaders from 40 countries on Thursday to discuss the growing threats posed by climate change, and announce a key climate goal for the US. Biden is expected to attempt to position the US as the global leader in the battle to prevent global… Read More
IMF official sees both potential, risk in digital currencies
April 22, 2021, 1:47 pm
WASHINGTON – Digital currencies have a potential to make financial services "much more inclusive," an International Monetary Fund (IMF) official has said, while warning that there are also risks worth watching. "There is a lot of promise in these electronic currencies," Helge Berger, the IMF's… Read More
South Korean court dismisses lawsuit against Japan
April 21, 2021, 9:25 pm
ANKARA – A South Korean court on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit filed by wartime victims against the Japanese government, local media reported. In its ruling on the case of women forced to work as sex slaves during World War II, the Seoul Central District Court cited sovereign immunity, a concept… Read More
'Covid-19 worst crisis in Asia-Pacific since WW II'
April 21, 2021, 3:00 pm
KARACHI, Pakistan – The coronavirus pandemic has created the worst crisis in Asia-Pacific since World War II, exposing structural weaknesses and fault lines, and revealing gaps in health services, social protection, and digital connectivity in the region, according to a new study. The study,… Read More
Biden: Chauvin conviction can be 'giant step forward'
April 21, 2021, 11:18 am
WASHINGTON – The conviction of ex-Minneapolis, Minnesota police officer Derek Chauvin can be a "giant step forward" in the US' struggle with systemic racism, President Joe Biden said Tuesday. Chauvin was convicted by a jury just hours earlier of murder and manslaughter for the May 2020 killing… Read More
US jury finds Chauvin guilty of all 3 charges over Floyd’s death
April 21, 2021, 8:42 am
WASHINGTON – Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty of two counts of murder and one count of manslaughter over the death of George Floyd, the judge presiding over the high-profile trial announced Tuesday, reading the jury's verdict. Right after judge Peter Cahill… Read More
UN chief calls for real action to fight climate change
April 20, 2021, 7:01 pm
UNITED NATIONS – United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday called for specific commitments and real action to fight climate change after speaking out about the severity of the climatic disruptions that have raged the planet. "We must agree to a common direction of travel," the… Read More
WHO reports alarming hospitalization of 25 to 59-year-olds
April 20, 2021, 1:53 pm
GENEVA – New cases of Covid-19 increased for the eighth week in a row, with more than 5.2 million reported -- the most in a week so far -- and alarming hospitalizations among people aged 25 to 59 worldwide, the director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO) said Monday. “Deaths rose… Read More
NASA's helicopter makes first flight on Mars
April 19, 2021, 9:36 pm
ANKARA – The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has conducted the first helicopter flight on planet Mars, it announced Monday. "Ingenuity has performed its first flight — the first flight of a powered aircraft on another planet!" NASA wrote on Twitter, adding data that… Read More
Covid-19 cases across globe up by over 809K Sunday
April 19, 2021, 2:05 pm
GENEVA – More than 809,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus infection were registered worldwide in the past day, with the overall number exceeding 140.32 million, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in its daily bulletin on Sunday. As of 15:35 Moscow time on April 18, as many as… Read More
Covid-19 surge rattles hospitals in India
April 18, 2021, 7:54 pm
NEW DELHI – In New Delhi, one sound is conspicuous these days -- the siren of ambulances. More so outside the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital, one of India's largest Covid-19 facilities. As India is witnessing an unprecedented surge in coronavirus cases, the hospitals in Delhi and other… Read More
Asean leaders eye in-person summit on Myanmar situation
April 18, 2021, 4:54 pm
JAKARTA – Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) will convene a meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia on April 24 to discuss efforts in building the Asean Community, external relations, and regional issues including the crisis in Myanmar. Plans for the meeting have been in the… Read More
World has alarming increase in Covid cases: WHO chief
April 18, 2021, 11:02 am
GENEVA – There is an alarming increase in Covid-19 cases and deaths worldwide, and cases each week have nearly doubled over the past two months, the World Health Organization chief said on Friday. WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus was addressing a top-level virtual meeting held under the… Read More
New Vietnam foreign minister talks with PH, Australia, Malaysia
April 15, 2021, 4:49 pm
HANOI – Newly-appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs Bùi Thanh Sơn on Wednesday held separate online conversations with Australian foreign minister Marise Payne, Malaysian foreign minister Hishammuddin Hussein and Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Teodoro Locsin Jr. During the… Read More
Afghanistan respects US troop withdrawal: President
April 15, 2021, 3:29 pm
KABUL, Afghanistan – Afghanistan respects the US decision to withdraw troops and will work with American partners to ensure a smooth transition, President Mohammed Ashraf Ghani said after a telephone conversation with his American counterpart late on Wednesday. Ghani said Afghanistan would work… Read More
Biden announces US troops withdrawal from Afghanistan by Sept. 11
April 15, 2021, 2:34 pm
WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday that all United States troops will be withdrawn from Afghanistan before Sept. 11, a decision to end the longest war in American history. "The United States will begin our final withdrawal, begin it on May 1 of this year," Biden said in his… Read More
Pfizer jab drastically reduces virus infections: study
April 14, 2021, 1:02 pm
OVIEDO, Spain – The Pfizer vaccine is highly effective in preventing Covid-19 infections, deaths, and hospitalizations, according to a new study in Spain. The investigation followed more than 116,000 nursing home residents, staff, and healthcare workers who were vaccinated in Catalonia starting… Read More
US health agencies call for halt to J&J vaccine shots
April 14, 2021, 7:07 am
ANKARA – US federal health agencies on Tuesday called for an immediate pause for the single-dose Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine amid reports of clotting issues. The announcement came after the discovery of six cases of a rare and severe type of blood clot that developed about two weeks after… Read More
UN chief calls for 6 measures to finance recovery from Covid-19
April 13, 2021, 6:13 pm
UNITED NATIONS – UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday called for six measures to help countries recover from Covid-19 and keep them on track toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Financing for development in the context of Covid-19 means an unprecedented effort to mobilize… Read More
Japan decides to dump Fukushima wastewater into sea amid concerns
April 13, 2021, 5:57 pm
TOKYO – Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said on Tuesday that his government has decided to discharge contaminated radioactive wastewater in Fukushima Prefecture into the sea amid domestic and international opposition. Suga made the announcement after convening a meeting of relevant… Read More
