Foreign

US renews its call for dialogue with NoKor

US renews its call for dialogue with NoKor

September 14, 2021, 4:42 pm

ANKARA – The US on Tuesday renewed its call for dialogue with North Korea and said Washington has no hostile intent toward Pyongyang, according to local media. Speaking at a summit of the top nuclear envoys of South Korea, Japan and the US held in Tokyo, Washington's special envoy for North… Read More

North Korea tests new long-range cruise missile

North Korea tests new long-range cruise missile

September 13, 2021, 9:27 pm

ANKARA – North Korea has carried out a successful test of its new long-range cruise missile over the weekend, state-run media reported on Monday. The Korean Central News Agency in a statement said the country's Academy of Defense Science successfully test-fired a new type of long-range cruise… Read More

Japan estimates efficacy of Pfizer vaccine at 85% to 96%

Japan estimates efficacy of Pfizer vaccine at 85% to 96%

September 13, 2021, 2:17 pm

TOKYO – Experts at Kyoto University have estimated the efficacy of the Pfizer vaccine at 85 percent to 96 percent, the Japanese TV channel NHK reported on Monday. According to the news channel, a group of researchers from Kyoto University conducted a study last summer and analyzed the data of… Read More

'Sudden splendor in face of death' on 20th anniversary of 9/11

'Sudden splendor in face of death' on 20th anniversary of 9/11

September 12, 2021, 1:14 pm

CHICAGO, United States – Thousands of Americans on the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks, gathered Saturday at sites where four hijacked commercial planes crashed, leaving 2,977 dead and changed the course of world history. In lower Manhattan, New York, a solemn crowd gathered at the… Read More

US firefighter recalls 9/11 attacks: It was beyond comprehension

US firefighter recalls 9/11 attacks: It was beyond comprehension

September 12, 2021, 10:46 am

CHICAGO, United States – How is a firefighter to know that a 110-story building has collapsed in front of him? For Rudy Sanfilippo, a retired union representative for Manhattan's 2,000 firefighters, it is just one of those things that only someone who was there can understand. As with just about… Read More

Vaccinated 10 times less likely to be hospitalized with Covid-19

Vaccinated 10 times less likely to be hospitalized with Covid-19

September 9, 2021, 2:57 pm

BERLIN – Vaccinated people are 10 times less likely to be hospitalized with Covid-19 than those who are unvaccinated, Germany’s top health expert said on Wednesday. Professor Lothar Wieler, head of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), said vaccines continue to offer strong protection against… Read More

7.1 magnitude earthquake strikes Mexico’s southwest coast

7.1 magnitude earthquake strikes Mexico’s southwest coast

September 8, 2021, 4:46 pm

MEXICO – A powerful magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck Mexico’s southwest state of Guerrero late Tuesday, according to the National Seismological Service of Mexico. Power outages have been reported, while no significant damage has been reported so far in the nation’s capital. Mexico City has… Read More

Taliban announces formation of caretaker gov't in Afghanistan

Taliban announces formation of caretaker gov't in Afghanistan

September 8, 2021, 2:57 pm

KABUL – The Taliban announced on Tuesday night the formation of Afghanistan's caretaker government, with Mullah Hassan Akhund appointed as the acting prime minister. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told a press conference here that Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar and Abdul Salam Hanafi were… Read More

Mexico decriminalizes abortion in historic move

Mexico decriminalizes abortion in historic move

September 8, 2021, 1:50 pm

BOGOTA, Colombia – Mexico's Supreme Court voted on Tuesday to decriminalize abortion, a historic vote in a Catholic-majority country. The high court unanimously voted to overturn several articles of a law of the northern state of Coahuila that establishes jail terms of up to three years for… Read More

Biden says US recognition of Taliban ‘long way off’

Biden says US recognition of Taliban ‘long way off’

September 7, 2021, 2:05 pm

WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden said late Monday that the US is a long way from recognizing the Taliban after the group took over the Afghan capital Kabul in mid-August following the US pullout. "That's a long way off," Biden told reporters at the White House. At a briefing last Thursday, White… Read More

US Covid-19 cases surpass 40M: Johns Hopkins University

US Covid-19 cases surpass 40M: Johns Hopkins University

September 7, 2021, 12:32 pm

NEW YORK – The total number of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases in the United States (US) topped 40 million on Monday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. US Covid-19 case count rose to 40,003,101, with a total of 648,935 deaths as of 3:21 p.m. local time (1921 GMT),… Read More

1.6M Moderna coronavirus vaccine doses to be recalled in Japan

1.6M Moderna coronavirus vaccine doses to be recalled in Japan

September 5, 2021, 5:15 pm

TOKYO – More than 1.6 million doses of the Moderna coronavirus vaccines will be recalled in Japan because of “foreign substances,” company officials said Sunday. Moderna and its Japanese sales and distribution partner, Takeda, made the decision about the recall. The doses with foreign… Read More

17 killed, 41 injured by celebratory gunfire in Afghan capital

17 killed, 41 injured by celebratory gunfire in Afghan capital

September 5, 2021, 1:01 pm

KABUL, Afghanistan – At least 17 people were killed and 41 others injured by celebratory gunfire in different parts of Afghanistan's capital after untrue reports emerged that the Taliban captured the northeastern Panjshir valley, a hospital source told Anadolu Agency on Saturday. For two hours… Read More

EU, AstraZeneca reach agreement on vaccine supply dispute

EU, AstraZeneca reach agreement on vaccine supply dispute

September 4, 2021, 11:40 am

BRUSSELS – The European Union (EU) and pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca have reached an agreement after a dispute on Covid-19 vaccine delivery schedules, announced a spokesperson here on Friday. The settlement will ensure the delivery of the remaining vaccine doses still due to EU member… Read More

Japan's PM to step down amid Covid-19 censure

Japan's PM to step down amid Covid-19 censure

September 3, 2021, 4:25 pm

ANKARA – In a radical U-turn, Japan Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Friday announced that he would not stand for his party's leadership, effectively giving up the premiership, after facing severe criticism over his handling of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, local media… Read More

US economic recovery slows amid spread of Delta variant

US economic recovery slows amid spread of Delta variant

September 1, 2021, 2:53 pm

WASHINGTON – The United States economic recovery from the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic is slowing due to the spread of the Delta variant and a sizable segment of unvaccinated people, Joseph Brusuelas, chief economist at accounting and consulting firm RSM US LLP,  said on… Read More

Scientists sound alarm over new Covid-19 variant in South Africa

Scientists sound alarm over new Covid-19 variant in South Africa

August 31, 2021, 8:13 pm

JOHANNESBURG  – Scientists in South Africa have sounded the alarm after detecting a new Covid-19 variant, known as C.1.2, in all nine provinces across the country, though at a relatively low rate. "While the C.1.2 lineage shares a few common mutations with the Beta and Delta variants, the new… Read More

WHO calls for action to raise Covid-19 vax rates in Europe

WHO calls for action to raise Covid-19 vax rates in Europe

August 31, 2021, 8:01 pm

COPENHAGEN – The World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe has called on health authorities to take urgent action to counter both an accelerated transmission of the coronavirus and a clear stagnation in vaccination rates across the region. "The high transmission is deeply… Read More

US declares completion of Afghanistan pullout, ending 20-year war

US declares completion of Afghanistan pullout, ending 20-year war

August 31, 2021, 4:08 pm

WASHINGTON – The US announced Monday the completion of its efforts to withdraw all of its forces from Afghanistan, bringing to an end the longest war in American history. Gen. Frank McKenzie, the head of US Central Command, confirmed the conclusion of the withdrawal and military efforts to… Read More

Powerful Hurricane Ida hits US Louisiana, other regions

Powerful Hurricane Ida hits US Louisiana, other regions

August 30, 2021, 1:39 pm

HOUSTON – Dangerous high-end category 4 Hurricane Ida on Sunday made a landfall with maximum sustained winds of 150 miles (about 240 km) per hour west of Grand Isle, southern US state Louisiana, bringing life-threatening storm surge, catastrophic winds and dangerous rainfall flooding. The US… Read More