Foreign
US to send 5K troops to evacuate embassy staff in Afghanistan
August 15, 2021, 3:40 pm
WASHINGTON – US President Joe Biden said Saturday that Washington will send 5,000 troops to Afghanistan's capital to evacuate embassy staff. “I have authorized the deployment of approximately 5,000 U.S. troops to make sure we can have an orderly and safe drawdown of U.S. personnel and other… Read More
304 people killed after magnitude 7.2 earthquake hits Haiti
August 15, 2021, 11:08 am
ANKARA – At least 304 people are dead and more than 2,000 injured after a magnitude-7.2 earthquake struck Haiti on Saturday, according to the country’s civil defense agency. The quake's epicenter was 12 kilometers northeast of Saint-Louis-du-Sud, at a depth of 10 kilometers. The US Tsunami… Read More
US OKs 3rd Covid-19 vax dose for immunocompromised people
August 14, 2021, 4:53 pm
WASHINGTON – The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Thursday authorized the third dose of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccines for people with weakened immune systems. "The country has entered yet another wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the FDA is especially cognizant… Read More
China bats for 'science-based, no politics' Covid origin-tracing
August 14, 2021, 9:42 am
MANILA – The Chinese government is willing to work on a "science-based" global origin-tracing of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) but opposes any attempt to politicize such initiative. Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu, in a briefing for diplomatic envoys in China on August 13, said… Read More
WHO to test 3 new drugs for Covid-19 treatment
August 12, 2021, 1:11 pm
GENEVA – The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday announced that it will test three new drugs for Covid-19, which will involve thousands of researchers at more than 600 hospitals in 52 countries. According to a press release issued by WHO, the three new drugs are artesunate, a treatment… Read More
Global Covid-19 cases surpass 200M: Johns Hopkins University
August 5, 2021, 3:07 pm
NEW YORK – Global Covid-19 cases surpassed 200 million on Wednesday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The global case count reached 200,014,602, with 4,252,873 deaths worldwide, as of 3:21 p.m. local time (1921 GMT), showed the data. The United States reported 35,292,721 cases… Read More
US rejects WHO call for booster shot moratorium as 'false choice'
August 5, 2021, 2:00 pm
WASHINGTON – The US rebuffed on Wednesday a call from the World Health Organization (WHO) to impose a worldwide coronavirus booster shot moratorium, saying it presents "a false choice." WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus earlier in the day urged the halt until at least the end of September… Read More
Fil-Indian philanthropist lauds Modi’s ‘decisive leadership’
August 4, 2021, 5:47 pm
MANILA – Filipino Indian Commerce & Welfare Society Inc. (FICWSI) President Majinder "James" Kumar on Wednesday lauded the Indian government over the reorganization of the state of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) as a new union territory and the implementation of progressive laws and programs for its… Read More
US supports Asean's principles on South China Sea
August 4, 2021, 5:31 pm
HÀ NỘI – The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) member countries and the United States on Wednesday affirmed their determination to work closely together to contribute to maintaining peace, security and stability in the region, including maritime security and safety in the South… Read More
Requirements of masking, vaccination reinstated in US
August 4, 2021, 2:49 pm
NEW YORK – Strict requirements of masking and vaccination have been reimposed by federal and municipal governments as well as business entities across the United States, as the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic is making a comeback with its Delta variant. "The national outlook is… Read More
IMF approves historic $650-B SDR to boost liquidity amid pandemic
August 3, 2021, 8:08 pm
WASHINGTON – The board of governors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved a new general allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDR) equivalent to USD650 billion, the largest allocation in the IMF's history, in an effort to boost global liquidity amid the coronavirus disease 2019… Read More
Over 4.18-B coronavirus vaccine jabs administered worldwide
August 3, 2021, 8:53 am
ANKARA – The number of Covid-19 vaccine shots administered worldwide crossed 4.18 billion on Monday, according to Our World in Data, a tracking website affiliated with Oxford University. China, where the virus was first detected in late 2019, leads the count with more than 1.67 billion jabs,… Read More
100-year-old former Nazi concentration camp guard to go on trial
August 2, 2021, 1:23 pm
BERLIN – A 100-year-old former guard at the Sachsenhausen Nazi concentration camp near Germany’s capital Berlin will stand trial in the fall, local media reported Sunday. The accused is scheduled to go on trial in October in Neuruppin, a town in the eastern state of Brandenburg, 76 years after… Read More
Different levels of antibodies needed vs. coronavirus strains
August 1, 2021, 3:01 pm
MOSCOW – Levels of antibodies that are enough to protect a person against various novel coronavirus strains are different, and cannot be viewed as a reliable criterion when deciding whether a vaccination is needed or not, said Yekaterina Stepanova, a Russian infectious diseases specialist and a… Read More
Covid-19 spirals out of control in Asia-Pacific region
August 1, 2021, 12:08 pm
ANKARA – The number of daily coronavirus cases has increased in the vast majority of the Asia-Pacific region but it has become increasingly difficult to fight the pandemic in some countries. Despite the rapid progress of vaccinations in India, Malaysia and Japan, the number of infections has… Read More
Over 4B coronavirus vaccine jabs administered worldwide
July 29, 2021, 8:47 pm
ANKARA – Over four billion doses of coronavirus vaccines have been administered worldwide, with Turkey ranking among the top 10 countries in the total number jabs given, according to Our World in Data, a tracking website affiliated with Oxford University. China leads the global count with over… Read More
Thailand registers record number of daily Covid-19 deaths
July 29, 2021, 5:26 pm
JAKARTA, Indonesia – Thailand registered a record number of daily coronavirus fatalities Thursday as 165 people died over the past day, taking the country’s death toll to 4,562. Cases also jumped to a new single-day high of 17,669 in the last 24 hours as the more infectious Delta variant… Read More
Tokyo's virus cases surge to record high just days into Olympics
July 28, 2021, 2:42 pm
ANKARA – Coronavirus cases in Tokyo have shot up to a record high just four days after the start of the Olympics, local media reported on Tuesday. Japan’s capital reported 2,848 new cases – its highest daily figure to date – as a wave of infections driven by the contagious Delta variant… Read More
EU meets 70% vaccination target by July
July 28, 2021, 1:20 pm
BRUSSELS – The European Union reached its target of vaccinating 70 percent of its adult population with at least one jab by July, the bloc’s top official confirmed on Tuesday. “The EU has kept its word and delivered,” Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission,… Read More
Delta variant poses increasing threat to unvaccinated Americans
July 24, 2021, 1:48 pm
WASHINGTON – Covid-19 cases, deaths, and hospitalizations continue to surge among the unvaccinated across the United States, fueled by the rapid spread of the highly transmissible Delta variant. More than 91 million people live in a county considered to have high Covid-19 transmission, according… Read More
