COLOMBO (Reuters) – Sri Lankan authorities on Sunday put on show what they said was the world’s largest natural corundum blue sapphire, weighing 310 kilograms, which was found in a gem pit about three months ago. Local gemologists, who have examined the sapphire, said it was one of the rarest gems in the world as …
By Heru Asprihanto JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia started vaccinating elementary school children aged 6-11 against COVID-19 on Tuesday, becoming one of the few countries in Asia to start mass inoculations for young children. Vaccinations against the virus for this age group has been a sensitive issue in some countries. Europe has just started vaccinations for …
Indonesia starts COVID-19 vaccinations for young children Read More »
DUBLIN (Reuters) – Getting an initial course of COVID-19 vaccines to unprotected groups all over the world should remain a top priority before offering booster shots to vulnerable groups, World Health Organisation (WHO) Emergency Director Mike Ryan said on Tuesday. A major study on Tuesday found that two doses of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine appear to …
Protect the unvaccinated, then offer boosters – WHO’s Ryan Read More »
By Karen Lema and Neil Jerome Morales MANILA (Reuters) – Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday withdrew his bid to become a senator, the same day his preferred successor quit the presidential race, adding to uncertainty about the mercurial leader’s political future and the scope of his influence. The president filed withdrawal papers at the …
Philippines’ Duterte quits senate race in new election twist Read More »
By Stephanie Nebehay and Emma Farge GENEVA (Reuters) – More than 100 former Afghan national security forces and others have been killed since the Taliban takeover in August, most at the hands of the hardline Islamist group which is recruiting boy soldiers and quashing women’s rights, the U.N. said on Tuesday. Nada al-Nashif, U.N. Deputy …
Taliban rule marked by killings, denial of women’s rights – UN Read More »
WARSAW (Reuters) – A Polish woman has tested positive for the Omicron variant of the coronavirus in China, Poland’s health ministry said on Tuesday, after Chinese media reported that the first case on the county’s mainland had been detected in a Pole. The first case of Omicron in mainland China was detected in the northern …
Polish woman tests positive for Omicron in China Read More »
GENEVA (Reuters) – Almost all Afghans do not have enough to eat and a failing economy could tip Afghanistan’s increasingly dire situation under Taliban rule into catastrophe next year, the U.N.’s World Food Programme (WFP) said on Tuesday. WFP surveys showed an estimated 98% of Afghans are not eating enough, with seven in 10 families …
Afghans face “avalanche of hunger and destitution” – UN agency Read More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping will discuss tensions in Europe and “aggressive” U.S. and NATO rhetoric during a video call on Wednesday, the Kremlin said. The conversation will take place at a moment of high tension in both countries’ relations with the West, with Beijing under pressure over …
Putin and Xi to discuss ‘aggressive’ talk from U.S. and NATO, Kremlin says Read More »
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Singapore is considering requiring its residents to get a booster shot to qualify as fully vaccinated against COVID-19, its health minister said on Tuesday, as it seeks to protect its population from the Omicron variant. The city-state of 5.5 million people currently allows only those counted as fully vaccinated – or recipients …
Singapore mulls COVID-19 boosters requirement to qualify as ‘fully’ vaccinated Read More »
By Humeyra Pamuk JAKARTA (Reuters) – Secretary of State Antony Blinken touted on Tuesday a U.S. strategy to deepen its Asian treaty alliances, offering to boost defence and intelligence work with partners in an Indo-Pacific region increasingly concerned over China’s “aggressive actions”. On a visit to Indonesia, Blinken called the Indo-Pacific the world’s most dynamic …
Blinken touts deeper U.S. engagement amid concern over ‘aggressive’ China Read More »
