A health worker inoculates a child with a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against COVID-19 during a vaccination campaign in Lima on Jan 25, 2022, amid the coronavirus pandemic. (ERNESTO BENAVIDES / AFP) ROME / BERLIN / HAVANA / LIMA – Peru registered 17,841 COVID-19 cases between June 19 and 25, an increase of 70 percent compared to the previous weekly period, the country's social security …
Argentina president names new economy chief after Guzman exit
In this file photo taken on June 6, 2022 Argentina's Economy Minister Martin Guzman (right) speaks next to President Alberto Fernandez as he presents a bill to create a tax on so-called "extraordinary profits" for big companies that earned more-than-expected due to the war in Ukraine, in Buenos Aires. (JUAN MABROMATA / AFP) BUENOS AIRES – Argentine President named economist and government official Silvina Batakis …
Canada’s emergency rooms bear the brunt of a ‘perfect storm’
A healthcare worker stands outside the emergency entrance of Vancouver General Hospital in Vancouver, Canada, on April 1, 2020. (LIANG SEN / XINHUA) TORONTO – Health authorities across Canada have cut the hours of hospital emergency departments and urgent care clinics in recent weeks, a move that in some cases may extend through the summer, due to a surge in patients and staff shortages. The …
Argentina president names new economy chief after shock Guzman exit
In this file photo taken on June 6, 2022 Argentina's Economy Minister Martin Guzman (right) speaks next to President Alberto Fernandez as he presents a bill to create a tax on so-called "extraordinary profits" for big companies that earned more-than-expected due to the war in Ukraine, in Buenos Aires. (JUAN MABROMATA / AFP) BUENOS AIRES – Argentine President named economist and government official Silvina Batakis …
Poll: Scottish voters remain split over independence
Scotland's First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, is interviewed, on May 17, 2022, in Washington. (JACQUELYN MARTIN / AP PHOTO) LONDON – Voters in Scotland remain evenly split over whether or not they support independence from the rest of Britain, a poll published by the Sunday Times showed, days after the Scottish government set out plans for a referendum on the subject next year. Last …
UK Army’s Twitter and YouTube accounts restored after hack
Soldiers take position during a simulated military excercise of the British Army Training Unit in Kenya (BATUK) together with the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) at the ol-Daiga ranch, high on Kenya’s Laikipia plateau on March 26, 2018. (TONY KARUMBA / AFP) LONDON – The British Army regained control of its Twitter and YouTube accounts on Sunday after they were briefly hacked and used to post …
Denmark in shock as gunman kills 3 at Copenhagen shopping mall
Map of Copenhagen, Denmark, where deadly shots were fired in a mall Sunday. COPENHAGEN – Three people were killed and several more were wounded in a shooting at a shopping center in Copenhagen on Sunday, Danish police said, adding they had arrested a 22-year-old Danish man and charged him with manslaughter. The attack rocked Denmark at the end of an otherwise joyful week, just after …
Active COVID-19 infections in Italy surpass 1 million
A worker of the Cremona hospital cleaning staff, wearing a personal protective equipment, walks past the COVID-19 intensive care unit of the Cremona hospital, in Cremona, northern Italy on Jan 11, 2022. (MIGUEL MEDINA / AFP) ROME / BERLIN / HAVANA – The number of active cases of coronavirus surpassed 1 million in Italy on Sunday, the result of a swift increase in cases over the …
Tunisian constitution panel head blasts president’s draft
A handout picture provided by the Tunisian Presidency Press Service on June 20, 2022 shows Sadok Belaid, head of Tunisia's constitution committee, submitting a draft of the new constitution to President Kais Saied (left) at the Carthage Palace in Tunis. (TUNISIAN PRESIDENCY / AFP) TUNIS – The head of Tunisia's constitution committee blasted a proposed constitution published by President Kais Saied, local media reported on …
Argentina economy minister quits as crisis builds
Argentina’s Economy Minister Martin Guzman speaks during the annual meeting of the Argentina Business Association in Buenos Aires on June 7, 2022. (JUAN MABROMATA / AFP) BUENOS AIRES – Argentina's economy minister Martin Guzman, the architect of a recent major debt deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), resigned on Saturday as deep splits emerged in the ruling coalition over how to handle mounting economic …
US top court asks Maryland to bar protests at justices’ homes
US Marshals patrol outside the home of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, in Chevy Chase, Md, June 8, 2022. (JACQUELYN MARTIN / AP) WASHINGTON – The US Supreme Court’s top security officer has asked Maryland Governor Larry Hogan to enforce laws barring picketing outside the Maryland homes of high court justices, saying protests and “threatening activity” have increased. Supreme Court Marshal Gail Curley made the …
US announces additional security assistance to Ukraine
The Ukrainian flag flutters between buildings in the Ukrainian town of Borodianka in the Kyiv region on April 17, 2022. (SERGEI SUPINSKY / AFP) WASHINGTON – The United States on Friday announced a new round of security assistance to Ukraine that included advanced anti-aircraft and aerial defense systems as well as additional ammunition for advanced rocket systems. About $770 million falls under the Ukraine Security …
WikiLeaks’ Assange lodges appeal against US extradition
A mural of Australia's Julian Assange is seen in a laneway in Melbourne on Jan 5, 2021. (PHOTO / AFP) LONDON – WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange has appealed to the High Court in London to block his extradition to the United States to face criminal charges, his brother said on Friday, the latest step in his legal battle that has dragged on for more than …
Suspected driver in Texas migrant deaths was on meth, lawmaker says
A girl looks at the portrait of Wilmer Tulul – killed inside a tractor-trailer in Texas after crossing from Mexico – at his house in Tzucubal village, Nahuala, Guatemala, on June 30, 2022. Melvin Guachiac and his cousin Wilmer were among the 53 migrants who died after they were abandoned in a suffocatingly hot tractor-trailer truck in the US state of Texas. (JOHAN ORDONEZ / …
Russia scraps remaining COVID-19 restrictions
A woman has her body temperature checked as she waits in line to receive an injection of Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination point in a public services office in Moscow, Russia, on Feb 10, 2021. (NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA / AFP) ROME / HELSINKI / JUBA / BERLIN / COPENHAGEN – Russia said on Friday it was ending all restrictions to combat the spread of COVID-19, including …
Britain to up defense spending to 2.5% of GDP by end of decade
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks during a media conference at a NATO summit in Madrid, Spain, June 30, 2022. (PAUL WHITE / AP) LONDON – Britain will boost defense spending to 2.5 percent of its gross domestic product by the end of this decade, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Thursday, making a new commitment to bolster the military budget after Russia's special military …
Eight killed in Sudan as protesters rally on uprising anniversary
Sudanese anti-military protesters march in demonstrations in the capital of Sudan, Khartoum, on June 30, 2022. (MARWAN ALI / AP PHOTO) KHARTOUM – At least eight protesters were shot dead in Sudan on Thursday, medics said, as large crowds took to the streets despite heavy security and a communications blackout to rally against the military leadership that seized power eight months ago. In central Khartoum, …
US Supreme Court limits federal power to curb carbon emissions
The Environmental Protection Agency headquarters in Washington, DC, on June 29, 2022. (STEFANI REYNOLDS / AFP) WASHINGTON – The US Supreme Court on Thursday imposed limits on the federal government's authority to issue sweeping regulations to reduce carbon emissions from power plants in a ruling that undermines President Joe Biden's plans to tackle climate change and could constrain various agencies on other issues. The court's …
UN Security Council renews sanctions on DRC
The United Nations Security Council meets on threats to international peace and security, June 8, 2022 at United Nations headquarters. (MARY ALTAFFER / AP) UNITED NATIONS – The United Nations Security Council on Thursday renewed the sanctions imposed on the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Adopting resolution 2641 by a vote of 10 in favor to none against with five abstentions, the council renewed its …
Russian, Indonesian presidents discuss Ukraine, food supplies
Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) and Indonesian President Joko Widodo shake hands after a joint news conference after their meeting in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia on June 30, 2022. (ALEXANDER ZEMLIANICHENKO, POOL / AP PHOTO) MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin and visiting Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Thursday discussed the current situation in Ukraine and the supplies of grain and fertilizers amid a …