Month: May 2023

The World Health Organization on Saturday launched a global network to help swiftly detect the threat from infectious diseases, like COVID-19, and share the information to prevent their spread. The International Pathogen Surveillance Network (IPSN) will provide a platform for connecting countries and regions, improving systems for collecting and analyzing samples, the agency said. The network aims to help ensure infectious disease threats are swiftly identified and tracked and the information shared and acted on to prevent catastrophes like the COVID pandemic. The network will rely on pathogen genomics to analyze the genetic code of viruses, bacteria and other disease-causing …

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Russian air strikes hit several locations in Ukraine overnight, including the capital, Kyiv, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in Japan for a summit of the Group of Seven (G7) leading global economies. In a post on Twitter shortly after his arrival in the Japanese city of Hiroshima, Zelensky wrote that the summit means “security and enhanced cooperation for our victory.” “Peace will become closer today,” he added. Meanwhile, Ukrainian military authorities said 18 drones had been shot down over the capital during the night. “Overnight, the aggressor again carried out a massive drone strike,” wrote Serhiy Popko, the head …

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Italy received offers of international aid on Friday for floods, described as its worst for a century, which killed 14 people and left thousands stranded in waterlogged homes or in evacuation centers. As some areas began the clean-up following downpours earlier this week, others were newly evacuated on Thursday and authorities extended a red weather alert in parts of the Emilia Romagna region, where nearly two dozen rivers have broken their banks. A mammoth rescue effort is underway after six months’ rain fell in 36 hours, with emergency services and the armed forces searching for people stuck in their homes …

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The United States and its allies are planning to provide Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets and train Ukrainian pilots to fly them, the White House said Friday, a turnaround from President Joe Biden’s monthslong refusal of requests from his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, for the aircraft. In a statement provided to VOA, a senior administration official said on Friday Biden informed G-7 leaders that the United States will support a joint effort with allies and partners to train Ukrainian pilots on fourth-generation fighter aircraft, including F-16s, to further strengthen and improve the capabilities of the Ukrainian air force. The training, …

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in Hiroshima, Japan, Saturday afternoon to participate in the Group of Seven leaders’ summit, the farthest he has been outside of his war-torn country since Russia’s invasion began in February last year. “Japan. G7. Important meetings with partners and friends of Ukraine. Security and enhanced cooperation for our victory. Peace will become closer today,” he wrote on Twitter upon his arrival. Zelenskyy is scheduled to hold bilateral talks on the sidelines of the G7 summit with world leaders, including U.S. President Joe Biden, summit host Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Indian Prime Minister Narendra …

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New developments: U.S. President Joe Biden has endorsed plans to train Ukrainian pilots on U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets, The Associated Press reports. Russia has added International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Karim Khan to its wanted list. Khan prepared an arrest warrant last March for President Vladimir Putin on war crimes charges, Russian media reported on Friday. The Pentagon has overestimated the value of the weapons it has sent to Ukraine by at least $3 billion, said Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh. The accounting error will allow the Defense Department to send more weapons without asking Congress for additional money. Russia is …

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Tens of thousands of people rallied in Serbia’s capital Friday for the third time in a month to protest the government’s handling of a crisis after two mass shootings in the Balkan country. Officials ignored their demands and claimed protesters were being manipulated by foreign secret services.  In a show of defiance, the nationalist right-wing party of autocratic Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic organized a counterprotest in a town north of Belgrade attended by thousands of his supporters.  The opposition protesters in Belgrade chanted slogans calling on Vucic to “go” and “resign.” They have also demanded the resignations of two government …

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Some 700 people were evacuated from four small towns in western Spain owing to a wildfire fanned by strong winds that have charred some 8,000 hectares (20,000 acres), officials said Friday.  More than 400 firefighters, including 50 agents from the army’s Military Emergency Unit, are battling to bring the fire under control in Las Hurdes, a hilly area west of Madrid.  Officials suspect the fire, which began Wednesday night, was started intentionally as they say two separate blazes erupted almost simultaneously.  The president of the surrounding region of Extremadura, Guillermo Fernández Vara, said the person responsible “knew very well what …

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