WORLD

Beijing, China | Xinhua | A Chinese spokesperson on Thursday rebuked some Western politicians for questioning the impartiality of the recent coronavirus origin-tracing study by a World Health Organization (WHO) mission in China. Being impartial should not mean the presumption of guilt aimed at China, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said …

Beijing, China | Xinhua | China always believes that the United States’ return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is the only correct way to break the Iran nuclear deadlock, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Thursday. Spokesperson Hua Chunying made the remarks at a press briefing when asked …

Warsaw, Poland |  THE INDEPENDENT  |  The prime ministers of Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia met in the southern Polish city of Krakow on Wednesday to discuss the COVID-19 pandemic and to mark the 30th anniversary of the Visegrad Group (V4) cooperation framework. The four leaders jointly urged the …

Brussels, Belgium |  THE INDEPENDENT  | The European Union (EU) on Wednesday stepped up its efforts to detect and fight COVID-19 variants by bringing together various stakeholders to develop new and adapted vaccines. A new project called “HERA Incubator” will gather researchers, biotech companies, manufacturers and public authorities in the EU …

Tehran, Iran | Xinhua | Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani reiterated on Wednesday the Islamic Republic’s “definite” determination not to produce or store weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), including nuclear weapons, official news agency IRNA reported. “As we have said many times, in our country’s defense program, there is no place for …

COMMENT | Xinhua | China is continuing expanding its aid and support for other countries, especially the developing and least developed ones, in getting access to COVID-19 vaccination. A shipment of 200,000 doses of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines donated by China arrived in Zimbabwe Monday. Peru received 700,000 more doses of …

Kampala, Uganda |  URN & THE INDEPENDENT |  Government has asked the European Union (EU) Parliament to respect the country’s sovereignty and ensure non-interference if relations between the two is to be sustained.   Uganda response to EU Resolution (CLICK TO READ FULL STATEMENT)  The EU Parliament last week adopted 19 resolutions taking …

Kampala, Uganda |  THE INDEPENDENT  |  The World Health Organization (WHO) has listed two more versions of the AstraZeneca/Oxford COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, giving the green light for them to be rolled out globally through the COVAX facility, set up to ensure equitable access to the drug across the world. …

WTO members made history February 15, 2021 when the General Council agreed by consensus to select Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of Nigeria as the organization’s seventh Director-General Washington, US | THE INDEPENDENT | When she takes office on March 1, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala will become the first woman and the first African to …

New York, U.S. | Xinhua | Wall Street’s major averages advanced in the week as investors assessed the possibility of a U.S. stimulus bill, while digesting a slew of economic data. For the week ending Friday, the Dow finished up 1 percent, the S&P 500 added 1.2 percent, and the Nasdaq …