WORLD

Washington, US | Xinhua |  Rates of gun violence in the United States surged by almost a third during last year’s COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study published Thursday in Scientific Reports. Researchers identified around 51,000 incidents of gun violence across the United States during the 13-month period of the …

London, UK | Xinhua | The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) confirmed Friday that the Delta variant sub-lineage (Delta AY.4.2) was designated a Variant Under Investigation (VUI) on Oct. 20, 2021, and has been given the official name VUI-21OCT-01. The UKHSA said the designation was made on the basis that …

New York, US | Xinhua |  The old Cold War is the wrong way to frame what is happening now between China and the United States, and both sides should cooperate on climate and other issues, said an article published on The New York Times. “Governments that plunge into a …

  Washington, US | XINHUA | The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Thursday officially endorsed booster shots for both the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines in certain populations, and allowed “mix and match” dosing for booster shots. The decision came a day after the U.S. …

Berlin, Germany | Xinhua | A booster vaccination with the COVID-19 vaccine of BioNTech and Pfizer increased protection to up to 95.6 percent, the companies announced on Thursday. A randomized, controlled phase III study of more than 10,000 people aged 16 years and older found that booster vaccinations with the Comirnaty …

Washington, U.S. | Xinhua | Some social-media influencers and high-profile doctors have been spreading misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines recently as the pandemic continues to wreak havoc in the United States, CNN reported on Thursday. Dr. Rashid Buttar, a famous physician who has 88,000 followers on Twitter, shared all manner of misleading …

Moscow, Russia| Xinhua | The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) bears primary responsibility for the current situation in Afghanistan, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday at the plenary session of the 18th annual meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club in Sochi. “While the participation of both China and Russia and other …

Geneva, Switzerland | Xinhua | The World Health Organization (WHO) has urged countries to prioritize vaccination for health workers in the light of its new paper estimating that 115,000 died of coronavirus between January 2020 and May 2021. Although data from 119 countries suggests that on average two in five health …

Washington, U.S | Xinhua | U.S. House voted Thursday to refer Steve Bannon, the onetime adviser to former President Donald Trump, to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution, accusing him of contempt of Congress over his refusal to cooperate with the investigation into the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. The resolution was …

Washington, U.S | Xinhua | Former U.S. President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he will launch a new media company with its own social media platform, nine months after he was barred from Twitter and Facebook. The new company, called Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG) and chaired by Trump, will …