WORLD

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia |  XINHUA  |  The 34th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union (AU) kicked off virtually on Saturday amid COVID-19 concerns and a joint commitment in the fight against the pandemic. The AU summit is being held under the theme of “Arts, Culture and Heritage: Levers …

Islamabad, Pakistan | THE INDEPENDENT |    Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan launched COVID-19 vaccination drive with China-donated vaccines on Tuesday as part of the country’s efforts to bring the pandemic under control. The first batch of the Sinopharm vaccines reached Pakistan early Monday from Beijing on a special Pakistan Air …

Washington, USA | THE INDEPENDENT |    A group of House Democrats and former President Donald Trump’s lawyers respectively filed legal briefs on Tuesday in an impeachment case. The Democrats, known as the impeachment managers, accused Trump of inciting the chaotic and deadly violence on the U.S. Capitol last month, while …

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | THE INDEPENDENT |    The Malaysian government said on Tuesday that it will extend the Movement Control Order (MCO) in force over most of the country till Feb. 18 in order to control the spread of COVID-19. Defense Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who coordinates the implementation of …

Madrid, Spain | THE INDEPENDENT |    Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has tested positive for the coronavirus, COVID-19, the club informed on Tuesday. “Real Madrid C. F. would like to inform that our president Florentino Perez has tested positive in the COVID-19 tests that he periodically undergoes, although he is …

Brussels, Belgium | THE INDEPENDENT |   The European Union’s (EU) top health officials held discussions on Sunday with drug giants about rapid development and production of vaccines specially against the new variants of the coronavirus. The emergence of variants of concern “raises the imminent threat of reduced efficacy of recently …

  Berlin, Germany | XINHUA |  After a seven percent drop in production last year, Germany’s electrical industry is expecting production to increase by five percent in 2021, the German Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers’ Association (ZVEI) said on Thursday. “This would make up for around two-thirds of last year’s losses,” …

  Berlin, Germany | XINHUA | The number of new COVID-19 infections in Germany remained below the previous week’s levels, with another 14,022 cases reported within one day, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) said on Friday. So far, more than 2.19 million infections have been registered in Germany since the …

Brussels, Belgium | XINHUA |  The European Commission granted conditional marketing authorization for the COVID-19 vaccine developed by British company AstraZeneca and Oxford University on Friday, although the bloc seems unlikely to get the amount of doses as agreed for the moment. “Securing safe vaccines for Europeans is our utmost …

  United Nations, USA | THE INDEPENDENT |    United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday called on member states to make vaccine solidarity a top priority. “Our first priority for 2021 is to respond to COVID-19. Vaccines are the first great moral test before us,” the UN chief told the …