Quad leaders to deliver on vaccines, infrastructure, tech — US official
WASHINGTON — A first in-person meeting of the leaders of the Quad group of countries — the United States, Japan, Australia, and India —...
‘Death sentence’: low-lying nations implore faster action on climate at UN
UNITED NATIONS — Faced with what they see as an existential threat, leaders from low-lying and island nations implored rich countries at the United...
Melbourne anti-lockdown protests fizzle out as daily infections hit pandemic high
SYDNEY — Melbourne’s streets were largely quiet on Thursday after three days of anti-lockdown protests, with hundreds of police officers on patrol in the city to prevent another rally as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in Victoria hit a daily pandemic record.
French ambassador to return to US after Biden and Macron fence-mending call
PARIS/WASHINGTON — The US and French presidents moved to mend ties on Wednesday, with France agreeing to send its ambassador back to Washington and the White House acknowledging it erred in brokering a deal for Australia to buy US instead of French submarines without consulting Paris.
Echoes, uncertainty as Afghan pilots await US help in Tajikistan
WASHINGTON — A US-trained Afghan pilot was talking to Reuters on a smuggled cellphone from Tajikistan, where he is being held, when something strange happened — his voice started looping, repeating everything he had just said, word for word.
Vaccinated pregnant women pass protection to babies in study
Pregnant women who get mRNA vaccines pass high levels of antibodies to their babies, according to a study published in American Journal of Obstetrics...
World’s beautiful, Airbus says as air industry sets out green goals
TOULOUSE, France - Airbus led a chorus of pledges by aviation leaders to cut emissions under an eco-friendly new slogan on Wednesday, but was...
Evergrande domestic debt deal calms immediate contagion concern
SINGAPORE/SHANGHAI - China Evergrande agreed to settle interest payments on a domestic bond on Wednesday, while the Chinese central bank injected cash into the...
US FDA clears Pfizer COVID-19 booster for older and at-risk Americans
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday authorized a booster dose of the Pfizer Inc and BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for those...
Climate, COVID-19 dominate UN as Biden and Xi up their promises
JOSEPH R. BIDEN and Xi Jinping boosted their efforts to help other nations address climate change as fears over the global environment and the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic dominated the first day of world leaders addressing the annual United Nations General Assembly.
Australia rocked by one of its biggest quakes on record
SYDNEY/MELBOURNE — A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck near Melbourne on Wednesday, Geoscience Australia said, one of the country’s biggest quakes on record, causing damage to buildings in the country’s second-largest city and sending tremors throughout neighboring states.
Pandemic threatens Asia-Pacific’s progress on global development goals
MANILA — The coronavirus pandemic may have pushed as many as 80 million people in developing Asia into extreme poverty last year, threatening to derail progress on global goals to tackle poverty and hunger by 2030, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said on Tuesday.