North Korea says 21 people died and 174,440 people were newly found with fever symptoms on Friday alone as the country scrambles to slow the spread of COVID-19 across its unvaccinated population.
North Korea said Saturday 27 people have died and 524,440 fell ill amid a rapid spread of fever since late April. It said 280,810 people remain in quarantine. State media didn’t specifically say how many of the fever cases and deaths were confirmed as COVID-19 cases.
Also read: Explained: What’s behind North Korea’s Covid-19 admission?
The country imposed nationwide lockdowns on Thursday after confirming its first COVID-19 infections since the start of the pandemic.
State media said tests of virus samples collected Sunday from an unspecified number of people with fevers in the country’s capital, Pyongyang, confirmed they were infected with the omicron variant. The country has so far officially confirmed one death as linked to an omicron infection.
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US ‘working on Turkey’s position’ of Sweden, Finland joining NATO: White House
Washington is “working to clarify Turkey’s position” after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed opposition to Finland and Sweden joining NATO, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Friday. The idea of the two nations becoming members of the transatlantic alliance had received “broad support from NATO member countries,” Psaki said. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby likewise said the United States is working to “better understand” Ankara’s stance.
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Ukraine thwarts Russian columns at river in Donbas region
Ukrainian forces destroyed parts of a Russian armoured column as it tried to cross a river in the Donbas region, video from Ukraine’s military showed on Friday, as the Ukrainian defence minister predicted many weeks of grinding fighting ahead. Volunteers inside were trying to salvage packages of baby diapers and formula. It was not immediately possible to verify the reports.
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Taliban’s new rule: Men, women not allowed to sit together at restaurants
The Taliban has implemented a gender segregation plan in the western Herat province, a media report said on Friday. Men are not permitted to dine with family members in family restaurants, Khaam Press reported citing sources in Herat province. According to the Afghan news agency, the rule of the Ministry for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice applies “even if they are husband and wife.”
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Ukraine war: Russian air force attacks arms depot in Kharkiv | 5 top points
The fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces has been underway since the past 79 days with no signs of peace. The war has witnessed civilian and military establishments reduced to rubble, innocent civilians losing their lives and more than six million Ukrainians fleeing the country. The European Union has pledged another half billion dollars in military support for Kyiv in its fight against Vladimir Putin’s forces.
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Ukraine begins first war crimes trial of Russian soldier
A Ukrainian court held a preliminary hearing on Friday in the first war crimes trial arising from Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion, after charging a captured Russian soldier with the murder of a 62-year-old civilian. The case is of huge symbolic importance for Ukraine. The court will reconvene on May 18, the judge said. The Ukrainian prosecutor general’s office said the defendant was a 21-year-old tank commander in the Kantemirovskaya tank division from the Moscow region.