CAPE TOWN (AP) -- In a pair of Cape Town warehouses converted into a maze of airlocked sterile rooms, young scientists are assembling and calibrating the equipment needed to reverse engineer a coronavirus vaccine that has yet to reach South Africa and most of the world's poorest people. The energy in the gleaming labs matches the urgency of their mission to narrow vaccine disparities. By working to replicate Moderna's COVID-19 shot, the scientists are effectively making an end run around an ind

VATICAN (AFP) -- Pope Francis on Sunday called on the global community to resolve the Libyan migrant crisis, even as EU leaders disagree on how to best manage flows of migrants crossing to Europe. "I express my closeness to the thousands of migrants, refugees and also others in need of protection in Libya. I don't forget you ever. I hear your cry and pray for you," Francis said following his traditional Sunday Angelus prayer on Saint Peter's Square in the Vatican. "So many of t

South Korea's spy agency said Sunday media reports of North Korean leader's sister succeeding coup against her brother are not true at all. The National Intelligence Service (NIS) dismissed reports that claimed Kim Yo-jong ousted North Korean leader Kim Jong-un after a coup. A separate government official also said such reports are not true. Citing a report from US-based tabloid "Globe," some news outlets here said Kim Yo-jong staged a coup between May 6 and June 5, and removed Kim

BERLIN (AFP) -- Germany's interior minister said Sunday it was "legitimate" to protect borders, after several EU states asked Brussels to pay for barriers to prevent illegal migrants from entering the bloc. The call came earlier this month, as Poland proposed building a 350 million-euro ($410 million) wall on its border with Belarus to keep migrants out. The EU accuses the Belarusian authorities of flying migrants from the Middle East and Africa to Minsk and then sending them into

Seoul man under home care dies, the first since program’s launch last month

In 2022, an area that is likely to strain companies’ transition toward a resilient, sustainable economy is the ESG risks in the supply chain. Companies must now closely monitor issues stemming from climate change, labor rights and health and safety throughout the procurement process. Supply chain due diligence Until recently, the management team’s focus on supply chain and procurement has been primarily on technical quality, cost-effectiveness, speed of delivery and reliability. H

British artist Julian Opie is presenting his third solo exhibition at Kukje Gallery in Seoul, after two solo exhibitions in the country in 2017 and 2018. Inspired by familiar subjects from everyday life, Opie presents 31 works that span the gallery’s K2 and K3 exhibition halls, as well as its garden. The artist became well known in South Korea after he made a strong presence in Seoul in 2011 with his light-emitting diode art piece “Crowd,” displayed via Seoul Square’s l

The US will explore possibilities surrounding declaring a formal end to the Korean War with South Korea, with regards to resuming talks on North Korea’s denuclearization, the US nuclear envoy for North Korea said Sunday during talks with his South Korean counterpart in Seoul.　 The 1950-53 conflict concluded with an armistice, not a peace treaty. The Moon Jae-in administration backs signing the declaration to lay the groundwork for denuclearization and a treaty to come, while neither Washi

With new chief Lee Jae-yong bogged down with legal woes, direction for new Samsung seems unclear

Bank stocks in South Korea have long been regarded as an unappealing option for investors, but analysts say it may be their time to shine as the economy makes progress toward normalization and interest rates are no longer at record lows. The country’s big four banking groups -- KB Financial, Hana Financial, Shinhan Financial and Woori Financial -- are expected to see their combined profits grow by double digits in the quarter that ended in September, according to FnGuide, a financial inf

Lee Tae-won, a renowned South Korean movie producer, died Sunday after his health waned following an accidental fall last year, according to his aides. He was 83. Lee died in the afternoon at Yonsei University's Severance Hospital in Seoul, where he has been under treatment following the accident in May last year. His memorial altar is expected to be set up at the same hospital. Lee first started his career as a movie producer with a film, entitled "A long affection," in 1959. But hi

South Korea’s Science Ministry said Sunday that researchers will begin looking into why the country’s first domestically-built rocket Nuri, or Korean Satellite Launch Vehicle II, failed to put a dummy satellite into orbit in its maiden flight last week.  The Korea Aerospace Research Institute that led the Nuri project will form a task force to examine data from the Oct. 21 test to determine what caused the shorter-than-programmed burning of the rocket’s third engine. 

Li-ion-only portfolio missing out on diversifying needs, pressured in all fronts, experts say

South Korea’s coal briquette consumption is likely to drop below 500,000 tons for the first time this year on lower demand and higher coal prices. According to the Korea Mine Rehabilitation and Mineral Resources Corp. on Sunday, domestic coal briquette consumption fell to 508,000 tons last year, a 21 percent drop on-year. The consumption of coal briquettes has been continuously falling since 2014. The number dropped from 1.9 million tons in 2013 to 1.6 million tons in 2014. The biggest

South Korea‘s initial public offering market that hit a record high in the first half has been suffering plunging profit rates since July, market insiders said Sunday. According to Korea Exchange, the country’s stock market operator, stocks of 40 companies sold through public subscriptions saw an average of 27.5 percent in profit from July through Friday. The figure has nearly shed half compared to the 53.8 percent average profit rate of 52 companies’ stocks that went public