South Korea rose one spot to rank as the fifth best place to be during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Bloomberg’s COVID Resilience Ranking. 　New Zealand regained the top position it held for five consecutive months until April, with COVID-19 all but wiped out in the island nation, allowing its people the freedoms of pre-COVID-19 life - except for international travel. 　The COVID Resilience Ranking uses a wide range of data to capture where the pandemic is being handled most eff

BEIJING (AFP) -- China expressed fury over US Senators visiting Taiwan to donate coronavirus vaccines, saying it could embolden "separatist forces" on the island. Beijing sees democratic, self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory which is to be seized one day, by force if necessary, and rages at any diplomatic attempts to recognise it as an independent nation. A delegation of three US lawmakers made a stopover on Sunday in Taipei, where they announced Washington would donate 750,000

SHANGHAI (Reuters) -- A few malls and residentialcomplexes in Shanghai have started asking visitors to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination, with one shopping centre's temporarydecision to bar entry sparking a backlash on social media. A video showing a local resident arguing with securityguards about the legitimacy of barring unvaccinated people atthe entrance of the Pacific Life Plaza in Shanghai has beenshared tens of hundreds of times on China's Twitter-like Weibo. Several vendors told Reute

Israeli police arrested a Palestinian protest leader in the contested Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of Jerusalem on Sunday, a day after forcefully detaining a prominent Al Jazeera journalist covering the campaign by Jewish settlers to evict dozens of Palestinian families from the area. The arrest Sunday of Muna al-Kurd, confirmed by phone by her father, Nabil, was the latest move by Israeli police to quell several days of tension in one of the most sensitive neighborhoods in Jerusalem. It came

Pope Francis on Sunday expressed sorrow over the discovery in Canada of the remains of 215 Indigenous students of church-run boarding schools but didn't offer the apology sought by the Canadian prime minister. Francis, in remarks to faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square, called on political and church authorities to work to shed light on what he called "this sad affair" and to foster healing. Two days earlier, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was deeply disappointed that th

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will use the Group of Seven wealthy democracies' summit next week to urge world leaders to commit to vaccinating the global population by the end of 2022. Johnson is expected to stress the importance of a global vaccination drive when he meets with fellow world leaders on Friday in Cornwall, on the coast of southwestern England, for the first face-to-face G-7 summit since the pandemic hit.  "The world is looking to us to rise to the greatest cha

　More than 40 percent of the members of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong plan to or are considering leaving the financial hub, with most citing discomfort with a sweeping national security law as one reason, a survey showed May 12. 　The legislation imposed by Beijing in 2020, which punishes secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces with up to life in prison, has further strained relations between the United States and China. 　The AmCham survey, to whic

　China’s population growth slowed, with the nation becoming older and more urbanized, reshaping the economy’s demographic landscape. 　There were 1.412 billion people in China last year, the National Bureau of Statistics in Beijing said in its once-a-decade census report. In 2017, the government forecast a population of 1.42 billion by 2020, peaking at 1.45 billion in 2030. The annual average growth of 0.53 percent in the past decade was the slowest since 1953. 　China’s po

(AP) -- Moderna said Tuesday its COVID-19 vaccine strongly protects kids as young as 12, a step that could put the shot on track to become the second option for that age group in the US. With global vaccine supplies still tight, much of the world is struggling to vaccinate adults in the quest to end the pandemic. But earlier this month, the US and Canada authorized another vaccine -- the shot made by Pfizer and BioNTech -- to be used starting at age 12. Moderna aims to be next in li

　Online sales accounted for nearly a fifth of all retail turnover last year as lockdowns to combat the spread of the coronavirus pandemic fueled a boom in e-commerce, a United Nations study showed. 　Online sales accounted for 19 percent of all retail sales in 2020, up from 16 percent a year earlier, according to estimates from the UN Conference on Trade and Development based on national statistics offices in major economies. 　South Korea reported the highest figure at 25.9 percent, up from

GENEVA (AFP) -- The UN Human Rights Council said Thursday it would hold a special session on the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories, amid deadly violence between Israel and armed Palestinian groups in Gaza. The session, planned for next Thursday, will address "the grave human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem," the council said in a statement. The session was requested by Pakistan, which is the coordinator of the Organisat

　The US birth rate fell 4 percent last year, the largest single-year decrease in nearly 50 years, according to a government report being released. 　The rate dropped for moms of every major race and ethnicity, and in nearly age group, falling to the lowest point since federal health officials started tracking it more than a century ago. 　Births have been declining in younger women for years, as many postponed motherhood and had smaller families. 　The CDC report is based on a review of more

　Fixtures for South Korea‘s World Cup qualifying matches at home have been set. 　 　The Korea Football Association (KFA) announced Wednesday that South Korea, as the host of the remainder of the second Asian qualifying round for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, will face Turkmenistan, Sri Lanka and Lebanon in Group H action in June. 　 　All matches will be played at Goyang Stadium in the city of Goyang, just northwest of Seoul. 　 　South Korea will play Turkmenistan at 8 p.m. on June 5, followed by

NEW DELHI (AP) --  India on Wednesday reported more coronavirus deaths in a single day than any other country at any time during the pandemic, while infections continued to spread through vast rural areas with weak health systems. The Health Ministry reported a record 4,529 deaths in the past 24 hours, driving India’s confirmed fatalities to 283,248. It also reported 267,334 new infections, as daily cases remained below 300,000 for the third consecutive day. The numbers are almost ce

BRUSSELS (AFP) -- EU member states agreed Wednesday to reopen the bloc‘s borders to travellers who have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, European sources said. Meeting in Brussels, diplomats also agreed to increase the level of new cases a country can hit before being declared unsafe -- a measure that would open up travel into the EU from more places. The recommendations will be adopted by EU ministers on Friday, they said. Currently, non-essential travel into the 27-memb