UNITED NATIONS
WHO endorses Paxlovid
The WHO endorsed Pfizer Inc’s antiviral pill Paxlovid for COVID-19 patients who are most at risk, saying that it “strongly recommends” the drug for people who are not severely ill. People who are older, not vaccinated or immunocompromised should take the medicine as soon as possible if they get ill to reduce the risk of hospitalization, a guideline published in the BMJ by a group of experts advising the WHO said. The recommendation sidelines another antiviral, Merck & Co’s molnupiravir, which was endorsed by WHO experts last month. Pfizer’s drug “likely represents a superior choice” because clinical trials indicate it may prevent more hospitalizations than the alternatives, has fewer potential side effects than molnupiravir, and is easier to administer than intravenous options, a WHO statement said.
CHINA
US man sentenced to death
An American man has been sentenced to death for fatally stabbing a 21-year-old woman who tried to break off their relationship. Shadeed Abdulmateen was sentenced on Thursday after a trial in the Intermediate People’s Court of Ningbo, Xinhua news agency reported. Abdulmateen met the victim, identified only by her surname, Chen, in 2019 and entered into a romantic relationship with her. When she attempted to break off relations, Abdulmateen arranged to meet her at a bus stop in Ningbo, then stabbed her to death on the night of June 14 last year with a folding knife he had brought with the intention of killing her, Xinhua said. A US embassy spokesperson said the embassy was aware of the sentence and monitoring the situation, but for privacy reasons, could not offer further comment.
UNITED STATES
Wedding pranksters charged
A Florida bride and her caterer have been arrested after a prank in which they allegedly laced the food served at her February wedding with pot, local media reported on Thursday. Authorities arrived at the wedding venue of Andrew Svoboda and Danya Svoboda in Longwood City after several of their guests called emergency services, court documents showed. Douglas Postma, the uncle of the groom, told responders that he noticed his heart racing and was starting to have strange thoughts after eating Caesar salad, pasta and bread. The testimony was similar to that of other guests at the ceremony. An investigation led to authorities to Danya Svoboda and the caterer, Joycelin Montrinice Bryant. The two are charged with violating state laws against food tampering and marijuana, as well as with negligence. Both have posted bail and are to appear before a judge in June, CNN said.
JAPAN
Teacher in hot water
A school in Yokosuka City, Kanagawa Prefecture, has been hit with a US$27,000 water bill after a teacher in charge of pool maintenance left a tap on for months hoping to stop COVID-19 infections. The teacher, who has not been identified, thought a constant flow of fresh water into the pool would keep it virus-free and left the tap on from late June to early September last year. Normally, chlorine and filtering machines maintain the pool water’s quality, “but the teacher somehow got the wrong idea that pouring new water in would also do the trick and even help prevent COVID,” local education board official Akira Kojiri said. Other staff members occasionally noticed the running tap and switched it off, but the offending colleague soon switched it back on.
AFGHAN CHILD: A court battle is ongoing over if the toddler can stay with Joshua Mast and his wife, who wanted ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness’ for her Major Joshua Mast, a US Marine whose adoption of an Afghan war orphan has spurred a years-long legal battle, is to remain on active duty after a three-member panel of Marines on Tuesday found that while he acted in a way unbecoming of an officer to bring home the baby girl, it did not warrant his separation from the military. Lawyers for the Marine Corps argued that Mast abused his position, disregarded orders of his superiors, mishandled classified information and improperly used a government computer in his fight over the child who was found orphaned on the battlefield in rural Afghanistan
Millions of dollars have poured into bets on who will win the US presidential election after a last-minute court ruling opened up gambling on the vote, upping the stakes on a too-close-to-call race between US Vice President Kamala Harris and former US president Donald Trump that has already put voters on edge. Contracts for a Harris victory were trading between 48 and 50 percent in favor of the Democrat on Friday on Interactive Brokers, a firm that has taken advantage of a legal opening created earlier this month in the country’s long running regulatory battle over election markets. With just a month
US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris is in “excellent health” and fit for the presidency, according to a medical report published by the White House on Saturday as she challenged her rival, former US president Donald Trump, to publish his own health records. “Vice President Harris remains in excellent health,” her physician Joshua Simmons said in the report, adding that she “possesses the physical and mental resiliency required to successfully execute the duties of the presidency.” Speaking to reporters ahead of a trip to North Carolina, Harris called Trump’s unwillingness to publish his records “a further example
RUSSIAN INPUT: Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov called Washington’s actions in Asia ‘destructive,’ accusing it of being the reason for the ‘militarization’ of Japan The US is concerned about China’s “increasingly dangerous and unlawful” activities in the disputed South China Sea, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told ASEAN leaders yesterday during an annual summit, and pledged that Washington would continue to uphold freedom of navigation in the region. The 10-member ASEAN meeting with Blinken followed a series of confrontations at sea between China and ASEAN members Philippines and Vietnam. “We are very concerned about China’s increasingly dangerous and unlawful activities in the South China Sea which have injured people, harm vessels from ASEAN nations and contradict commitments to peaceful resolutions of disputes,” said Blinken, who
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