BEIJING — Chinese President Xi Jinping said Wednesday that China will work with Saudi Arabia within the framework of the G20 to make COVID-19 vaccines affordable and available to all countries and all people.
In a telephone conversation with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Xi said that China will continue to work with Saudi Arabia on the research and development of COVID-19 vaccines, and the two sides should intensify communication and coordination to promote cooperation within the G20 and help make COVID-19 vaccines a global public good.
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UNITED NATIONS — UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres strongly condemned Wednesday’s attack in Kabul on the convoy of First Vice President Amrullah Saleh, which resulted in dozens of civilian casualties.
Guterres extended his deepest sympathy and condolences to the families of the victims and wished a speedy recovery to those injured.
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BELGRADE — Relocation of the Serbian embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem is not definitive, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic’s media advisor said on Wednesday.
Speaking on Serbian Prva television, Suzana Vasiljevic said although this issue was touched upon in the agreement recently signed in Washington between Serbia and Kosovo leaders, the decision is not final.
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LISBON — Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa on Wednesday said it’s “bad news” that British-Swedish pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca decided to suspend trials of a COVID-19 vaccine candidate, local media reported.
AstraZeneca, which is developing a possible vaccine against COVID-19 in partnership with the University of Oxford, on Wednesday put on hold the phase-3 trial of its vaccine following an unexplained illness in one trial participant in Britain.
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ISLAMABAD — The Pakistan army said Thursday morning that Indian forces fired into Pakistani side of the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir region and injured three civilians.
An army statement said the Indian army troops resorted to an unprovoked ceasefire violation in Bedori sector along the LoC “targeting civil population.”
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UNITED NATIONS — A Chinese envoy on Wednesday rejected accusations by a U.S. representative against China at a Security Council meeting, and asked the United States to stop shifting blames.
At the Security Council meeting on the implementation of Resolution 2532 on COVID-19, Rodney Hunter, the U.S. representative, accused China of lack of transparency and mishandling and indicated that China is responsible for the spread of the virus across the world.