SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA — North Korea, which has largely kept its borders shuttered over the pandemic, Thursday confirmed its first detection of the omicron variant of COVID-19 in the country. According to the official Korea Central News Agency, samples were taken from a group of people in the capital, Pyongyang, on Sunday. A rigorous genetic sequence […]
HELSINKI — Finland and Sweden are expected to formally apply to join NATO later this month, in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Both countries say Moscow’s actions have changed the security dynamic in Europe and the Kremlin’s nuclear threats require the collective self-defense that NATO can provide. Finnish lawmakers are debating joining the alliance following […]
“We take on the risk. They take away the profits,” said one vaccine equity advocate. The Massachusetts-based pharmaceutical giant Moderna disclosed in a financial filing this week that it received another $300 million in U.S. government funding for coronavirus vaccine development in March even as the company hoarded its technology from the world—and attempted to undermine a critical […]
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA — North Korea launched a ballistic missile Wednesday, Japan and South Korea reported, the latest in a series of tests that have upset the North’s neighbors and drawn firm condemnation from the United States. South Korea’s military said North Korea fired the ballistic missile from the Sunan area near Pyongyang. That is the […]