Author: Starvision News Desk

Seoul, July 18 (IANS) The South Korean Welfare Ministry said on Tuesday that nearly 12 per cent of more than 2,100 undocumented, or “ghost”, babies nationwide were confirmed to have died.The Ministry said its probe found that 249 out of the 2,123 babies who were born between 2015 and 2022 but not registered with the government had died, reports Yonhap News Agency.A total of 1,025 babies were confirmed to be alive, while 814 cases were under police investigation. The police have referred seven cases of dead “ghost” babies to prosecutors, suspecting foul play.The Ministry began the probe late last month…

United Nations, July 18 (IANS) In a major step forward, a replacement vessel has sailed from Djibouti to replace the decaying super oil tanker FSO Safer off Yemen’s Red Sea coast, a UN spokesman said.”The UN-led project to prevent a massive oil spill from the decaying FSO Safer … took a major step forward over the weekend when the replacement vessel Nautica sailed from Djibouti en route to the Safer site,” Xinhua news agency quoted Stephane Dujarric, the chief spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, as saying.All technical preparations and agreements have been finalised, he said, adding that once the…

Seoul, July 18 (IANS) The number of North Korean defectors entering South Korea reached 65 in the April-June period, nearly doubling from 34 three months earlier, in an apparent rise after China eased its strict Covid-19 restrictions, government data revealed on Tuesday.After escaping the North, 18 men and 47 women reached South Korea in the second quarter, bringing the total number of the North’s defectors to 33,981, according to data from Seoul’s Unification Ministry.The latest data showed the total number of North Korean defectors entering South Korea in the first half came in at 99, up nearly fivefold from 19…

Washington, July 18 (IANS) The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Tuesday approved a drug to prevent Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) in children aged up to 24 months who remain vulnerable to severe disease.Developed by AstraZeneca and Sanofi, the drug Nirsevimab, sold under the brand name Beyfortus, is a monoclonal antibody that can prevent RSV.Nirsevimab is administered as a single injection either before or during an infant’s first RSV season. Toddlers up to two-years-old who remain vulnerable can also receive the shot during their second RSV season.”RSV can cause serious disease in infants and some children and results in…

Seoul, July 18 (IANS) South Korea will more than double the number of maritime spots under emergency radiation tests to ease concerns over Japan’s planned release of contaminated water from its crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, the Oceans Ministry said on Tuesday.Last month, South Korea began conducting radiation tests on ocean water at 92 points around the Korean Peninsula, and it will add 108 more coastal spots to beef up the monitoring of radioactivity levels, Vice Oceans Minister Park Sung-hoon said during a regular briefing on the Fukushima issue.The samples will be collected from the seas to the east, west and…

Skopje, July 18 (IANS) The government of North Macedonia has issued a nationwide orange heat wave alert which will last through 25, urging citizens to abide by the measures within the period.According to the Media Information Agency (MIA), the government has recommended the exemption of most at-risk groups from work, such as pregnant women and persons over the age of 60, by working remotely from home and children in kindergartens to stay indoors between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m., reports Xinhua news agencyThe Hydrometeorological Service said that a heatwave is projected to persist across much of the country in the…

Rome, July 18 (IANS) Two more incidents of tourists defacing the 2,000-year-old Colosseum in Rome have come to light after a similar episode was reported in June.In the first incident, a 17-year-old girl from Switzerland was spotted on July 14 apparently carving her initials into a wall of the ancient site by a tourist guide, a spokesperson for the local military police force, the Carabinieri of the Province of Rome, told CNN on Monday.The guide called security at the site, who then alerted the Carabinieri.The following day a 17-year-old student from Germany was caught allegedly doing something similar, who was…

Washington, July 18 (IANS) Indian-American Congressman Ami Bera received the Champion of Healthcare Innovation Award in recognition of his support to high-quality, affordable healthcare in the US.Bera, the longest-serving Indian-American Representative inCongress, was felicitated during Healthcare Leadership Council Innovation Expo 23 in Washington D.C. last week. “Honored to receive the Champion of Healthcare Innovation Award… As a doctor, I’m committed to working to ensure that every American has access to high-quality, affordable health care,” Bera wrote on Twitter. Bera was first elected to represent Sacramento County in November 2012, and since then has served the community for more than two…

Moscow, July 15 (IANS) The Russian government said that the Kerch bridge, that connects the country to the occupied Crimean Peninsula, partially opened to traffic movement on Tuesday a day after it was attacked.Acccording to Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin, vehicles were using a single lane of the bridge, the BBC reported.Also posting a video appearing to show cars crossing the bridge at night, Khusnullin said that motor traffic along both lanes of the bridge is expected to be resumed by November 1.”Preliminarily, we plan to resume two-way traffic along one side of the bridge by September 15, and on…

Athens, July 18 (IANS) Amid raging wildfires in Greece, more than 1,200 children were evacuated as flames approached their summer camp the coastal town of Loutraki, some 80 km southwest of Athens.The incident occurred on Monday as firefighters continued battling wildfires near Kouvaras, a settlement some 30 km southeast of Athens, as well as in the vicinity of Loutraki, and at two other locations, reports Xinhua news agency.No injuries have been reported, but the fires have caused significant property damage.At least five settlements, along with a number of popular coastal resorts, in the southeastern administrative region of Attica had to…