A two-week negotiating session on a treaty to protect the high seas wraps up Friday, but UN observers were holding their breath with many points remaining contentious between member states.. But a new version of the treaty -- distributed to delegates on Friday morning just hours before the official end of negotiations, and seen by AFP -- still included many paragraphs open to negotiations.
Moderna said Friday it is suing rival vaccine makers Pfizer and BioNTech, alleging the partners infringed on its patents in developing their Covid-19 shot administered to hundreds of millions around the world.. "Moderna believes that Pfizer and BioNTech's Covid-19 vaccine Comirnaty infringes patents Moderna filed between 2010 and 2016 covering Moderna's foundational mRNA technology," the US-based biotech firm said in a statement.
Staff at Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant occupied by Russian soldiers were on Friday working to reconnect its reactors to the national power grid, the state energy operator said.. "Any attempt to disconnect the plant from the Ukrainian power grid and redirect to occupied areas is unacceptable."
Heavy rain pounded parts of Pakistan Friday after the government declared an emergency to deal with monsoon flooding that it said had affected more than four million people.. The disaster agency said over 4.2 million people were "affected" by the flooding, with nearly 220,000 homes destroyed and half a million more badly damaged.
As the Rose of Tralee beauty pageant concluded this week, the contestants in colourful ball gowns and silk sashes swayed as they sang the 19th-century ballad that inspired the competition.. Rose of Tralee also celebrates the bonds created by the competition in Irish communities.
Asian markets rose Friday after a Wall Street rally ahead of a speech by Federal Reserve boss Jerome Powell that is expected to reiterate his plan to ramp up interest rates to fight inflation.. Most expect him to confirm that more hikes are on the way as officials try to bring inflation down from painful highs not seen in four decades.
Abortion became illegal in three more US states on Thursday, further restricting access to elective terminations for millions of women despite some signs of popular and judicial pushback.. State restrictions range from total bans on elective abortions to bans after six weeks, when many women do not even know they are pregnant.
Two people pleaded guilty Thursday to stealing and selling for $40,000 the private diary of President Joe Biden's daughter Ashley Biden, when he was running for office against Donald Trump in 2020. . The Justice Department announced the guilty pleas by Aimee Harris and Robert Kurlander in court filings that refer to the victim as the daughter of "Candidate-1" -- widely understood to be Biden.
Many millions of people in the tropics could be exposed to dangerous heat for half the year by 2100 even if humanity manages to meet climate goals, researchers warned Thursday.. They found that many people in tropical regions could face dangerous heat levels for half the year by the end of the century, even if the world limits temperature rises to the Paris climate deal goal of less than two degrees Celsius (35.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above preindustrial levels.
Thousands of Rohingya refugees held "Genocide Remembrance Day" rallies on Thursday across a huge network of camps in Bangladesh, marking five years since fleeing a military offensive in Myanmar.. "Today is the day thousands of Rohingya were killed," young leader Maung Sawyedollah said with tears in his eyes as he led a rally in Kutupalong -- the world's largest refugee settlement.
