World News in Brief: October 11

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte's office on Monday congratulated journalist Maria Ressa for winning the Nobel Peace Prize, calling it "a victory for a Filipina" for which it was happy to see.

AstraZeneca said on Monday its antibody cocktail, the first protective shot other than vaccines against COVID-19, met its main goals in a late-stage trial, helping reduce severe COVID-19 or death in non-hospitalised patients.
AstraZeneca said on Monday its antibody cocktail, the first protective shot other than vaccines against COVID-19, met its main goals in a late-stage trial, helping reduce severe COVID-19 or death in non-hospitalised patients.

* Two dozen countries have joined a US- and EU-led effort to slash methane emissions 30% by 2030, giving the emerging global partnership momentum ahead of its launch at the U.N. climate summit in Glasgow later this month, a government official told Reuters.

* Japan's new prime minister, Kishida Fumio, defended his pro-nuclear energy policies on Monday, saying that re-starting nuclear power plants mothballed since the 2011 Fukushima disaster was vital.

* Talks between Indian and Chinese military commanders to resolve a protracted standoff on a stretch of disputed Himalayan border have broken down, with both sides blaming each other on Monday for the failure to make progress.

* The US job market will continue to feel the effects of COVID-19, but it is too soon to say it is "stalling," San Francisco Federal Reserve President Mary Daly said on Sunday.

* Merck & Co Inc said on Monday it has applied for emergency use authorization in the United States for its oral drug to treat mild-to-moderate patients of COVID-19. The treatment, molnupiravir, has been developed with Ridgeback Biotherapeutics. If authorized, it would be the first oral antiviral medication.

* Goldman Sachs cut its US economic growth target to 5.6% for 2021 and to 4% for 2022 citing an expected decline in fiscal support through the end of next year and a more delayed recovery in consumer spending than previously expected.

* An earthquake of magnitude 6.8 struck the Alaska Peninsula region on Monday, the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre said. The US Tsunami Warning System said there was no tsunami warning after the quake.

* Israel will keep the Golan Heights, which it captured from Syria in a 1967 war, even if international views on Damascus change, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said on Monday.

* Tunisia named a new government on Monday, 11 weeks after President Kais Saied ousted the prime minister and suspended parliament to assume near total control in moves that his critics call a coup.

* Russia reported 957 coronavirus-related deaths on Monday, close to the all-time high of 968 reported two days earlier. The government coronavirus task force also said it had recorded 29,409 new cases in the last 24 hours, an increase from 28,647 cases on Sunday.

* Sydney's cafes, gyms and restaurants welcomed back fully vaccinated customers on Monday after nearly four months of lockdown, as Australia aims to begin living with the coronavirus and gradually reopen with high rates of inoculation.

* Canada's health and long-term care industries are bracing for staff shortages and layoffs, as deadlines for vaccine mandates loom across the country, with unions pushing federal and provincial governments to soften hard-line stances.

* Venezuela on Sunday received a second batch of 2.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines via the COVAX mechanism, while the government said it hoped to reach immunity for 70% of Venezuelans by the end of the month.

* New Zealand will require teachers and workers in the health and disability sectors to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said, as she extended restrictions in Auckland, its largest city, for another week.

* Egypt's public prosecution ordered the arrest of three people after thousands of unused COVID-19 vaccines were found dumped along a water channel.

Reuters