Daily Archives: December 17, 2021


Japan Seeks Additional Vaccines for COVID-19 Booster Campaign

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Friday his government is seeking to accelerate its COVID-19 booster shots campaign and has reached out to the head of U.S. pharmaceutical company Pfizer to secure additional vaccines. Kishida told reporters the government has been negotiating to receive 120 million doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine ahead of schedule. He said during his call with the company’s CEO, Albert Bourla, he also agreed to purchase two million doses of Pfizer’s oral COVID-19 treatment, Paxlovid. The government started arrangements Thursday to adjust the timeframe for workers …


Researchers Warn of Mass Language Extinction

An Australian-led study warns that 1,500 of the world’s 7,000 recognized languages might no longer be spoken by the end of this century. The research, published Friday in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution, details a wide range of factors putting endangered languages under pressure. Australian researchers have found that as roads increasingly connect cities to more remote areas around the world, Indigenous languages can be overwhelmed by their more dominant counterparts, such as English. The study also asserts that bilingual education has been neglected. Again, dominant languages have been …


China-Russia Collaboration in Space Poses Challenge for West

China and Russia have begun collaborating on technology to rival the United States’ GPS and European Galileo satellite navigation systems, as the two countries pursue closer military and strategic ties. Earlier this year, China agreed to host ground monitoring stations for Russia’s GLONASS positioning system on its soil, which improves global range and accuracy but can pose a security risk. In turn, Russia agreed to host ground stations for China’s BeiDou system. The reciprocal agreement indicates a growing level of trust and cooperation between Moscow and Beijing, says analyst Alexander …


US Permanently Relaxes Restriction on Abortion Pill

The U.S. government on Thursday permanently eased some restrictions on a pill used to terminate early pregnancies, allowing the drug to be sent by mail rather than requiring it to be dispensed in person. The decision by the Food and Drug Administration comes as the right to obtain an abortion, established in the 1973 Supreme Court ruling Roe v. Wade hangs in the balance. The medication, generically known as mifepristone, is approved for use up to 10 weeks of pregnancy and is also sometimes prescribed to treat women who are having miscarriages. …