The number of babies born in Japan fell for a ninth consecutive year to hit a record low 720,988 in 2024, the health ministry said on Thursday, the latest data underscoring the rapid shrinkage and ageing of the country’s population.
Births declined 5 percent from a year earlier, while the number of deaths hit a record high of 1.62 million, meaning more than two people died for every new baby born.
The Israeli branch of Physicians for Human Rights has condemned a widespread policy of abuse inflicted on Gazan healthcare workers in Israeli custody, denouncing mistreatment “amounting to torture.” In a report, PHRI said that the Israeli military had detained more than 250 medical personnel and support staff in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the war triggered…
Pope Francis’ health has deteriorated over the past 24 hours, the Vatican said in a statement on Saturday, adding that he had suffered a “prolonged asthma-like respiratory crisis” and had needed blood transfusions. “The Holy Father remains alert and has spent the day in a chair, though he is more unwell than yesterday. At the…
North Korean state media on Thursday criticized the United States for a nuclear submarine deal with Australia under the AUKUS partnership signed in 2021, calling it a “threat to regional peace.” A commentary carried by KCNA said Washington should be wary of consequences for what it said were nuclear alliances, naming AUKUS and the trilateral cooperation with South Korea…
G7 foreign ministers agreed on Saturday to continuing working together to get a strong peace deal for Ukraine with robust security guarantees and linked future sanctions on Russia to good faith negotiations by Moscow. “Any new, additional sanctions after February should be linked to whether the Russian Federation enters into real, good-faith efforts to bring…
Pope Francis was admitted to hospital on Friday for tests and treatment for bronchitis, the latest in a series of health problems for the 88-year-old pontiff. Francis, who has been breathless in recent days and has delegated officials to read his speeches, held his morning meetings as planned before heading to Rome’s Gemelli hospital, the…
A federal judge extended a block on Elon Musk’s government cost-cutting team from accessing payment systems at the US Treasury Department on Friday, while another judge allowed the billionaire’s DOGE staffers to access records at health, labor and consumer financial protection agencies. Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency has swept through federal agencies since Republican Donald Trump…
