Briefly

SOUTH KOREA

Seoul and Washington to scale back drills

South Korea and the United States will conduct their annual military training but the drills will be smaller because of COVID-19, Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement on Sunday. The allies decided to start the nine-day drills on Monday after reviewing factors like the status of the pandemic and diplomatic efforts to achieve denuclearization and peace on the Korean Peninsula. It said the drills are defensive in nature and are mostly tabletop exercises and simulations that won't involve field training. The two sides decided to "minimize" the number of troops participating in the drills due to the pandemic, officials said.

AFRICA

Ebola infects 29 people, kills 13

Two African countries of Guinea and the Democratic Republic of the Congo have reported 29 Ebola virus cases and 13 deaths so far, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Saturday. The fatality rate is 45 percent in the two countries, according to the Africa CDC. So far, the agency has reported 11 cases in DR Congo, four deaths and two recoveries, while Guinea has confirmed 18 cases, nine deaths and two recoveries, it said.

AFGHANISTAN

8 police, 5 militants killed amid clashes

Eight police officers and five Taliban militants were killed during armed clashes in Afghanistan's northern Balkh province on Saturday night, local police confirmed on Sunday. The clashes broke out after militants armed with guns and rocket launchers stormed security checkpoints in Shahrak-e-Turkmen locality, Nahri Shahi district, in the north of provincial capital Mazar-i-Sharif city, said Adil Shah Adil from provincial police. There were also six police and seven militants wounded in the fighting, he said.

UNITED STATES

Great apes at zoo receive first vaccines

Nine great apes at San Diego Zoo have become the first nonhuman primates given COVID-19 vaccinations, officials at the zoo said on Friday. Four orangutans and five bonobos were given two doses each of an experimental vaccine created specifically for animals by a veterinary pharmaceutical company. The vaccinations followed a January outbreak of COVID-19 at the zoo's Safari Park. Eight western lowland gorillas got the virus, probably by exposure to a zookeeper who tested positive for COVID-19.

Agencies - Xinhua