Briefly

RUSSIA

Putin says dozens in Kremlin infected

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that dozens of people in his inner circle at the Kremlin had tested positive for the coronavirus, which has infected over 7 million people in the badly-hit country. Earlier this week, the 68-year-old leader said he was self-isolating after announcing an outbreak among members of his entourage. "Cases of the coronavirus were detected in my inner circle. Not just one or two but several dozen people,"Putin said, speaking via video link at a meeting of a Moscow-led security alliance. As of Tuesday, about 40.2 million of Russia's 146 million people had been fully vaccinated, according to the Gogov website, which tallies COVID-19 data from the regions.

THE PHILIPPINES

Top official slams ICC drug war probe

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's top legal adviser lashed out on Thursday at the International Criminal Court's decision to investigate allegations of crimes against humanity during the war on drugs, accusing the court of being used as a pawn by the popular leader's political opponents. Chief presidential legal counsel Salvador Panelo alleged that The Hague, Netherlands-based ICC, was "being utilized as a political and propaganda apparatus by those usual suspects who will do anything to dethrone the president from his seat". As the Philippines withdrew from the court on March 16, 2019, Panelo argued that if the court wanted to investigate it should have done so while the Philippines was a member of the court, and that now it has no jurisdiction.

AFGHANISTAN

634,000 displaced by conflicts this year

More than 634,000 Afghans have been internally displaced by conflicts in 2021, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA, in Afghanistan said on Thursday. A total of 634,800 people had been verified as having been displaced by conflicts as of Sunday, out of which 282,246 displaced people had received assistance, the agency said in a report. The report came as the security situation in Afghanistan remains stable since the Taliban took over the country in mid-August. Afghan officials and humanitarian agencies have expressed concern over the living conditions of the displaced families in the country.

UNITED STATES

SpaceX rocket blasts off with civilian crew

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying four space tourists blasted off on Wednesday night from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the first mission to orbit the globe with an all-civilian crew. A huge fireball illuminated the sky as the rocket's nine engines began to pull away from Earth at 8:02 pm local time. Around 12 minutes later, the Dragon capsule separated from the rocket's send stage as the crew entered orbit, while the reusable first stage made its way back to Earth for a vertical landing on a sea barge. The spaceship's trajectory will take it to an altitude of 575 kilometers, which is deeper into space than the International Space Station.

Agencies - Xinhua