GENEVA — Member states of the World Health Organization (WHO) agreed on Saturday to extend the talks over the pandemic agreement for another year, allowing for more time needed to finalize the landmark treaty to combat future pandemics and enhance preparedness.
The Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB), which was established in December 2021 to draft the agreement and guide the negotiation process, will continue its mandate to deliver the agreement by the next World Health Assembly in 2025, or earlier, if possible, at a special session of the health assembly in 2024. (WHO-Pandemic Agreement)
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JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Saturday that he accepted the invitation to address a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress in Washington.
In a statement, the Israeli prime minister said he plans to speak to both Houses of Congress and “present the truth” about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Israel’s state-owned Kan TV news reported that Netanyahu’s speech in Washington is expected to take place within the next eight weeks. (Israel-Netanyahu-U.S. Congress-Speech)
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DOHA — Qatar, the United States, and Egypt have jointly called on Hamas and Israel to finalize an agreement based on the principles of a U.S. proposal, according to a statement from the Qatari foreign ministry on Saturday.
The three countries jointly call on both Hamas and Israel to do so “as mediators in the ongoing discussions to secure a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages and detainees.” (Qatar-US-Egypt-Gaza-Agreement)
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LOS ANGELES — NASA and Boeing scrubbed the launch of the first crewed mission of the Starliner spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) on Saturday.
The spacecraft was scheduled to launched on a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket at 12:25 p.m. Eastern Time (1625 GMT) on Saturday in the United States from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in the state of Florida.
A hold was given by ULA launch team about 3 minutes 50 seconds before the launch. Teams have scrubbed the launch attempt due to an automatic hold of the ground launch sequencer, said NASA. (US-NASA-Boeing-Starliner)