Forces, their size in afghanistan, will be 2,500 troops. Our force size in iraq will also be 2,500 by that same date. The announcement was made by acting u. S. Defense secretary chris miller. He replaced mark esper, who was fired by President Trump after joe biden won the electioner in this month. Troops have been gradually reduced as part of a peace deal struck earlier this year. U. S. Media reports say 4,500 soldiers are now believed to be deployed in afghanistan, and 3,000 in iraq. Republican Senate Leader Mitch Mcconnell is raising concerns about the timing of the latest move, and warned against any earth shaking changes to defense or Foreign Policy in the coming months. The planned reduction comes amid a recent resurgence of violence in afghanistan. The government and the taliban are engaged in ongoing peace talks, but they have yet to achieve a breakthrough. Turning to the latest on the coronavirus here in japan. Infections continue to spike across many parts of the country. Its
More than 30,000 people in the United States took part in modernas phase 3 study. Among them 95 were confirmed to have covid19 two weeks after the vaccine. 90 were observed in the placebo group, and five in the vaccinated group. 11 developed severe cases, all within the placebo group. Based on their interim analysis of the data the firm estimates the vaccine had an estimated 94. 5 efficacy and says there were no significant safety concerns. Moderna is part of the United States operation wp spee ich as to accelerate the e hd of e programays the and dernaaccine wld b eas t administer bauseheaccine cabe stored at standar to a month. Temraturesor up as oppos tthe pfizer vaccin which will require specialized storage to ensure temperates remain between minus 60 and minus 80 degrees celsius. If approved by regulators, moderna expects to have about 20 million doses ready to ship in the u. S. By the end of this year and is on track to manufacture up to 1 billion doses for global use in 2021. An
Officials, the media, and his opponents, suggesting but not proving wrongdoing. If you count the legal votes, i easily win. We were winning in all the key locations by a lot, actually. And then our numbers started miraculously getting whittled away in secret. State and federal officials have defended the process, but trump is doubling down. He says he may take his fight to the supreme court, although that requires a long legal process. A lot of litigation. Because we have so much evidence. So much proof. And its going to end up perhaps at the highest court in the land. Trump Campaign Representatives have launched legal challenges in closely fought races, but cases in michigan and georgia have already been tossed out. Trumps family is also making a fuss. Donald trump jr. Fired off a tweet saying the best thing for america would be for the president to wage total war over the election. Twitter flagged the tweet as disputed or misleading. Biden set a different tone at a News Conference ea
Its the second day in a row that the figure topped 300. So far, more than 33,000 people have tested positive in the metropolis. Translator we should be on high alert for a possible rapid spread of infection. We would like to ask residents yet again to wash their hands, wear face masks, and maintain social distancing. During winter, we tend to shut up rooms while we use heating. But we should ventilate them from time to time. The western prefecture of osaka registered 231 new cases. And in hokkaido, it was a record 236. The northern prefecture is facing a surge in cases as cold weather sets in. Government officials and experts analyzed the current situations. The minister in charge of the Coronavirus Response expressed great concern. Translator we need to prevent an explosive spread of infections. We need tone tensible conduct pcr tests to deal with cluster infections. Well continue to take thorough antivirus measures while maintaining economic activities. Officials have decided to main
Alert to its highest level. Translator we will up the mobilization of the military operation from 3,000 to 7,000 soldiers on the ground. Macron visited the scene of the attack at notre dame basilica on thursday. He pledged to protect freedom of religion. The attacker was detained after being shot and wounded by police. One woman was a victim in her 60s who had been praying in the basilica. The others are a man in his 50s and a woman in her 40s. The alleged tacker is a 21yearold tunisian national. He said the suspect repeatedly shouted god is great in arabic while being treated at the scene. The bloodshed comes less than two weeks after a teacher in a paris suburb was attacked with a knife. The teacher had shown his students caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad in a class of freedom of expression. European Union Leaders condemned the attacks, calling on the International Community to work towards dialogue and understanding among communities and religions, rather than division. Chinas com