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Welcome to Arirang News.

This is Kwon Joo-hyun

And we start with our top headlines at this hour

1.

South Korea reported 525 more cases of Covid-19,

bringing the nation's total infections

to 126-thousand 044.

It also reported 9 additional virus death,

now standing at 1,860.

In total, 116,022 people in South Korea have recovered from the virus, rising 531 from a day earlier.

2.

The head of the World Trade Organization,

  Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala,

has heaped praise

on U.S. Trade Representative

Katherine Tai's announcement

that Washington supports a temporary lifting

on COVID-19 vaccine patents.

In a message read by her spokesman,..

 she said she "warmly welcomed"

Washington's willingness to issue a temporary waiver

as the world has been slammed by a massive resurgence in cases.

The USTR on Wednesday signaled the shift

in Washington's position,...

calling the "global health crisis"

an "extraordinary circumstance"

that requires extraordinary measures.

That decision was also welcomed by WHO Director-General

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus

on Thursday,...

who called it a "historic decision" and a "bold move".

He added that, thanks to the decisions made by the U.S.,...

the pandemic will end "as quickly as possible".

The European Union is also willing to discuss a proposal

to waive IP rights for vaccines.

3.

A third mRNA-based vaccine, developed by German company Curevac, could soon ease pressure on the global vaccine supply.

It's awaiting the results of a late-stage clinical trial, which could come as early as next week.

4.

Pfizer and BioNTech are donating COVID-19 vaccines

to athletes competing in the Tokyo Olympic

 and Paralympic Games.

Delivery is scheduled to begin this month,...

to give enough time for the Olympic delegations to be fully vaccinated before the Games kick off on July 23rd.

5.

South Korea's foreign minister says

the U.S. will inform North Korea of its new policy toward the regime.

Speaking to South Korea's Yonhap News,

Chung Eui-yong said

he expects the U.S. to explain it to Pyeongyang in detail.

This week in London, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken

shared the details

with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts.

Chung said the policy was "practical and realistic."

6.

Some police officers in South Korea will no longer be able to buy more cryptocurrency than they already own.

The National Police Agency said Friday that any officer working investigations or inspections will be banned from buying any more digital assets.

On top of that, the affected officers have to disclose how much they already have, if they have any at all.

Sources say the move is aimed bringing extra transparency to sensitive departments.

Moving to weather forecast,

On and off rain mixed with yellow dust is in the forecast through the late afternoon with thunder and lighting

Air quality will be bad and poor air quality lingers through tomorrow.

Meanwhile, west of central regions including Seoul,

east of Gangwon-do Province will have strong winds.

Highs in Seoul will be 5 degrees lower today at 18 degrees,

southern regions will see highs in the low twenties.

The dust should clear late tomorrow

while sunny conditions are in store for Parents' Day weekend.

Highs will range between 19 and 24 degrees Celsius.

As for the highs, Seoul will be 18 degrees,

while Busan and Jejudo Island will be 21 and 22 degrees in the afternoon.

The current temperatures are:

___ degrees in Seoul,

___degrees in Suwon,

___degrees in Daegu,

___degrees in Busan

and ___degrees on Jejudo Island.

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