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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. Meanwhile,

South Korea on Thursday started accepting reservations

for COVID-19 vaccines,... for the next group of senior citizens.

This round will cover people aged 60 to 74...

using the AstraZeneca shot.

Vaccinations have already started… for people over 75,...

who are getting the Pfizer vaccine.

Reservations for this next round will start with the oldest group...

on May 6th -- those aged 70 to 74.

Those 65 to 69... are next on May 10th,...

followed by the rest... three days later.

The actual inoculations will start on May 27th for those aged 65 to 74,... and from June 6th for those aged 60 to 64.

Commissioner of Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency JEONG Eun-kyeong said

vaccinating the over 60s is the most effective way

to contain transmission among our seniors...

and to prevent severe disease or death...

should they be infected.

Data show..

that seniors over the age of 65 have the lowest chances

of vaccine side effects.

With inoculations well underway,...

vaccine doses are arriving in Korea on time... with no delays so far.

The country received an additional 436-thousand doses from Pfizer on Thursday,...

which adds up to more than 1-point-1 million doses available for rollout immediately.

And by the end of June,

Korea is expected to receive some 5 million more Pfizer doses

and 7-point-2 million AstraZeneca doses.



3.

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.

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.

The top diplomats of the Group of Seven countries have expressed their concerns over the human rights violations in North Korea...

and urged the North to refrain from provocative actions

and to return to talks.

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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