World breaking news today (May 8): WHO approves China's Sinopharm Covid vaccine for emergency use

	World breaking news today (May 7): US warns West to be 'very careful' on Chinese investments
	World breaking news today (May 6): Trump's Facebook ban to stay in place, board rules
	World breaking news today (May 5): Trump launches new communications platform

China has offered its vaccines to a number of countries around the world, the Sinopharm jab is the first to gain WHO approval

COVID vaccine: WHO approves China's Sinopharm for emergency use

It is the first time the World Health Organization has given the green light to a Chinese-made vaccine. The Sinopharm jab is the sixth vaccine to receive approval from the global health body.

"This afternoon, WHO gave emergency use listing to sign off on Beijing's COVID-19 vaccine, making it the sixth vaccine to receive WHO validation for safety, efficacy and quality," Ghebreysus said.

The WHO had already given such approval to vaccines developed by BioNTech-Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson and Moderna.

The WHO listing means the Sinopharm vaccine could eventually be included into the COVAX initiative in the coming weeks or months.

The UN-backed scheme aims to provide vaccines to poorer countries.

"This expands the list of vaccines that COVAX can buy and gives countries confidence to expedite their own regulatory approval and to import and administer a vaccine."

The jab would then be distributed via UNICEF and the WHO's regional office in the Americas.

To date, Sinopharm has made very little data public, only publishing what it says are efficacy numbers for its two vaccine shots — one developed by the Beijing Institute of Biological Products and the other by the Wuhan Institute of Biological Products, as reported by DW.

Iran's Khamenei says Israel 'not a country, but a terrorist base'

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Friday called Israel "not a country, but a terrorist base" during a speech on Al-Quds Day, an annual show of solidarity with the Palestinians.

Tensions have been running high between the two arch-foes following a series of maritime attacks, an explosion at an Iranian nuclear facility and the assassination of a top nuclear scientist that Tehran blamed on Israel.

The Islamic republic does not recognise the Jewish state, and supporting the Palestinian cause, as well as armed groups such as Hamas and Lebanon's Hezbollah, has been a pillar of Iran's foreign policy since its 1979 revolution.

(Photo: The News)

"Israel is not a country, but a terrorist base against the nation of Palestine and other Muslim nations," Khamenei said in live televised remarks.

"Fighting this despotic regime is fighting oppression and terrorism, and (doing so) is everyone's duty," he added.

Khamenei also blasted Israel's normalisation of ties with "some weak Arab governments" during the past year as attempts to undermine the Israeli "nightmare of Muslim unity".

The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan have all normalised ties with Israel in recent months under US-brokered deals, France 24.

Former Maldives president recovering from shrapnel wounds after bomb attack

Mohamed Nasheed, who was the first democratically elected president of the Maldives and current parliamentary speaker, was recovering in hospital on Friday after an assassination attempt left him with shrapnel wounds.

Nasheed was hurt when a device attached to a motorcycle was detonated as he got into a car on Thursday evening, an official said. “Nasheed escaped an assassination attempt,” a Maldivian government official told Agence France-Presse. “He is injured, but his condition is stable.”

Images on social media showed a destroyed motorbike at the scene of the attack.

Armed police and security forces cordoned off the area in the capital, Male, where the attack took place, and the Maldivian parliament, which was in recess, called an emergency meeting following the attack.

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, a close ally of Nasheed, said an investigation was under way as officials rushed to denounce the targeted attack on the country’s second most powerful figure.

A family member said Nasheed had sustained several wounds. “They have put him under anaesthesia. There is a deeper cut on one of his arms,” the family member said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The relative said Nasheed was responsive and spoke to doctors as he was admitted with shrapnel injuries. One of his bodyguards was also taken to hospital, according to Guardian.

'Ghost gun' crackdown proposal issued by Department of Justice

For the first time since 1968, the Department of Justice's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is seeking to update the legal definition of firearm in an effort to crack down on "ghost guns."

The proposed rule seeks to redefine "frame or receiver" as well as classify more firearm kits as "complete" firearms, making them subject to more regulation and oversight. It also seeks to legally define terms such as "complete muffler or silencer device" as well as "privately made firearms."

The proposed rule targets 3D gun printing, Fox News reported.

(Photo: Fox News)

"Technological advances have also made it easier for unlicensed persons to make firearms at home from standalone parts or weapon parts kits, or by using 3D printers or personally owned or leased equipment, without any records or a background check. Commonly referred to as 'ghost guns,' these privately made firearms ('PMFs'), when made for personal use, are not required by the [Gun Control Act of 1968] to have a serial number placed on the frame or receiver, making it difficult for law enforcement to determine where, by whom, or when they were manufactured, and to whom they were sold or otherwise disposed," the proposed rule states.

Gold Price Forecast – Gold Markets Rally in Face of Support Jobs Figure

Gold markets have rallied a bit during the course of the trading session on Friday to reach towards the $1850 level after the jobs number has missed horribly.

Gold markets have rallied a bit during the course of the trading session on Friday in response to the horrible miss by the labor figures in the United States. All things been equal, this is a market that should continue to go higher but we may get a short-term pullback in the short term in order to get long again. If we can break above the $1850 level, then it is likely we go looking towards the $1950 level. Nonetheless, I think there is plenty of support underneath and I do believe that it is only a matter of time before buyers would come in to pick up value. The 200 day EMA is sitting just below the $1800 level so that is something worth paying attention to, according to FX Empire.

(Photo: NBC News)

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