عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
World

Guterres Appeals for $8 Bln to Equitably Vaccinate 40% of World in 2021

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres poses for a photograph during an interview with Reuters at UN headquarters in New York City, New York, US. Reuters
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres poses for a photograph during an interview with Reuters at UN headquarters in New York City, New York, US. Reuters
TT
20
TT

Guterres Appeals for $8 Bln to Equitably Vaccinate 40% of World in 2021

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres poses for a photograph during an interview with Reuters at UN headquarters in New York City, New York, US. Reuters
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres poses for a photograph during an interview with Reuters at UN headquarters in New York City, New York, US. Reuters

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed on Thursday for $8 billion to equitably vaccinate 40% of people in all countries by the end of the year as the World Health Organization launched a plan aiming to inoculate 70% of the world by mid-2022.

"Crucially, the success of this plan requires equitable distribution," Guterres told reporters.

"Without a coordinated, equitable approach, a reduction of cases in any one country will not be sustained over time. For everyone's sake, we must urgently bring all countries to a high level of vaccination coverage," Reuters quoted him as saying.

Guterres pushed the Group of 20 rich countries to deliver on their "desire to get the world vaccinated" at a summit in Rome later this month.

Most Viewed

 
World

Israeli Spy Chief Hands Court Scathing Rebuke of Netanyahu Bid to Sack Him

Israeli Security Agency director Ronen Bar attends a memorial ceremony of the Hamas attack on October 7 last year -. GIL COHEN-MAGEN/Pool via REUTERS/File
Israeli Security Agency director Ronen Bar attends a memorial ceremony of the Hamas attack on October 7 last year -. GIL COHEN-MAGEN/Pool via REUTERS/File
TT
20
TT

Israeli Spy Chief Hands Court Scathing Rebuke of Netanyahu Bid to Sack Him

Israeli Security Agency director Ronen Bar attends a memorial ceremony of the Hamas attack on October 7 last year -. GIL COHEN-MAGEN/Pool via REUTERS/File
Israeli Security Agency director Ronen Bar attends a memorial ceremony of the Hamas attack on October 7 last year -. GIL COHEN-MAGEN/Pool via REUTERS/File

The head of Israel's domestic intelligence service said on Monday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bid to sack him followed his refusal to fulfil requests that included spying on Israeli protesters and disrupting the leader's corruption trial.

In an affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court, the head of Shin Bet, Ronen Bar, said that Netanyahu's March move to dismiss him was not based on professional grounds but was prompted by unmet expectations of personal loyalty to the prime minister.

In response, Netanyahu's office said it would soon deliver a detailed refute of Bar's affidavit, which it called "false". Netanyahu's move to sack Bar fuelled protests in Israel and was suspended by the Supreme Court, after political watchdogs and opposition lawmakers argued the dismissal was unlawful. Critics say that the government is undermining key state institutions and endangering the foundations of Israeli democracy. Netanyahu's Likud party has accused Bar of acting against the prime minister and turning parts of the Shin Bet service into "a private militia of the Deep State." Israel's government has backed Netanyahu, who said that he had lost confidence in Bar over the agency's failure to prevent the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, a security failure that had led to the country's deadliest day, Reuters reported.

But in the unclassified part of his affidavit, Bar argued that the quest to oust him began more than a year after the attack. He cited a series of events between November 2024 and February 2025, which he said appeared to prompt the prime minister's moves against him.

Bar also said he refused to sign off on a security request aimed at preventing continuous testimony by Netanyahu at his corruption trial. Netanyahu, who denies any wrongdoing, began testifying in his long-running court case in December.