WHO ends global COVID emergency
A worker wearing a protective suit swabs a man’s throat for a COVID-19 test at a coronavirus testing site in Beijing, on June 22, 2022. The World Health Organization said on May 5, 2023, that COVID-19 no longer qualifies as a global emergency, marking a symbolic end to the devastating coronavirus pandemic that triggered once-unthinkable lockdowns, upended economies and killed millions of people worldwide.
After three years, and the death of millions of people, the World Health Organiziation’s Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced an end to the emergency. He made clear that the pandemic is not over and measures to prevent COVID-19 spread need to remain in place. And, a government app encourages Iraqis to report immoral behavior on- and offline. Also, in Serbia, two separate shooting sprees in two days have left 17 people dead in the Balkan country where gun violence is rare. Now, Serbia’s president wants “practical disarmament” of the country, which has some of the most guns per citizen of any country in the world. Plus, how a group of Cuban female musicians claimed a once-forbidden drum.
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