All posts tagged: drags

Seoul turns to foreign doctors as medical strike drags on

Seoul turns to foreign doctors as medical strike drags on

Published by Sam

SEOUL: South Korea will allow foreign doctors to work in its hospitals after a rigorous vetting process, the prime minister said on Friday (May 10), as a months-long strike by junior medics shows no sign of resolution. Thousands stopped working on Feb 20 to protest government plans to train more doctors, causing chaos in hospitals. The government, which has already offered some concessions in a bid to end the standoff, said this week that doctors with foreign medical licenses would be allowed to practice in the country, in a bid to ease service disruptions. After the move was announced, the head of the Korean Medical Association (KMA), Lim Hyun-taek, shared a screenshot of a news report on newly graduated Somali doctors with the comment: “Coming Soon.” The post, which was later removed, prompted widespread online criticism and was highly inappropriate as well as “clearly racist”, Kim Jae-heon, the secretary-general of a non-governmental organisation advocating free medical care, told AFP. The post “exploited Islamophobia and stereotyping against developing countries”, he said. Source link

Hungary Defence Spending to Be Increased if Ukraine War Drags Into 2025 -PM Orban

Hungary Defence Spending to Be Increased if Ukraine War Drags Into 2025 -PM Orban

Published by skeptic

BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Hungary will need to boost defence spending further next year if the war in neighbouring Ukraine drags into 2025, reducing the amount of funds available for other expenditure, Prime Minister Viktor Orban told public radio on Friday. Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine has triggered a surge in defence spending on NATO’s eastern flank led by Poland, which has doubled defence expenditure to 3.9% of economic output by 2023 from 2014 levels based on NATO figures. While strongly opposing Western military and financial support to Ukraine over concerns of the conflict spilling over into Europe, Hungary has also ramped up its defence spending sharply, to 2.43% of GDP last year, above a 2% NATO guideline. “If the war drags on into 2025, then the 2023-2024 defence spending levels will not be sufficient and will have to be increased,” Orban said in an interview, adding that the move would leave less funding for other purposes. In power since 2010, Orban has struggled since the COVID-19 pandemic to control Hungary’s budget deficit, with the shortfall …

As South Korea Doctors’ Walkout Drags on, Many Blame President

As South Korea Doctors’ Walkout Drags on, Many Blame President

Published by Sam

Eun Sung injured her right thumb in a fall in March and needed surgery to fix a torn ligament. But scheduling one has been difficult even though she lives in one of the most developed nations in the world, South Korea. “It was so hard to get an appointment, and I was told the earliest available operation would be next January,” said Ms. Sung, an office worker in Seoul, the capital. The one consolation, she said, was that she did not need surgery urgently. For more than two months, South Korea’s health care system has been in disarray because thousands of doctors walked off the job after the government proposed to drastically increase medical school admissions. While the disruptions have not yet reached crisis levels, thousands of operations and treatments have been delayed or canceled, nurses have had to take on more responsibilities, and military hospitals have been opened to civilians. Several major hospitals this week are planning to suspend outpatient clinics. The protracted stalemate shows no signs of resolution. But one thing has changed: …

IDF chief set to resign in bombshell move as Gaza war drags on | World | News

IDF chief set to resign in bombshell move as Gaza war drags on | World | News

Published by skeptic

The IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi will resign “in the coming period,” according to Israeli broadcaster Channel 12. The bombshell resignation is part of a purge of all officers seen as responsible for failing to stop the October 7 attacks last year. Earlier this week, the country’s head of military intelligence Major General Aharon Haliva announced his shock resignation. He was the first senior figure to step down over the attack, which was the deadliest in Israel’s history Israeli military and intelligence officials missed or ignored multiple warnings before hundreds of Hamas gunmen breached the Gaza border fence and attacked nearby Israeli communities, military bases and a music festival. Maj. Gen. Haliva is the first in a series of military commanders who “will be forced to retire in the near future”. Several other officers, including the Head of the Shin Bet domestic security agency Ronen Bar, are also expected to leave. Even Maj. Gen. Haliva’s expected successors – Major General Yaron Finkelman and Major General Eliezer Toledano – “are now perceived as part of …

Palestinians in Gaza grow angry with Hamas as war with Israel drags on

Palestinians in Gaza grow angry with Hamas as war with Israel drags on

Published by skeptic

JERUSALEM — More than six months into the war in Gaza and with dimming hopes for a cease-fire deal, Palestinians there are growing more critical of Hamas, which some of them blame for the months-long conflict that has destroyed the territory — and their lives. The war has displaced most of the Gaza Strip’s population, killed tens of thousands of people and pushed the enclave toward famine, its infrastructure in ruins. The Israeli military waged a punishing campaign to eliminate Hamas after the group, which ruled Gaza for 17 years, attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing an estimated 1,200 people and abducting more than 250. But while the majority of Palestinians in Gaza blame Israel for their suffering, according to polling conducted in March, they also appear to be turning their ire toward the militants. In interviews with more than a dozen residents of Gaza, people said they resent Hamas for the attacks in Israel and — war-weary and desperate to fulfill their basic needs — just want to see peace as soon as possible. …

As Change Healthcare’s outage drags on, fears grow that patient data could be released

As Change Healthcare’s outage drags on, fears grow that patient data could be released

Published by skeptic

A cyberattack at U.S. health tech giant Change Healthcare has ground much of the U.S. healthcare system to a halt for the second week in a row. Hospitals have been unable to check insurance benefits of in-patient stays, handle the prior authorizations needed for patient procedures and surgeries, or process billing that pays for medical services. Pharmacies have struggled to determine how much to charge patients for prescriptions without access to their health insurance records, forcing some to pay for costly medications out of pocket with cash, with others unable to afford the costs. Since Change Healthcare shut down its network suddenly on February 21 in an effort to contain the digital intruders, some smaller healthcare providers and pharmacies are warning of crashing cash reserves as they struggle to pay their bills and staff without the steady flow of reimbursements from insurance giants. Change Healthcare’s parent company UnitedHealth Group said in a filing with government regulators on Friday that the health tech company was making “substantial progress” in restoring its affected systems. As the near-term …

Nicaragua drags Germany to ICJ for ‘facilitating Israel’s genocide’ in Gaza | Israel War on Gaza News

Nicaragua drags Germany to ICJ for ‘facilitating Israel’s genocide’ in Gaza | Israel War on Gaza News

Published by Sam

Managua accuses Berlin of violating the Genocide Convention by funding Israel’s war on Gaza. Nicaragua has sued Germany at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for funding Israel and cutting aid to the UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA), the court announced on Friday. The Latin American country accused Berlin of violating international law in its continued funding for Tel Aviv and asked the ICJ to order emergency measures that would force Germany to cease military aid to Israel, and restart funding to the UNRWA. “By sending military equipment and now defunding UNRWA which provides essential support to the civilian population, Germany is facilitating the commission of genocide,” Nicaragua said in its filing, citing the 1948 Genocide Convention and the 1949 Geneva Conventions on the laws of war in the occupied Palestinian territories. Germany is a key ally of Tel Aviv, and is one of its biggest arms providers alongside the United States, according to UN experts. A hearing date is not yet known, however, the ICJ, also known as the World Court, usually starts proceedings …

US Ambassador in Ukraine Reaffirms American Support as War Drags On

US Ambassador in Ukraine Reaffirms American Support as War Drags On

Published by skeptic

Kyiv —  U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink is reassuring Ukrainians that Washington intends to help them finish the job as the country enters another year of war against Russian invaders. Since the onset of Russia’s full-scale assault on Feb. 24, 2022, Brink said the U.S. has earmarked billions of dollars to Ukraine’s war effort, all under what she says is strict oversight. In an interview with VOA Eastern Europe Bureau Chief Myroslava Gongadze, the U.S. diplomat reaffirmed that the U.S. remains committed to supporting Ukraine, despite the growing debate in Washington and in European capitals about the future of funding for military aid to the country. This interview has been edited for clarity and length. VOA: You arrived in Ukraine as a U.S. ambassador a few months after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. How did you find Ukraine back then? And how do you find Ukraine now? U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink: I found Ukraine and Ukrainians tough and resilient. And I find it exactly the same today. And I’m really proud we …

Hillary Clinton drags “useful idiot” Tucker Carlson for Putin interview

Hillary Clinton drags “useful idiot” Tucker Carlson for Putin interview

Published by skeptic

Former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton on Wednesday put Tucker Carlson on blast after he teased an interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin, likening the ex-Fox News host to a “puppy dog” of the Russian leader. Her scathing rebuke came in response to a question from MSNBC host Alex Wagner’s about what Carlson’s upcoming interview says about him, Putin and right-wing media. “Well, it shows me what I think we’ve all known,” Clinton said. “He’s what is called a ‘useful idiot.’ I mean, if you actually read translations of what’s being said on Russian media, they make fun of him. I mean, he’s like a puppy dog. You know, somehow, after having been fired from so many outlets and the United States, he– I would not be surprised if he emerges with a contract with a Russian outlet because he is a useful idiot.” The former secretary of state went on to lament Carlson’s penchant for pushing falsehoods and parroting Putin’s “pack of lies about Ukraine.” She said that the Russian leader’s acceptance of the …