US President Joe Biden said Thursday that coronavirus cases are declining in 39 of 50 states and hospitalizations are falling in 38.

Biden said his administration is making progress to "accelerate the path out of this pandemic."

"Nationally, daily cases are down 47%, hospitalizations are down 38% over the past six weeks,” he said in a speech at the White House to provide an update on the COVID-19 response. “Over the past two weeks, most of the country has improved as well.”

Biden said the US now has 66 million unvaccinated people, down from 100 million in July.

"That's important progress, but now's not the time to let up, we have a lot more to do. We're in a very critical period as we work to turn the corner on COVID-19," he said.

The president said it is essential to vaccinate the unvaccinated and touted that vaccine requirements his administration started rolling out in the summer are working.

Biden announced during the summer that COVID-19 vaccination would be required for federal government employees and the military. And last month he required the same of all businesses with more than 100 employees. Most health care workers are also required to get the shot.

The death toll in the US from COVID-19 stands at more than 719,000, with over 44.6 million cases, according to US-based Johns Hopkins University.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the number vaccinated is 217 million./aa

An attack with a bow-and-arrow that killed five people near the Norwegian town of Kongsberg Wednesday was labeled an act of terrorism, Norwegian Police Security Service (PST) said Thursday.

A statement by the PST said the attack was categorized as a terror act, for now, and it underlined that there is no high threat in the country.

It added that the attacker was known to police and had a criminal record.

The 37-year-old "radicalized" attacker went on a rampage near Kongsberg, security officials confirmed.

The Danish citizen was arrested half an hour after the attack and was charged with murder.

Four women and a man -- all between the ages of 50 and 70 -- were killed. Two people, including an off-duty police officer, were injured./aa

The number of US drug overdose deaths jumped nearly 30% from March of 2020 to March of 2021, according to newly-released figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). There were a little more than 96,000 lives lost during that time.

The CDC looked specifically at deaths during that period when the coronavirus pandemic was at its peak.

By comparison, during all of 2019, there were a little more than 70,000 drug overdose deaths in the US.

A 30% increase from 2019 to 2020 was the highest increase since 1999.

The CDC refers to the number of drug deaths as "provisional," since drug overdose deaths require more time to confirm.

Opioids account for the largest number of drug deaths.

"It is important to remember that behind these devastating numbers are families, friends, and community members who are grieving the loss of loved ones," said Regina LaBelle of the President Office of National Drug Control Policy.

She urged Congress to fund President (Joe) Biden's budget request to improve substance abuse prevention and treatment.

Of all US states, Vermont saw the highest increase in overdose deaths during the pandemic year, at more than 85%.

In Ohio, where drug overdoses have long been a problem, a panel of health experts said Wednesday that opioid deaths had "skyrocketed" during the pandemic and opioids were also playing a role in human sex trafficking in the state.

It is believed survivors of trafficking turn to opioids to numb their trauma./aa

The US Federal Reserve could start tapering -- the process of reducing monthly accumulation of $120 billion assets on its balance sheet -- as early as mid-November, according to minutes of its last meeting.

"Participants noted that if a decision to begin tapering purchases occurred at the next meeting, the process of tapering could commence with the monthly purchase calendars beginning in either mid-November or mid-December," said minutes from the Sept. 21-22 meeting.

The bank said half of market participants see tapering starting in December, although some believe there is a strong probability that the first reduction in asset purchases could come in November, according to the minutes.

The median expectations for the conclusion of tapering points to July 2022, it added.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said at a news conference on Sept. 22 that the central bank may conclude tapering by the middle of 2002.

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) announced that day that tapering would start soon, which left just two options for the remaining of the year: after the FOMC's next two meetings -- Nov. 3 or Dec. 15.

The markets were rattled by the decision in September and global stock exchanges saw major declines because the beginning of tapering would mean less liquidity, which has been abundant during the coronavirus pandemic to support the American economy.

The Fed has been purchasing Treasury securities by at least $80 billion and mortgage-backed securities by at least $40 billion per month during the pandemic and said it would continue until substantial progress has been made toward its maximum employment and price stability goals.

But US employment remains weak, while energy and food prices have soared.

The American economy added just 194,000 jobs in September, much lower than estimates of 500,000, according to data from the Labor Department.

The consumer price index (CPI) in September rose 0.4% from the previous month and 5.4% from the same period last year -- both 0.1 percentage point higher than expectations.

The Fed is expected to cut asset purchases by $15 billion each month for eight months. Analysts estimate a month's reduction of $10 billion would come from Treasury securities and another $5 billion from mortgage-backed securities./agencies

The number of weekly reported deaths from COVID-19 continues to decline worldwide and is now at the lowest level in almost a year, the World Health Organization chief said Wednesday.

WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus said at a coronavirus webinar that there are still three countries in the world that have not started vaccinating yet: Burundi, Eritrea and North Korea.

Tedros said that despite the fall in the weekly coronavirus deaths, the toll is “still an unacceptably high level – almost 50,000 deaths a week, and the real number is certainly higher.”

He said “deaths are declining in every region except Europe, where several countries face fresh waves of cases and deaths.

“And of course, deaths are highest in the countries and populations with the least access to vaccines.”

The WHO chief said 56 countries that were excluded from the global vaccine marketplace could not reach the target of vaccinating 10% of their populations by the end of September – and most of them in Africa.

Countries at risk

“Even more countries are at risk of missing the 40% target by the end of this year,” said Tedros.

“About half of the remaining countries are constrained by supply. They have a vaccination program underway but don’t have enough supply to accelerate enough to reach the target.”

He made another plea to countries and companies for the control of the global vaccine supplies to prioritize supply to COVAX and AVAT.

COVAX is co-led by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), Gavi, the world vaccine alliance, and the WHO, with its delivery partner UNICEF, to accelerate the fair and equitable development and manufacture of COVID-19 vaccines.

AVAT is the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust.

“With aggressive and ambitious action, most of these countries can still reach the 40% target by the end of this year or be on a clear pathway to reaching it,” said Tedros.

He said the WHO and its partners are working with countries to strengthen on-the-ground technical and logistical capacities to roll out vaccines.

At the same webinar, Tedros said that following a public call for experts, the WHO announced the proposed members of the WHO Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens, or SAGO.

The 26 experts from all over the world were selected from over 700 applications.

They were chosen for their “world-class expertise and experience in a range of disciplines,” as well as their geographic and gender diversity.

SAGO will advise the WHO on developing a global framework to define and guide studies into the origins of emerging and re-emerging pathogens with epidemic and pandemic potential, including the COVID-19 virus.

There will now be a two-week consultation period on the proposed SAGO members, following which the composition will be confirmed./aa

Mostar, a historic city in southern Bosnia and Herzegovina, is garnering global attention for something quite different from its rich past: its street art.

Street Art Cities, a platform dedicated to the art form, recently included Mostar in a list of 25 cities with the most impressive street art.

Mostar’s own Street Art Festival has drawn many famous artists over the years and their murals have become a vital part of the city, according to Marina Djapic, one of the festival’s organizers.

“In Mostar, we have murals by artists from the US, Argentina, Spain, Italy, Serbia, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Soon we will also be hosting the famous Croatian street artist Lonac,” Djapic told Anadolu Agency.

Street Art Cities, according to a description on its website, was started in 2016 “as a small attempt to create an online map to help out two street art hunters in Heerlen and Antwerp hunt more effectively in their cities”.

The platform has since grown to become one of the largest street art communities in the world.​​​​​​​/aa

Kenya’s celebrated Olympian athlete Agnes Tirop was found dead in her house in the Elgeyo-Marakwet County on Wednesday, authorities said.

Speaking to the media, Barnaba Korir, chairman of Athletics Kenya in the Nairobi Region said that preliminary reports show that Tirop suffered a stab wound.

In a written statement, Athletics Kenya, the main governing body for the sport of athletics in Kenya, said: "Athletics Kenya are this afternoon distraught to learn about the untimely death of World 10,000 metres bronze medalist Agnes Tirop".

"Kenya has lost a jewel who was one of the fastest-rising athletics giants on the international stage," the statement said.

It said that Tirop, 25, was allegedly stabbed by her “husband,” but noted that detectives are working to unearth more details surrounding her demise.

She placed fourth in the 5,000-meter final at this summer's Olympic Games in Tokyo.

On Sept. 12, she broke the record in the women’s 10,000 meters at Road to Records Race in Germany with a time of 30:01.

In October, Tirop bagged the silver medal in the Giants Geneva held in Sweden./agencies