Global health

With 1,787 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, Bulgaria has the highest mortality rate in the EU in 2020, reported the European Union's statistical agency Eurostat.

Bulgaria is followed by Romania (1,622), Hungary (1,513), Lithuania (1,482) and Latvia (1,445).

Three years ago, Balkan countries were hit by a pandemic which cost many lives and created social disorders. But while it was a time of isolation for many, authors drew inspiration from the disaster.

When the New York Youth Symphony recorded its debut album during the pandemic's dark early days, violinist Jessica Jeon was just 12 years old.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday that COVID-19 remains a public health emergency of international concern, its highest form of alert, Reuters reported.

The pandemic is likely at a "transitional moment" that continues to need careful management to "mitigate potential negative consequences," the organization added in a statement.

The new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Bulgaria in the last 24 hours are 129, according to the data of the Unified Information Portal. They were established from the 3,685 tests performed, which means that the proportion of positive results is 3.5 percent.

Index.hr reminds that this very foundation has been under criticism for years for being too powerful and influential in global health, including the World Health Organization, without assuming proportionate responsibility.

Uncertainty in the market led to one in three retailers running promotions or discounts even over the festive period, but more than one in four businesses had higher sales this holiday season, compared with the same period in 2021, according to a study by the Hellenic Confederation of Commerce and Entrepreneurship (ESEE), which was released on Friday, regarding the activity of commercial stores

In Tokyo's Asakusa tourist district, caricaturist Masashi Higashitani is dusting off his Chinese as he prepares for an influx of travelers after Beijing ends inbound quarantine rules.

"We used to say 'ni hao' all the time," he said with a laugh as he whipped up a portrait in minutes.

Patients, most of them elderly, are lying on stretchers in hallways and taking oxygen while sitting in wheelchairs as COVID-19 surges in China's capital Beijing.

The Chuiyangliu hospital in the city's east was packed with newly arrived patients on Thursday. By midmorning beds had run out, even as ambulances continued to bring those in need.

The new year starts from a favorable starting point, with the Greek economy having shown remarkable resistance to two consecutive, particularly serious, international disturbances - the pandemic and the energy crisis, starting with the war in Ukraine -, which were also accompanied by the most severe inflationary escalation in 40 years.