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Welcome to Arirang News.

This is Key Kim

And we start with our top headlines at this hour

1.

South Korea reported 511 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, the daily figure rising by almost 50 cases compared to the previous day.

483 of them were transmitted locally, with around two-thirds from the capital region.

These include cluster infections at a university hospital in Seoul and a missionary center in Gyeonggi-do Province.

There were also outbreaks at a Buddhist temple and a vinyl greenhouse in Gyeongsangbuk-do Province.

Variants from overseas remain a threat as well.

Out of Tuesday's 28 imported COVID-19 cases, more than a third are believed to come from India.

The virus claimed the lives of four more people, raising the death toll to one-thousand-879.

As for the vaccine campaign, first doses were given on Monday to another 8-thousand-341 people.

However, supply issues remain an issue as not enough doses are arriving on time to meet demand.

Some three-point-seven million people in South Korea have now received their first dose -- that's about 7-point-2 percent of the population.

A little over 2 million people have received the AstraZeneca vaccine, and one-point-six-six million the shot from Pfizer.

Around 77-thousand people have received their second

d dose,... raising that particular total to just under 600-thousand.

Authorities are hoping fresh batches from AstraZeneca will help vaccinations pick up pace.

Seven-point-two-three million doses will get delivered throughout South Korea starting Friday, and those waiting for their second dose are expected to be prioritized.

2.

U.S. regulators have expanded approval for Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine,...for children aged 12 to 15.

The FDA expanded its emergency authorization after reviewing clinical data,... which showed the vaccine's efficacy to be 100 percent,... and that it's well tolerated.

The decision makes Pfizer's vaccine the first in the U.S.,...to be authorized for children 15 and under.

The vaccine had previously been authorized only for those 16 and older.

U.S. President Joe Biden has called for swift mobilization to ready vaccinations immediately.

3.

The WHO has classified the COVID-19 variant first identified in India as a variant of global concern,... with preliminary studies showing it spreads more easily than other strains.

It's the fourth variant to be named a global concern, after the so-called UK, South African and Brazilian variants, which means it will require heightened tracking and analysis.

The WHO says the Indian variant was first identified in December,... although an earlier version was spotted in October.

4.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo is known to be planning a virtual meeting on the semiconductor chip shortage.

On the May 20th meeting is expecting both chip suppliers as well as their consumers based on the invitations sent to the companies.

The invited companies include General Motors, Ford, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing…and South Korea's Samsung Electronics.

5.

A major network of fuel pipelines in the U.S. remains shut down... due to a ransomware last Friday by hackers demanding money, raising concerns over a spike in fuel prices.

The company, called Colonial Pipeline, said Monday that its major fuel lines are still down, but other smaller lines are back online.

The company is aiming to be fully operational by this weekend.

The Russia-based hacking group DarkSide has claimed responsibility, though they've since said they're sorry for causing trouble and they only wanted to make money.

The White House says its working closely with Colonial, calling the pipeline fix a top priority.

6.

South Korea's exports during the first ten days of May soared by more than 80 percent on-year.

Preliminary data from the Korea Customs Service show exports from May 1st to the 10th came to nearly 12-point-five billion U.S. dollars.

Even when the anumber of working days is taken into account, the daily average was up about 65 percent on year.

Shipments of automobiles rose by around 360 percent and automobile parts by 317 percent.

Exports of petroleum products were up about 130 percent and semiconductors by around 52 percent.

7. Lastly to local bourse,

South Korean stocks closed a bit lower than the day before.

Korea’s benchmark KOSPI fell 39 – point – 8 – 7 points

to close at 3 thousand- 2 hundred - and 09 – point – 4 – 3.

KOSDAQ also fell 14 – point – 1 - 9 points,

closing at 9 – hundred – 78 - point 6 - 1 .

Moving to weather forecast,

Upper parts of the country will have early summer weather with lots of sunshine. The highs hitting 27 degrees Celsius in Seoul and Chuncheon, but Jeju will have a wet day.

After the rain lets up in the southern regions this afternoon, there will be some sunshine while Jeju will start to see rain from the afternoon along with strong gusts through early tomorrow.

Those of you on Jeju will need rain gear, while central regions will need sun protection items as we'll have very high UV levels today. Air quality will be good to normal nationwide but eastern Gangwon-do Province is still under a dry weather advisory.

The current temperatures are:

_______ degrees in Seoul

_______ degrees in Pyeongchang

_______ degrees in Busan

And _______ degrees on Jejudo Island

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