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Welcome to Arirang News.

This is Kwon Joo-hyun

And we start with our top headlines at this hour

1.

South Korea reported 635 more cases of Covid-19,

bringing the nation's total infections

to 128-thousand 918.

It also reported 5 additional virus death,

now standing at 1,884.

In total, 119,373 people in South Korea have recovered from the virus, rising 656 from a day earlier.

2. Meanwhile,

Four-hundred-38-thousand extra doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine, enough for 219-thousand people, have arrived in South Korea.

The shipment landed at Incheon International Airport

at around one-thirty AM, Korea time, on Wednesday,

and is the result of a direct buying contract

between the government and Pfizer.

The contract procures 66 million doses and so far,

just under two-point-nine million have arrived.

More batches will arrive by June

as South Korea aims to speed up its vaccination campaign.

Seven-point-two-three million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine

will be delivered nationwide from Friday,

and those waiting for their second dose are expected to be prioritized.

3.

Italian researchers said on Tuesday

that antibodies against COVID-19,

while reducing over time,

remained in the blood of most patients for at least eight months following infection.

The study was conducted jointly

by the San Raffaele hospital

and Italy's ISS National Health Institute.

Blood samples of survivors

were taken in March and April of last year

and again in late November.

The study also noted that those who failed to produce antibodies within the first fifteen days of contracting the virus are

at greater risk of suffering from severe symptoms.

4.

The defense ministries of South Korea and the U.S. are to hold biannual defense talks for two days in Washington

beginning Wednesday.

During the 19th South Korea-U.S. Integrated Defense Dialogue

or K-I-D-D,

the two sides are to discuss an array of regional security situations, the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula

and alliance issues

including the envisioned transfer

of wartime operational control from Washington to Seoul...

as well as the combined military exercises.

The meeting, the first of its kind under the Biden administration, comes as Washington completed its review

of its policy on North Korea.

5.

The head of South Korea's National Intelligence Service,

Park Jie-won, held talks on Tuesday

with his Japanese counterpart in Tokyo.

Local reports said Wednesday that the two mostly discussed North Korea.

The meeting came after the Biden administration finished its policy review on the North.

Park left for Japan on Tuesday for trilateral talks, which also included the U.S. Director of National Intelligence, Avril Haines.

6.

Amid the back-and-forth exchange of heavy fire

between Israel and Palestinians in Gaza,...

an airstrike by the Israeli military

has collapsed a high-rise residential building in Gaza City.

7.

Seoul Arts Center is hosting the country's largest exhibition on

 Pablo Picasso.

Moving to weather forecast,

Today will be a hot day for many western parts of the country.

Seoul and Chuncheon will hit 27 degrees, Gwangju 29,

while eastern regions will see highs near seasonal norms

under mostly to partly sunny skies.

Jejudo Island will see sporadic rain in the afternoon.

The capital region will have strong UV levels

while air quality will be normal to good.

It will be hotter through Saturday - feeling more like July with highs soaring to 29 degrees Celsius in Seoul,

while Daejeon will be hotter,

peaking to 31 degrees on Friday under lots of sunshine.

Then rain will start from southern regions on Saturday spreading to the rest of the country by Sunday,

and that rain will bring temperatures back to the seasonal norms

The warm weather continues through Saturday

with highs nearing 30 degrees Celsius in Seoul

then there is rain on Sunday.

Highs will range between 22 and 29 degrees Celsius.

As for the highs, Seoul will be 27 degrees,

while Busan and Jejudo Island will be 22 degrees in the afternoon.

The current temperatures are:

___ degrees in Seoul,

___degrees in Suwon,

___degrees in Daegu,

___degrees in Busan

and ___degrees on Jejudo Island.

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