VOA News for Friday, April 9th, 2021

VOA News for Friday, April 9th, 2021
Thanks to gandalf.ddo.jp/ for transcribing
This is VOA news. Reporting by remote, I'm David Byrd.
President Joe Biden has announced a half dozen executive actions aimed at addressing a proliferation of gun violence across the United States that he called an "epidemic" and an "international embarrassment." AP's Sagar Meghani reports.
With relatives of those killed in school shootings watching in the Rose Garden, the president called American gun violence an international embarrassment.
"The idea that we have so many people dying every single day from gun violence in America is a blemish on our character as a nation.”
After pledging last month to take immediate commonsense steps, he announced the half dozen executive actions on regulating homemade ghost guns and other steps. But the president has limited power to act on guns.
"There's much more that Congress can do.”
He's calling on the Senate to take up House-passed background check bills and urging lawmakers to go further. But Senate Republicans remain near united against most gun control proposals.
Sagar Meghani, Washington.
Most adults will not need a permit to carry a handgun in the U.S. state of Tennessee anymore. AP correspondent Ben Thomas explains.
A new law which takes effect July 1st allows adults 21 and older and military members between 18 and 20 to carry a handgun either openly or concealed without first clearing a background check and training.
The law does make exceptions for people with certain mental illnesses and criminal convictions and it does not apply to long guns.
Governor Bill Lee signed the measure into law, tweeting it shouldn't be hard for law-abiding Tennesseans to exercise their Second Amen rights.
The Republican is up for reelection in 2022.
I'm Ben Thomas.
For more on these stories and the rest of the days news, visit our website. This is VOA news.
Australia and the Philippines limited use of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday while the African Union dropped plans to buy the shot. We get more from Reuters Emer McCarthy.
The Philippines suspended the use of AstraZeneca shots for people below 60 after Europe's regulator said on Wednesday it found rare cases of blood clots among some adult recipients although the vaccine's advantages still outweighed its risks.
Australia recommended those under 50 get Pfizer's candidate in preference to AstraZeneca's.
The African Union says it is now exploring options with Johnson & Johnson, having dropped plans to buy AstraZeneca's vaccine from India's Serum Institute.
AstraZeneca's vaccine is by far the cheapest and most high volume launched so far and has none of the extreme refrigeration requirements of some other COVID-19 vaccines, making it likely to be the mainstay of many vaccination programs in the developing world.
That's Reuters Emer McCarthy.
The World Health Organization says Africa's rollout of COVID-19 vaccine is being hampered by shortages and delays in planned deliveries. Lisa Schlein reports from Geneva.
WHO Regional Director for Africa Matshidiso Moeti says more than one billion Africans still have not been able to avail themselves of the life-saving tool. She says Africa has administered only two percent of the more than 600 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine that has been dispensed globally.
Of greater concern, she says, is the unequal distribution of life-saving vaccine, which is largely available in wealthy countries and scarce in poor countries. To help right that wrong, Moeti says, high-income countries should share their surplus supplies of vaccine with other less fortunate countries.
At the same time, she says, they will minimize the emergence of further variants of the coronavirus and show solidarity in defeating the devastating disease.
Lisa Schlein, for VOA news, Geneva.
The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose last week to 744,000 - a sign that many employers are still cutting jobs even as more people are vaccinated against COVID-19, consumers gain confidence and the government distributes aid throughout the economy.
The Labor Department said the applications increased by 16,000 from 728,000 a week earlier. Jobless claims have declined sharply since the virus slammed into the economy in March of last year but they remain stubbornly high by historical standards.
For the week ending March 27th, more than 3.7 million people were receiving traditional state unemployment benefits.
Reporting by remote, I'm David Byrd, VOA news.