BEIJING -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi sent on Thursday a congratulatory message to Foreign Minister of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Ri Son Gwon on the 73rd anniversary of the DPRK's founding.

Over the past 73 years, the socialist cause of the DPRK has seen remarkable achievements, Wang said in his message, adding that at present, the people of the DPRK, under the leadership of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea headed by Comrade Kim Jong Un, are united as one and making every effort to implement the decisions and arrangements of the 8th Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea, and pursue better economic and social development. (China-DPRK-Ties)

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WASHINGTON -- The U.S. economy "has cooled significantly" as a result of the rapidly spreading Delta variant, the diminishing fiscal impulse and lingering supply constraints, according to Gregory Daco, chief U.S. economist at Oxford Economics.

"With peak growth now in the rearview mirror, rising health concerns and lingering supply constraints are fomenting worries about the path forward for the economy," Daco said Wednesday in a report on U.S. economic forecast. (U.S. economy-Delta variant)

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TIRANA -- At least 10 people died in a fire late Wednesday at a makeshift hospital for coronavirus patients in the western city of Tetovo in North Macedonia.

The fire, which broke out around 9 p.m. local time (0100 GMT), was extinguished, Health Minister Venko Filipce wrote on Twitter.

Causes of the fire were yet to be found, Prime Minister of North Macedonia Zoran Zaev wrote on Facebook. (Macedonia-Fire-Death)

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LONDON -- The Biden administration's proposal to spend as much as 1 billion U.S. dollars annually in some Pacific island nations as part of efforts to counter China is a flawed foreign policy initiative likely to fail, The Guardian said in a report on Tuesday.

"The proposed initiatives seek to make the region a U.S. strategic priority by employing programs largely divorced from on-the-ground realities, an approach that will probably prove ineffective at best and self-defeating at worst," the report said. (U.S.-China-Pacific)