Covid-19 cases across world post record
SYDNEY: Global Covid-19 infections hit a record high over the past seven-day period, a tally showed on Wednesday, as the new Omicron variant raced out of control, keeping workers at home and overwhelming testing centres. Almost 900,000 cases were detected on average each day around the world between Dec 22 and Dec 28, with myriad […]
WHO warns of Omicron overload as China, Europe impose new curbs
BERLIN: The WHO warned on Tuesday that the Omicron coronavirus variant could lead to overwhelmed healthcare systems even though early studies suggest it sparks milder disease, as China and Germany brought back tough restrictions to stamp out new infection surges. China put hundreds of thousands more people under lockdown, while infections hit new highs across […]
Charity says staff missing after Myanmar massacre
BANGKOK: The international aid group Save the Children said two of its staffers were missing in a massacre in eastern Myanmar that left more than 30 people, including women and children, dead and burned in their vehicles after they were reportedly shot by government troops as they were fleeing combat. Photos of the aftermath of […]
UN Security Council adopts resolution to facilitate Afghan aid
WASHINGTON: The UN Security Council (UNSC) on Wednesday unanimously adopted a US resolution, which Pakistan believes opens the door to providing humanitarian aid to Afghanistan without violating UN sanctions on the Taliban. The resolution allowed the “payment of funds, other financial assets or economic resources, and the provision of goods and services necessary to ensure […]
US ready to infuse liquidity into Afghan economy
WASHINGTON: The United States is working with various UN agencies to find ways for infusing liquidity into the Afghan economy, the US State Department said. The announcement, made at a news briefing in Washington, followed another statement by a State Department official in Islamabad on Monday, saying that the United States would show greater flexibility on financial […]
Casualties in Afghanistan, Iraq much higher than US admitted: NYT
WASHINGTON: Data collected after years of litigation and months of investigation persuaded The New York Times to conclude that civilian casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan were much higher than the United States ever acknowledged. Summing up its efforts to probe the US wars in the greater Middle East region, the newspaper wrote: “The promise was a war waged […]
Russia cannot ‘dictate’ to Nato, says Germany
RUKLA: German Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht on Sunday said Russia cannot “dictate” to Nato on regional security, as tensions soar between Moscow and Western capitals over the conflict in Ukraine. She spoke during a visit to Lithuania, which along with its Baltic neighbours Estonia and Latvia is worried about security after Russia deployed tens of […]
British PM under fire after by-election disaster
SHREWSBURY: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday faced questions about his leadership after weeks of controversy culminated in a crushing by-election defeat in a constituency never previously lost by his Conservative Party. His ruling Tories had held the seat in North Shropshire, central England, by a massive majority just two years ago, but saw […]
Thousands leave homes as typhoon hits Philippines
DAPA: Thousands of people in the Philippines fled their homes and beachfront resorts as Super Typhoon Rai pummelled the country on Thursday, with a charity warning the storm could hit coastal communities “like a freight train”. Rai is the strongest storm to hit the disaster-prone archipelago this year. It was packing maximum sustained winds of […]
Two arrested after fatal ship collision in Sweden
STOCKHOLM: Sweden on Monday arrested two people after a fatal early morning collision between a Danish and British ship off the southern Swedish coast. Sweden’s prosecution service said in a statement that an investigation into “aggravated drunkenness at sea,” “gross negligence in sea traffic,” and “gross causing of death by negligence” had been opened. One […]
