Kiev says troops fighting ‘stubbornly’ in Soledar, but admits situation ‘difficult’
BAKHMUT: Ukraine said on Thursday its forces were fighting to retain control of Soledar in the eastern Donetsk region but cautioned it was coming up against “difficult” resistance from Russian troops. The Kremlin has made capturing the industrial region of Donetsk its primary objective after nearly one year of fighting that has seen its forces […]
Most long Covid symptoms clear up in a year for mild cases: study
Most symptoms from long Covid clear up within a year for people who had mild initial infections, a large Israel study said Thursday, with the findings welcomed as “reassuring”. At least 17 million people in Europe suffered from long Covid symptoms months after recovering from their initial infection during 2020 and 2021, according to modelling […]
Indonesia president says “strongly regrets” past rights violations in country
Indonesian President Joko Widodo acknowledged on Wednesday a series of incidents amounting to “gross human rights violations” had taken place in his country’s past, including the bloodshed and arrests that took place in 1965 and 1966. In one of the darkest periods of Indonesia’s history, some historians and activists have estimated at least 500,000 people […]
Saudi Arabia lifts restriction on Haj pilgrim numbers
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia will remove Covid-19 restrictions for the 2023 Haj season and host pre-pandemic numbers of pilgrims, the kingdom’s ministry of Haj and Umrah said on Monday. In 2019, the last year before the pandemic struck, some 2.6 million people performed the Haj. The kingdom allowed only limited numbers from its residents in 2020 […]
China reopens borders after three years of quarantine
BEIJING: China lifted quarantine requirements for inbound travellers on Sunday, ending almost three years of self-imposed isolation even as the country battles a surge in Covid cases. The first people to arrive expressed relief at not having to undergo the gruelling quarantines that were a fixture of life in zero-Covid China. And in Hong Kong, […]
Israel, Palestine trade heated barbs at UN over Al-Aqsa visit
UNITED NATIONS: Israeli and Palestinian envoys to the United Nations have traded heated barbs at a Security Council meeting over the controversial visit by an Israeli minister to Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem. Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, called the session “pathetic” and “absurd” while the Palestinian envoy accused the Jewish state of […]
Prince Harry says William knocked him to the floor in dispute: report
Britain’s Prince Harry says in an upcoming book that his older brother and heir to the throne, Prince William, knocked him to the floor during a 2019 argument over Harry’s wife Meghan, The Guardian reported on Wednesday. The Guardian said it had obtained a copy of the memoir, “Spare,” which is due to be published […]
Iran issues warning on mandatory headscarf in cars
TEHRAN: Iranian police have resumed warnings that women must wear mandatory headscarves even in cars, media reported on Monday, as unrest continues following the death of Mahsa Amini. Protests have gripped Iran since the Sept 16 death of Iranian-Kurdish Amini, 22, after her arrest in Tehran for an alleged breach of the Islamic republic’s strict […]
Beijing deplores Western outcry, defends Covid data
BEIJING: The Chinese government reacted with anger on Friday over Western moves to discourage travel from China, saying that all the Covid-19 data it shared, including with the World Health Organisation, was transparent. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus earlier urged China to be “more forthcoming” on the pandemic and said it was “understandable” that some […]
Covid travel curbs against Chinese visitors ‘discriminatory’: state media
Chinese state-media said Covid testing requirements imposed by several places around the world in response to a surging wave of infections were “discriminatory”, in the clearest pushback yet against restrictions that are slowing down its re-opening. Having kept its borders all but shut for three years, imposing a strict regime of lockdowns and relentless testing, […]
