FBI documents reveal communication between Roger Stone, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange
WASHINGTON: Weeks after Robert Mueller was appointed special counsel in the Russia investigation, Roger Stone, a confidant of President Donald Trump, reassured WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in a Twitter message that if prosecutors came after him, “I will bring down the entire house of cards,” according to FBI documents made public Tuesday. The records reveal […]
COVID-19: Trump urges states to consider opening schools before summer even as cases surge
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump says states should “seriously consider” reopening their public schools before the end of the academic year, even though dozens already have said it would be unsafe for students to return until the summer or fall. Trump made the comments Monday in a call with governors discussing how to reopen their economies, […]
Cathay Pacific Airways may increase passenger flights in June if COVID-19 lockdown restrictions ease
HONG KONG: Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific Airways has signalled its intent to start reversing its near-total grounding of aircraft because of the coronavirus pandemic, and plans to start increasing its number of passenger flights in the last week of June, the flag carrier said on Tuesday. The airline said it hoped to add more long-haul […]
British PM Boris Johnson back in charge of COVID-19 response
LONDON: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday will resume charge of the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, a month after being diagnosed with the deadly disease that has claimed 20,732 lives in the UK. Johnson, 55, had been recuperating from his intensive care treatment at a London hospital earlier this month after he […]
Russian military reports nearly 900 coronavirus cases, total tally crosses 80,000
MOSCOW: A total of 874 servicemen in the Russian military have tested positive for the new coronavirus since March, Russia’s Defense Ministry said Sunday. Almost half of them 379 people are isolated at home; others are being treated in various medical facilities. Four people are in grave condition, including one on a ventilator. […]
Immigrants, hard hit by economic fallout, adapt to new jobs in US amid COVID-19 lockdown
NEW YORK: Ulises García went from being a waiter to working at a laundromat. Yelitza Esteva used to do manicures and now delivers groceries. Maribel Torres swapped cleaning homes for sewing masks. The coronavirus pandemic has devastated sectors of the economy dominated by immigrant labor: Restaurants, hotels, office cleaning services, in-home childcare and hair and […]
Coronavirus: Overwhelmed Brooklyn nursing home caring for elders tolls 55 dead
NEW YORK: As residents at a nursing home in Kirkland, Washington, began dying in late February from a coronavirus outbreak that would eventually take 43 lives, there was little sign of trouble at the Cobble Hill Health Center, a 360-bed facility in an upscale section of Brooklyn. Its Facebook page posted a cheerful story encouraging […]
Pay the rent or eat? Suddenly jobless Americans face dilemma
SAN FRANCISCO: Terra Thomas, one of the millions of Americans who have lost their income due to the coronavirus pandemic, was stuck between a rock and a hard place — pay her rent or put food on the table? “Looking at my finances, it was, ‘do I give the last little bit of my money […]
Matterhorn mountain in Swiss Alps lights up with Indian flag in show of solidarity
GENEVA: Switzerland has expressed solidarity with India in its fight against the coronavirus pandemic by projecting the tricolour on the famous Matterhorn mountain in the Swiss Alps to give “hope and strength” to all Indians. Swiss light artist Gerry Hofstetter has been lighting up the 4,478-meter pyramidal peak straddling between Switzerland and Italy with spectacular […]
COVID-19 could cause hundreds of thousands of additional child deaths: United Nations
UNITED NATIONS: In a grim assessment of the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on children, the UN has said the looming global recession resulting from the outbreak could cause hundreds of thousands of additional child deaths this year, effectively reversing recent gains in reducing infant mortality, and push millions of children into extreme poverty. It said […]
Europe worst hit as one million COVID-19 cases reported
PARIS: More than one million cases of the coronavirus have been detected in Europe, just over half the global total, according to a tally compiled by AFP from official sources at 0830 GMT Wednesday. With at least 1,003,284 cases, including 84,465 deaths, Europe is the worst hit continent. Globally, 1,991,019 COVID-19 infections and 125,955 deaths […]
Millions of South Koreans put civic responsibility above COVID-19; overall turnout at 62.6 per cent
SEOUL: In a surprisingly high turnout, millions of South Korean voters wore masks and moved slowly between lines of tape at polling stations on Wednesday to elect lawmakers in the shadows of the spreading coronavirus. The government resisted calls to postpone the parliamentary elections billed as a midterm referendum on President Moon Jae-in, who enters […]
China didn’t warn public of likely pandemic for six key days: Sources
In the six days after top Chinese officials secretly determined they likely were facing a pandemic from a new coronavirus, the city of Wuhan at the epicenter of the disease hosted a mass banquet for tens of thousands of people; millions began traveling through for Lunar New Year celebrations. President Xi Jinping warned the public […]
Coronavirus crisis sends Germany into recession, to last till mid-year
BERLIN: Europe’s economic powerhouse Germany plunged into recession in March, with the slump sparked by the coronavirus pandemic likely to last until the middle of the year, the economy ministry said Wednesday. “Falling global demand, interruption of supply chains, changes in consumers’ behaviour and uncertainty among investors” had all made themselves felt in the export […]
No one is now safe: Media report predicts second wave of job loss amid COVID-19 pandemic
NEW YORK: Not just aviation and hospitality sectors which bore the brunt of the first wave of job losses and salary cuts, millions of white-collar jobs spanning across industries are now at stake as longer shutdowns have risked a repeat of the deep and prolonged labour downturn that accompanied the 2007-2009 recession. According to a […]
COVID-19: New Zealand extends state of national emergency
WELLINGTON: The state of emergency imposed in New Zealand to support the COVID-19 response will be extended a third time for a further seven days, Minister of Civil Defence Peeni Henare said on Tuesday. The initial declaration was made on March 25, and the seven-day declaration can be extended as many times as necessary, reports […]
North Korea fires multiple suspected cruise missiles: Seoul
SEOUL: North Korea on Tuesday fired several suspected cruise missiles towards the sea, the South’s military said. The “multiple projectiles” fired from Munchon in the east of the country were believed to be “short-range cruise missiles,” the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. The test comes a day before the nuclear-armed North marks […]
Pakistan clerics warn government against ban on religious congregations amidst coronavirus outbreak
ISLAMABAD: A group of over 50 senior clerics in Pakistan has warned the government against the ban on religious congregations amidst the coronavirus outbreak and said the authorities should instead abide by religious norms and allow more worshippers in mosques to seek forgiveness from Allah. The government has banned prayer congregations of more than five […]
China fudged information, COVID-19 transmission could be reduced by 95 per cent, say experts
MONTREAL: Experts have criticized Chinese President Xi Jinping for concealing, destroying and fabricating information about the rampant spread of COVID-19 and suppressing the data by silencing and criminalising dissent. In a report published by The Times of Israel, Human Rights Advocate Irwin Cotler said, “There is authoritative and compelling evidence — including a study from […]
Putin may deploy Russian military as COVID-19 cases surge
MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that the military could be deployed to help tackle the coronavirus pandemic in the country, after the number of cases in the country rose sharply. On Monday, Russia recorded its largest daily rise in confirmed cases, with 2,558 new infections, taking the total to 21,102, with the vast […]