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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]