World
Back to homepage
COVID-testing rules spark Christmas travel chaos in Australia as cases hit records
SYDNEY: Australia’s COVID-19 testing facilities were severely stretched on Thursday amid a record surge in cases and as tens of thousands of domestic travellers thronged the centres to get test results necessary to travel interstate for Christmas. Most states require
Read More
Soccer: Pele expects to leave hospital in ‘a few days’
BENGALURU: Brazilian soccer great Pele said he would be home from hospital in a few days after undergoing chemotherapy as part of his treatment following an operation to remove a colon tumor. Three-time World Cup winner Pele, who was admitted
Read More
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to visit Malaysia from Dec 14-15
PUTRAJAYA: Secretary of State of the United States (US) Antony Blinken will visit Malaysia from December 14 to 15. Malaysian Foreign Ministry (Wisma Putra) in a statement today said Secretary Blinken, who is on his inaugural visit here, will be
Read More
Former PM Abe says Japan, US could not stand by if China attacked Taiwan
TOKYO: Japan and the United States could not stand by if China attacked Taiwan and Beijing needs to understand this, former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Wednesday. “A Taiwan emergency is a Japanese emergency, and therefore an emergency for
Read More
Hong Kong bans non-residents from three more countries over Omicron
HONG KONG: Hong Kong will ban non-residents from entering the city from Japan, Portugal and Sweden from Friday, adding to a fast-expanding list of countries facing travel restrictions due to concerns over the Omicron coronavirus variant. Non-Hong Kong residents who have
Read More
Britain alarmed by new COVID-19 variant spreading in South Africa
LONDON: Britain on Thursday said it was concerned by a newly identified coronavirus variant spreading in South Africa that might make vaccines less effective and imperil efforts to fight the pandemic. The UK Health Security Agency said the variant, which is
Read More
British MP Stella Creasy warned against bringing baby to Parliament, sparks debate
A British MP won a promise of parliamentary reforms on Wednesday after she was rebuked by an official for bringing her sleeping baby to a debate. Stella Creasy, an opposition Labour lawmaker who has campaigned for MPs to be offered
Read More
Australia declares La Nina for second straight year
SYDNEY: Australia’s weather bureau said on Tuesday a La Nina weather phenomenon had developed in the Pacific Ocean for the second year in a row that could bring above average rainfall across the country’s centre, north and east. La Nina is
Read More
Musk says first orbital flight for Moon rocket in early 2022
ELON Musk said that the Starship developed by his company SpaceX and selected by NASA for the Americans’ return to the Moon would attempt its first orbital flight early next year. “We’ll do a bunch of tests in December and
Read More
Canada floods kill one person, leave two missing; rail access cut to Vancouver port
MERRITT: The port of Vancouver, Canada’s largest, said on Tuesday that all rail access had been cut by floods and landslides further to the east that killed at least one person and left two others missing. Two days of torrential across
Read More