Nigeria attacks leave 200 dead, thousands displaced By: AFP on January 10, 2022ABUJA: Nigeria said on Sunday that gunmen killed at least 200 people and displaced thousands more in multiple raids in the northwest over the last week, dealing a heavy blow to authorities struggling to restore order. Herders and farmers in Africa’s most populous country have clashed over access to land in northwest and central Nigeria […]
Zhang Yimou to direct Olympic ceremony again after 14 years By: AFP on January 8, 2022Beijing: Acclaimed Chinese film director Zhang Yimou, who masterminded the spectacular opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, will reprise that role for next month´s Winter Games in the capital, organizers have announced. Zhang, 71, promised a “totally innovative” unveiling, while conceding that the global pandemic and colder weather will limit its scale compared […]
I am not virus, insists Indian named Kovid By: AFP on January 8, 2022NEW DELHI: What’s in a name? For Indian travel start-up founder Kovid Kapoor, it has made him a social media sensation. The 31-year-old’s Twitter profile declares: “My name is Kovid and I am not a virus.” He posted this week that he had travelled outside India for the first time since the onset of the […]
Indian court allows religious festival despite Covid concerns By: AFP on January 8, 2022KOLKATA: An Indian court on Friday rejected a bid to cancel a major Hindu festival despite fears the vast gathering could spread coronavirus infections as the country sees an Omicron-driven surge in cases. Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to attend the annual Gangasagar Mela festival, which begins on Saturday on an island where […]
Pfizer/BioNTech to develop mRNA-based shingles shot By: AFP on January 6, 2022BERLIN: Germany’s BioNTech and US pharma giant Pfizer, which together developed a COVID-19 vaccine in record time, said Wednesday they are working on a shingles shot using the same mRNA technology. Moderna meanwhile announced it had dosed its first volunteer for a vaccine against Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), the cause of mononucleosis. The three companies are […]
UN chief welcomes world powers’ statement on nuclear war prevention By: APP on January 4, 2022UNITED NATIONS, (APP):UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has welcomed a joint statement issued by the five nuclear-weapon states on Monday pledging to prevent the spread of atomic arms and to avoid nuclear conflict. “The Secretary-General welcomes the joint statement by the nuclear-weapon states on the prevention of nuclear war and avoidance of arms races,” his Spokesman, […]
EU draft on financing nuclear, gas plants raises ire By: AP on January 3, 2022BRUSSELS: Draft European Union plans that would allow nuclear and gas energy to remain part of the bloc’s path to a climate-friendly future came under immediate criticism over the weekend from both environmentalists and some governing political parties in EU member nations. In draft conclusions, the EU’s executive commission proposes a classification system for defining […]
At UN 2021 was successful year for Pakistan, spotlighting Kashmir and ECOSOC leadership By: APP on January 1, 2022UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan continued to push for Kashmiri people’s right of self-determination in the 2021 in a determined bid to advance the cause of their freedom from India’s yoke, Ambassador Munir Akram has said while recounting key achievements at the U.N. on multilateral diplomatic front. “2021 was a successful year for Pakistan’s multilateral diplomacy here […]
Dalai Lama’s last escort in escape from Tibet dies By: AFP on January 1, 2022DHARAMSALA: The last surviving member of a small troop of Indian soldiers who escorted the Dalai Lama as he fled Tibet in 1959 has died aged 85, his former regiment said on Friday. The Tibetan spiritual leader arrived in India as a young monk after a 13-day trek through the Himalayas disguised as a soldier […]
‘Snow guns’ spewing man-made Beijing Olympics snow raise concerns By: AFP on December 30, 2021YANQING, China (AFP) – Bright yellow turbines line the slopes of the Beijing Winter Olympics, spraying out the artificial snow needed for the Games to take place. Man-made snow has been used to varying degrees since the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York. But February’s Beijing Games will depend almost entirely on artificial […]