Qatari driver Nasser al-Attiyah wins fourth Dakar Rally title By: APP on January 14, 2022Jeddah: Qatari driver Nasser al-Attiyah won the gruelling Dakar Rally for a fourth time after the race through the Saudi Arabian desert came to a climax on Friday. The 51-year-old — champion in 2011, 2015, 2019 — took the overall honours ahead of France’s nine-time world rally champion Sebastien Loeb. Earlier on Friday British motorbike […]
US approves new antibody treatment for arthritic cats By: AFP/APP on January 14, 2022Washington: Good news for senior felines hoping to get a spring back in their step. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Thursday approved its first treatment to control pain associated with osteoarthritis in cats, which is also the first monoclonal antibody drug approved for any animal species. These lab-grown proteins have grabbed headlines […]
Major UK retailers win Omicron boost over Christmas By: APP on January 14, 2022London: UK retailers Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Marks & Spencer posted this week strong Christmas sales data as Omicron boosted demand for at-home celebrations, but the sector nevertheless remains blighted by ongoing Covid uncertainty. The nation’s biggest retail giant Tesco on Thursday lifted its annual profit forecast after posting a 3.2-percent sales increase over the festive […]
China-built urban railway in Vietnam officially inaugurated By: APP on January 13, 2022Vietnamese authorities and the Chinese Embassy in Vietnam on Thursday held a ceremony to officially inaugurate the China-constructed Cat Linh-Ha Dong metro line project, the first one of the types completed in the Southeast Asian country. Over the past two months of commercial operation, the metro line transported some 15,000 passengers per day and has […]
Ten years on, survivors haunted by Italy cruise ship disaster By: APP on January 13, 2022Rome: On the evening of January 13, 2012, Umberto Trotti heard the terrified cries of his wife and baby in the lifeboat below, and threw himself off the capsizing Italian cruise ship. The Costa Concordia, a vast, luxury liner, had run aground off Italy’s Giglio island and was toppling over into freezing waters, in a […]
Italian government agrees new sport Covid protocol By: AFP on January 13, 2022The Italian government agreed on Wednesday on a new Covid-19 protocol for professional sport which means teams cannot play if over 35 percent of their squad has the virus. The protocol, seen by AFP, was agreed between the government and regional authorities after a wave of infections across Serie A and fragmented decision-making caused chaos […]
Syrian ex-colonel faces verdict in German torture trial By: APP on January 13, 2022Koblenz: A German court will hand down a landmark verdict Thursday on whether a former Syrian colonel is guilty of crimes against humanity as the first trial worldwide over state-sponsored torture in Syria comes to a close. Anwar Raslan, 58, faces life in jail if convicted of overseeing the murder of 58 people and the […]
Latin American economy to lose steam this year: UN By: APP on January 13, 2022Economic growth in Latin America and the Caribbean will slow sharply this year amid uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic, low investment, and inflationary pressures, a UN body said on Wednesday. The region’s gross domestic product (GDP) will grow by 2.1 percent in 2022, compared with 6.2 percent in 2021, the UN Economic Commission for […]
Nigeria government ends Twitter ban By: APP on January 13, 2022Abuja: Nigeria’s government on Wednesday said it had ended its suspension of Twitter, seven months after banning the social media giant in a dispute over a tweet by President Muhammadu Buhari. Nigeria halted Twitter operations in June after the company deleted a comment by Buhari, provoking an international outcry over freedom of expression. The government […]
In Cuba, 20-year sentence for filming protest By: APP on January 13, 2022Havana: Three members of the Beirut family spent Christmas behind bars in Cuba, locked away for taking part in unprecedented protests against a communist regime notoriously intolerant of dissent. They are among hundreds of people detained since July 11, when spontaneous street protests in 50 cities saw thousands of people clamoring for change, chanting “Freedom,” […]