US retail sales plunged a record 16% in April as coronavirus hiton May 15, 2020BALTIMORE: US retail sales tumbled by a record 16.4 percent from March to April as business shutdowns caused by the coronavirus kept shoppers away, threatened stores across the country and weighed down a sinking economy. The Commerce Department’s report Friday on retail purchases showed a sector that has collapsed so quickly that sales over the […]
Pompeo: Iran trying to ‘foment terror’ during pandemicon May 13, 2020JERUSALEM: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused Iran on Wednesday of using its resources to “foment terror” even as its people face the Middle East’s deadliest coronavirus outbreak. “Even during this pandemic the Iranians are using the ayatollah regime’s resources to foment terror across the world, even when the people of Iran are struggling […]
Taliban: We do not have missing US contractoron May 10, 2020ISLAMABAD: Taliban leaders searched their ranks, including in the much-feared Haqqani network, and on Sunday said they are not holding Mark R. Frerichs, a Navy veteran turned contractor who disappeared in Afghanistan in late January. “We don’t have any information about the missing American,” Sohail Shaheen, the Taliban’s political spokesman, said. A second Taliban official […]
5 killed, dozens wounds in Tripoli shelling: Libyan officialon May 8, 2020CAIRO: Artillery shelling by Libya’s eastern-based forces killed more than five civilians and wounded dozens in the capital, Tripoli, an official with the country’s UN-supported government said Thursday. It was the latest attack on Tripoli by the eastern forces’ commander Khalifa Haftar, who launched a push last year to capture the city. The fighting, which […]
Palestinians say Israel targeting prisoners’ bank accountson May 8, 2020RAMALLAH: Palestinian officials said Friday that Israel is forcing banks in the occupied West Bank to close accounts held by the families of prisoners in Israeli jails to prevent the Palestinian Authority from providing stipends to them. Israel has long objected to the Palestinian Authority’s payments to the families of prisoners and those killed in […]
Data shows coronavirus death risk twice as high for black Britonson May 7, 2020LONDON: Almost all ethnic minorities in Britain are at greater risk of dying with the coronavirus, and black men and black women are nearly twice as likely to die than white individuals, according to an analysis by the national statistics agency. The Office of National Statistics looked at the virus-related deaths in England and Wales […]
Poorer countries face big risks in easing virus restrictionson April 17, 2020BEIRUT: As some wealthier Western nations begin easing coronavirus restrictions, many developing countries, particularly in the Middle East and Africa, want to do it too, but they cannot afford the luxury of any missteps. They lack the key tools — a sturdy economy, well-equipped hospitals and large-scale testing — that are needed for finding their […]
Gunman shoots dead 6 Afghan workers outside main US baseon April 17, 2020KABUL: Afghanistan: An unknown gunman shot dead six local workers from the main American military base north of Afghanistan’s capital and wounded three others, an Afghan official said Friday. The nine workers, all Afghan nationals, were on their way home late Thursday when a gunman riding a motorcycle opened fire on them about 500 meters (about […]
Serbian man gets 3 years for not staying homeon March 27, 2020BELGRADE: A Serbian court has sentenced a man to three years in jail for flouting self-isolation orders. The state Serbian TV says the first such sentence in the Balkan country was handed out during a video linked court session in an eastern Serbian town. The TV says there are 112 people in detention in Serbia […]
First participant in US coronavirus vaccine trial to be given doseon March 16, 2020WASHINGTON: The first participant in a clinical trial for a vaccine to protect against the new coronavirus will receive an experimental dose on Monday, according to a government official. The National Institutes of Health is funding the trial, which is taking place at the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute in Seattle. The official who […]