Kyiv: Ukraine’s army said Friday that it repelled an overnight drone attack on the country, including on the capital Kyiv, a day after Russia launched a barrage of missiles on the war-battered nation. “On the night of December 29-30, the enemy attacked Ukraine with Iranian-made kamikaze drones,” Ukraine’s air force said in a statement on … Read more
Japan on Friday started requiring COVID-19 tests for all passengers arriving from China as an emergency measure against surging infections there and as Japan faces rising case numbers and record-level deaths at home. Japan reported a record 420 new coronavirus deaths on Thursday, one day after reaching an earlier single-day record of 415 deaths, according … Read more
Paris: An explosion of Covid-19 cases in China as the country lifts its zero-Covid measures could create a “potential breeding ground” for new variants to emerge, health experts warn. China announced this week that incoming travellers would no longer have to quarantine from January 8, the latest major reversal of strict restrictions that have kept … Read more
Russian missiles struck Ukraine’s eastern city of Kharkiv, the capital Kyiv and western Lviv on Thursday, causing a series of explosions, mayors said. Kharkiv’s Ihor Terekhov said officials were clarifying what had been hit and whether there were any casualties. Kyiv’s Vitali Klitschko warned of possible power cuts there and asked residents to charge their … Read more
Beijing: Chinese reacted with joy and rushed to book flights overseas Tuesday after Beijing said it would scrap mandatory Covid quarantine for overseas arrivals, ending almost three years of self-imposed isolation. In a snap move late Monday, China said from January 8 inbound travellers would no longer be required to quarantine upon arrival, in a … Read more
A plan to extend compulsory military service in Taiwan to one year from the current four months will be announced on Tuesday, a senior government official said, as the island deals with rising Chinese military pressure. The office of Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said she will call a national security meeting on Tuesday morning to … Read more
China’s military sent 71 planes and seven ships toward Taiwan in a 24-hour display of force directed at the island, Taiwan’s defense ministry said Monday, after China expressed anger at Taiwan-related provisions in a US annual defense spending bill passed on Saturday. READ | China COVID: Residents paying price for not having exit plan for … Read more
Brasilia: Outgoing Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has pardoned security forces convicted of crimes committed more than 30 years ago, which legal experts say applies to agents found guilty of an infamous prison massacre in 1992. READ | Biden has nominated Indian-American lawyer diplomat for top diplomatic position in State Department The far-right leader’s decree, which … Read more
Washington: US President Joe Biden has nominated Indian-American lawyer diplomat Richard Verma, also a former US ambassador to India, to a top diplomatic position in the State Department, a move hailed by the Indian diaspora here as an “inspired choice”. The White House in a statement on Friday said that Joe Biden announced his intent … Read more
Billionaire Elon Musk is actively searching for a new Chief Executive Officer for Twitter after a clear majority of Twitter users voted for Musk to step down as the CEO in a poll conducted by him a few days ago. Since then, several internet users have shown interest in the microblogging platform’s top post. For … Read more
Washington: President Joe Biden delivered a Christmas address from the White House on Thursday, wishing an increasingly divided America a “fresh start” including a purge of “the poison that has infected our politics and set us against one another.” The Democrat leader has recently taken a more aggressive stance against opposition Republicans, but with Christmas … Read more
Hong Kong/Shanghai: At the public hospital in Shanghai where Nora, a 30-year-old doctor, works, tension has spiraled since China relaxed its stringent zero-COVID policy on Dec. 7. Patients quarrel with doctors to access drugs that are in short supply, like cough medicines and painkillers. Medics are overloaded; infected staff continue to work because of a … Read more
The cryptocurrency entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried can post $250 million (nearly Rs. 2, 070 crore) bond and live in his parents’ home in California while he awaits trial on charges that he swindled investors and looted customer deposits on his FTX trading platform, a judge said Thursday. Assistant US Attorney Nicolas Roos said in the US … Read more
NASA has formally retired its Mars InSight lander, the first robotic probe specially designed to study the deep interior of a distant world, four years after it arrived on the surface of the red planet, the US space agency announced on Wednesday. Mission controllers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) near Los Angeles determined the … Read more
Moscow: The Kremlin said Thursday that Washington and Kyiv were turning a deaf ear to Russia’s concerns following a historic visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the United States. READ | Ukraine’s President Zelensky to meet Joe Biden, address Congress in Washington President Zelensky enjoyed a hero’s welcome on a lightning trip to Washington … Read more