SYDNEY: Australia’s most populous state today relaxed coronavirus restrictions for Christmas following a second straight day of low case numbers, though parts of Sydney’s northern seaside suburbs remain under lockdown. New South Wales (NSW), of which Sydney is the capital, reported eight locally acquired cases on Wednesday, unchanged from Tuesday […]
Month: December 2020
JERUSALEM: Israel will hold a snap election in March after parliament failed yesterday to meet a deadline to pass a budget, triggering a ballot presenting new challenges for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Campaigning in Israel’s fourth parliamentary election in two years gets underway with Netanyahu facing public anger over his […]
US President-elect Joe Biden speaks about the recent massive cyber attack against the US and also other Biden administration goals in Wilmington, Delaware December 22, 2020. WILMINGTON: President-elect Joe Biden said yesterday he had seen no evidence that a massive cyber attack against the United States is under control […]
PARIS: People who fail to get a Covid-19 vaccination could be banned from using public transport in France, according to a draft law sparking angry protests from opposition politicians today. Prime Minister Jean Castex yesterday got his Cabinet’s backing for a bill that is designed to provide a legal framework […]
BANGKOK: A coronavirus outbreak linked to a seafood market in Thailand surpassed 1,000 cases today, as authorities weighed whether to introduce a wider lockdown. Thailand has been on tenterhooks since Thursday following the positive virus test of a 67-year-old prawn seller from Mahachai market, Samut Sakhon province, about 40 minutes […]
LONDON: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will travel to India next month in his first major bilateral visit to another country since taking power last year, his office said today. During the trip, Johnson will invite India to join next year’s G7 summit, which Britain is hosting, as one of […]
WASHINGTON: Covid and a traumatic presidential election left the US reeling in 2020, but even with Donald Trump gone and Joe Biden promising to heal the nation there’ll be no quick return to normal in 2021. For many in the world’s richest country, 2020 was the year that seemed never-ending […]
WASHINGTON: The United States set a grim double record yesterday notching more than 3,700 deaths and more than 250,000 new Covid-19 cases in 24 hours, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University. The country has seen a spectacular spike in Covid infections for more than a month now, with some […]
SEOUL: South Korea reported a record number of coronavirus deaths today as the country’s largest wave of infections strains hospitals and contact tracers. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported that there had been 22 additional deaths as of midnight yesterday, sharply up from a previous high of […]
SINGAPORE: The World Health Organization said today that China had welcomed an international team of investigators into Covid-19 expected to travel to the country in early January. Babatunde Olowokure, the WHO’s regional emergencies director in the Western Pacific, told a news conference that the organisation was in talks with Beijing […]