RIYADH: This year’s Haj, which has been scaled back dramatically to include only about 1,000 Muslim pilgrims as Saudi Arabia battles a coronavirus surge, will begin on Jul 29, authorities said on Monday (Jul 20). About 2.5 million people from all over the world usually participate in the ritual that […]
PARIS: Climate change is starving polar bears into extinction, according to research published on Monday (Jul 20) that predicts the apex carnivores could all but disappear within the span of a human lifetime. In some regions they are already caught in a vicious downward spiral, with shrinking sea ice cutting […]
FILE PHOTO: European Union flags fly outside the European Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, March 6, 2019. BRUSSELS: European Union leaders appeared close to agreement on a massive stimulus plan for their coronavirus-blighted economies late on Monday (Jul 20) after the chairman of their fractious four-day summit presented a […]
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump expressed a willingness on Tuesday (Jul 21) to work with China or other countries to bring a successful coronavirus vaccine to the United States, despite rising tensions between Beijing and Washington. “We’re willing to work with anybody that is going to get us a good […]
RIO DE JANEIRO: Brazil’s coronavirus death toll surpassed 80,000 on Monday (Jul 20), according to health ministry figures, as the country hit second-hardest in the world continued struggling to control the pandemic. The figure, second only to the death toll in the United States, quadrupled in two months. Brazil passed […]
BRIGHTON: Brighton and Hove Albion made sure of avoiding relegation from the Premier League after a 0-0 home draw with Newcastle United on Monday (Jul 20) sent them clear of the drop zone with one game remaining. Brighton have 38 points from 37 games, seven more than 18th-placed Aston Villa […]
BRASILIA: Two more Brazilian government ministers said on Monday (Jul 20) they had tested positive for the novel coronavirus, underscoring a struggle to limit the world’s second-worst outbreak even among the political elite. Citizenship Minister Onyx Lorenzoni and newly appointed Education Minister Milton Ribeiro both announced their diagnoses and new […]
GENEVA: South Africa’s growing COVID-19 epidemic should be an alert to the rest of the continent to strengthen disease surveillance, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday (Jul 20). South Africa reported a surge of 13,373 new cases on Saturday, the fourth largest globally. Botswana, Kenya, Namibia, Zambia and […]
WASHINGTON: Advisers to President Donald Trump and top congressional Democrats were set to discuss the next steps in responding to the coronavirus crisis on Tuesday (Jul 21), with congressional Republicans saying they were working on a US$1 trillion relief bill. In a meeting on Monday at the White House, Republican […]
CHICAGO: Southwest Airlines told employees on Monday (Jul 20) that 16,895 of its roughly 60,900 workforce have volunteered for long-term separation or early retirement deals, according to a message from Chief Executive Gary Kelly that was shared with Reuters. US airlines, which received a US$25 billion bailout in March to […]