NAIROBI: Skywatchers along a narrow band from west Africa to the Arabian Peninsula, India and the Far East witnessed on Sunday (Jun 21) a dramatic “ring of fire” solar eclipse. So-called annular eclipses occur when the moon – passing between Earth and the sun – is not quite close enough […]
Blog
LA JONQUERA, Spain: Traffic flowed again across Spain’s border with France on Sunday (Jun 21) as the last of the strict Spanish coronavirus restrictions introduced in March were eased. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced earlier this month that Madrid would remove border checks with most of its EU member partner […]
LONDON: British Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak is ready to cut the value-added tax (VAT) as part of the government’s latest efforts to tackle economic fallout from the coronavirus outbreak, the Sunday Times newspaper reported. Sunak has ordered officials to prepare options for reducing the sales tax, including a […]
MOSCOW: Vladimir Putin is considering running for a new term as Russia’s president if voters approve constitutional changes that would enable him to do so, Russian news agencies quoted him as saying in an interview on Sunday (Jun 21). Russia will hold a nationwide vote from Jun 25 to Jul […]
MILAN: Italy reported 24 deaths from COVID-19 on Sunday (Jun 21), compared with 49 a day earlier, the Civil Protection Agency said, while the daily tally of new cases stood at 224 from 262 on Saturday. The country’s death toll since the outbreak came to light on Feb 21 now […]
WASHINGTON: White House trade adviser Peter Navarro on Sunday (Jun 21) said he was in the room with President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping when they met, but never heard the US president ask for China’s help in winning re-election. Navarro told CNN’s State of the Union program […]
VATICAN CITY: The drastic reduction in pollution during COVID-19 lockdowns around the world should lead to greater concern for the environment as restrictions are lifted, Pope Francis said on Sunday (Jun 21). At his Sunday address in St Peter’s Square, Francis said the pandemic made many people reflect on their […]
MINNEAPOLIS: One person died and 11 more were wounded in a shooting in the US city of Minneapolis, police said Sunday (Jun 21). Images streamed live to Facebook showed at least one person lying on the pavement as dozens gather around – some screaming for medical help. Other footage appeared […]
SINGAPORE: It’s only 4am in Kembangan but Ms Liyana Stuart is already up. She is on one of her early-morning walks, a ritual she has observed daily since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak. On these walks, Ms Liyana will buy coffee and sometimes groceries, and by 5am, she’s back […]
HONG KONG: Pro-democracy labour unions and a student group in Hong Kong failed to garner enough support to hold strikes against looming national security legislation imposed by Beijing, in a blow for the city’s protest movement. After a year of often-violent unrest, anti-government demonstrations have lost momentum due to higher […]