Global economic growth projections from the International Monetary Fund will likely be downgraded due to the emergence of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Friday. “A new variant that may spread very rapidly can dent confidence, and in that sense, we are likely to see some downgrades of our October projections for global…
View More IMF’S KRISTALINA GEORGIEVA: OMICRON VARIANT LIKELY TO USHER GROWTH DOWNGRADES
Washington: US President Joe Biden said Friday he would make it “very, very difficult” for Russia to launch any invasion of Ukraine, which warned that a large-scale attack may be planned for next month. Washington and Kiev say Moscow has massed troops near Ukraine’s borders and accuse Russia of planning an invasion. Biden and President Vladimir Putin are due to hold a…
View More WILL MAKE ANY RUSSIAN INVASION OF UKRAINE “VERY, VERY DIFFICULT”: SAYS BIDEN
The United States had administered 468,516,782 doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the country as of Saturday morning and distributed 581,107,805 doses, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Those figures are up from the 466,348,132 vaccine doses the CDC said had gone into arms by Dec. 3 out of 580,893,145 doses delivered. The agency said 235,297,964 people had…
View More U.S. ADMINISTERS 468.5 MILLION DOSES OF COVID-19 VACCINES- CDC
The United States, United Kingdom, European Union and Canada have imposed sanctions on Belarus, accusing the government of President Alexander Lukashenko of human rights violations and “orchestrating” irregular migration at the EU’s border. The two North American countries, Britain and the European bloc announced the sanctions in a joint statement on Thursday, saying they were targeting “certain individuals and entities”.…
View More US, EU, UK AND CANADA ANNOUNCE NEW SANCTIONS ON BELARUS
Indirect US-Iranian talks on saving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal broke off until next week as European officials voiced dismay on Friday at sweeping demands by Iran’s new, hardline government. The seventh round of talks in Vienna is the first with delegates sent by Iran’s anti-Western President Ebrahim Raisi on how to resuscitate the agreement under which Iran limited its…
View More IRAN NUCLEAR TALKS BREAK, US & EUROPE DISMAYED BY IRANIAN STANCE
Apple Inc iPhones of at least nine U.S. State Department employees were hacked by an unknown assailant using sophisticated spyware developed by the Israel-based NSO Group, according to four people familiar with the matter. The hacks, which took place in the last several months, hit U.S. officials either based in Uganda or focused on matters concerning the East African country,…
View More U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT APPLE IPHONE HACKED WITH ISRAELI COMPANY SPYWARE – SOURCES
The new coronavirus variant — B.1.1.529 — is rapidly spreading in southern Africa.It prompted the European Commission to recommend a flight ban from the region.European Union member states have agreed to ban flights from southern African countries, citing the new coronavirus variant rapidly spreading there, Associated Press journalist Zeke Miller reported on Twitter. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen…
View More EU member states agree to ban flights from southern Africa over new coronavirus variant ‘Omicron’ rapidly spreading there
Britain, Germany and Italy detected cases of the new Omicron coronavirus variant on Saturday and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced new steps to contain the virus, while more nations imposed restrictions on travel from southern Africa. The discovery of the variant has sparked global concern, a wave of travel bans or curbs and a sell-off on financial markets on…
View More UK, Germany and Italy detect New Omicron Covid-19 Variant Cases
Dutch health authorities said on Sunday they had discovered at least 13 cases of the new Omicron strain among passengers on two flights from South Africa. The infections were found after 61 out of 600 travellers on the two KLM planes tested positive for Covid-19 on arrival at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport on Friday. It was “not unthinkable”that there were further…
View More 13 Air passengers in Netherlands found infected with new Covid-19 variant Omicron
The British government on Saturday confirmed the existence of two cases of the Omicron variant in the country. UK had banned flights to South Africa after authorities revealed they had discovered the B.1.1.529 variant which reportedly has several mutations. According to UK health secretary Sajid Javid, the two people who were detected with the new virus variant have been self-isolating.…
View More After Belgium, UK reports two Omicron variant cases