Speaking on the Greek island of Lesbos, Pope Francis called the neglect of migrants the “shipwreck of civilisation”. The Pope first visited Lesbos in 2016, when it was a major entry point for people trying to reach Europe. Since then, new flashpoints have emerged and the Pope expressed regret that little had changed. Last month 27 people died when their…
View More Pope condemns Europe’s mistreatment of migrants and efforts to ‘cancel Christmas’
US President Joe Biden and Russia’s Vladimir Putin will speak via video call on Tuesday, the White House says, amid mounting tensions over Ukraine. It comes after Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US had evidence that Russia had made plans for a “large scale” attack on Ukraine. But he added it was unclear if Mr Putin had made…
View More BIDEN & PUTIN TO HOLD TALKS AMID UKRAINE INVASION FEARS
Six more U.S. states confirmed infections of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 on Friday but the Delta strain likely remains a greater threat as winter sets in and Americans gather for the holidays, experts said. New Jersey, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, Pennsylvania and Utah each reported their first cases of the Omicron variant on Friday. Missouri was awaiting CDC confirmation of…
View More SIX MORE AMERICAN STATES FIND OMICRON CASES: DELTA STILL TOP U.S. CORONAVIRUS THREAT
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