Twitter removed on Wednesday a post by Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari threatening punishment for regional secessionists blamed for attacks on government buildings. The social media firm said Buhari’s tweet, referring to the 1967-70 civil war in the southeastern Biafra region that killed 1 million people, violated its “abusive behaviour” policy …
Read More »Recession and violence among COVID side effects in Africa, report finds
Much of Africa may have been spared the death toll that COVID-19 brought to other regions, but it now faces recession, growing violence, and higher unemployment because of the pandemic, a report said on Wednesday. “The global economic shutdown has driven Africa into recession for the first time in 30 …
Read More »Turkish lira sinks to record low as Erdogan says interest rates must be cut
Turkey’s lira plunged to fresh record lows against the dollar after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said interest rates must be lowered in July or August. Erdoğan, who has sacked three central bank governors in less than three years, says that higher interest rates are inflationary, a view that jars with …
Read More »Lebanon’s economic crisis among world’s worst in more than 150 years: World Bank
The World Bank says Lebanon’s economic collapse is likely to rank among the world’s worst financial crises since the mid-19th century. According to a report published by the World Bank on Tuesday, the economic and financial crisis in Lebanon is likely to be among the top 10 or possibly the …
Read More »WHO gives authorization to Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine
The World Health Organization has issued an emergence use listing for the COVID-19 vaccine made by Sinovac in adults aged 18 and over, the second such authorization it has granted to a Chinese company. In a statement Tuesday, the UN health agency said data submitted to its experts showed that …
Read More »Carlo Ancelotti returns to Real Madrid for a second spell as coach
Carlo Ancelotti will return to Real Madrid as a coach for the next three seasons, the Spanish club said Tuesday following last week’s resignation of Zinedine Zidane. The 61-year-old Italian, who won the Champions League for Real Madrid during his first spell at the club between 2013 and 2015, will …
Read More »Iceland’s glaciers lose some 750 km2 in 20 years due to global warming
Iceland’s glaciers have lost around 750 square kilometers, or seven percent of their surface, since the turn of the millennium due to global warming, a study published on Monday showed. The glaciers, which cover more than 10 percent of the country’s landmass, shrank in 2019 to 10,400 square kilometers, the …
Read More »Tesla’s vehicle price increases due to supply chain pressure, Musk says
The price of Tesla vehicles is increasing due to supply chain pressures across the auto industry, particularly for raw materials, Elon Musk said on Monday in response to a tweet. “Prices increasing due to major supply chain price pressure industry-wide. Raw materials especially,” Musk said in a tweet. I really …
Read More »Brent hits $70, highest since March, on-demand prospects
Oil prices rose on Tuesday, with Brent topping $70 and trading at its highest since March, as optimism grew over the fuel demand outlook during the summer driving season of the United States, the world’s top oil consumer. Prices were also boosted after data from China showed that factory activity …
Read More »China reports first human case of H10N3 bird flu
A 41-year-old man in China’s eastern province of Jiangsu has been confirmed as the first human case of infection with the H10N3 strain of bird flu, China’s National Health Commission (NHC) said on Tuesday. The man, a resident of the city of Zhenjiang, was hospitalised on April 28 after developing …
Read More »Dhi Qar registers 4 new cases and two deaths from Black Fungus
A medical source reported that the two mucormycosis (Black Fungus) death had been registered in Dhi Qar southern Iraq. The source said that the disease was discovered by coincidence upon the death of the first patient. “The man’s initial death document stated that he died from a fungus in the …
Read More »Climate change responsible for about a third of heat deaths, study says
Heat-related deaths are a serious problem in a warming world Heat is a killer — and climate change is driving up its body count. On average, about 37 percent of heat deaths can be tied back to human-caused climate change, according to a new study in Nature Climate Change. The …
Read More »Covid: WHO renames UK and other variants with Greek letters
The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced a new naming system for variants of Covid-19. From now on the WHO will use Greek letters to refer to variants first detected in countries like the UK, South Africa, and India. The UK variant for instance is labelled as Alpha, the South …
Read More »Naomi Osaka Quits the French Open
The four-time Grand Slam tournament winner took a stand about mandatory appearances at news conferences. She wrote on Instagram that she had suffered from bouts of depression since 2018. Naomi Osaka dropped out of the French Open one day after officials threatened to expel her from the season’s second Grand …
Read More »Copa America: Brazil to host after Argentina, Colombia stripped
The 2021 Copa America will be hosted by Brazil after Argentina was stripped of the tournament just two weeks before it starts. The South American Football Confederation (Conmebol) said Argentina was removed as host because of the “present circumstances”. The country is currently experiencing a surge in Covid-19 cases. Later …
Read More »Ethereum extends gains to rise 8%; bitcoin firms
Cryptocurrency Ethereum extended gains to rise more than 8% on Monday to $2,587 but remained 40% below a record high of above $4,300 hit earlier this month. At 1153 GMT, it was trading up 7.4% at $2,565.69. Larger rival Bitcoin also gained in its wake with the world’s biggest and …
Read More »WHO agrees to study major reforms, meet again on pandemic treaty
The World Health Organization, battling to coordinate the global response to the coronavirus pandemic, agreed on Monday to study recommendations for ambitious reforms made by independent experts to strengthen the agency. Under the resolution put forward by the European Union, and adopted by consensus, member states are to be firmly …
Read More »Intel reiterates chip supply shortages could last several years
Intel Corp’s CEO said on Monday it could take several years for a global shortage of semiconductors to be resolved, a problem that has shuttered some auto production lines and is also being felt in other areas, including consumer electronics. Pat Gelsinger told a virtual session of the Computex trade …
Read More »China, in major policy shift, announces families can have three children
China announced on Monday that married couples may have up to three children, a major policy shift from the existing limit of two after recent data showed a dramatic decline in births in the world’s most populous country. The change was approved during a politburo meeting chaired by President Xi …
Read More »Japan considers asking Olympic fans for negative COVID tests, vaccinations
Japan is considering requiring fans attending the Tokyo Olympics to show negative COVID-19 test results or vaccination records, the Yomiuri newspaper reported on Monday, as a new poll showed public opposition to the Games remained strong. With the opening of the Games less than two months away, public confidence has …
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