News Archives for World - 2021-05-03

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World - 2021-05-03

Europe

Russian military in Armenia reinforce areas near Azeri border

Azerbaijan and ethnic Armenian forces fought a six-week war over Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding areas last year until the conflict was halted by a Russia-brokered deal in November, locking in territorial gains for Azerbaijan and establishing presence of Russian peacekeepers in the conflict zone.
"Two strongholds of the 102nd Russian military base were established in the Syunik region," the Interfax news agency cited Pashinyan as saying in an address to the Armenian parliament.

Updated 03 May, 2021 08:44pm

Europe

UK on course to ditch social distancing rule in June - PM Johnson

Johnson's government has set out a roadmap to end lockdown restrictions in stages as widespread vaccinations help to suppress infections.
Asked about that possibility during a campaign visit in northern England, Johnson said: "I think we've got a good chance, a good chance, of being able to dispense with one-metre plus."

Published 03 May, 2021 07:56pm

USA

Facebook oversight board to announce decision on Trump ban on May 5

Facebook blocked Trump's access to his Facebook and Instagram accounts over concerns of further violent unrest following the Jan. 6 storming of the US Capitol by his supporters. It later handed the case to the oversight board.
The board, created by Facebook in response to criticism over its handling of problematic content, in mid-April said it had extended the public comment period on the case.

Published 03 May, 2021 07:45pm

Europe

EU aims to open up to more foreign tourists this summer despite COVID-19

European Commission hopes to boost summer tourism.
COVID-19 pandemic has hit tourism badly in EU.
New proposals would ease restrictions on entering EU.

Updated 03 May, 2021 07:38pm

USA

Brazil manufacturing PMI falls to 10-month low in April

The headline PMI fell to 52.3 in April from 52.8 in March, the lowest since last June.
A reading above 50.0 marks expansion, while a reading below signifies contraction. The series was launched in 2006.

Published 03 May, 2021 06:47pm

Europe

EU drug agency starts Covid jab evaluation for 12 to 15-year olds

Its possible authorisation for children is seen as a crucial step towards achieving herd immunity.
This included results from a large ongoing clinical study involving adolescents from 12 years of age, the Amsterdam-based agency said.

Published 03 May, 2021 06:42pm

South Asia

Philippines' Duterte gets Chinese-made Covid-19 vaccine

Officials said Duterte was given the vaccine made by China's Sinopharm -- the same one secretly administered to members of his security team last year before any shot had been given regulatory approval.
"He was vaccinated not only to protect his health from Covid-19 but also to encourage our citizens to get vaccinated," Senator Christopher "Bong" Go posted.

Published 03 May, 2021 06:41pm

Europe

GSP Plus status: Government decides to address EU concerns over minorities, freedom of expression

Prime Minister Imran Khan chaired a meeting of his senior cabinet members and close aides on Monday, to discuss the resolution passed by the European Parliament, which called for a review of their trade relations with Pakistan.
The European Parliament's resolution is linked with Pakistan's controversial blasphemy laws, and could potentially end Pakistan's eligibility for the Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) trading status.

Updated 03 May, 2021 10:07pm

South Asia

Indonesia records two cases of Indian COVID-19 variant in Jakarta

"There were two new mutations that entered. One from India, with two incidents in Jakarta and one from South Africa in Bali," Budi told a virtual conference. Another official confirmed the two cases were the B.1.617 variant, first detected in India.

Published 03 May, 2021 06:04pm

Middle East

Lebanon's central bank governor faces new corruption allegations in France

Legal complaint filed in France on Friday.
Lebanese central bank governor denies allegations.
Lebanese banking system at heart of financial crisis.

Published 03 May, 2021 05:31pm

South Asia

Thailand reports new daily record of 31 coronavirus deaths

The ministry recorded 2,041 new COVID-19 cases, taking the country's total number to 71,025 since the pandemic began last year. The total number of fatalities now stands at 276.
"It's horrible this time round," said 39-year-old bus driver Chaowan Tessana, adding his work days had been halved from 15 days per month to six or seven.

Published 03 May, 2021 05:29pm

Africa

Congo declares end of Ebola outbreak that killed six

The outbreak was contained using Merck's Ebola vaccine, which was given to more than 1,600 of the patients' contacts and contacts of contacts, the aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), said.
The latest flare-up emerged on Feb. 3 in the city of Butembo with the death of a woman whose husband had contracted the virus in the previous outbreak.

Published 03 May, 2021 05:26pm

Europe

Prospects fading, Turkey hopes lockdown rescues tourism season

Early-season COVID-19 rise hit early bookings.
Lockdown through mid-May in part to rescue season.
Russia, top source of visitors, may extend flights ban.
Tourism minister: still possible to double 2020 arrivals.

Published 03 May, 2021 05:11pm

Europe

EU summons Russian envoy over travel bans on Brussels officials

"The Russian ambassador has been summoned, he should be received in the afternoon by the secretary general of the European Commission and of the European External Action Service, where we will convey him strong condemnation and objection," an EU spokesman told a news briefing.

Published 03 May, 2021 05:06pm

Covax signs deal for 500 mn Moderna Covid vaccine doses

Covax is co-led by WHO, the Gavi vaccine alliance and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations.

Published 03 May, 2021 05:01pm

South Asia

Myanmar rebels claim military helicopter downing

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and seized power on February 1.

Published 03 May, 2021 04:07pm

Middle East

Syria's Assad to face two 'rivals' in May vote

The court's president said that Abdallah Salloum Abdallah, a state minister from 2016 to 2020, had been approved to run for president.

Published 03 May, 2021 04:05pm

South Asia

Hong Kong ends longest recession in decades

Hong Kong was one of the few places in the world unlucky enough to enter the coronavirus pandemic already mired in a deep recession.

Published 03 May, 2021 04:03pm

Europe

EU eyes letting fully vaccinated travellers into bloc

The EU currently has four vaccines currently authorised by its European Medicines Agency: from BioNTech/Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson.

Published 03 May, 2021 04:01pm

Middle East

Iran denies US prisoner swap reports

A senior White House official had also denied the report on Sunday.

Published 03 May, 2021 03:59pm

South Asia

India nears 20mn Covid cases as Europe eyes opening up

Scores died over the weekend in hospitals hit by shortages that have forced clinics in the capital New Delhi to send urgent appeals for help on social media.

Published 03 May, 2021 03:54pm

Europe

Coronavirus toll at 1000 GMT Monday

At least 152,737,970 cases of coronavirus have been registered.

Published 03 May, 2021 03:54pm

Russia reports 8,489 new COVID-19 cases, 336 deaths

The Russian coronavirus crisis centre said 336 more deaths of coronavirus patients had been confirmed in the last 24 hours, taking the official death toll to 111,198.

Published 03 May, 2021 01:47pm

China has given 275.34mn doses of COVID-19 vaccines as of May 2

That compares with 270.41 million doses given as of Saturday, up around 4.93 million doses.

Published 03 May, 2021 01:46pm

South Korea eyes mid-May arrival of coronavirus vaccines as stocks run down

This is because available stocks amount to just 529,000 doses of Pfizer's vaccine and 381,000 doses of the AstraZeneca product, an agency official told Reuters.

Published 03 May, 2021 01:42pm

German police busts the biggest darknet child porn network with 400,000 members

A spokesperson of the German police told AFP that the platform, named "Boystown", had been operating since 2019.
“This was one of the biggest child pornography platforms in the world with over 400,000 members,” the spokesperson said.

Published 03 May, 2021 01:38pm

MENA

Iranian Supreme Leader calls remarks by Zarif in controversial audio leak as "a big mistake"

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called remarks by the country's foreign minister as a "big mistake", a week after audio emerged of the minister criticised the military's influence on diplomacy.
President Rouhani, who is approaching the end of his second and final term, stated that the audio leak was timed to sow discord in Iran, just as the Vienna talks were "at the height of their success".

Updated 03 May, 2021 01:55pm

India's COVID-19 cases near 20 million, peak seen nearing

With 368,147 new cases over the past 24 hours, India's total infections stand at 19.93 million, while total fatalities rose by 3,417 to 218,959, according to health ministry data.

Published 03 May, 2021 11:55am

Pfizer in talks with India over expedited approval for COVID-19 vaccine

"Unfortunately, our vaccine is not registered in India although our application was submitted months ago," he said.

Published 03 May, 2021 11:54am

Taiwan bars arrivals from India amid coronavirus crisis

India's tally of infections stood just shy of 20 million on Monday, after it reported more than 300,000 new coronavirus cases for a 12th straight day.

Published 03 May, 2021 11:50am

Hope, division as Scots vote on independence referendum plan

But parties that want to stay in the UK fear another vote would hurt post-pandemic recovery.

Published 03 May, 2021 11:47am

Leftist Castillo polling ahead of Fujimori for Peru presidency

Fujimori, who leads the Popular Force, came second in the April 11 vote, which had a record 18 candidates, with 13.4 percent.

Published 03 May, 2021 11:44am

25 killed in boat accident in Bangladesh: police

We have rescued five people and retrieved 25 bodies," local police chief Miraz Hossain told AFP.

Published 03 May, 2021 11:41am

Blinken in UK as G7 foreign ministers resume in-person talks

Like Russia, China also stands accused by Western intelligence of unleashing trolls on social media, and of using foreign-language arms of its state media to channel an aggressive line on issues such as the plight of Uyghurs in Xinjiang.

Published 03 May, 2021 11:37am

Ardern says New Zealand not dodging differences with China

"This is a challenge that we, and many other countries across the Indo-Pacific region, but also in Europe and other regions, are also grappling with."

Published 03 May, 2021 11:35am

US top diplomat: China acting more 'repressively, aggressively'

Blinken said China is "the one country in the world that has the military, economic, diplomatic capacity to undermine or challenge the rules-based order that we care so much about and are determined to defend.

Published 03 May, 2021 11:32am

3 dead after smuggling boat capsizes off California

US Customs and Border Protection said Friday it was stepping up patrols off the San Diego coast over the weekend to disrupt migrant smuggling runs.

Published 03 May, 2021 11:29am

Algerian president seeks to calm social anger

But he said only 19 parties out of the 39 that had submitted their documents "meet the legal requirements".

Published 03 May, 2021 11:06am

Niger army killed 24 'suspected terrorists': government

On March 15, suspected jihadists killed 66 people when they attacked a bus carrying shoppers from the Banibangou, and then raided the village of Darey-Daye.

Published 03 May, 2021 11:01am

South Asia

Large fuel truck fire in Kabul kills seven

KABUL: Gasoline tanker trucks burst into flames in Kabul overnight, killing at least seven people and starting large...