Germany extends lockdown to Feb. 14 on fears of Covid variants
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and state premiers agreed on Tuesday to extend a lockdown for most shops and schools until Feb. 14 as part of a package of steps to try ...
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Turkey slaps ad ban on Twitter under new social media law
Ankara has imposed advertising bans on Twitter, Periscope and Pinterest after they failed to appoint local representatives in Turkey under a new social media law, according to decisions published on ...
King toppled from throne by gender-neutral card deck
Indy Mellink, a Dutch card fan, was explaining a game to her cousins last summer when she asked herself: why should a king be worth more than a queen?
The 23...
Russia’s second vaccine ‘100% effective’, watchdog tells media
A candidate COVID-19 vaccine known as EpiVacCorona, Russia’s second to be registered, proved “100% effective” in early-stage trials, Russian consumer health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor has told local media.
The data, based ...
Pant smashes India to series win for the ages in Brisbane
Rishabh Pant unleashed a Twenty20-style batting assault to blast India to an incredible three-wicket win in the fourth test decider on Tuesday as Ajinkya Rahane’s injury-ravaged tourists humbled ...
Bautista Agut says hotel quarantine like jail with Wifi
Roberto Bautista Agut has slammed the Victoria state government’s quarantine requirements for tennis players ahead of next month’s Australian Open and said being locked down in a hotel ...
Swiss gov’t urges voters to reject burqa ban in March referendum
The Swiss government recommended on Tuesday that voters reject a proposal in a planned March 7 referendum to ban full facial coverings such as burqas and niqabs worn by some Muslim ...
Germany set to tighten work-from-home rules amid fears of Covid variants
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is likely to agree with regional leaders on Tuesday stricter requirements for working from home among other measures as they try to rein in the coronavirus, ...
British firms call for immediate $10.3bn in Covid-19 aid
British firms called on Tuesday for another £7.6 billion ($10.3 billion) of emergency government help, saying they cannot wait until finance minister Rishi Sunak’s March budget to learn if they will ...
Purge continues in Turkey as 238 detained over Gulen links
Turkey has ordered the arrest of 238 people in an operation targeting suspects in the military allegedly linked to a Muslim preacher who Ankara says was behind a 2016 failed coup, state-owned ...
Argentina quake of magnitude 6.8 shakes homes, buildings; no injuries report
An earthquake of magnitude 6.8 struck west-central Argentina late on Monday, followed by at least five aftershocks that shook buildings and sent products tumbling off supermarket shelves, but there were no ...
Turkey imposes advertising ban on ‘digital fascists’
Photo shows Turkey’s Deputy Transport and Infrastructure Minister Omer Fatih Sayan
“We will never allow digital fascism and anarchism to dominate in Turkey,” the country’s Deputy Transport and ...
LNG price rockets as spot market supplies dwindle
Global energy majors including Royal Dutch Shell and Total are expected to benefit most from January’s gas price spike, beating rival trading houses and non-integrated producers thanks to their ...
Aubameyang double gives Arsenal win over Newcastle
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang struck twice as Arsenal defeated Newcastle United 3-0 in the Premier League on Monday, condemning Steve Bruce’s side to a ninth game without a win in all ...
Guatemala ups pressure on US-bound migrant caravan, clears road
Guatemalan security forces on Monday cleared a road of hundreds of people in a mostly Honduran migrant caravan that had camped out overnight when authorities barred it from advancing toward ...
Disneyland Paris delays reopening to April 2 due to Covid
Disneyland Paris said on Monday it was postponing its reopening by almost two months, to April 2, due to the resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Due to the prevailing conditions in ...
US plans to sanction Russian vessel involved in Nord Stream 2
The United States has informed European allies about plans to sanction Russian vessel “Fortuna”, which is involved in construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany, German ...
Scientists see new evidence S.African variant binds more readily
Scientists have new biological evidence that the so-called South African coronavirus variant binds more readily and strongly to human cells, making it more infectious, top local epidemiologist Salim Abdool Karim ...
US and China clash at WHO over scientific mission in Wuhan
The United States called on China on Monday to allow an expert team from the World Health Organization (WHO) to interview “care givers, former patients and lab workers” in the ...
Spain’s elderly get second Covid-19 shot
Spain has begun administering second shots of the coronavirus vaccine to elderly nursing home residents, while a court in Seville ruled on Monday that a home could inoculate an incapacitated ...
Woman with links to deposed cardinal to go on trial, Vatican says
The embezzlement trial of a woman with links to deposed Cardinal Angelo Becciu will start soon, Vatican judicial officials said on Monday, but it was not yet clear if the ...
UAE, Israel postpone visa exemption deal over Covid-19 worries
The United Arab Emirates has postponed the implementation of a visa-exemption agreement with Israel after Israel required anyone entering from the Gulf state to be quarantined as a COVID-19 precaution, ...
Joy and caution as Greek shops re-open amid strict safety limits
Shops in Greece reopened for the first time in two months on Monday as the government took its first steps towards easing coronavirus restrictions, in a bid to breathe life ...
The global scramble for shots has intensified, world’s poorest and most vulnerable at risk
The head of the World Health Organization said on Monday that the world was on the brink of a “catastrophic moral failure” on distributing COVID-19 vaccines, urging countries and manufacturers ...