Category: WORLD NEWS

PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi presented Lionel Messi in front of hysteric fans at the Parc des Princes.Having officially signed his contract with Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), Lionel Messi was presented by club president Nasser Al-Khelaifi to supporters at the Parc des Princes. The Ligue 1 outfit posted a short snippet of the moment on social media and it showed hysteric fans going wild in front of the former Barcelona captain. Messi also showed his new PSG jersey to the fans. Having won six Ballon d’Or awards, Messi will be joining former…

The crucial UN Security Council meeting on Afghanistan, held within the first week of India’s Presidency of the powerful global body, galvanised members to call for an end to the violence and hostilities, and helped reveal to the outside world the dire situation facing the war-torn country, India’s envoy here has said. India assumed the Presidency of the UN Security Council for the month on August 1 and wrapped up a hectic first week with discussions on Afghanistan on August 6 amidst a deteriorating security situation in the country as…

Despite a sluggish start, the European Union’s COVID-19 vaccination drive has caught up to that of the United States, where the slowdown of the country’s once-vaunted campaign has contributed to the virus’s deadly comeback. In mid-February, less than 4 per cent of people living in the 27-nation EU were at least partially vaccinated against the coronavirus, compared with nearly 12 per cent in the US, according to Our World in Data, an online science publication connected to the University of Oxford. Now the EU has surpassed the US by that…

Singapore’s Health Minister Ong Ye Kung has warned that more people will come down with COVID-19 as the trade and financial hub opens up its economy and moves towards treating the virus as an endemic. “Our companies cannot grow if businessmen and managers cannot travel overseas to meet clients and partners. MNCs (multinational corporations) will find it hard to invest here if their people are not able to travel in and out of Singapore,” the minister stressed. “And if this continues, our ability to create jobs, earn a living will…

Thousands of residents fled to safety from a wildfire that burned for a fourth day north of Athens early Friday, during an overnight battle to stop the flames reaching populated areas, electricity installations and historic sites. In heat wave conditions, the blaze tore through forest areas 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) north of the capital, destroying more homes. Ground crews of several hundred firefighters dug fire breaks and hosed the flames. Traffic was halted on the country’s main highway connecting Athens to northern Greece, as crews tried to use the road…

The USD1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package unveiled by the Senate includes more than USD150 billion to boost clean energy and promote climate resilience by making schools, ports and other structures better able to withstand extreme weather events such as storms and wildfires. But the bill, headed for a Senate vote this week, falls far short of President Joe Biden’s pledge to transform the nation’s heavily fossil-fuel powered economy into a clean-burning one and stop climate-damaging emissions from U.S. power plants by 2035. Notably, the deal omits mention of a Clean…

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio strongly urged even vaccinated people to start wearing masks indoors. Governor Andrew Cuomo said unvaccinated transit employees in the metropolitan area would undergo weekly virus testing. But both Democrats on Monday resisted calls to impose new mask or vaccination requirements to counter a rapidly climbing number of new COVID-19 infections. De Blasio explained that the city’s overwhelming strategic thrust remains getting more people vaccinated. Cuomo said he lacks the legal authority to impose such local mandates on his own. The Legislature would have…

Thousands turned out in Berlin to protest the German government’s anti-coronavirus measures despite a ban on the gatherings, leading to clashes with police and the detention of some 600 protesters. Local authorities had banned several different protests this weekend, including one from the Stuttgart-based Querdenker movement, but protesters in Berlin defied the ban. Berlin’s police department deployed more than 2,000 officers to try and disperse the protests on Sunday, but it said officers who sought to redirect protesters or disband larger groups were harassed and attacked”. They tried to break…

A referendum in Mexico on Sunday is going to cost Mexico about USD 25 million, few like the poorly written, yes-or-no question on the ballot, and the vote is being held in the middle of a third wave of the coronavirus pandemic. To top it off, critics say the referendum question is so obvious that it’s offensive to submit it to a vote. So why is Mexico holding a nationwide referendum on whether ex-presidents should be tried for any illegal acts they may have committed? Mexico has no formal amnesty…