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Landmark UN report harrowing catalogue of climate misery
BRISBANE: After decades of talking tough on global warming while greenhouse gas emissions rose, the world and its leaders were confronted yesterday by a horrifying "atlas of human suffering", and the promise of far worse to come. Nearly half the planet's population are highly vulnerable to a devastating array of climate impacts, according to a landmark UN report that said time had very nearly run out to ensure a "livable future" for all.Species...
LONDON: A 'Football Stands Together' message is displayed in Ukrainian colors ahead of the English League Cup final football match between Chelsea and Liverpool at Wembley Stadium on Sunday. - AFP
Russia facing World Cup exile after 'unacceptable' FIFA plan
PARIS: Russia's future in the World Cup teetered on a knife-edge yesterday after FIFA plans to allow them to play on neutral territory were dismissed as "unacceptable" by rivals, plunging the qualifying process for football's showpiece event into chaos. Governing body FIFA warned that they were considering the ultimate sanction against Russia as punishment for their bloody invasion of Ukraine.However, after three days of silence, they stopped...
Daniil Medvedev
Medvedev replaces Djokovic as No. 1
PARIS: Daniil Medvedev succeeded Novak Djokovic as world number one yesterday, becoming the first man since 2004 outside the game's "Big Four" of Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray to occupy the top spot. US Open champion Medvedev is the third Russian man after Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Marat Safin, and 27th player overall, to rise to the top of the ATP rankings.The 26-year-old Medvedev, beaten by Nadal in the Acapulco semifinals...
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India growth slows, govt cuts forecasts
NEW DELHI: India's growth rate slowed further in the last three months of 2021, the National Statistics Office said yesterday as it cut its forecast for the current financial year in the face of higher oil prices and geopolitical tensions. Asia's third-largest economy grew 5.4 percent year-on-year in the October to December period, NSO data showed. That was a slowdown from a record 20.1 percent and 8.4 percent in the two previous quarters as a...
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OPEC+ powerless as Ukraine conflict pushes up prices
LONDON: The OPEC+ cartel of top oil producers at their monthly meeting yesterday are likely to be powerless to rein in prices, which have soared above $100 after member Russia's invasion of Ukraine. With some members failing to meet their monthly production quotas, the group is not expected to be able to control the wild swings in oil prices, analysts say. "Only Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and maybe Kuwait would be able to increase production in...
MOSCOW: People walk past a currency exchange office in central Moscow yesterday with zeros on the scoreboard since there are no three-digit sections on it to display the current exchange rate. - AFP
Russia reels from sanctions as Putin calls West 'empire of lies'
MOSCOW/WASHINGTON:The ruble collapsed yesterday, Russians sought to withdraw their savings and a prominent tycoon urged an end to "state capitalism" in Russia as the country reeled from the effects of Western sanctions over the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine.The United States yesterday banned all US transactions with Russia's central bank effective immediately, the Treasury Department said as it unveiled an unprecedented sanction to further punish...
(From left) US actor Troy Kotsur, US actor Daniel Durant, English actress Emilia Jones, US actress Marlee Matlin and Mexican actor Eugenio Derbez pose with the award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture for “CODA” in the press room during the 28th Annual Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California.— AFP photos
Deaf drama 'CODA' wins top prize at SAG awards
"CODA," a heartfelt indie drama about a struggling deaf family, won the top prize at the Screen Actors Guild awards Sunday, boosting its hopes as a potential dark horse for next month's Oscars. Taking its title from an acronym for child of deaf adult, "CODA" follows high school teen Ruby as she juggles her musical ambitions with her family's dependence on her to communicate with the "hearing" world. "We deaf actors have come a long way," signed a...
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Boring to 'historic': The awakening of Germany's Scholz
FRANKFURT: Often described as predictable and "robotic", Chancellor Olaf Scholz has become emboldened since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, smashing policy taboos to steer Germany into "a new era" that could reshape its role on the world stage. Just a few weeks ago, German media were openly asking "where is Scholz?", slamming the Social Democrat's perceived lack of leadership on pressing issues like the coronavirus pandemic and worsening Ukraine...
TARPA, Hungary: University students, including many from Nigeria, fleeing from the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, stow their luggage as they get on their transport bus close to the Hungarian-Ukrainian border in the village of Tarpa in Hungary yesterday. - AFP
African governments seek to help nationals flee war in Ukraine
ABUJA, Nigeria: Nigeria, South Africa and other African governments scrambled yesterday to help their nationals escape the Russian invasion in Ukraine as reports emerged of racist and unfair treatment of their citizens at border crossings. African nationals, many of them students, are among hundreds of thousands of people trying to flee into Poland and other neighbors.Nigeria yesterday urged border officials in Ukraine and elsewhere to treat its...
DAMASCUS: Objects with images of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad and Russian President Vladimir Putin are displayed in a souvenir shop in the old quarter of the Syrian capital Damascus. - AFP
Russia's growing ties to Syria amid military backing
DAMASCUS: Russia, which invaded Ukraine last week, has honed its military know-how and sharpened its tactics after intervening over six years ago in Syria to shore up key ally President Bashar Al-Assad. The launch of Russia's military intervention in Syria marked a turning point in Assad's fortunes, and has enabled Moscow to deepen its military, economic and cultural ties with the regime.Since pro-democracy groups first sought Assad's ouster in...
AUCKLAND: Passengers and loved ones reunite at the arrivals hall on the first day of New Zealanders returning from Australia after the border reopened for travelers observing home self-isolation rules, at the Auckland international airport yesterday. — AFP
Hugs, tears as 'Fortress New Zealand' relaxes border
AUCKLAND: New Zealanders stranded overseas by the pandemic returned home to tears and hugs yesterday as the country began dismantling some of the world's toughest COVID-related border restrictions. At Auckland airport, relatives carrying signs such as "welcome home my dearest daughter" scooped up loved ones allowed into the country without mandatory hotel quarantine for the first time in almost two years.Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the...
MONROVIA:  A woman displays a bowl of Pangolin scales, ready to be sold on the outskirts of Bopolu.- AFP
On the front line in Liberia's fight to save the pangolin
GBARPOLU COUNTY: Clutching a single-barreled rifle in lush northern Liberia, Emmanuel says his 10 children were able to get an education thanks to his gun. The small wiry man, whose full name AFP is withholding, ignores a ban on hunting bushmeat and earns most of his cash catching pangolins or monkeys in the surrounding jungle. In the dry season, Emmanuel waits for dark and then hikes into the jungle with his rifle and machete.Pangolins,...