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Johnson calls end to COVID restrictions
LONDON: UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson yesterday said most restrictions deployed to fight the latest wave of the COVID pandemic in England would be lifted from next week. People will no longer have to wear masks in closed spaces, work from home and prove vaccination to enter public spaces such as nightclubs, Johnson told parliament."Because of the extraordinary booster campaign... we can return to Plan A in England and allow Plan B regulations...
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Fury over Hong Kong's mass cull of hamsters, small pets
Hong Kong's government faced outrage yesterday over its decision to cull thousands of small animals after hamsters in a pet store tested positive for COVID-19. Like China, Hong Kong maintains a "zero-COVID" policy, stamping out the merest trace of the virus with contact tracing, mass testing, strict quarantines and prolonged social-distancing rules. Their latest measures target hamsters and other small mammals - including chinchillas, rabbits and...
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Arabic oud icon seeks to 'change soul' of Iraq with music
Long uprooted from his native Iraq, Naseer Shamma, an icon of the Arabic oud, has returned home to help rekindle the flame of Iraqi music, snuffed out by decades of conflict. "When you are in your own country, you feel very high emotions with the audience," the master string player said in an interview with AFP. At nearly 60, the virtuoso who studied under late Iraqi oud legend Munir Bashir still appears in awe of his instrument, as well as those...
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12th century prayer room found under mosque in Iraq's Mosul
The foundations of a prayer hall from the 12th century have been discovered under the Al-Nuri mosque - where the Islamic State group once proclaimed their "caliphate" - in Iraq's Mosul, site managers said Tuesday. The mosque, which along with its iconic leaning minaret was severely damaged by IS during the battle to dislodge the jihadists from Mosul in 2017, has been undergoing reconstruction. The prayer room was found during excavation...
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92-year-old Malawian music legend finds fame on TikTok
At 92, Giddes Chalamanda has no idea what TikTok is. He doesn't even own a smartphone. And yet the Malawian music legend has become a social media star, with his song "Linny Hoo" garnering over 80 million views on the video-sharing platform and spawning mashups and remixes from South Africa to the Philippines. "They come and show me the videos on their phones, but I have no idea how it works," Chalamanda told AFP at his home on the edge of a...
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'Game changer' e-moped batteries spread from Taiwan across Asia
TAIPEI: Every day, Aiden Lee joins the hundreds of thousands of people getting around Taipei on two wheels. But when most of his fellow riders head to a petrol pump to refuel, he takes his e-motorbike to one of Taiwan's increasingly commonplace battery-swapping stations-tech its creators say could supercharge the shift from fossil fuels. "Honestly, if it weren't for battery swapping-which by the way is even faster than filling up at a petrol...
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Millionaires make unusual plea: 'Tax us now'
PARIS: More than 100 millionaires made an unusual plea yesterday: "Tax us now". Their appeal came as a study backed by wealthy individuals and nonprofits found that a wealth tax on the world's richest people could raise $2.52 trillion per year-enough to pay for COVID vaccines for everyone and pull 2.3 billion people out of poverty.In an open letter to the World Economic Forum's online Davos meeting, 102 millionaires, including Disney heiress...
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Pakistan's economic woes put PM Khan's future in doubt
KARACHI: Housewife Maira Tayyab has considered begging for money to feed her family in inflation-hit Pakistan, while shop owner Mohammad Hanif finds his thoughts turning to crime. They're too proud and honest to act on the impulse, but their woes are shared by millions of Pakistanis whose disgruntlement threatens Prime Minister Imran Khan's chances of re-election next year."We cannot beg as we are white-collar people," Tayyab, 40, told AFP in...
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World Cup tickets sold at low prices
DOHA: Qatar World Cup ticket sales were launched at reduced prices yesterday, with residents and migrant workers able to attend games for just $11 as concerns persist over COVID-19. Authorities have not yet announced how many fans will be allowed into stadiums for the first World Cup in an Arab country, which runs from Nov 21 until Dec 18.Football's world governing body FIFA opened a draw which offers individual match tickets for as little as $69...
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Palestinian home razed in Jerusalem
JERUSALEM: Zionist police demolished the home of a Palestinian family and arrested at least 18 people as they carried out a controversial eviction order in the sensitive east Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah early yesterday. The looming eviction of other families from Sheikh Jarrah in May last year partly fueled an 11-day war between the Zionist entity and armed Palestinian factions in Gaza.Before dawn, Zionist officers went to the home of...
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One year on, verdict on Biden's Divided States of America
WASHINGTON: When Joe Biden became president, he inherited an America divided in almost every conceivable way, promising to be a force for unity and reconciliation. One year after his inauguration, the country is taking stock of his success and failures.'Big, hopeful moment' "I think Biden entered office and it was a big, hopeful moment," recalls Raphy Jacobson, an 18-year-old New Yorker who has run several campaigns for candidates on the left....
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'We are homeless': Victims of Afghan quakes await aid
QADIS, Afghanistan: Survivors of twin earthquakes in Afghanistan were waiting yesterday for aid to arrive after spending their second night exposed to sub-zero temperatures following tremors that killed at least 22 people and wrecked homes. Rescuers continued to comb through debris in search of survivors from Monday's quakes, which jolted Qadis district in the western province of Badghis, damaging hundreds of buildings.The United States...
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Crackdown on visa violators
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Kuwait expands ‘open door’ policy to virtual domain
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HATHRAS, India: Policemen carry a person who died in a melee during a sermon in Uttar Pradesh state on July 2, 2024. - AFP
Stampede at India religious event kills 116
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Minister of Municipal Affairs Dr Noura Al-Mashaan and Head of the Municipal Council Abdullah Al-Mahari inspect the Darwazat Abdulrazzaq project. – KUNA photos
Darwaza Abdulrazzaq project set to reopen
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Interior cracks down on residency violators