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MOSCOW: A man walks past the Moscow's stock market building in downtown Moscow. - AFPnn

Moscow stocks crash crushes financial dreams of Russians

MOSCOW: The Moscow stock exchange ended 2021 in fine form: a record number of companies were listing their shares, foreign money was flowing in and ordinary Russians were keen on investing. Everything changed after Moscow sent troops into Ukraine on February 24. The market crashed as indices tumbled 30 percent and was closed the next day, putting it under a dark cloud and leaving investors out in the cold. It is due to reopen on Monday even as...

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Collateral Damage: On Cybersecurity

By Eugene KasperskyIn the last three weeks, the war in Ukraine has shattered the world we knew. Families, relations, partnerships, and ties were affected dramatically in Ukraine, Russia, Europe and the entire world. The avalanche of these tragic events catches us all.It has also caught my company, the world's largest private cybersecurity business that proudly bears my name. This week the German Federal Office of Information Security (BSI) issued...

WASHINGTON: The Marriner S Eccles Federal Reserve Board building is seen in Washington, DC, Wednesday.-AFPnnn

US Fed raises interest rate in battle against high inflation

WASHINGTON: The Federal Reserve escalated its battle against the wave of price increases battering the US economy, raising the benchmark interest rate on Wednesday even as it acknowledged the risks posed by the war in Ukraine. At the conclusion of its two-day meeting, the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) announced a quarter-point rate hike, the first since 2018 and since it cut the rate to zero at the start of the COVID-19...

COLOMBO: A man watches Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa address the nation on his mobile phone along a street in Colombo on Wednesday.-AFPn

Cash-strapped Sri Lanka seeks IMF bailout

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka will seek an International Monetary Fund bailout, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said on Wednesday, to battle record inflation and unprecedented food and fuel shortages as the country runs out of dollars to finance imports. The South Asia nation is in the throes of its worst economic crisis since independence from Britain in 1948 with long queues forming outside gas stations and rolling daily blackouts imposed across the...

BEIJING: Police in protective gear cordon off an alley after new confirmed cases of COVID-19 were detected in an area of Beijing yesterday. – AFPn

China's Xi says country will 'stick with' its zero-COVID strategy

BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping said the country would "stick with" its zero-COVID strategy, state TV reported yesterday, as the world's most populous nation battles its largest outbreak since the early days of the pandemic. "We must always continue to put people and life at the forefront, stick to scientific accuracy and dynamic-zero, and curb the spread of the epidemic as soon as possible," Xi said, according to state broadcaster...

TOKYO: Schoolgirls are pictured after classes in Tokyo. Every school has its rules, but tough regulations at some Japanese institutions, mandating everything from black hair to white shoelaces, are facing increasing criticism and even legal action. – AFPn

Black hair, white shoelaces: Japan school rules under fire

TOKYO: Every school has its rules, but tough regulations at some Japanese institutions, mandating everything from black hair to white shoelaces, are facing increasing criticism and even legal action. Toshiyuki Kusumoto, a father of two in western Japan's Oita, is seeking court intervention to protect his younger son from regulations he calls "unreasonable". They include rules on hair length, a ban on styles including ponytails and braids,...

A French tourist poses for a photograph ahead of the annual St Patrick's Day parade in Dublin.—AFP n

St Patrick's Day parades return to Ireland after COVID hiatus

Ireland yesterday heralded the return of St Patrick's Day festivities after a two-year halt due to coronavirus, as hundreds of thousands of Irish and international visitors flocked to the capital Dublin and beyond. Events celebrating Ireland's patron saint were some of the first to be called off in 2020 as mass gatherings were shelved, pubs closed and international travel stopped. But with restrictions now lifted, Ireland is ready to revel in all...

In this file photo Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addresses the nation following a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council after Russia recognized two eastern separatist regions and then ordered in troops to back up their independence claims, in Kyiv.—AFP n

TV comedy that launched Zelensky to presidency back on Netflix

The comedy satire in which Volodymyr Zelensky unexpectedly becomes Ukraine's president-his now war-time job in real life-will be aired again on Netflix, the streaming platform announced Wednesday. The resurrection of the TV series "Servant of the People" comes amid a global outpouring of praise for the former comedian now leading his outgunned country's fight against the Russian invasion. "You asked and it's back," Netflix tweeted. On Tuesday...

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Pop royalty from Sting to Madonna denounce Russian war

Condemnation by Madonna, a Russian tour cancelled by Iggy Pop, Pink Floyd pulling out of streaming platforms-Western music stars have rallied to the Ukrainian cause. Sting has racked up 2.2 million views on Instagram for his acoustic rendition of "Russia", a song he released in 1985 calling for de-escalation and peace. "I never thought it would be relevant again but in the light of one man's bloody and woefully misguided decision to invade a...

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French film must be 'more spectacular', says top producer

France's film industry needs to focus on splashier productions to stay ahead in the streaming era and keep its cinemas alive, the head of Paris-based Pathe Films told AFP. The production company is currently having global success with CODA, a US remake of a French film about an aspiring singer and her deaf family that is gunning for Oscar glory later this month. But Pathe's major focus in the coming months is the sort of big-budget spectacle it...

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Record sale for Picabia at Paris auction: Sotheby's

A painting by Francis Picabia sold on Wednesday for 10 million euros ($11 million), Sotheby's said, in a record for a work by the late French surrealist painter. "Pavonia", painted in 1929, was among several works by surrealists that the auction house sold for a total of 33 million euros ($36 million) in the French capital, it said in a statement. "We're particularly proud of having set a new world record for Picabia," said auction director...

An Afghan hat vendor wearing an Uzbek cap waits for customers at his stall in a market near the Pul-e Khishti Mosque in Kabul. - AFP photosn

Crowning glory: Afghanistan's colorful headgear culture

At the crossroads of central and south Asia, Afghanistan has for centuries been a meeting place for cultures and ethnicities, as evidenced in the striking assortment of headgear worn by its people. The style of a cap or turban confers status and standing on its wearer, and also signifies what part of the country they come from or which ethnic group they belong to. An Uzbek cap, for example-flat and round, and worn tight-is decorated with colorful...

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This photograph taken in 1967 shows French actor Alain Delon accompanied by his wife Nathalie Delon. --AFP photos

Alain Delon: Women he loved and left

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Kuwait Integrated Petroleum Industries Company (KIPIC)

Massive fuel shortage forces electricity cuts in Kuwait

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EL KFOUR: Lebanon: People inspect the damage to a building after a Zionist airstrike in the southern town of Kfour, in the Nabatiyeh district, on August 17, 2024, amid the ongoing cross-border clashes between Zionist troops and Hezbollah fighters. – AFP

Hezbollah reveals its military muscle

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Interior Minister orders removal of violations in Failaka

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KUWAIT: His Excellency the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Oil Dr Imad Mohamed Al-Ateeqi (center) is greeted by Prime Minister His Highness Sheikh Ahmad Al-Abdullah Al-Hamad Al-Sabah (second right) and other officials. — KUNA

Oil minister returns to Kuwait after treatment in Turkey