Headlines:

Global cost of cybercrime topped $6 trillion in 2021: defence firm

cybercrime

The global cost of cybercrime surpassed $6 trillion last year, as the coronavirus pandemic increased online activity, according to the CEO of the Italian defense, security, and aerospace corporation Leonardo. “New cybersecurity threats over the last two years have been a ‘collateral damage’ of the Covid-19 pandemic and the acceleration of digitalization it induced,” Alessandro … Read more

Renewable energy to grow to new record in 2022: IEA

energy

The world will set a new record for renewable power capacity this year, led by solar energy in China and Europe, but growth may slow in 2023, according to the International Energy Agency. Despite supply chain bottlenecks, construction delays, and high raw material prices, the IEA added a record 295 gigatonnes of new renewable power … Read more

Doubts abound over Macron vision for broad Europe bloc

Macron

With a proposal for a new form of European cooperation that goes beyond the EU, France’s President Emmanuel Macron has revived a decades-old idea, but the details of how such a mechanism would work remain murky and controversial. A wider European club could offer an alternative for coordination on political and security issues for the … Read more

Over 40 bodies found under east Ukraine building: officials

Ukraine

Rescuers discovered the bodies of 44 civilians under the rubble of a destroyed building in the eastern Ukrainian town of Izyum, which is now under Russian control, on Tuesday, according to the regional governor. “The bodies of 44 civilians were found in Izyum under the rubble of a five-storey building which was destroyed by the … Read more

West pledges $6.7 bn for Syria under shadow of Ukraine war

Syria

At a conference in Brussels on Tuesday, international donors pledged $6.7 billion for conflict-torn Syria, insisting that the crisis must not be forgotten even as the Ukraine war dominates global attention. “This event today comes at a particularly difficult time,” said EU neighborhood commissioner Oliver Varhelyi. “Our societies and economies, including the key donors are … Read more

Decisive week for Finland, Sweden as NATO decisions loom

Finland

Finland and Sweden are expected to announce this week whether they will apply to join NATO in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in a stunning reversal of decades-long non-alignment policies. The Nordic countries have been shaken by Moscow’s war on its pro-Western neighbour, which has increased domestic support for joining the military alliance – … Read more

Paraguay anti-drug prosecutor killed in Colombia while on honeymoon

Colombia

Marcelo Pecci, a Paraguayan anti-drug prosecutor, was shot dead on his honeymoon on a Colombian Caribbean island on Tuesday, in what police called a “murder.” Five homicide investigators have been dispatched to the island of Baru, near Cartagena, with the assistance of experts from Paraguay and the United States, according to Colombian police chief Jorge … Read more

Red Cross chief on Iran visit talks Afghans’ plight

Iran

The head of the Red Cross on Monday, t said he discussed the plight of Afghan migrants who fled their country after the Taliban took power last year in Iran. “Afghanistan was very much present in the conversation, especially in the wake of the recent developments that we witnessed in August with the change in … Read more