The continuing global recovery faces multiple challenges as the pandemic enters its third year. The rapid spread of the Omicron variant has led to renewed mobility restrictions in many countries and increased labor shortages. Supply disruptions still weigh on activity and are contributing to higher inflation, adding to pressures from strong demand and elevated food … Read more
BERLIN: Rising tensions with Moscow over Ukraine have exposed Germany’s problematic dependence on Russian gas, inflaming an already heated debate over soaring energy prices. As Germany pursues its target to transition to cleaner energy sources over the next decade, Europe’s biggest economy has counted on gas temporarily filling the gap while it builds up its … Read more
ATHENS – Activists said Wednesday they filed a UN complaint on behalf of an Iranian asylum seeker who alleged she was tortured and beaten during several detentions in Greece before being repeatedly deported to Turkey. Parvin A, the asylum seeker who now lives in Germany, alleged that not only did she suffer abuse but that … Read more
TOKYO – A mass COVID-19 vaccination center in Tokyo was reopened by the Japanese government on Monday to offer COVID-19 booster shots amid criticism that the government has been slow to roll out the third jabs as the Omicron variant of the virus wreaks havoc in the capital and elsewhere. The mass vaccination center in … Read more
China did not appear at a Winter Olympics until 1980 at Lake Placid and has hardly sparkled since, winning one gold medal — in short track speed skating — at the last Games, in South Korea’s Pyeongchang, in 2018. China topped the medals table at its 2008 Summer Olympics but expectations are much lower for the next month’s Beijing Games … Read more
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s merchandise exports were recorded at $12.48 billion in 2021, surpassing the country’s export revenue target of $12.14 billion, local media citing provisional data from the Export Development Board (EDB) reported on Saturday. Minister of Trade Bandula Gunawardena was quoted by the Daily FT as saying that Sri Lanka’s merchandise export revenue grew … Read more
FRANKFURT: Germany’s largest lender Deutsche Bank on Thursday announced it had booked its highest profit in 10 years, driven by its investment arm after a difficult period of restructuring. In 2021, Deutsche Bank recorded a €1.9 billion ($2.1 billion) net profit, having posted a more slender €100 million margin in 2020, as the world economy … Read more
HONG KONG – Hopes for Thailand’s economic recovery have been dealt a blow with the suspension of a quarantine-free programme for international tourists, say figures in the all-important hospitality industry who are readjusting their outlook for 2022. “We are kind of seeing a replay of 2021 where … hotels are focusing on domestic travel once … Read more
BERLIN – Russia said Thursday it would hold huge naval drills across four seas, in a new bout of sabre-rattling as tensions with the West soared to new heights over the threat that Moscow would march on Ukraine. The Russian defence ministry’s announcement to deploy more than 140 warships and supporting vessels this month and … Read more
JERUSALEM – The Israeli Defense Ministry and Germany’s ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems signed a deal for the development and production of three advanced submarines for the Israeli Navy, the ministry said. Under the agreement, Israel will purchase three submarines from a new series called “Dakar” for about 3 billion euros (3.41 billion U.S. dollars), the Defense … Read more
GENEVA: The World Health Organization has warned that the Covid-19 pandemic is far from over, as France, Germany and Brazil posted new records of infections in the past 24 hours. The highly transmissible Omicron strain has spread unabated around the world, pushing some governments to impose fresh measures while speeding up the rollout of vaccine … Read more
BERLIN: Germany has registered more than 100,000 new Covid-19 infections in the past 24 hours, according to data released by the country’s public health agency on Wednesday. Europe’s biggest economy recorded 112,323 coronavirus cases over the last 24 hours and 239 fatalities, the Robert Koch Institute said. The weekly incidence rate reached 584.4 new infections per 100,000 … Read more
POZNAN, Poland – Curators combing through a vast historic archive of Freemasonry in Europe amassed by the Nazis in their wartime anti-Masonic purge say they believe there are still secrets to be unearthed. From insight into women’s Masonic lodges to the musical scores used in closed ceremonies, the trove, housed in an old university library … Read more
FRANKFURT: Germany was yet to see any signs of a “post-coronavirus boom”, the head of the influential BDI industry lobby said on Thursday, as persistent supply chain issues weighed on the economy. Bottlenecks which have plagued manufacturers in Europe’s largest economy through 2021, were set to continue into the new year, the group predicted, with … Read more
PARIS – As a former Syrian intelligence colonel is sentenced to life in prison in Germany for crimes against humanity, we look at the growing number of cases being brought in Europe against loyalists of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. In February 2021, the same court in Koblenz that convicted Anwar Raslan on Thursday, jailed a … Read more
KOBLENZ, Germany – A German court on Thursday sentenced a former Syrian colonel to life in jail for crimes against humanity in a landmark first global trial over state-sponsored torture in Syria. Anwar Raslan, 58, was found guilty of overseeing the murder of 27 people at the Al-Khatib detention centre in Damascus, also known as … Read more
FRANKFURT: Asian tourism and casinos giant Genting’s shipbuilding subsidiaries in Germany filed for bankruptcy on Monday, which one union leader described as a “dark day” for the country’s dockyards. With travel still severely restricted during the coronavirus pandemic, particularly in Asia, the company has seen demand for huge cruise ships or luxury mega-yachts dwindle. MV Werften … Read more
WARSAW: More than 100,000 people have died in Poland from Covid since the start of the pandemic, the government said Monday, as the mortality rate in the country is among the highest in the world. “It’s another sad day but particularly so today because we have crossed the threshold of 100,000 deaths,” Health Minister Adam Niedzielski told … Read more
DUBAI: The Expo 2020 Dubai has recorded 8,958,132 visits during its first three months, boosted by a slate of spectacular events across the December festive season and with more world-class sport, music and cultural performances expected in the second half of its six-month run, Emirates news agency WAM reported. From October to December 2021, the expo hosted … Read more
XI’AN, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) — New land-sea cargo delivery services were launched on Saturday between Xi’an, the capital of northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, and Mannheim in Germany. A train carrying 50 containers loaded with electronics and cross-border e-commerce commodities departed from the Xi’an international port station at midnight on New Year’s Day, marking the opening … Read more
PARIS: The euro on Saturday marks 20 years since people began to use the single European currency, overcoming initial doubts, price concerns and a debt crisis to spread across the region. Euro banknotes and coins came into circulation in 12 countries on January 1, 2002, greeted by a mix of enthusiasm and scepticism from citizens who … Read more
BERLIN: Germany will shut down three nuclear power plants on Friday even as Europe faces one of its worst-ever energy crises; following Angela Merkel’s timetable for phasing out atomic energy. With the energy prices already on the rise and tensions higher than ever between Europe and key gas supplier Russia, the closure of the plants in … Read more
BERLIN: With the arrival of winter in Europe and energy prices soaring, tensions are running high over the provision of gas from Russia, especially through the Yamal-Europe pipeline that runs through Poland and Belarus. But the Yamal pipeline is just one part of a complex gas infrastructure network shaped not only by energy needs but also … Read more
FRANKFURT: German consumer sentiment worsened for the second month running, a key survey said on Tuesday, as Europe’s largest economy braces itself for rising inflation and the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant. Pollster GfK’s forward-looking barometer fell to -6.8 from a revised figure of -1.8 for December. “The high incidence of the virus due to … Read more
PARIS: Algeria captain Riyad Mahrez took his Manchester City goal tally to 11 in all competitions this season by scoring the third in a 4-0 rout of Newcastle United at the weekend. The winger is among many Premier League stars set to compete at the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon from January 9. Read … Read more
MOSCOW: Russian natural gas deliveries to Germany through the Yamal-Europe pipeline dropped sharply, Reuters quoted data from the German network operator Gascade, as showing. Flows at the Mallnow metering point on the German-Polish border fell to an hourly volume of 1,217,444 kilowatt hours from an average of 10,000,000 kWh/h on Friday and around 12,000,000 kWh/h on Thursday. … Read more
KARACHI: The Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) will participate in the Intersec 2022 with the Pakistan Pavilion, a statement said on Friday. TDAP will provide subsidised stalls to increase the exports of personal protection equipment (PPE), corporate wear and uniform protecting clothing, gloves, workwear, foot protection, hand and arm protection, it added. These subsidised stalls … Read more
SHENYANG: German luxury carmaker BMW on Thursday announced its upgraded strategy in the Chinese market, with three new or upgraded plants to open in 2022. At its New Year media conference, BMW Group China said that it is determined to continue its close cooperation with China’s automobile industry and attaches importance to Chinese market demands … Read more
