BRUSSELS – When outgoing Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg returns home to head Norway’s central bank later this year the western alliance will need a new champion, and for the first time she is expected to be a woman. For seven decades the powerful military coalition has been led by a series of western European men … Read more
When Steven Knox first took charge of the German national cricket team as a head coach in 2014, the idea that they could have qualified for a World Cup would have sounded far-fetched. When the former Scotland international player got associated with the squad, he was not much hopeful about making big with the team. … Read more
PARIS: France will soon drop its requirement of a negative Covid test for vaccinated travellers from outside the European Union, as daily infection numbers continue to fall, Europe Minister Clement Beaune said Tuesday. “We again required tests in December over the Omicron variant. In the coming days we will announce that tests are no longer … Read more
MOSCOW: Russia has no plans to introduce large-scale restrictions to reel in surging coronavirus cases, a senior health official said on Wednesday, despite reporting new infection records for 13 days running. Moscow has been hesitant throughout the pandemic to introduce any restrictions that could hurt the embattled economy. “The healthcare system is coping,” Anna Popova, the head of … Read more
FRANKFURT: Soaring inflation will be in focus when European Central Bank governors meet on Thursday, as the threat of war in Ukraine risked further fuelling already sky-high energy prices in the region. Prices rose in the eurozone at an annual rate of five per cent in December, the highest value on record for the currency … 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
BRUSSELS – The European Parliament on Tuesday elected conservative politician Roberta Metsola from Malta as its new president, succeeding David Sassoli who died of illness last week. Members of the European Parliament in Strasbourg elected their new leader in the first ballot with 458 out of 616 valid votes. The 43-year-old Metsola is the youngest … Read more
LISBON, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) — A total of 1,203 COVID-19 patients are in hospital in Portugal on Tuesday, the highest number in the last 10 months, said the country’s Directorate-General for Health (DGS). An additional 36 people were hospitalized over the past 24 hours, with 147 patients in intensive care units. Meanwhile, 25,836 new infections … Read more
Switzerland’s highest court has ordered Monsanto to pay back 10 years’ worth of waived taxes after it left the Vaud region early following its takeover by Bayer, according to a ruling. The US agrochemical giant was ordered to hand over 34 million Swiss francs ($36.9 million, €32.7 million) to the western Vaud canton where its … Read more
LONDON: European and the UK gas prices rocketed on Tuesday to an all-time high on strong winter demand and simmering geopolitical tensions between key supplier Russia and consumer nations. Europe’s reference Dutch TTF gas price hit 162.775 euros/megawatt hour in late morning deals, up more than 10 per cent from Monday, while UK prices leapt to … Read more
PARIS: The coronavirus is once again disrupting global sport, forcing the cancellation of English Premier League matches and the scrapping of a one-day cricket series. AFP Sport looks at the state of play around the world as authorities scramble to cope with the surging pandemic. Football Five of the 10 Premier League matches scheduled for … Read more
HONG KONG: The Asian and European markets rose on Thursday and the dollar held gains after the Federal Reserve laid out a more hawkish path by speeding up the taper of its pandemic financial support and indicated a number of interest rate hikes over the coming years. While the much-anticipated decision spells an end to the … Read more
LIVERPOOL: Jurgen Klopp has ruled out a move into the transfer market to cover for the Liverpool stars set to take part in the African Nations Cup. Liverpool are set to lose the services of Egypt forward Mohamed Salah, Senegal winger Sadio Mane and Guinea midfielder Naby Keita when the tournament gets under way in Cameroon. In … Read more
RIYADH: Qatar Airways and Airbus’ dispute over paint and surface quality is entering a legal arena after months of talks failed to resolve the issue, as the Gulf carrier considered it a matter of safety. Qatar Airways took a first step towards legal action, Bloomberg reported, citing Airbus executive vice president Philippe Mhun’s call with reporters. The … Read more
PARIS: A 17-billion-euro ($19.23 billion) French arms deal with the United Arab Emirates will secure the industrial supply chain for France’s Rafale warplane for the next decade and directly support 7,000 domestic jobs, Reuters quoted a French defence ministry official, as saying. The deal, sealed on Friday, includes the largest ever overseas sale of the French warplane. … Read more
PARIS: Chinese e-commerce leader Alibaba Group’s role as a “worldwide partner” of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games has sparked a behind-the-scenes battle to prevent it from hosting and accessing sensitive data. “There is a fight,” Guillaume Poupard, director general of the National Agency for the Security of Information Systems (ANSSI) said earlier, before adding that it … Read more
MOSCOW: The longer the prices for natural gas remain at record high levels in Europe this year, the stronger the markets feel that Russian gas should not be seen as a quick fix to the problem, at least not before this winter ends. “Overall gas production in Russia over the three quarters of 2021 was … Read more
LONDON: British airline EasyJet warned on Tuesday that it was “too soon” to assess the impact of the Omicron coronavirus variant on the aviation sector, after logging narrowing annual losses as skies reopened. The emergence last week of Omicron, a new concerning Covid variant first detected in southern Africa, has prompted some nations including Britain … Read more
JOHANNESBURG: International sport in southern Africa effectively ground to a halt on Saturday as a result of travel bans caused by the new Omicron coronavirus variant. The Joburg Open golf tournament, part of the new DP World Tour, was the only major event played – and that was severely curtailed. A cricket series between South Africa and … Read more
ISTANBUL: Instead of Black Friday discounts, consumers in Turkey were faced with steep price hikes for Apple products after the value of the lira hit new record lows this week. Certain Apple devices were 25 per cent more expensive than usual on Friday, with some increases worth more than the local minimum wage. Persistent double-digit inflation … Read more
RIYADH: The EU is moving forward with plans to build a cross-continental financial system with four new legislative proposals, Bloomberg reported. This comes six years after it was first announced and a year after the latest re-launch. The EU’s executive arm hopes a “capital markets union” will break down barriers between 27 national financial markets and rulebooks … Read more
PARIS: Holders France hope to retain their title but the 2022 World Cup in Qatar could be missing the two most recent European champions as Portugal and Italy must both battle through play-offs to qualify. That left fans with the prospect of no Cristiano Ronaldo in Qatar next winter and the Azzurri, who thrilled during … Read more
SAO PAULO: Lucas Paqueta’s instinctive strike gave Brazil a 1-0 World Cup qualifying win over Colombia on Thursday to book their place at Qatar 2022. The five-time world champions join the hosts and Europeans Germany and Denmark as early qualifiers for next year’s finals. They have produced a near-perfect qualifying campaign, winning 11 of 12 matches — … Read more
MADRID: With the highest Covid-19 vaccination rate of Europe’s big nations, Spain has been spared the surge in infections seen across the continent but experts warn the country remains vulnerable to the virus. Spain, one of the nations hit earliest and hardest by the pandemic, now has one of the lowest infection rates in Europe … Read more
LISBON: From mental health apps to a helmet that can shock a patient’s brain remotely, startups at this year’s Web Summit are betting on a major shift towards “tele-medicine” as the world emerges from the pandemic. Using technology to treat patients virtually was a major theme at one of the world’s largest tech conferences, which … Read more
How can passengers take 10 billion flights a year without contributing to global warming? The question of “greening” the international aviation sector by 2050 constitutes a colossal task whose stakes — and sheer numbers — can make the head spin, according to the airlines themselves. At its general assembly in Boston Monday, the International Air … Read more
JERUSALEM: More than 670 European financial institutions have ties with companies that are involved in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, a civil society report said on Wednesday. The report from a group of 25 Palestinian, regional and European organisations called on the companies to end all investments and financial flows into the settlements, … Read more
MADRID: Sheriff Tiraspol pulled off one of the biggest upsets in Champions League history on Tuesday by beating Real Madrid 2-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu, with Sebastien Thill smashing a stunning 89th-minute winner. Madrid fell behind to Jasurbek Yakhshiboev’s header in the first half but Karim Benzema s penalty appeared to have spared the blushes … Read more
