S.Korea’s Moon says ‘time to take action’ on N.Korea ahead of summit with Biden
South Korean President Moon Jae-in said on Monday he seeshis final year in office as the last chance to achieve a lasting peace with North Korea, and said it was time to take action amid stalled talks over Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programmes.
Underwriters puzzle over how to make pandemics insurable again
When much of the global economy locked down last year, insurers, facing estimated losses of more than $100 billion globally, reached straight for their red pens to strike pandemic cover from all new business policies. Denis Kessler, chairman and CEO of French reinsurer SCOR, summed it up when he told a recent conference that pandemic […]
Queen Elizabeth to set out UK government’s post-pandemic agenda
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth will present Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s post-pandemic agenda on Tuesday in a speech written by the government that will set out the new laws that ministers intend to pass in the coming year.
Automated steering ‘not available’ on Texas road where Tesla crashed -NTSB
U.S. safety officials investigating the cause of a Tesla Model S crash that killed two men in Texas last month said on Monday that testing suggested the vehicle’s automated steering system was “not available” on the road where the accident occurred.
India’s COVID-19 cases dip from peak, calls for shutdown mount
Calls grew for India to impose a nationwide lockdown as new coronavirus cases and deaths held close to record highs on Monday, increasing pressure on the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The 366,161 new infections and 3,754 deaths reported by the health ministry were off a little from recent peaks, taking India’s tally to […]
U.S. Southeast braces for fuel price rises after pipeline shutdown
The southeastern United States will be the first to see price rises at the pumps due to the supply disruption caused by the shutdown of the country’s top fuel pipeline network – and demand has already picked up as drivers fill their tanks, industry experts said on Sunday.
UK’s Gove refuses to say how London will handle Scottish independence drive
Senior British minister Michael Gove refused to say on Sunday how the government would react if the Scottish parliament were to pass a bill calling for a referendum on independence from the United Kingdom. Pro-independence parties won an overall majority in the Scottish parliament in elections held on Thursday. First Minister and Scottish National Party […]
Chinese rocket debris lands in Indian Ocean, draws criticism from NASA
Remnants of China’s biggest rocket landed in the Indian Ocean on Sunday, with most of its components destroyed upon re-entry into the atmosphere, ending days of speculation over where the debris would hit but drawing U.S. criticism over lack of transparency. The coordinates given by Chinese state media, citing the China Manned Space Engineering Office, […]
India’s daily COVID-19 deaths near record, calls for nationwide lockdown mount
India’s COVID-19 deaths rose by more than 4,000 for a second consecutive day on Sunday as calls for a nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of the virus mounted. India’s health ministry reported 4,092 fatalities over the past 24 hours, taking the overall death toll to 242,362. New cases rose by 403,738, just shy of […]
‘Freedom’ fiestas: Spaniards celebrate end of COVID curfew
Exhilarated Spaniards danced in streets, chanted “freedom” and partied on beaches overnight as a COVID-19 curfew ended across most of the nation. In scenes akin to New Year’s Eve celebrations, hundreds of mainly young people gathered in Madrid’s Puerta del Sol square to applaud the clock striking midnight while in Barcelona revellers headed to the […]
