AstraZeneca’s Soriot: we didn’t overpromise on COVID-19 vaccine supplies
AstraZeneca (AZN.L) Chief Executive Pascal Soriot said on Friday the drugmaker had not overpromised on the supply of COVID-19 vaccines around the world, as he defended big cuts in deliveries that prompted a lawsuit by the European Union. The European Commission has launched legal proceedings against the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker for not respecting its contract for the supply […]
Profits from Samsung phones have reached an all-time high since the pandemic commenced
Samsung Electronics has reported its highest first-quarter revenue since2018, owing to rising smartphone sales of its flagship Galaxy S21 line. (as per BBC News) Net profits at the Korean conglomerate increased 46.3 percent year on year to 7.1 trillion. Sales of televisions and home appliances increased significantly, owing to the continued popularity of stay-at-home consumers. […]
One positive COVID-19 test on Japan luxury cruise ship; passengers disembarking
Japan’s Nippon Yusen said on Friday that one passenger on its luxury cruise ship “Asuka II” had tested positive for the coronavirus, and that other passengers would be disembarking. The passenger’s health is stable and the person is recuperating in a cabin that has been isolated, it said in a statement. People who stayed in […]
California program overestimates climate benefits of forest offsets -study
California’s forest carbon offset program has generated tens of millions of credits that have questionable value in fighting climate change, a nonprofit group of scientists said this week. CarbonPlan, a group that researches the integrity of programs designed to offset carbon emissions, said that 29% of the forest carbon offsets it analyzed in California’s cap […]
Germany to start returning Benin Bronzes from 2022
Germany aims to start returning Benin Bronzes to Nigeria next year, its foreign and culture ministries said, part of a growing trend to return cultural artefacts seized during the colonial era to their places of origin. Britain’s soldiers seized thousands of metal castings and sculptures in 1897 during a raid on the Kingdom of Benin, […]
Famine looms in southern Madagascar, U.N.’s food agency says
Famine is looming in southern Madagascar, where children are “starving” after drought and sandstorms ruined harvests, the U.N.’s World Food Programme (WFP) said on Friday. Amer Daoudi, senior director of WFP operations globally, speaking from Antananarivo, Madagascar, said he had visited villages where people had resorted to eating locusts and leaves. “I witnessed horrific images […]
German output shrinks in Q1 as lockdown dampens consumption
The German economy contracted by a greater than expected 1.7% in the first quarter as a lockdown in place since November to contain the coronavirus stifled private consumption in Europe’s largest economy, data showed on Friday. “The coronavirus crisis caused another decline in economic performance at the beginning of 2021,” the Federal Statistics Office said. […]
Record number of Chinese to travel over Labour Day break, but stick close to home
A record-breaking wave of Chinese tourists will hit the road for the Labour Day break, and with borders still shut many will be travelling domestically, to more remote locations and for longer, giving China’s economy a powerful short-term boost. The holiday will be China’s first long break in largely COVID-free conditions, and will unleash months […]
Factbox: Some of the world’s worst stampedes
At least 44 people were crushed to death at an overcrowded religious bonfire festival in Israel on Friday, medics said, in what they called a stampede. read more Here is a list of some of the worst stampedes over the last three decades: April 1989: Ninety-six people were killed and at least 200 injured in Britain’s […]
EU ready to help restore democracy to Myanmar – high representative
The European Union is ready to offer its support to all parties to help restore democracy in Myanmar, the bloc’s high representative told ASEAN states on Friday. Southeast Asian leaders said after an emergency ASEAN summit last week that they had reached consensus with Myanmar’s junta on ending violence there. read more “The European Union stands […]
