China may be downplaying how fast its population is shrinking, and a recent policy to promote three-child families has poor chances to improve birth rates, a fertility expert told the Reuters Next conference on Friday. Fuxian Yi, senior scientist in the obstetrics and gynaecology department at the University of Wisconsin, …
Read More »Iran nuclear talks on brink of crisis as they adjourn until next week
VIENNA: Indirect US-Iranian talks on salvaging the 2015 Iran nuclear deal teetered on the brink of crisis on Friday as they broke off until next week with European officials expressing dismay at the demands of Iran’s new administration. The seventh round of talks in Vienna is the first with delegates …
Read More »As US promotes democracy, China touts its own version
BEIJING: As US President Joe Biden prepares to host more than 100 participants in the initial “Summit for Democracy“, China – which was not invited – has increasingly talked up the advantages of its own “whole-process democracy”. Chinese state media and diplomats in recent weeks have ramped up criticism of …
Read More »Europe surpasses 75 million Covid-19 cases amid spread of Omicron
Over 15 countries in Europe reported confirmed cases of new variant that has rattled financial markets Europe crossed 75 million coronavirus cases on Friday, according to a Reuters tally, as the region braces for the new Omicron variant at a time when hospitals in some countries are already strained by …
Read More »Omicron detected in 38 countries, no deaths reported so far: WHO
Omicron has been detected in 38 countries but there are no reported deaths so far from the new Covid-19 variant, the World Health Organisation said on Friday. A WHO spokesperson told reporters that the UN health agency had “not seen reports of Omicron-related deaths yet”. And Maria Van Kerkhove, the …
Read More »WHO chief scientist urges people not to panic over Omicron
GENEVA: The World Health Organisation’s (WHO) chief scientist on Friday urged people not to panic over the emergence of the Omicron coronavirus variant and said it was too early to say if vaccines would be need to be reworked. Speaking in an interview at the Reuters Next conference, Soumya Swaminathan …
Read More »Victims to heroes: India’s lower castes take cinematic centre stage
Facing systemic exploitation and discrimination, India’s lowest castes have barely been acknowledged on the big screen. Now independent, mostly non-Hindi language filmmakers are challenging attitudes with powerful stories of injustice to give them a voice. Many of the directors are from the Tamil film industry “Kollywood” — nicknamed after Chennai’s …
Read More »UAE buys record 80 French fighter jets as Macron starts Gulf tour
DUBAI: The United Arab Emirates signed a record 14-billion-euro contract for 80 French-made Rafale warplanes and committed billions of euros in other deals as President Emmanuel Macron kicked off a Gulf tour on Friday. The biggest international order ever made for the Rafale jets came as Macron held talks with …
Read More »‘US exit from Afghanistan leaves space for Pak-Turk leadership in region’
ISTANBUL: The exit of the US from Afghanistan has created space for the leadership role of Pakistan and Turkey in the region, a scholar on security and policymaking said. Such a role, however, would require intellectual exercise, said Rabia Akhtar, a professor of Security Studies at the University of Lahore, …
Read More »Dutch say 14 air passengers from South Africa with Omicron were vaccinated
Health authorities say ‘around 90%’ of those that tested positive were vaccinated AMSTERDAM: Dutch health authorities on Thursday said most of the 62 people who tested positive for Covid-19 after arriving on two flights from South Africa last week had been vaccinated, lending weight to a call for pre-flight testing …
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