Author: News Desk

China is fighting nascent COVID-19 flare-ups across the country with mass testing and fresh restrictions, including in weary Shanghai where new cases have been linked to a building which houses a karaoke lounge that was operating illegally. Pressure is mounting on officials to avert a wider spread and disruptions similar to the painful and costly isolation that Shanghai, China’s most populous city, suffered in April and May. “Several Chinese areas are facing local outbreaks and infections have emerged at the community level in Shanghai, to which we should attach great importance,” city health official Zhao Dandan told reporters on Wednesday.…

Ukrainian defenders fought desperately to withstand a major Russian offensive in the Donetsk region, with the enemy laying down heavy artillery fire to pave the way for ground forces to advance, a senior Ukrainian official said on Wednesday. After Russian forces on Sunday took control of Lysychansk, the last bastion of Ukrainian resistance in Luhansk, Ukraine’s military braced for an assault on Donetsk, with the cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk both in the Russian line of fire. Donetsk and Luhansk comprise the Donbas, the industrialised eastern part of Ukraine that has seen the biggest battle in Europe for generations. There…

Tentative calm returned to global markets on Wednesday, with the euro steadying after dropping to a two-decade low and oil back above $100 a barrel following a near 10% plunge a day earlier. The single currency traded at $1.025, a fraction above its weakest level since late 2002 touched overnight as fears of a slowdown and rising commodity prices weighed. Government bond yields across the euro area nudged up too, and European stocks also making gains, while Brent crude bounced almost 3% after slumping on Tuesday 9.5% to its lowest in 2-1/2 months. The broad Euro STOXX 600 rose 1.9%, with…

Oil prices rose on Wednesday, clawing back some of Tuesday’s heavy losses as supply concerns returned to the forefront and outweighed lingering worries over a global recession. Brent crude futures rose by $1.62, or 1.58%, to $104.39 a barrel at 0839 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude climbed $1.04, or 1.05%, to $100.54 a barrel after closing below $100 in the previous session for the first time since late April. Both contracts on Tuesday recorded their largest daily drop since March on recessionary fears and other bearish pressures which also kept a lid on Wednesday’s price rise. Oil prices…

G20 foreign ministers travel to the resort island of Bali this week for a meeting that will be overshadowed by the war in Ukraine, with Russia’s attendance creating rifts in the bloc as host Indonesia tries to mediate. The Group of 20 includes Western countries that have accused Moscow of war crimes in Ukraine and rolled out sanctions, but also countries like China, Indonesia, India and South Africa that have not followed suit. The gathering will be the first time that foreign ministers from some of the world’s top economies meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov since Russia invaded Ukraine…

Voyager Digital said on Wednesday it had filed for bankruptcy, a week after the crypto lender suspended withdrawals, trading and deposits to its platform as it sought additional time to explore strategic alternatives. In its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing on Tuesday, New Jersey-based Voyager estimated that it had more than 100,000 creditors and somewhere between $1 billion and $10 billion in assets, and liabilities worth the same value. Chapter 11 bankruptcy procedures put a hold on all civil litigation matters and allow companies to prepare turnaround plans while remaining operational. “The prolonged volatility and contagion in the crypto markets over the…

India’s consumer protection authority has banned hotels and restaurants from levying a service charge on bills. The order came after authorities said there had been an increase in complaints by customers being forced to pay the charge. Restaurants often add a 5% to 15% tip to a customer’s bill under a “service charge” category. But new rules say restaurants can no longer “add service charge by default or automatically” to the bill. The new guidelines also bar restaurants from collecting tips from customers “under any other name” or “deny service or entry to customers who refuse to pay a tip”.…

NATO’s 30 allies signed an accession protocol for Finland and Sweden on Tuesday to allow them to join the nuclear-armed alliance once allied parliaments ratify the decision, the most significant expansion of the alliance since the mid-1990s. “This is truly an historic moment,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said alongside the foreign ministers of the two countries. “With 32 nations around the table, we will be even stronger.” The protocol means Helsinki and Stockholm can participate in NATO meetings and have greater access to intelligence but will not be protected by the NATO defence clause that an attack on one ally…

Saudi Arabian Health Ministry stated that the number of pilgrims who received medical services through hospitals and health centers in Makkah and Madinah started from reached 43,425. Hospitals and health centers provided specialized treatment to pilgrims, including five open-heart surgeries, 66 cardiac catheterizations, 182 dialysis procedures, 95 surgical operations, and the admission of 297 pilgrims, SPA reported One birth was registered by the ministry, and the Virtual Health Hospital provided a number of virtual services, including four-stroke diagnoses, and 743 pilgrims benefited from instant counseling services (Sehaty). The ministry prepared its health facilities in Makkah, Al Madinah, and the holy…

The Two Holy Mosques Affairs General Presidency president Dr. Abdulrahman Al Sudais announced that all preparations have been finalized to cover the Kaaba with the kiswa this year. Al Sudais stressed that the Saudi leadership is proactive in every measure that would raise the level of services provided in the Two Holy Mosques, with Kaaba on the leadership’s top concern through maintaining its Kiswa and replacing it with a new one on yearly basis, SPA reported. He launched a campaign titled “In Your Languages, We Welcome You,” which aims to serve pilgrims at the Grand Mosque and guide them in…