WORLD
EU tourism plummets 61% during pandemic year
Friday's figures confirmed how tourism was among the sectors most affected by the pandemic due to travel restrictions as well as other precautionary measures taken by individual countries in response to the outbreaks, reports Xinhua news agency. Eurostat said this drop was reflected in the number of nights spent in EU tourist accommodation establishments between April 2020 and March 2021.
'US forces pullout from Afghanistan hasty and irresponsible'
"The US forces' hasty pullout is irresponsible. The hasty and irresponsible pullout of troops has encouraged the Taliban group to step up attacks elsewhere in the country and have captured several districts," Hamidullah Arefi, an observer and editor-in-chief of the state-run English newspaper The Kabul Times, told Xinhua news agency on Friday.
Russia regrets EU's decision to cancel summit
"We regret it," TASS News Agency quoted Peskov as saying on Friday when asked to provide a reaction to most of the EU leaders rejecting a proposal by France and Germany to hold a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin. "As you know, President Putin generally remains interested in establishing working relations between Moscow and Brussels," the spokesman added.
Hezbollah accuses US of inciting divisions in Lebanon
"The US statements about supporting the Lebanese army to face Hezbollah aim at stirring sedition among the Lebanese," Nasrallah said in a televised speech on Friday. The Hezbollah leader added that his party has always been in favour of reinforcing the Lebanese army which guarantees Lebanon's security, integrity and unity against any Israeli aggression.
EU leaders divided on ties with Russia
The idea was floated following US President Joe Biden's meeting with Putin in Geneva, with French President Emmanuel Macron saying a summit with the latter would be "a dialogue to defend our interests", reports Xinhua news agency. The 27 EU leaders need to unanimously agree on restarting talks with Russia for such a meeting to take place.
Biden meets visiting Afghan leaders at WH
Biden said at the beginning of the meeting on Friday that "our troops may be leaving but support for Afghanistan is not ending in terms of support and maintenance of helping maintain their military as well as economic and political support". "Afghans are going to have to decide their future, senseless violence has to stop," he continued. On his part, Ghani paid tributes "to the 2,448 Americans who paid the ultimate sacrifice.
Global Covid-19 caseload tops 180mn
In its latest update on Saturday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and death toll stood at 180,346,611 and 3,907,269, respectively. The US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 33,603,077 and 603,526, respectively, according to the CSSE.
Former US cop sentenced to 22.5 years for George Floyd's murder
Chauvin "is the first white officer in Minnesota to face prison time for the killing of a Black man," according to Minnesota Public Radio. "We need to recognise the pain of the Floyd family," Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill said in court. The sentence was not based on emotion or sympathy, the judge noted. Members of Floyd's family were present in the courtroom for the hearing, the Xinhua news agency reported.
Delta Covid cases in UK up by 46% in past week
The total number of confirmed Delta cases now stands at 111,157 -- with 102,019 of these recorded in England, 7,738 in Scotland, 788 in Wales and 612 in Northern Ireland, the Sky news reported.The Delta variant, first identified in India, now comprises 95 per cent of all sequenced cases in the UK, PHE added. Last week, it made up 99 per cent of Covid cases across the UK, with about 42 of the latest cases belonging to the Delta plus variant.
'Wise', 'witty' Imran Khan - self-inflicted troubles
He is no ordinary Pakistani. He belongs to a relatively affluent, upper middle-class family. He did his higher studies from Oxford. One of his ancestors, Haibat Khan Niazi, "was a leading general" of the 16th century warrior king, Sher Shah Suri, who gave nightmares to the Great Moghuls. Maternally, Khan is a descendant of the Sufi warrior-poet, Pir Roshan, whose lasting contribution is the Pashto alphabet. Pashto is the language spoken by Pashtuns, who live in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
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