Covid-19: UK ‘will not hesitate’ to add nations to quarantine list

LONDON, Aug 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) —The UK “will not hesitate” to add more countries to its travel quarantine list in order to protect public health, the chancellor has said. Rishi Sunak told Sky News “there is always the risk of disruption” to holidays during the coronavirus pandemic. Arrivals to the UK from Belgium, the…

Update: 18 dead after Air India plane breaks in two at Calicut

The plane reportedly overshot the runway upon landing amid heavy rain  KERALA (India), Aug 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) —An Air India Express plane with 190 people on board has crashed at an airport in the southern state of Kerala, killing at least 18 people, officials say. The Boeing 737, en route from Dubai,…

US Pres Trump to meet Iraqi PM as ties rebound

WASHINGTON, Aug 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — President Donald Trump will meet Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi in Washington later this month, the White House said, highlighting a turn-around in relations since the US-friendly premier came to power. Tensions skyrocketed following a US strike on Baghdad in January thatkilled Iranian general Qasem…

China wants ‘unpredictable’ Trump to lose election as Russia supports him: US intelligence

WASHINGTON, Aug 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — China has boosted its efforts to influence the US presidential election in November and wants President Donald Trump to lose because it sees him as “unpredictable,” a top US intelligence official said. “We assess that China prefers that President Trump — whom Beijing sees as…

TikTok threatens legal action in US over Pres Trump order

WASHINGTON, Aug 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Video-sharing app TikTok threatened to take legal action in US courts against Pres Donald Trump’s executive order banning anyone under US jurisdiction from doing business with the company’s owner ByteDance. “We will pursue all remedies available to us in order to ensure that the rule…

Covid-19: 7-year-old boy becomes youngest dying of coronavirus in Georgia; 45 children died so far in US

WASHINGTON, Aug 8 (NNN-XINHUA) — A seven-year-old boy, who had noknown underlying health conditions, has become the youngest person known to die of COVID-19 in southern US state Georgia, local media reported. “Every COVID-19 death we report is tragic, but to lose someone so young isespecially heart-breaking,” Nancy Nydam, director…

Beirut blast: US Pres Trump to join donor conference call Sunday

WASHINGTON, Aug 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — President Donald Trump said that he would take part in an international conference call for donors organizing aid for Lebanon after the giant explosion in Beirut. Trump, who talked with his Lebanese counterpart as well as the conference’s organizer French President Emmanuel Macron, tweeted that…

Covid-19: Deaths in Latin America hit global high

Coronavirus has killed thousands around the world MEXICO CITY, Aug 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Latin America and the Caribbean surpassed Europe on Friday to become the region hardest-hit by coronavirus deaths, as India passed the sombre step of recording over two million infections. The world’s worst-hit region had reported 213,120 fatalities,…

Covid-19: Thousands of BA staff to lose jobs as airline pushes ahead with cuts

LONDON, Aug 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Thousands of British Airways staff will be sent letters telling them they have lost their jobs from Friday, as the airline pushes ahead with a plan to cut employee numbers by 29% in the face of bitter opposition from unions. British Airways, owned by IAG…

Covid-19: Africa’s cases pass one-million mark, half in South Africa

Coronavirus cases rising in Africa ADDIS ABABA, Aug 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The number of Coronavirus cases in Africa has surpassed one-million, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University, but the continent appears so far to have been spared the worst of the pandemic. Half of the infections are in just one…