Category: World

(AP): For air travelers, the new year picked up where the old one left off – with lots of frustration. By late Saturday afternoon on the East Coast, more than 2,600 U.S. flights and nearly 4,600 worldwide had been canceled, according to tracking service FlightAware. That is the highest single-day U.S. toll yet since just… Continue reading New year brings more canceled flights for air travelers

(BBC): At least 12 people were killed and several others injured after a stampede at a religious shrine in India. Pilgrims were visiting the shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi in Indian-administered Kashmir on Saturday when the tragedy unfolded. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was “saddened” by the loss of life. Tens of thousands of… Continue reading India: At least 12 dead in New Year temple stampede

PARIS (AP): Sorrow for the dead and dying, fear of more infections to come and hopes for an end to the coronavirus pandemic were — again — the bittersweet cocktail with which the world said good riddance to 2021 and ushered in 2022. New Year’s Eve, which used to be celebrated globally with a free-spirited… Continue reading Omicron’s New Year’s cocktail: Sorrow, fear, hope for 2022

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP): Good riddance to 2021. Let 2022 bring fresh hope. That was a common sentiment as people around the world began welcoming in the new year. In many places, New Year’s Eve celebrations were muted or canceled for the second straight year due to a surge of coronavirus infections, this time driven… Continue reading New Year’s Eve muted by omicron; many hoping for better 2022

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP): A total of 116 cities in the northeastern Brazilian state of Bahia were in a state of emergency because of flooding on Tuesday due to heavy rains that have been pounding the region since the end of November. Cities in at least five other states in Brazil’s north and southeast have also… Continue reading Severe Brazil flooding spreads in Bahia and beyond

(The Hindu): The number of Omicron cases has risen to 578 in the country and at least 151 patients have recovered, the Health Ministry said on Monday. India reported 6,531 new coronavirus cases and 315 deaths on Monday, hiking the total active cases to 75,841 and the death count to 4,79,997. There were at least… Continue reading Omicron cases rise to 578 across India

BRUSSELS (AP): After struggling with the coronavirus for far too long, the world understands all too well Belgium’s word of the year, “knaldrang!” — the urge to party, the need to let loose. Yet as New Year celebrations approach, the omicron variant is casting more gloom. Monday was a case in point, with several governments… Continue reading Omicron spreads global gloom over New Year’s celebrations

JOHANNESBURG (AP): Desmond Tutu, South Africa’s Nobel Peace Prize-winning icon, an uncompromising foe of the country’s past racist policy of apartheid and a modern-day activist for racial justice and LGBT rights, died Sunday at 90. South Africans, world leaders and people around the globe mourned the death of the man viewed as the country’s moral… Continue reading Desmond Tutu, South Africa’s Nobel Peace winner, dies at 90

BEIJING (AP): China plunged a city of 13 million people into lockdown on Thursday to stamp out an increase in coronavirus infections, as the country doubles down on its “zero tolerance” policy just weeks before it is set to host the Winter Olympics. The restrictions in the northeastern city of Xi’an took effect at midnight… Continue reading China puts city of 13 million in lockdown ahead of Olympics

Kathmandu: The new variant of covid-19 Omicron, which is spreading worldwide, has so far spread to 106 countries. The World Health Organization (WHO) said in its weekly report on Tuesday that so far 106 countries have been infected with the Omicron variant. Although the Delta has emerged as a major variant in worldwide sampling tests,… Continue reading Omicron variant spread over 106 countries so far