2021

Approximately 1,400 years ago, when Venerable Bede selected a date to begin anno Domini time, he perhaps unwittingly started the process of privileging Christian time, which is now near-universally recognized…

PARIS: France has recorded more than 100,000 virus infections in a single day for the first time since the pandemic struck, and Covid-19 hospitalisations have doubled over the past month as the fast-spreading omicron variant complicates…

ATHENS: Former Greek president Karolos Papoulias, who served two terms between 2005 and 2015, died on Sunday at the age of 92, the presidency said. Papoulias, who was also foreign minister in 1985-89 and 1993-96, was a high-ranking…

ISLAMABAD: The Taliban dissolved Afghanistan's two election commissions as well as the state ministries for peace and parliamentarian affairs, an official said Sunday. Bilal Karimi, deputy spokesman for Afghanistan's Taliban-run…

LONDON: New tougher restrictions have come in force from Sunday in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland under devolved powers in a bid to curb rising coronavirus cases across the United Kingdom. Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his…

KABUL: The Taliban on Saturday suspended the process of issuing passports to applicants in Kabul. Shafiullah Tasal, a spokesman for the Central Passport Department, told Pajhwok Afghan News that the distribution of passports in the…

JOHANNESBURG: Desmond Tutu, South Africa's Nobel Peace Prize-winning activist for racial justice and LGBT rights and retired Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, has died, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced Sunday. He was 90.…

TOKYO: More than 100 domestic flights in Japan were grounded on Sunday due to heavy snow in the northern and western parts of the country, Japan's two biggest airlines said. ANA Holdings had halted 77 flights as of 1pm (0400 GMT),…

BEIJING: China has reported 206 new Covid-19 cases, including 158 domestically transmitted ones, in a sudden spike ahead of the Beijing Winter Olympics which will be held in February next year, the country's health commission said on…

NEW YORK: More than 6,000 flights have been canceled worldwide over the long Christmas weekend and thousands more were delayed, a tracking website reported Sunday, as the highly infectious Omicron variant brings holiday hurt to millions.…