Private carrier IndiGo will resume direct flights between Kolkata and Shillong from February 1 with the Meghalaya government reopening the state for tourists after remaining closed for almost 10 months due to COVID-19, Airports Authority of India (AAI) said on Friday. The northeastern state was connected with Delhi last month by direct flight services of […]
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Friday announced new travel restrictions and described as serious the situation in Brisbane where a cleaner at a hotel was diagnosed with the highly transmissible UK variant of COVID-19, prompting the authorities to announce a three-day lockdown in the country’s third-largest city. Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced the lockdown […]
More than 371,500 babies were born worldwide on New Year’s Day and India is estimated to have recorded the highest number of births at around 60,000, according to the UN’s children’s agency. UNICEF said that an estimated 371,504 babies were born around the world on New Year’s Day. Fiji in the Pacific was projected to […]
The US government has stepped up a feud with Beijing over security by adding China’s biggest processor chip maker and a state-owned oil giant to a blacklist that limits access to American technology and investment. Thursday’s announcement adds to steps taken by President Donald Trump against China since losing his re-election bid on November 3. […]
The UK’s new post-Brexit points-based visa and immigration system, described by the government as simple, effective, and flexible, opened for applications from Tuesday. The UK Home Office said applicants for the new Skilled Worker Visa can now apply to work and live in the UK from January 1, 2021, when the Brexit transition period ends […]
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Nadia Murad says the COVID-19 pandemic has increased trafficking of women and gender-based violence, leaving the health and safety of women on the line. The 27-year-old activist, who was forced into sexual slavery by Islamic State fighters in Iraq, said curfews, lockdowns and travel restrictions imposed by governments to slow the […]
The UN humanitarian office says needs for assistance have ballooned to unprecedented levels this year because of COVID-19, projecting that a staggering 235 million people will require help in 2021. This comes as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and global challenges including conflicts, forced migration, and the impact of global warming. The UN Office […]
Passengers traveling in the economy class of India-UK flights of British Airways will be able to carry double check-in baggage with them during this winter season, the airline said on Friday. Passengers will now be able to take two pieces of check-in baggage, with each weighing a maximum of 23 kg, British Airways said in […]
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson was on Friday fighting back rebels from within his own Conservative Party who are opposed to most of England being put into the toughest two tiers of high COVID-19 alert after the country’s second stay-at-home lockdown ends next Wednesday. In a Downing Street briefing on Thursday after he ended his […]
Millions of Americans took to the skies and the highways ahead of Thanksgiving at the risk of pouring gasoline on the coronavirus fire, disregarding increasingly dire warnings that they stay home and limit their holiday gatherings to members of their own household. Those who are flying witnessed a distinctly 2020 landscape at the nation’s airports: […]
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson laid out the biggest programme of investment in British defence since the end of the Cold War in Parliament on Thursday, pumping in an extra 4 billion pound a year over the next four years. Addressing the House of Commons via videolink, he said that the move will “end the […]