Xi Jinping, PM Modi expected for 'virtual' Davos in era of pandemic
Borge Brende, the forum president, said Xi and Modi will be joined also by Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and South Korean President Moon Jae-in for the event, and such leaders will consider “the role that Asia will play in the recovery.”
AP, Geneva
PUBLISHED ON JAN 18, 2021 11:49 PM IST
Organisers of the World Economic Forum (WEF) are expecting leaders including Chinese President Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa for a virtual gathering next week — after Covid-19 canceled the annual in-person event of Davos, Switzerland.
Forum founder Klaus Schwab said the aim of the virtual Davos Agenda week meeting starting Jan. 25 is to restore trust and engage all stakeholders in business, government, civil society and beyond to help build a “more peaceful and prosperous post-corona era.”
The event runs throughout the week with daily themes on subjects like economic systems, responsible growth, cooperation and the harnessing of technologies in the 4th Industrial Revolution - a common theme at Davos events.
Borge Brende, the forum president, said Xi and Modi will be joined also by Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and South Korean President Moon Jae-in for the event, and such leaders will consider “the role that Asia will play in the recovery.”
Others expected include Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, French President Emmanuel Macron and President Ivan Duque of Colombia.
Exceptionally this year, forum organizers are planning to hold the annual event that draws thousands of elites in-person this spring in Singapore.
Heavy trading in GameStop leads to hour-long outage for Reddit
Reuters
PUBLISHED ON FEB 25, 2021 05:36 AM IST
Reddit, now more famous for its day-trading forum where individual traders recently triggered a rally in many shorted stocks, has faced several outages in recent months.
Amid surge, US tries to expedite release of migrant children
AP
PUBLISHED ON FEB 25, 2021 03:00 AM IST
US Health and Human Services on Wednesday authorized operators of long-term facilities to pay for some of the children’s flights and transportation to the homes of their sponsors.
Germany urges Iran to accept diplomacy in nuclear dispute
AP
PUBLISHED ON FEB 25, 2021 12:12 AM IST
Iran this week effectively set a deadline to lift those sanctions within three months, after which it said it would erase surveillance footage of its nuclear facilities
Hospitalisation risk 64% higher with UK Covid-19 variant: Report
Reuters
PUBLISHED ON FEB 25, 2021 12:08 AM IST
Out of 2,155 people infected with the variant codenamed B117 in the institute's study, 128 were hospitalised, a rate 64% higher than people infected with other variants, the country's Serum Institute said.
Congress weighs reforms to troubled US Postal Service over finance woes
Reuters
PUBLISHED ON FEB 24, 2021 11:38 PM IST
"Our dire financial trajectory, operational and network misalignment to mail trends, outdated pricing, infrastructure underinvestment, inadequate people engagement, and an insufficient growth strategy – all demand immediate action," Postmaster General Louis DeJoy told lawmakers.
EU mulls vaccination passports to resurrect tourism after Covid-19
Reuters, Brussels
PUBLISHED ON FEB 24, 2021 11:12 PM IST
However, France and Germany appear more reluctant, as officials there say it could create de facto vaccination obligation.
J&J’s Covid-19 vaccine closes in on FDA’s nod
By Yashwant Raj
PUBLISHED ON FEB 24, 2021 11:06 PM IST
According to papers submitted by Johnson & Johnson to the FDA seeking emergency use go-ahead, the vaccine has demonstrated an overall efficacy level of 66% - 72% in the United States and 57% in South Africa, a country that is dealing with a highly contagious strain of the coronavirus.
PNB scam case: UK judge to rule on Nirav Modi extradition case on Thursday
Posted by Prashasti Singh | PTI
UPDATED ON FEB 24, 2021 11:01 PM IST
The 49-year-old is expected to appear via videolink from Wandsworth Prison in south-west London at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, where District Judge Samuel Goozee is set to hand down his judgment on whether the jeweller has a case to answer before the Indian courts.
CIA nominee pledges to provide 'unvarnished' intelligence
PTI, Washington
PUBLISHED ON FEB 24, 2021 10:48 PM IST
William Burns said the president "wants the agency to give it to him straight, and I plan to do just that and to defend those who do the same."
UN says 41 Europe-bound migrants fleeing Libya drown in Mediterranean
AP
UPDATED ON FEB 24, 2021 10:09 PM IST
- The UN migration and refugee agencies said in a joint statement that the dead were among at least 120 migrants on a dinghy that left Libya on February 18.
FATF to take a call on Pakistan's efforts to counter terror financing tomorrow
PUBLISHED ON FEB 24, 2021 10:06 PM IST
- FATF’s latest plenary is also being held at a time when the US has been irked by the Pakistan Supreme Court’s acquittal of terrorist Omar Saeed Sheikh, the principal accused in the 2002 murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl.
Pakistan military personnel punished over escape of Taliban figure: Spokesperson
Reuters, Rawalpindi
PUBLISHED ON FEB 24, 2021 09:40 PM IST
Liaqat Ali, the former public face of the militant Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), escaped last year three years after he handed himself in to the military.
US to admit asylum seekers from hard-hit camp at Texas border
Reuters, Washington
PUBLISHED ON FEB 24, 2021 09:11 PM IST
The camp, across the Rio Grande from Brownsville, Texas, is home to hundreds of migrants, most from Central America, hoping to be granted refuge across the border.
Over 23 tonnes of cocaine seized in Europe's biggest haul
Reuters
PUBLISHED ON FEB 24, 2021 09:04 PM IST
The two shipments together represented a street value of roughly $730 million, the Dutch prosecutors said.
North Korea enslaving political prisoners to fund weapons programme: Report
Reuters
PUBLISHED ON FEB 24, 2021 08:54 PM IST
According to the report, Pyongyang had been operating a "pyramid fraud-like" scheme to force those held in prison camps to produce quotas of coal and other goods for export.
