Former Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn has been living in Lebanon since escaping house arrest in Japan in late December.

Kuwait announced a "total curfew" will start Sunday to fight the coronavirus, but did not yet specify details.

Turkey supports the embattled Tripoli government against rebel forces from the east led by Gen. Khalifa Hifter.

An exclusive report, citing sources on the ground in Syria and Libya, says Syrian teenagers are being sent to Libya to take part in the civil war there.

MULTAN: The LPG Industries Association Pakistan has demanded a bailout package in the budget 2020-2021 so that the industry could survive in the most effective way.Talking to journalists here on Friday, LPGIAP chairman Irfan Khokhar said that the budget proposals had been dispatched to Prime...

CHITRAL: An isolation ward set up by Aga Khan Health Service at Tehsil Headquarters Hospital in Drosh, was handed over to the Health Department on Friday.District Health Officer Dr Shahzada Haiderul Mulk was chief guest at the ceremony in which AKHS representative Anwar Baig, Additional Assistant...

MANSEHRA: Two persons were killed and three others sustained injuries when a pickup vehicle plunged into a ravine in Shahshi Gigal area of Lower Kohistan on Friday.The vehicle was on way to Kokai from Gijal when it met to accident while negotiating a sharp turn.The local rushed to scene and...

PESHAWAR: The Pakistan People’s Party and the representatives of medical organisations of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have demanded an end to the privatisation of healthcare facilities in the province and provision of automated coronavirus testing machines to medical staff. The demand was made...

PESHAWAR: The Bacha Khan Medical College in Mardan has launched online classes for its students in order to enable them to pursue their studies without any hindrance.It was the first medical college that took the initiative after the government closed all educational institutions in the country...

MARDAN: The number of coronavirus positive cases reached 208 in Mardan district while the test reports of 684 people came back negative, health sources said.So far, 11 people have died of coronavirus in the district. The sources added that 1,149 tests were conducted in the district so far while...

PESHAWAR: CM Mahmood Khan has directed the officials concerned to finalise all arrangements for a formal groundbreaking of Rashakai Economic Zone.He was chairing a meeting held here on Friday to review progress on Rashakai and Hattar Economic Zones projects, said an official handout. Besides...

PESHAWAR: Speaker Provincial Assembly Mushtaq Ahmed Ghani visited Khyber Teaching Hospital to take of situation with regard to coronavirus on Friday.He was received by Medical Director Prof Dr Aamir Azhar and the hospital’s media manager. The speaker was briefed by medical director on the...

PESHAWAR: The media workers of the Jang Group on Friday continued the protest against the arrest of their Editor-in- chief Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman as representatives of the teachers organization visited the camp to express solidarity with journalists.Carrying banners and placards inscribed with...

Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing’s core business has been profitable, president Jean Liu Qing said for the first time, as ride orders in its domestic market recover from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.In a rare interview, Liu told the CNBC that Didi’s core business has been profitable, without providing specific figures or explaining how or when the company had measured its profitability. The company has no plans for job cuts or raising capital, Liu said in the interview that…

Negotiations between China and its Southeast Asian neighbours for a South China Sea code of conduct have been postponed as the nations involved put their efforts into containing the Covid-19 pandemic, creating uncertainty about whether the two sides can work together amid rising tensions in the contested territory.Southeast Asian nations are increasingly caught in a dilemma whether to maintain relations with Beijing during the pandemic while also fearing that tensions over the disputed waters…

Taiwan will gradually ease restrictions on travel and sporting activities, with the island’s health minister saying efforts to control the coronavirus were paying off.The island – home to 23 million people – had reported just 440 cases and six deaths from Covid-19 as of Thursday, with no local transmission for close to a month.Health Minister Chen Shih-chung said that with very few new cases among people returning to the island from elsewhere, the authorities would allow Taiwanese stranded in…

Criminal investigators in the United States have stepped up their pursuit of Covid-19 fraudsters selling unproven treatments and equipment online.The Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) has partnered with major health care and e-commerce companies to fight back against a deluge of fake goods being sold during the pandemic.There has been a rise in opportunists seeking to “capitalise and profit from the fear and anxiety” surrounding the Covid-19 disease, increasing sales of counterfeit…

Chinese researchers have found Covid-19 in the sperm of a small number of men, raising the possibility that the virus could be spread via sex.The study by physicians at China’s Shangqiu Municipal Hospital looked at only 38 men at the hospital who had tested positive with disease, and of that already small group found that a minority – only six – were found to have SARS-CoV-2 in their semen.Eyes are ‘important route’ for coronavirus into body, Hong Kong experts find“The virus responsible for…

As many as 44 million people in Africa could be infected with Covid-19 in the first year of the pandemic if containment measures fail – causing 83,000 to 190,000 deaths – according to modelling by the World Health Organisation, reflecting fears of a potential widening crisis on the continent.The study, released on Thursday by WHO Africa, looked at 47 countries with a combined population of 1 billion people and suggested smaller countries alongside Algeria, South Africa and Cameroon were at a…

Tensions are expected to rise in the South China Sea after Beijing’s annual summer ban on fishing in the disputed waters drew protests from rival claimants.China said it would prohibit fishing activities in the waters Beijing has claimed above the 12th parallel – including areas near the Scarborough Shoal, the Paracel Islands, and the Gulf of Tonkin – to conserve stocks.The ban, which came into effect from noon on May 1 runs until August 16 and China’s coastguard has promised to take the …

China’s will face an increasingly hostile world over the next five years, meaning its policy plan should be focused on its vast domestic market, home-grown technological innovation and improving its citizens’ welfare, according to recommendations in a new paper.The report by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), a think tank affiliated with the State Council, foresees the next five years presenting “major changes unseen in a century” for China, as “the strategic game between…

Covid-19 cases in France can be dated back to as early as November 16, nearly 10 weeks before the country’s first confirmed cases of the disease were thought to have occurred, according to a French hospital.The November case was identified by the hospital’s medical imaging department after carrying out a retrospective study on about 2,500 chest scans performed between November 1 and April 30.The findings came as the World Health Organisation (WHO) called on countries to investigate pneumonia…

Chinese scientists say they have identified two antibodies that could be candidates for a cocktail treatment for patients with different strains of the coronavirus.The antibodies were found to work together as a team to prevent the virus from latching onto a host cell, in a study led by Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention director George Fu Gao with collaborators from across the country.They said that even a mutant strain was likely to be neutralised because the antibodies…

Good morning, this is Melissa Zhu from the SCMP tech desk in Hong Kong with a wrap of some of our best stories from this week.First, the bad news. After Wuhan lifted its lockdown in early April and Beijing downgraded its emergency response level last month, satellite images and air quality index (AQI) data are showing a return of air pollution to parts of China, as Coco Feng reports.China's air quality had improved in recent months as result of recent lockdowns and industrial stoppages related…

China’s military may have been spared any coronavirus infections, but the global health crisis has slowed the progress of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s plan to transform the People’s Liberation Army into a modern fighting force capable of long-range power-projecting operations, experts say.According to China’s defence ministry, the world’s largest armed force – with about 2.3 million personnel – has had zero confirmed cases of Covid-19. In contrast, the US and Russian militaries, ranked second…

Help is at hand for parents struggling to explain the coronavirus pandemic and ease their children’s anxieties, with a number of books available for a range of age groups.The latest in the genre is The Big Thing , by Americans Angela Meng and Alexander Friedman, a former chief financial officer at the Gates Foundation. The book is available in English, Chinese and Spanish – with translators working on more language editions – and proceeds of e-book and print sales will go to Covid-19 charities…

China and Russia must fulfil their duties as recognised world leaders and work together to defeat Covid-19, Chinese President Xi Jinping told Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Friday, in the latest show of solidarity between the long-term allies.Likening the global health crisis to the second world war, which in China is often referred to as a war against fascism, Xi said that Beijing would continue to provide support to Moscow as it battled the deadly disease.“Being among the main victor powers…

Japan said it deployed patrols and issued warnings to a group of Chinese coastguard vessels spotted pursuing a Japanese fishing boat in the hotly contested waters of the East China Sea on Friday.The Japan Coast Guard said on Saturday that four Chinese coastguard vessels entered waters close to the Diaoyu Islands – a group of uninhabited islands controlled by Tokyo and known locally as known as Senkaku – at about 4pm.The face-off took place about 50 minutes later, when two of the Chinese vessels…

British consumers have spent their six weeks of coronavirus lockdown sewing, drinking cocktails, carrying out home beauty treatments and eating large quantities of kimchi.That is according to a report from John Lewis Partnership Plc on the nation’s shopping behaviour since March 23, when Prime Minister Boris Johnson told everyone to stay at home unless absolutely necessary.The partnership, which owns the John Lewis department store and Waitrose grocery chains beloved by the British middle…

Top Chinese and US trade negotiators will speak as soon as next week on progress in implementing a phase one deal after US President Donald Trump threatened to “terminate” the agreement if Beijing was not adhering to the terms.Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He will be on the call, according to people familiar with the matter. The US will be represented by US Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer, one of the people said.The planned phone call will be the first time Liu and Lighthizer speak…

There is a long way to go before the Covid-19 crisis ends. Hong Kong and a few other places seem to have suppressed community transmission. But in much of the world, the virus still claims new victims every day.Some experts believe the global pandemic could continue for another two years before it is brought under control with testing, contact tracing, therapy and perhaps a vaccine.It is hard to see international travel and trade returning to normal anytime this year. Worldwide, unemployment…

Tourism is a key component in the European economy, accounting for 10 per cent of all activity, but it now faces its greatest challenge – how to survive the coronavirus pandemic?International tourist arrivals could plunge by 60 to 80 per cent in 2020 owing to the coronavirus, the World Tourism Organisation warned on Thursday, meaning the local business is going to be essential.France is the world’s leading destination for holiday travel but President Emmanuel Macron warned earlier this week it…

Legal proceedings have been launched in Switzerland against Britain’s Prince Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah, a newspaper reported on Thursday, over money they were said to still owe on a luxury chalet.Queen Elizabeth’s second son and Sarah, who remain close despite their 1996 divorce, bought the plush holiday home in the Verbier ski resort in southwest Switzerland in 2014 for 22 million Swiss francs (US$21.7 million).The wooden chalet has seven bedrooms, an indoor swimming pool and a sauna, Le…

These days, as Wilson Mak drifts off to sleep after another 14-hour day at a New York funeral home, images of Covid-19 victims flash through his mind.“When I close my eyes, I still see those ugly sights,” says Mak, manager of Ng Fook Funeral Services in New York City. “It’s unbearable.”Ng Fook’s four funeral homes in the city’s various Chinese communities are a microcosm of an overwhelmed industry as corpses pile up in hallways, trucks and makeshift morgues across hotspots of the disease in the…

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formally received the support of a majority of lawmakers to lead a new government on Thursday, paving the way for a controversial power-sharing deal with rival-turned-partner Benny Gantz.Later in the day, Israel’s figurehead president, Reuven Rivlin, assigned Netanyahu the task of forming a government within two weeks, after he received the signatures of 72 lawmakers endorsing the Likud party leader as prime minister.Israel’s parliament, the Knesset,…

After the National People’s Congress removed presidential term limits in 2018, there was much speculation that Xi Jinping would remain in power past the end of his second term in 2023.Then 2019 happened. China’s trade war with the United States dragged on, with no end in sight. Hongkongers took to the streets to protest against Beijing’s backtracking on Hong Kong’s “one country, two systems” form of governance. Relations with Taipei worsened. And finally, Covid-19, a disease outbreak that began…

Congressional Republicans continued their assault on Beijing on Thursday, launching a campaign to change the address of its embassy in Washington in honour of the late coronavirus whistle-blower doctor Li Wenliang, and announcing the establishment of a party-led “China task force” in the House of Representatives.Under new bills introduced in both the Senate and House, the official address of the Chinese embassy in Washington’s leafy northwest would be changed from 3505 International Place to 1…

A US regulator on Thursday pulled approval for dozens of companies making industry-standard masks in China, citing substandard performance, and warned health care providers to reconsider using any of the now-blacklisted products.After the US Food and Drug Administration’s determination that many of the made-in-China N95-style masks filter out less than 95 per cent of particulate matter – the filtration level that gives the N95 mask its name – the approved number of manufacturers dropped to 14…

Top trade negotiators from the United States and China spoke by phone on Friday and vowed to continue to support the phase one trade deal, Chinese state media reported, in their first contact since the agreement was signed in January.On the call, China’s Vice-Premier Liu He, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer “vowed to implement their trade deal and boost cooperation on public health”, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.The officials said…

In a series of in-depth articles, we look at the early lessons learned from the coronavirus pandemic. 1. Wanted: world leaders to answer the coronavirus pandemic alarm The international community has sleepwalked into an emergency that it could have prepared for years ago, analysts say. 2. One virus caused Covid-19; scientists say thousands more are in waiting In the second part of our series on lessons learned from the pandemic, we look at the need to identify new viruses and the risks of…

Zoom Video Communications pushed forward on Thursday in its effort to revamp its security, striking a deal with the New York attorney general’s office to protect users’ privacy and purchasing secure messaging start-up Keybase.The company, which has faced backlash for failing to disclose that its service was not fully end-to-end encrypted said it planned to develop tools that will give more controls to meeting hosts and allow users to securely join a meeting and submit them to external review…

Police on Thursday arrested two white men for the shooting death of an unarmed black jogger in Georgia whose killing was captured in a video that went viral, sparking massive public outcry.Ahmaud Arbery, 25, was killed on February 23 as he ran on a sunny day in his residential neighbourhood in the town of Brunswick.But the case gained national notoriety this week with the release of a 28-second mobile phone video that captured the shooting.“Gregory & Travis McMichael have been arrested for the…

The African Union (AU) said it has held discussions with officials from Madagascar to find out more about a herbal drink recently touted by the island nation’s president as a possible treatment for Covid-19.According to a statement issued on Tuesday, AU Commissioner for Social Affairs Amira El Fadil held a meeting with the chargé d’affaires of Madagascar’s embassy in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on April 30, at which it was agreed that more information would be provided about the…

Researchers have identified a coronavirus mutation that has quickly become dominant as Covid-19 spreads around the world, but it is unclear yet whether the strain will prove more contagious or deadly than the original.A study led by Bette Korber, a computational biologist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, found 13 mutations in the spike protein that the coronavirus uses to infect human cells.One of these, known as D614G, was described as being of “urgent concern” because it…

Germany’s defence ministry and BND foreign spy agency have privately cast doubt on American claims that the coronavirus pandemic originated in a Chinese lab, media reported on Friday.An internal memo prepared for Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer “classifies the American claims as a calculated attempt to distract” from Washington’s own failings, Der Spiegel reported.US President Donald Trump is attempting “to distract from his own mistakes and direct Americans’ anger at China”,…

The bombastic military parade through Moscow’s Red Square on Saturday was slated to be the spectacle of the year on the Kremlin’s calendar.Standing with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and French President Emmanuel Macron, President Vladimir Putin would have overseen a 90-minute procession of Russia’s military might, showcasing 15,000 troops and the latest hardware.But that was before the coronavirus pandemic.Now, military jets will roar over an eerily quiet Moscow, streaming red, white and blue…

A large-scale study in New York looking at the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine has cast further doubt on its effectiveness in the treatment of Covid-19 patients.Researchers at Columbia University observed nearly 1,400 patients at a large medical centre in New York City in March and April. They found hydroxychloroquine use led to neither a higher nor lower chance of patients ending up with intubation or death.“Our results cannot completely exclude the possibility of either modest benefit or…

It took just one month for the labour market in the world’s largest economy to capsize. It will take longer for the damage to be fully realised.In the harshest downturn for American workers in history, employers cut an unprecedented 20.5 million jobs in April, tripling the unemployment rate to 14.7 per cent, the highest since the Great Depression era of the 1930s. And it’s only set to worsen in May, as cuts spread further into white-collar work.“It’s devastating,” said Ryan Sweet, head of…

Authorities in the southern US state of Georgia said Friday they had “more than sufficient probable cause” to charge two white men over the killing of an unarmed black jogger, but did not explain why it took 74 days for the suspects to be detained.Gregory McMichael, 64, and his son Travis, 34, were arrested late Thursday and charged with murder and aggravated assault in the February 23 death of 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery.Arbery’s death in the coastal city of Brunswick, captured in a video that…

South African Fredie Blom celebrated his 116th birthday on Friday unfazed by the coronavirus crisis, over 100 years since the Spanish flu pandemic killed his sister.“I have lived this long because of God’s grace,” said Blom, possibly one of the oldest men in the world.Lighting a cigarette, he recalled the 1918 pandemic that left tens of millions dead worldwide including his sister.Blom was born in 1904 in the rural town of Adelaide, tucked near the Great Winterberg mountain range of South…