Author: AFP

New Delhi extends coronavirus lockdown as India cases hit new record

NEW DELHI: India’s capital New Delhi on Sunday extended its lockdown as the country’s Covid-19 crisis grew with infections and deaths hitting record highs. The announcement came as the healthcare system struggled to cope with the huge surge, with reports of severe oxygen and medicine shortages and patients’ families pleading

Indonesia says missing submarine found, all 53 crew killed

BALI: All 53 crew aboard an Indonesian submarine that disappeared last week were killed, the military said Sunday as it confirmed the vessel had been found in pieces on the seafloor. Authorities said that they picked up signals early Sunday from a location more than 800 metres (2,600 feet) deep

Crumbs! UK retail war over chocolate caterpillar cake

LONDON: It’s one of Britain’s more unusual legal wrangles, involving a chocolate cake in the shape of a caterpillar and two of the country’s best-known retailers. Marks and Spencer has threatened its cheaper supermarket rival Aldi and the high-street giants have traded barbs on social media. M&S’ food store chain

Instagram lets users filter insults in private message requests

PARIS: Instagram started offering users on Wednesday the option to filter incoming direct message requests for hurtful language, a step aimed at showing the Facebook-owned social network is serious about reducing online harassment. “Because DMs are private conversations, we don’t proactively look for hate speech or bullying the same way

Hong Kong woman, 90, loses $32 million in phone scam

HONG KONG: A 90-year-old Hong Kong woman has been conned out of $32million by fraudsters posing as Chinese officials, police said, in the city’s biggest recorded phone scam. Hong Kong’s elderly are plagued by phone scammers who seek out vulnerable and wealthy victims willing to transfer money or make bogus

Graveyard of the bikes: China’s failed share-cycle scheme from above

BEIJING: Handlebars tight in snaking rows of colour, thousands of abandoned bicycles line an open field outside the city of Shenyang, relics of a shared bike mania that has overwhelmed China’s cities. The turquoise, blue and yellow bicycles, arranged in long lines, some piled on top of each other, bear

Taiwan’s worst drought in decades deepens chip shortage jitters

TAIPEI: In the foothills of Taiwan’s mountainous spine, reservoirs are running dry as the island experiences its worst drought in decades — a crisis that risks deepening an already acute global semiconductor shortage. Taiwan is home to some of the world’s biggest and most advanced high-tech foundries, a linchpin of

Sri Lanka’s ‘Mrs World’ quits amid criminal charges

COLOMBO: A Mrs World winner facing criminal charges after an on-stage fracas at a Sri Lankan beauty pageant has relinquished her title, organisers said Wednesday. Caroline Jurie made international headlines after yanking the crown off the winner at the local segment of Mrs World in Sri Lanka at a Colombo

Apple powers up iPads after pandemic-fuelled surge

SAN FRANCISCO: Apple on Tuesday unveiled a new line-up of powered-up iPads including some with 5G connectivity, responding to surging interest in tablets and home-based work and play during the pandemic. The California tech giant also introduced a redesigned suite of iMac computers with a sleeker look and more power