WHO says new team could be ‘last chance’ to find COVID-19 origins
The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that its newly established task force could be the 'last chance' to find the truth about the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. Nearly 2 years after the coronavirus was first detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan, its origins still remain unclear and experts continue to question whether the virus jumped from animals to humans or if it could have leaked from a laboratory.
Source - India Today
Afghan footballers and their families flown to Qatar
Qatar, in coordination with FIFA, has evacuated almost 100 footballers and their families from Afghanistan - confirmed officials in Doha.
The group was flown from Kabul to Doha on a flight that carried 357 passengers on Thursday, with many female football athletes amongst them. Upon arriving in Qatar, the passengers were transported to a compound facility that is currently hosting other Afghan civilians and evacuees in the west of Doha.
Source - Hindustan Times
Pakistan Airlines suspends Afghanistan flights amid Taliban row
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has suspended flights to Kabul after what it called 'heavy-handed' interference by Taliban authorities.
The suspension came on Thursday after the Taliban Government ordered the airline, which was the only international carrier operating regularly out of the Afghan capital, to cut ticket prices to the levels of before the fall of the Western-backed Afghan Government in August 2021.
Source - Al Jazeera
UN deal contains no clause allowing 'Free Movement' for Rohingyas on the island: Report
A deal for the United Nations, to start working on the remote Bangladeshi island where the Bangladesh Government has sent thousands of Rohingya refugees, offers no guarantee they will be allowed to move freely to the mainland, says a copy of the agreement.
The Bangladesh government has moved nearly 19,000 Rohingya refugees, members of a persecuted mostly-Muslim minority from Myanmar, to Bhasan Char island from border camps.
Source - Reuters
Sri Lanka seeks USD 500 million loan from India for fuel purchase: Report
Sri Lanka has sought a USD 500 million credit line from India to pay for its crude oil purchases, amidst a severe foreign exchange crisis in the island nation. The move came few days after the Energy Minister, Udaya Gammanpila, warned that the current availability of fuel in the country can be guaranteed only till next January.
The state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) owes nearly USD 3.3 billion to the two main government banks - Bank of Ceylon and People's Bank.
Source - The Week
Bali reopens to tourists, but no direct international flights yet
The Indonesian island of Bali has reopened to foreign tourists on Oct 14, 2021 - 18 months after its borders were closed - but without any international flights.
The island has built much of its prosperity on tourism, and the prolonged closure has left many people out of work and businesses, including hotels and restaurants. The island’s Ngurah Rai International Airport has carried out simulations preparing for tourists to return but is not expecting much to happen soon.
Source - Bloomberg
Myanmar faces falling currency, dollar crunch as the economy worsens
Myanmar is battling a plunging local currency amidst an unprecedented dollar shortage, driving up the cost of imports and worsening the economy’s struggle with the pandemic and the post-coup financial isolation.
The Kyat has tumbled about 50% since the military seized power in February, which triggered a freeze on parts of Myanmar’s foreign reserves held in the U.S. and suspension of multilateral aids - both of which are key sources of foreign currency supplies.
Source - Worldakkam
Kremlin denounces Japan’s sovereignty claim over disputed islands
The Kremlin has denounced a claim by Japan’s new prime minister, that Japan’s sovereignty extends to a chain of islands disputed by Tokyo and Moscow. While Moscow regards the archipelago that separates the Sea of Okhotsk and Pacific Ocean as its own, Tokyo claims that its 4 southernmost islands belong to Japan.
The disputed islands of Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai lie at their closest point just a few kilometres off the north coast of Hokkaido, the northernmost of Japan’s main islands.
Source - Sky News
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