Source: CNBC
Security & Justice
State Action Signals Change in Tackling Longstanding Illegal Land Grabs in Jbeil District
For years, the serene villages of Jbeil's highlands have been far from peaceful. Ghabat, a Maronite village nestled between the predominantly Shiite towns of Afqa and Lassa, has become a focal point of growing tensions due to territorial disputes.
Friday, December 20, 2024
Mawlawi Ensures Strict Monitoring for Wanted Syrian Regime Figures at Beirut Airport
Caretaker Minister of Interior, Bassam Mawlawi, conducted an inspection tour of Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut to review the security arrangements and measures implemented by the Airport Security Apparatus ahead of the holiday season.
Thursday, December 19, 2024
Opinion
Lebanon After the Assads
The United States has important equities in Lebanon, including a desire for a generally friendly government’s economic and political stability; security cooperation; long-standing relations with the large Christian community in Lebanon and Lebanese diaspora in the United States; and ultimately peace between Israel and Lebanon within a broader regional settlement. Achieving these objectives will require navigating a tumultuous period in the country’s history following a war between Hezbollah and Israel that has devastated a large part of the country, exacerbating Lebanon’s already challenging economic conditions. But perhaps the most important dynamic will be how a likely Sunni-dominated state of uncertain composition in Syria will differ in its intentions toward Lebanon from the previous Alawite-led minoritarian Assad regime.
Thursday, December 19, 2024
Europe’s Syrian Dilemma
The news of the sudden and unexpected demise of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria has met a mixed response in Europe. The jubilation that a murderous dictator and close ally of Russia and Iran has fallen is not just good for the Syrian people but serves as a morale booster for Eastern Europeans wondering whether Russia can be defeated
Wednesday, December 18, 2024
Sports
Cristiano Ronaldo Unveils New Private Jet Worth $73 Million
Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the richest global athletes, has unveiled his upgraded private jet reportedly worth $73 million. With its top-notch design, exceptional speed and range of 7500 nautical miles, the Gulfstream G650 is among the fastest jets in the world.
Monday, December 16, 2024
Guardiola Accepts Man City May Need to Sign More Players to Cope with Schedule
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola believes he will need a bigger squad to handle soccer’s ever-expanding fixture schedule.
Saturday, December 14, 2024
Wednesday 17 November 2021 12:41:19
WHO Says Delta Variant Accounts for 99% of Covid Cases around the World
The delta variant, first detected in India a little less than a year ago, now represents 99% of sequenced Covid-19 cases globally, making it more prevalent than any other strain, officials from the World Health Organization said Tuesday.
Almost all of the up to 900,000 Covid cases sequenced worldwide over the last 60 days originated from the delta strain, Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s technical lead on Covid, said during a Q&A streamed on the organization’s social media channels. Van Kerkhove’s comments come amid an international increase in Covid infections driven by surging cases in Europe. The Continent accounted for roughly 60% of the more than 3.3 million new cases in the world last week, Van Kerkhove said.
“Delta is really the dominant one,” Van Kerkhove said. “And there are two variants of interest – mu and lambda – that we’ve been tracking as well, but again, where delta is present, delta takes over.”
Van Kerkhove said Europe represented more than half of the just under 50,000 global Covid deaths in the last week, a 5% increase in fatalities across the Continent. Covid cases worldwide have been increasing over the last four consecutive weeks, she added.
“The pandemic is heading in the wrong direction at the moment,” Van Kerkhove said.
The decreased use of masks and social distancing are to blame for Europe’s surge, Van Kerkhove said at a briefing last week. She cautioned Tuesday that societies reopening across the Northern Hemisphere this winter could lead to a rise in respiratory illnesses over the months ahead, including influenza and other pathogens.
Select European countries are bearing the brunt of the surge. Germany set a record seven-day average of nearly 39,300 new cases on Monday, up almost 40% from the week before, according to a CNBC analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University.
The U.K. tallied a weekly average of more than 38,500 new cases Monday, an increase of 13% from the previous week. Seven-day averages in France and Italy were both up by nearly 40% as well.
Russia also saw a pandemic high seven-day average of roughly 1,199 deaths on Monday, Johns Hopkins reported. But its seven-day average case count, over 38,000 infections, decreased by more than 2%.
