BBC News: FBI Director Christopher Wray has said that the bureau believes Covid-19 “most likely” originated in a “Chinese government-controlled lab”. “The FBI has for quite some time now assessed that the origins of the pandemic are most likely a potential lab incident,” he told Fox News. It is the first public confirmation of the […]
BBC News: India is likely to face a blistering summer after recording its hottest February since 1901, its weather department has said. Average maximum temperature was 29.5C in February, the highest since India started keeping proper weather records. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has also forecast “enhanced probability” of heatwaves between March and May. Prolonged […]
ABC News: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Kazakhstan on Tuesday for a series of meetings with top diplomats of Central Asian nations as tensions soar over Russia’s war in Ukraine. Blinken sat down for talks with Kazakh Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tileuberdi and then with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. A meeting of the so-called […]
BBC News: China has accused the US of overreacting after federal employees were ordered to remove the video app TikTok from government-issued phones. On Monday, the White House gave government agencies 30 days to ensure that employees did not have the Chinese-owned app on federal devices. The order follows similar moves by the EU and […]
ABC News: KUPIANSK, Ukraine — A tank carrying Ukrainian infantry speeds toward a target position marked with a metal sheet. The soldiers climb down, hurl grenades and unleash a crackle of machine-gun fire. Then they repeat the moves, getting faster with every iteration. It’s only a drill. But with the sounds of the real war […]
ABC News: MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine president said the main mission of his country’s military has changed to ensure the protection of its territory as disputes with China and U.S.-China rivalry intensify. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. stressed the urgency of shifting the military’s focus to external defense in a speech before troops Monday afternoon. […]
BBC News: The situation in the city of Bakhmut, on the eastern frontline, is becoming “more and more difficult”, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has said. Russian forces have been trying to take the city for over six months. “The enemy is constantly destroying everything that can be used to protect our positions”, Mr Zelensky stated. […]
BBC News: A new coast-to-coast winter storm is forecast to pummel parts of California, the Midwest and US north-east this week. Parts of the north-east could see up to 8in (20cm) of snow, the National Weather Service (NWS) said, with New York City getting 2-6in. Further heavy snow is forecast on the other side of […]
BBC News: A temple in the southern Indian state of Kerala has introduced a mechanical elephant to conduct its rituals. The initiative by authorities at Irinjadappilly Sree Krishna Temple in Thrissur district is part of their pledge to stop using live animals for any festivities. The model was donated by People for Ethical Treatment of […]
BBC News: The US envoy to China has called on the country to be “more honest” about the origins of the Covid-19 virus. His comments come a day after US media reported a federal agency had found the pandemic probably started from a laboratory leak in Wuhan. China’s foreign ministry hit back that the global […]