Archives: Shortcuts

Israeli settlers rampaged through the Palestinian town of Huwwara near Nablus in the West Bank, throwing rocks through shop windows, injuring motorists and attacking homes. They were celebrating the release of a man from prison who had been convicted of assaulting Palestinians.Read More

South Korea has detected two ballistic missile launches from the north’s east coast. They landed outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone. This is the sixth round of missile tests by the north in this month and flows from the decision to resume all suspended activities (long range missile launches and nuclear tests).Read More

“The golden age of Air India lies ahead. Our journey towards it starts now. Welcome and welcome back.” With those words Tata Sons Chairman S Chandrasekharan formally initiated the airline back into the Tata stable from where it was taken nearly 70 years ago. He said the company was committed to making Air India a […]Read More

The U.S. has sealed a $2.5 billion arms deal with Egypt that includes the sale of 12 C-130 transport aircraft and radar defence systems. The deal comes despite Washington’s concerns about Cairo’s poor human rights record with an estimated 60,000 political prisoners.Read More

Israel’s President Isaac Herzog will visit the UAE at the end of the month, capping a diplomatic breakthrough that began 16 months ago when Abu Dhabi broke the Arab boycott of the Jewish state. Last month Prime Minister Naftali Bennet visited the UAE for talks on Iran, a priority for Tel Aviv.Read More

The government is expected to formally hand over Air India to the Tatas on Thursday, nearly 69 years after it was nationalised. This brings to an end a process which began last year when a tender saw Tatas win the airline for  ₹18,000 crore.Read More

Cash-strapped Pakistan has raised $1 billion in loans through the Sukuk Islamic bond, which has an interest rate of 7.95 per cent.  It has also pledged a portion of the Islamabad-Lahore motorway as collateral. The money will be used to ensure its forex reserves are maintained at a certain level.Read More

London police are investigating reports of a string of parties held at Downing Street, which is the prime minister’s office, and at Whitehall at a time Covid restrictions were in force.  ITV has reported that Boris Johnson broke Covid rules by having a birthday bash on June 19, 2020, puting the prime minister under more […]Read More

U.S. President Joe Biden was caught on camera calling a Fox News journalist “a stupid son of a b****”.  Peter Doocy, the object of his abuse, had asked him at a press briefing whether inflation would be a liability during the mid-term elections. Biden had sarcastically responded: “It’s a great asset, more inflation.” He later […]Read More

Justice Ayesha Malik has been sworn in as Pakistan’s first female Supreme Court judge. She now sits in Islamabad alongside 16 male judges.  She has worked to roll back patriarchal legal mores in her native Punjab province where she served as a judge in Lahore High Court.Read More

Australian prime minister Scott Morrison’s WeChat account has disappeared prompting accusations that the Chinese government interfered to remove it. His account has been replaced with another one titled Australian Chinese New Life. Morrison has had a WeChat account since 2019.Read More

The first Taliban delegation to Europe has begun meeting Afghan civil society activists including women outside Oslo, capital of Norway. The delegation is led by foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and there will be meetings with Western diplomats also.Read More

UAE air defences intercepted and shot down two ballistic missiles fired by Houthi rebels from a launch site in Yemen. The defence ministry later tweeted that a UAE F-16 attacked and destroyed the missile launcher in Al Jawf, western Yemen. This was the second attack since last week’s Houthi attack on oil storage tanks near […]Read More

President Xi Jinping is a risk to the Chinese economy, according to a report in Nikkei Asia, quoting Chinese sources. It said if the economy failed to improve by autumn, when the Communist party will hold a key congress, it could affect Xi’s power.Read More

Germany’s naval chief Vice Admiral Kay-Achim Schonbach has quit after his remarks at a Delhi think tank drew a sharp reaction in Berlin. He had called for respect for Russia’s President Putin, said Crimea would never return to Ukraine, and it was important to keep Russia away from China. Read More

Devas Multimedia says it will continue in its efforts to seize Indian assets notwithstanding the Supreme Court order dissolving the company in India. It accused the Modi government and the courts of trying to rewrite facts and said allegations of fraud will not stand in any court outside India.Read More

The Omicron variant of the Covid virus is dominant in Indian cities and is at the stage of community transmission.  INSACOG (Indian Sars Covid-2 Genomics Consortium) which is studying the variants of the virus also warned that an infectious sub-variant of the virus has been detected called BA.2 in many places. India, with over 3.3 […]Read More

The U.S. Senate Judiciary committee has approved a bill that would bar tech giants like Apple and Google from favouring their businesses on their websites. The bill follows widespread anger over these firms that are accused of abusing their outsize market power.Read More

New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Arden warned her countrymen that an Omicron outbreak was inevitable and while the government would not order lockdowns, there would be restrictions. If Omicron was detected, a red alert would be sounded, crowds would be restricted and masks would be mandatory.Read More

China is about three to four generations away from realising capabilities needed to manufacture “cutting edge” semiconductor chips, says Mario Morales, vice president of International Data Corp. He defined cutting edge chips as those of 16 and 14 nanometer and smaller. China is making heavy investments in these technologies but lacks critical software and equipment.Read More