LONDON: The coronavirus pandemic has caused the permanent closure of bricks-and-mortar retailers worldwide but European home-improvements giant Kingfisher is looking to expand, chief executive Thierry Garnier told AFP in an interview. Kingfisher, along with rivals, have been allowed to keep stores open during the virus outbreak, enabling customers to purchase
JAKARTA: An Indonesian cathedral was rocked by a suicide bombing on Sunday with body parts littering the chaotic scene as Christians inside celebrated the start of Holy Week. The powerful blast at the church in Makassar city on Sulawesi island happened around 10:30 am local time and left at least
PARIS: Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders announced Tuesday that it has filed a lawsuit against Facebook in France, saying the website breaks its own terms by failing to protect users against hate speech. The Paris-based campaign group, known by its French acronym RSF, said it was taking Facebook to court
WINDSOR, Australia: Seventeen-year-old Rory Kirkland has lived in Australia for three years, but he has already experienced the full range of the country’s extreme weather, from searing heat to unprecedented bushfires and now floodwaters lapping the door of his family home. Most of the year, the Hawkesbury River meanders calmly
LONDON: Oil prices slumped Tuesday on lower demand prospects as Europe’s biggest economy Germany said it would reimpose strict coronavirus containment measures and struggles along with other EU nations to roll out vaccines. European stock markets were mixed and US stock indices drifted lower after sharp losses in Asia. On
GRINDAVIK, Iceland: A volcano that spewed glowing red lava near Iceland’s capital Reykjavik after awakening for the first time in 900 years appeared to be subsiding on Saturday, experts said. Officials said the eruption was small and did not represent a danger to people. Dramatic images filmed by a coast
FRANKFURT: EU chief Ursula von der Leyen threatened Saturday to halt exports of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccines if the bloc did not receive its promised deliveries first, escalating a row that has fanned international tensions. “We have the option of banning a planned export. That’s the message to AstraZeneca: you fulfil
PARIS: Our weekly roundup of offbeat stories from around the world: Only codding Taiwan has been forced to ask people to stop changing their name to “salmon” after scores of young people did just that to take up a giveaway at a chain of sushi restaurants. Any customer whose ID
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has tested positive for Covid-19, his office said Saturday, just two days after he was vaccinated against the disease. The diagnosis comes as the country grapples with a deadly third wave of a virus that has already killed nearly 13,800 people from more than
FRANKFURT: German auto giant Volkswagen said Tuesday it is aiming to dominate the electric car market by 2025 as it accelerates the pace to catch up with US pioneer Tesla. Volkswagen sold 422,000 electrified vehicles in 2020. Of those, 230,000 were fully electric cars — or three times more than