Hong Kong is scrapping its mask mandate from Wednesday, Chief Executive John Lee announced, ending the financial hub's last major Covid curb as it seeks to emerge from the pandemic.. "I announce that the masking requirement will be completely cancelled starting tomorrow, March 1, including for indoors, outdoors and (on) public transportation," Lee said at a brief press conference on Tuesday.
Tackling one of the greatest human tragedies, a new video game has been released in which players adopt roles in a Jewish family torn from their home during the Holocaust and sent to an internment camp.. Players follow along with a Jewish family as they endure life under France's wartime Vichy regime only to be arrested in 1942 during the massive Vel' d'Hiv roundup in Paris and sent to the Pithiviers internment camp.
Finland, which has one of Europe's longest borders with Russia, on Tuesday kicks off a parliamentary debate aimed at accelerating the country's bid to join NATO, increasing the likelihood it will leave neighbour and military partner Sweden behind.. Finland will debate the bill on Tuesday, coinciding with a visit from NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg -- who will meet with Prime Minister Sanna Marin and President Sauli Niinisto.
The world's oceans and the multiple threats they face, from climate change and pollution to overfishing and mining, will be the focus of a global conference in Panama this week.. "This vital asset is in danger from global warming, unsustainable practices, illegal fishing, reckless pollution, and the loss of marine habitats," it added.
The United States has asked Mexico to extradite a son of jailed drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman accused of following in his father's footsteps, a Mexican government spokesman said Monday.. Ovidio Guzman, who was captured in January, has allegedly helped to run his father's infamous Sinaloa cartel since El Chapo was handed over to the United States in 2017.
Here are milestones in the rocky Brexit process, from the UK's shock 2016 vote to leave the European Union to a new deal on trade rules for Northern Ireland called the Windsor Framework.. The new "Windsor Framework" creates a check-free lane for goods coming from the rest of the UK that are intended to stay in Northern Ireland, without heading into Ireland and the EU's single market.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived early Tuesday in Kazakhstan on a trip aimed at boosting the US role in Central Asia, where giant neighbour Russia's invasion of Ukraine has prompted fears.. The trip is the most senior to Central Asia by an official in US President Joe Biden's administration and comes days after the anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which has received billions of dollars in Western support.
Antarctic sea ice likely shrunk to a record low last week, US researchers said Monday, its lowest extent in the 45 years of satellite record-keeping.. That exceeded the previous record low set in 2022 by 136,000 square kilometers (52,500 square miles).
Florida's governor seized control of Walt Disney World's self-governing district on Monday, hailing the end of the "corporate kingdom" as he effectively punished the entertainment giant over its "woke" opposition to his political agenda.. "We want our kids to be kids, we want them to be able to enjoy entertainment, school, without having an agenda imposed upon them," said DeSantis, who has labeled Disney a "woke corporation" in the past.
Britain and the EU struck a deal Monday to re-fashion a post-Brexit trade agreement with Northern Ireland that has become a significant political problem.. However, the trade deal reached in 2020 ultimately led to political troubles in Northern Ireland and threats from London to unilaterally overhaul it.
