US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday made a surprise trip to Kyiv as the Joe Biden administration announced additional military aid worth over $2 billion for Ukraine and neighbouring countries to face Russia.
Antony Blinken travelled in secrecy as he marked his second trip to Kyiv since the Russian invasion in February.
In meetings with senior Ukrainian officials, Antony Blinken said that the Biden administration would provide $2 billion in long-term foreign military financing to Ukraine and 18 of its neighbors, including NATO members and regional security partners “most potentially at risk for future Russian aggression”, Associated Press reported.
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Crisis-hit Sri Lanka swears in 37 junior ministers, two for finance
Sri Lanka swore in 37 junior ministers, including two for the critical finance ministry, the president’s office said on Thursday, in a major expansion of the crisis-hit country’s government. The island of 22 million people is facing its worst economic turmoil since independence from Britain in 1948. While President Ranil Wickremesinghe remains finance minister, lawmakers Ranjith Siyambalapitiya and Shehan Semasinghe were sworn in as state ministers in the finance ministry.
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Hong Kong extends vaccine passes to kids as young as five
Hong Kong will include children aged five and above in its COVID-19 vaccine pass scheme from the end of September, the government said on Thursday, as authorities try to boost inoculation levels there. Currently 55% of children aged 12-19 have had three vaccine shots but just 14% in the 3-11 age group. Masks are mandated in most places in Hong Kong and gatherings of more than four people prohibited.
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Austria’s Volker Turk proposed to be next UN human rights chief: 5 points
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will propose Austria’s Volker Turk to be the next High Commissioner for Human Rights, Reuters reported citing a UN document. Traditionally, UN chief consults with the UN’s Security Council’s permanent members – China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States – before selecting the High Commissioner. Here are five points on the proposed UN human rights chief Volker Turk: 1. Follow Hindustan Times’ World Coverage here 2.
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Covid-19: Chengdu lockdown continues as China advises citizens not to travel during holidays
Chengdu, a megacity with over 21 million residents, indefinitely extended the ongoing lockdown on Thursday to contain a spreading Covid-19 outbreak as the national health authorities said the virus situation continues to be “serious and complex” in the country. “The prevention and control situation of Covid-19 is still serious and complex as 29 provinces in the Chinese mainland reported local Covid-19 inflections in September,” Mi Feng, national health commission spokesperson said on Thursday.
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2022 is Europe’s hottest summer on record
The summer of 2022 was the hottest in Europe’s recorded history as the continent baked in record-shattering heatwaves and the worst drought in centuries, the European Commission’s satellite monitor said on Thursday. The Copernicus Climate Change Service said temperatures in Europe had been the “highest on record for both the month of August and the summer (June-August) as a whole”.