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Bart Gorman, the deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, has been expelled from Russia, the Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed on Thursday.

MOSCOW, Feb. 17 — Gorman was ordered to leave in response to the “unjustified” expulsion of the minister-counsellor of the Russian Embassy in Washington, the ministry’s spokesperson Maria Zakharova said in a statement, following media reports earlier in the day.

The U.S. Department of State “defiantly” ignored Moscow’s request to extend the Russian diplomat’s stay at least until the arrival of his successor, she noted.

The minister counsellors forced departure without a replacement aggravated the already critical shortage of personnel in the Russian diplomatic mission amid a “visa war” initiated by the Americans, Zakharova stressed.

She recalled that the United States has demanded the departure of 55 Russian diplomats as well as administrative and technical employees in two stages — by Jan. 30 and by June 30 this year.

“In the understanding of the U.S. administration, the normalization of bilateral relations is a one-way street, where only American interests are ensured and everything else is ignored,” Zakharova said. 

Xinhua

Published : February 18, 2022

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Chairman of Sudan’s Transitional Sovereign Council Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan on Thursday reiterated the government’s keenness on dialogue with all political forces to reach a unified vision to ensure a safe exit from the current political crisis.

Al-Burhan on Thursday met at the Republican Palace in Khartoum with Head of the United Nations Integrated Transitional Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS) Volker Perthes, the Sovereign Council said in a statement.

“Al-Burhan stressed the government’s keenness and determination to complete the democratic transformation process, conduct free and fair elections and hand the power to an elected government,” the statement said.

For his part, Perthes said the meeting reviewed the consultations being carried out by UNITAMS to settle the Sudanese current crisis, describing his meeting with Al-Burhan as “useful and fruitful.”

Perthes urged for creating a suitable environment for the consultations among the Sudanese parties to allow for rebuilding confidence.

Sudan has been suffering a political crisis after Al-Burhan declared a state of emergency on Oct. 25, 2021 and dissolved the Sovereign Council and the government.

Since then, opposition groups have been staging regular mass protests in the Sudanese capital Khartoum and other cities to demand civilian rule.

On Jan. 10, the UNITAMS launched an intra-Sudanese political process to end the political crisis in Sudan, while on Feb. 13, the mission announced conclusion of the first stage of the consultations.

Published : February 18, 2022

By : Xinhua

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The Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased 622.24 points, or 1.78 percent. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 2.12 percent and 2.88 percent respectively.

U.S. stocks fell sharply on Thursday as investors have been haunted by the ongoing Ukraine crisis.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased 622.24 points, or 1.78 percent, to 34,312.03. The S&P 500 dropped 94.75 points, or 2.12 percent, to 4,380.26. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 407.37 points, or 2.88 percent, to 13,716.72.

Nine of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in red, with technology and communication services down 3.07 percent and 2.96 percent, respectively, leading the laggards. Consumer staples and utilities rose 0.91 percent and 0.06 percent, the only two gaining groups.

The market weakness came as Wall Street worried about the Ukraine tensions, experts noted.

On the economic front, U.S. initial jobless claims, a rough way to measure layoffs, registered 248,000 in the week ending Feb. 12, an increase of 23,000 from the previous week’s revised level, the Department of Labor reported on Thursday. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had forecast initial jobless claims to total a seasonally adjusted 218,000.

U.S.-listed Chinese companies traded mostly lower on Thursday with nine of the top 10 stocks by weight in the S&P U.S. Listed China 50 index ending the day on a downbeat note.

On Wednesday, U.S. equities ended mixed with the Dow and the Nasdaq finishing modestly lower, while the S&P finished modestly higher, as investors digested the Federal Reserve’s January meeting minutes.

Published : February 18, 2022

By : Xinhua

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New COVID-19 infections across the Americas region fell by 31 percent in the past week, marking a sixth successive week of declines, but deaths are still on the rise, up 5.6 percent, according to a report.

Complacency around mask wearing, travel and indoor gatherings created a perfect opportunity for the Omicron variant to spread rapidly throughout the Americas, said Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) Carissa Etienne.

“Reduced public health measures were insufficient to reduce the scale of this wave. And now we’re dealing with the consequence: a rise in infections is driving a surge in deaths,” Etienne said at a press briefing on Wednesday.

New COVID-19 infections across the Americas region fell by 31 percent in the past week, marking a sixth successive week of declines, but deaths are still on the rise, up 5.6 percent, according to a weekly report of the PAHO, an international public health agency.

Deaths have increased for six consecutive weeks, according to the report.

Over the last week, the Americas reported 3.3 million new cases and more than 34,000 COVID-19-related deaths. In North America, the United States recorded the highest number of 17,000 deaths in the subregion, according to the report.

Published : February 18, 2022

By : Xinhua

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Starting from Thursday, Switzerland has dropped most of its measures in place to contain the pandemic: Masks are no longer mandatory in shops and restaurants; people don’t need to show a COVID certificate to enter indoor venues; and the restrictions on the size of private gatherings and large events are also lifted.

Swiss President and Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis has tested positive for COVID-19,  said a government statement on Thursday.

“At the end of Wednesday afternoon, the President of the Confederation Ignazio Cassis underwent a PCR test in view of his participation in the Munich Security Conference. The test came back positive and the president went into self-isolation this morning as soon as he learned of the test result,” the statement said.

It added that Cassis has no symptoms and is in good health, and will continue his work from home until Sunday.

A sign reminding people to keep social distance is seen on the door of a supermarket in Geneva, Switzerland, on April 14, 2020. (Xinhua/Nie Xiaoyang)

“Until then, he will not participate in any planned events and will therefore not attend the Munich Security Conference, which will take place on Friday and Saturday this week,” the statement said.

Starting from Thursday, Switzerland has dropped most of its measures in place to contain the pandemic: Masks are no longer mandatory in shops and restaurants; people don’t need to show a COVID certificate to enter indoor venues; and the restrictions on the size of private gatherings and large events are also lifted.
 

Photo taken on Jan. 22, 2020 shows an exterior view of the headquarters of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland. (Xinhua/Liu Qu)

Published : February 18, 2022

By : Xinhua