2017 to be one of the hottest years: study

Hong Kong, Jun 10: The Hong Kong police on Wednesday said they had arrested 53 people during demonstrations on Tuesday evening which were called to mark the one-year anniversary of the protest against a bill proposing extraditions to mainland China. That protest grew into a pro-democracy movement and sparked seven months of protests against Beijing's rule.

Hundreds of activists took to the streets in Hong Kong yesterday, at times blocking roads in the heart of the city, before police fired pepper spray to disperse crowds, Al Jazeera reported.

The police informed that 36 males and 17 females were arrested for offenses including unlawful assembly and disorderly conduct.

Protesters had defied a ban on gatherings of more than eight people introduced by the Hong Kong government to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

"Lawful protests are always respected, but unlawful acts are to be rejected. Please stop breaking the law," police said in a tweet.

More protests are being planned in the coming days, with pro-democracy supporters fearing the proposed national security legislation will stifle freedoms in the city.

While details of the security law or how it will operate have yet to be revealed, authorities in Beijing and Hong Kong have said there is no cause for concern and the legislation will target a minority of "troublemakers".

But critics say the law would destroy the civil liberties Hong Kong residents enjoy under the "one country, two systems" agreement put in place when the United Kingdom handed the territory back to China in 1997. The agreement is set to end in 2047.

Japan had already issued a statement independently expressing serious concern about Beijing's move on May 28, the day China approved the decision and called in the Chinese ambassador to convey its view.

The United States, Britain, Australia, and Canada also condemned the move, with Washington saying it would revoke Hong Kong's special trading status granted under a 1992 law on the condition that the city retains key freedoms and autonomy.

China blames the protests in part on foreign intervention and is rushing to enact the national security law aimed at curbing secessionist and subversive activities in Hong Kong.

Karachi, Jun 5: Pakistan's coronavirus cases rose to 89,249 on Friday after a record 4,896 new infections were detected in the country, while the death toll due to COVID-19 has reached 1,838, according to the health ministry.

The Ministry of National Health Service said that 68 patients died in the last 24 hours, taking the death toll to 1,838, whereas another 31,198 people have recovered.

It was the third consecutive day when a record number of cases were reported in Pakistan after the Eid holidays and easing of lockdown restrictions at the end of May.

Sindh province reported 33,536 infections, Punjab 33,144, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa 11,890, Balochistan 5,582, Islamabad 3,946, Gilgit-Baltistan 852 and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir 299.

The authorities have conducted 638,323 tests, including a record 22,812 tests in the last 24 hours, the ministry said.

Despite the spike in number of COVID-19 cases, both houses of parliament are scheduled to meet separately on Friday. The Senate session started this morning while the National Assembly will be held in the afternoon, Radio Pakistan reported.

Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani and Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser at a meeting at the parliament house in Islamabad reviewed arrangements made for the two sessions.

Fumigation was also carried out in the parliament house for the safety of the lawmakers and staff.

Earlier, the Opposition rejected the idea of virtual meetings and insisted that the sessions be held in person, noting that it was an important session of parliament because the budget is expected to be presented in the National Assembly in the next week.

The novel coronavirus which first originated from China's Wuhan city in December last year has claimed 391,249 lives and has infected over 6 million people globally, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

Washington, Jun 16: The United States will reduce its troop strength in Germany from the nearly 52,000 at present to 25,000, President Donald Trump has said in Washington.

In an interaction with reporters at the White House on Monday, Trump attributed the move to high costs and Germany being "delinquent" in its payment to NATO.

"We have 52,000 soldiers in Germany. That's a tremendous amount of soldiers. It's a tremendous cost to the United States and Germany, as you know, is very delinquent in their payments to NATO.

"They are paying one per cent and they're supposed to be a two per cent. And then two percent is very low. It should be much more than that. So they are delinquent of billions of dollars," Trump alleged.

"So, we're putting the number down to 25,000 soldiers. We'll see what happens, but Germany has not been making payments. In addition to that, I was the one that brought it up. Everybody talks about Trump with Russia. Well, I brought this up a long time ago. Why is Germany paying Russia billions of dollars for energy and then we're supposed to protect Germany from Russia? How does that work? It doesn't work," the US president said.

US soldiers, he said, are paid well. "They live in Germany. They spend vast amounts of money in Germany. Everywhere around those bases is very prosperous for Germany. So, Germany takes. And then on top of it, they treat us very badly on trade. We have trade with the EU, Germany being the biggest member, and very, very badly on trade and we are negotiating with them on that. But right now, I'm not satisfied with the deal they want to make," Trump said.

"They've cost the United States hundreds of billions of dollars over the years on trade," he said.

The US protects them and then they take advantage of America on trade, the president said.

"So we are working on a deal with them, but it's very unfair and I would say by far, the worst abuser is Germany," he said.