NEW YORK: American Airlines reported another quarterly loss yesterday after the latest COVID-19 surge dented demand at the end of the year, but said consumers were booking more trips for the spring. 

KIBUYE, Rwanda: The engineers aboard the floating power station on Lake Kivu could only watch nervously as the volcano in the distance erupted violently, sending tremors rumbling through the water beneath them.

KARACHI: Housewife Maira Tayyab has considered begging for money to feed her family in inflation-hit Pakistan, while shop owner Mohammad Hanif finds his thoughts turning to crime. 

PARIS: More than 100 millionaires made an unusual plea yesterday: “Tax us now”. Their appeal came as a study backed by wealthy individuals and nonprofits found that a wealth tax on the world’s richest people could raise $2.52 trillion per year-enough to pay for COVID vaccines for everyone and pull 2.3 billion people out of poverty.

TAIPEI: Every day, Aiden Lee joins the hundreds of thousands of people getting around Taipei on two wheels. But when most of his fellow riders head to a petrol pump to refuel, he takes his e-motorbike to one of Taiwan’s increasingly commonplace battery-swapping stations-tech its creators say could supercharge the shift from fossil fuels. 

PARIS: Global demand for oil is expected to remain “robust” in 2022 and overcome short-term disruption caused by the Omicron coronavirus variant, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said yesterday. 

PARIS: EU car sales fell to a new low last year as the auto sector was hobbled by the COVID pandemic and a shortage of computer chips, industry figures showed yesterday. 

WASHINGTON: The chief executives of America’s largest airlines warned of a “catastrophic disruption” to travel and shipping operations if telecommunication firms roll out their 5G technology as planned today without limiting the technology near US airports. 

WASHINGTON: Microsoft announced yesterday a $69 billion deal to purchase US gaming giant Activision Blizzard, the firm behind hits like “Call of Duty” that has been hit by allegations of sex discrimination against women.