TOKYO: Twenty-five years after Pokemon first began delighting children and adults alike, the phenomenon is still capturing hearts, with smartphone craze Pokemon Go enjoying record success in virus-hit 2020. 

ARMENIA, Colombia: For the second time in two years, Gildardo Urrego is scooping up piles of dead bees after an invisible evil invaded his hives in northwest Colombia, wreaking havoc among his swarms. 

ISTANBUL: An Istanbul court yesterday sentenced three Turks to four years and two months in prison for helping smuggle former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn in a musical instrument case from Lebanon to Japan. 

LONDON: Britain’s Lloyds Banking Group yesterday reported a slump in 2020 profit due to “significant” economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. 

YANGON: Early bird customers of a military-owned bank queued anxiously as dawn light crept over Yangon, after a strict new limit on daily cash withdrawals fuelled rumors of a money shortage in post-coup Myanmar.

KUWAIT: The health ministry yesterday allowed hospitals, health centers and private clinics to purchase COVID-19 vaccines from local agents or companies producing them after being licensed and approved by the ministry to provide vaccination services. 

HONG KONG: HSBC yesterday vowed to accelerate its Asia pivot despite spiraling tensions between China and the West after it reported a 30 percent plunge in profits for 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

LONDON: The British pound continued a frantic two-month rise against the euro and the dollar, reaching new highs this week in a sign of traders’ enthusiasm for the country’s vaccination roll-out. 

KUWAIT: Zain Group, a leading mobile telecom innovator in seven markets across the Middle East and Africa, announces its consolidated financial results for the full-year 2020, and fourth quarter ended 31 December, 2020. The Group ended the year with a customer base of 47.8 million customers.