New Delhi, Feb 24 (IANS) Thousands of Ukrainians are already on the move and leaving the country, with tens of thousands more preparing to flee, after the Russian attack ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin, The Guardian reported.
Videos and photos on social media show lines of cars moving out of cities and heading west, as well as an increase of people on foot near the southern and western borders, the report said.
The United Nations refugee agency said on Thursday that the situation was quickly deteriorating after Russia's invasion. It appealed to neighbouring countries to keep their borders open to people seeking a safe haven.
"We have already seen reports of casualties and people starting to flee their homes to seek safety," said Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, The Guardian reported.
At the Luzhanka border crossing with Hungary in western Ukraine, hundreds of cars waited in a queue snaking more than 2 kilometres back from the border on Thursday afternoon. People said they had been waiting over six hours in line to cross.
Others had come from other parts of Ukraine and planned to drive on to western Europe. "The people who have money are leaving," said one of the customs officials at the post. He said over 1,500 people had left through the crossing by 4 p.m. on Thursday, as opposed to just a few hundred on a normal day.
The Omicron variant was first reported to the WHO by South Africa last week. So far, several countries and regions have confirmed cases of infection with Omicron. Dozens of countries have already tightened travel measures, and even suspended flights, Xinhua news agency reported.
Residents of Kabul complain that gunmen linked to the Taliban government have lately been checking their mobile phones, thus violating their privacy, Pajhwok News reported. Concerned at the unwarranted checks, they said the practice amounts to trampling on human rights and respect for their privacy.
Even as the world is entering a third year into the Covid-19 pandemic, the infectious disease that claimed the lives of more than 5 million people so far is far from over, the WHO said on Monday.
Jack Dorsey, the maverick behind making Twitter the world's go-to social platform to rant, laud, troll or play simple catch up, is moving on. Indian-American Parag Agrawal, Twitter @paraga, is the new CEO, with immediate effect, Dorsey announced.
Retailers are expected to usher in the unofficial start to the holiday shopping season Friday with bigger crowds than last year in a closer step toward normalcy. But the fallout from the pandemic continues to weigh on businesses and shoppers' minds.
Maybe. As of noon Friday, travelers arriving in the U.K. from South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini and Zimbabwe will have to self-isolate for 10 days. European Union nations also moved quickly on Friday to try to stop air travel from southern Africa.
