![Other figures show companies restarted hiring before the latest lockdown was loosened [File: Jason Alden/Bloomberg]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/371121077.jpg?resize=570%2C380)
The drop in the number of employees on payrolls indicates scarring of the economy after three COVID lockdowns.
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![A UN-commissioned investigation to identify those behind chemical attacks in Syria concluded in 2017 that Syrian government forces had used chlorine and sarin gas [File: Louai Beshara/AFP]](/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/1e0261b18834456e860961973d38955d_18.jpeg?resize=570%2C380)
Four NGOs have filed a criminal complaint against members of the Syrian government for deadly attacks in 2013 and 2017.
![The International Energy Agency predicts that carbon dioxide emissions will rise to 33 billion tonnes this year, up 1.5 billion tonnes from 2020 levels [Files: Mark Wilson/Getty]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/063_929774220.jpg?resize=570%2C380)
The IEA predicts that CO2 emissions could rise to 33 billion tonnes in 2021 – the second-largest rise in emissions ever.
![Yemenis present documents in order to receive food rations provided by a local charity in the capital Sanaa [File: Hani Mohammed/AP Photo]](/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/6208fe3f97564699bc1719bdd090fabb_18.jpeg?resize=570%2C380)
Over 250 NGOs call on governments to intervene as inequality coupled with the COVID crisis has led to food crisis.
![The United States expressed its "deep concern" over Russia's plans to block foreign naval ships [File: Yekaterina Shtukina/Sputnik/ Government Pool Photo via AP]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/AP_19209422500337-e1618910198217.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
US State Department says the move is part of ongoing campaign to destabilise Ukraine amid Russian troop build-up.
![Debate comes amid negotiations with the now-banned TLP after days of violent protests by the party [File: AP]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/AP_21109315615829.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Move follows comments by French president last year that were deemed to be ‘blasphemous’ by a far-right Pakistani party.
![A Pakistani man rests before loading a cargo ship in Dubai [File: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images]](/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/20101021143723132738_20.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
UAE is home to an estimated 1.6 million Pakistanis and is a key source of foreign remittances for Pakistan’s economy.
![Walter Mondale served as vice president under Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1981 [File:Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/2021-04-20T014549Z_1542756570_RC2DZM91D1PQ_RTRMADP_3_PEOPLE-MONDALE.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Mondale, a leading liberal Democratic, who was US vice president under Jimmy Carter died on Monday.
![Lego makes almost 100,000 tonnes of plastic bricks a year and is trying to make a product using plant-based material [File: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/369292583.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Plastic waste and new technology to produce alternatives to plastic are focus areas for the family’s investment fund.
![Hyung Oh Kim, an 85-year-old immigrant from South Korea, and wife, Ki Sook, 77, in their apartment in the Koreatown neighbourhood of Los Angeles. Amid the surge of anti-Asian hate crimes, Kim, who came to the States in 1989 with his wife and children, asks himself whether he made the right decision these days. "I never had this type of fear before," said Kim. [Jae C Hong/AP Photo]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/AP21109677267535.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Amid a surge of anti-Asian violence, fear creeps in and alters the daily life of vulnerable Asian senior citizens.
![Residents line up against Hong Kong's business district to get tested for the coronavirus at a temporary testing centre for COVID-19 in Hong Kong on Tuesday, March 16, 2021 [File: Vincent Yu/ AP]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/AP_21075221071387.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
As COVID-19 cases rise among passengers, Hong Kong bans all flights from India, Pakistan and the Philippines.
![US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said if countries invest in new coal-fired power plants or factories, they will hear about it from US diplomats [File: Martin Bertrand/Bloomberg]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/371106849.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Secretary of state says US will lose out on ‘countless jobs’ if it does not catch up with China in climate policies.
![The vote was boycotted by top opposition leaders [Djimet Wiche/ AFP]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/000_98C6NM.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Veteran president, who came to power in a rebellion in 1990, took 79.3 percent of the vote in the April 11 election.
![Qureshi said he believed the Taliban would benefit from staying involved but said he had no contact with the group [File: Kay Nietfeld/Pool via Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/2021-04-12T104219Z_466958439_RC2AUM92SHVG_RTRMADP_3_GERMANY-PAKISTAN.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Islamabad urges Taliban to stay engaged after group said it would shun Afghan summits until all foreign forces leave.
