Worldwide

Omicron coronavirus cases have surged by as much as 400% in some parts of South Africa – although the country’s health ministry has said there is mounting evidence the variant causes milder infection. South Africa reported more than 22,000 new infections on Thursday, a record during the fourth wave but …

Brazil’s health ministry said its website was hit on Friday by a hacker attack that took several systems down, including one with information about the national immunization program and a second one used to issue digital vaccination certificates. “The health ministry reports that in the early hours of Friday it …

Two people were killed and four wounded in separate bomb explosions in the west of Afghanistan’s capital Kabul on Friday, the Taliban said. “Two civilians have been killed and three others were wounded” when a bomb exploded on a minibus in the Dasht-e-Barchi district of Kabul, the Taliban’s interior ministry …

Lithuania said Thursday it would offer migrants a greater cash incentive to return home, as the Baltic state struggles to repatriate thousands who crossed into the EU member from Belarus. Each migrant who voluntarily opts to go back to their country of origin will now receive 1,000 euros ($1,130) instead …

Myanmar anti-coup demonstrators staged a “silent strike” Friday, closing businesses and emptying the streets of cities and towns across the country to protest against military rule. The Southeast Asian nation has been in turmoil since the February coup, with the economy in tatters and more than 1,300 people killed by …

Finland has chosen US defense giant Lockheed Martin’s F-35 fighters to replace ageing F/A-18 combat jets and plans to order 64 planes with weapons systems in a $9.4 billion deal, the government said on Friday. Lockheed Martin competed in a tender for the deal with Sweden’s Saab, US rival Boeing, …

The British High Court has overturned a ruling that blocked the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the United States, deciding that he can be sent to America, where he faces possible life in a prison sentence. Washington accuses Assange of 18 counts relating to WikiLeaks’ release of vast …

Iran’s foreign minister has underlined Iran’s resolve to reach a “good agreement” through the ongoing talks in Vienna, which aim to remove US sanctions, saying the Western sides have talked the talk in recent years but it is high time they walk the walk as well to secure a serious, …

Ukraine and Russia blamed each other after a push to agree a new ceasefire in eastern Ukraine broke down late on Thursday as tensions over a Russian troop buildup near its southern neighbour persisted. Ukraine said Moscow had rejected a series of its proposals, including prisoner swaps, reopening a checkpoint …

Baku says an Azerbaijani soldier has been killed near the border with Armenia in an act of “provocation” by Armenian troops, nearly two weeks after the neighbors held talks to ease tensions leftover from last year’s war. Azerbaijan’s defense ministry said in a statement that a soldier “was killed overnight …

New Zealand plans to ban young people from ever buying cigarettes in their lifetime in one of the world’s toughest crackdowns on the tobacco industry, arguing that other efforts to extinguish smoking were taking too long. People aged 14 and under in 2027 will never be allowed to purchase cigarettes …

One person died after he set himself on fire at the headquarters of Tunisia’s Ennahda Islamist party on Thursday, causing 12injuries including Ali Larayedh, a former prime minister, the country’s civil protection agency, and judicial authorities said. Ennahda said one of its members was killed in the fire but did …

France’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday condemned an attack that killed seven United Nations peacekeepers and wounded several others in Mali on Wednesday, saying those responsible must be identified and held accountable. Seven United Nations peacekeepers in central Mali were killed and three others seriously wounded by an improvised explosive device, …

Protesters filled the meeting room of the Spalding County Board of Elections in October, upset that the board had disallowed early voting on Sundays for the Nov. 2 municipal election. A year ago, Sunday voting had been instrumental in boosting the turnout of Black voters. But this was an entirely …

Indian farmers who have been staging a year-long protest in New Delhi announced on Thursday that they are ending their demonstrations after the government U-turned on controversial farm legislation. Announcing the decision, Balbir Singh Rajewal, a senior farm union leader, stated that the group has “received a letter from the …

Saudi Arabia has disqualified some 40 camels from its lucrative annual beauty contest for the animals on the grounds that they received Botox injections, facelifts, and other cosmetic touch-ups to become more attractive. Describing it as the biggest-ever crackdown on such “tampering and deception,” the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported …

Violent gusts of over 150 kilometers per hour disrupted everyday lives across Ireland and Scotland, as Storm Barra hit and left people without power. The storm from the Atlantic, which broke earlier in the week, tore through numerous regions of the UK and Ireland for at least two days. Dubbed …

Armenia’s Defence Ministry said on Thursday that Azerbaijan had begun intensively shelling its military positions in Armenia’s Gegharkunik province, the TASS news agency reported. Azerbaijan said earlier on Thursday that one of its soldiers had been killed on the border with Armenia in what it described as an Armenian “provocation”. …

After 16 years, Angela Merkel handed over the German chancellery to Olaf Scholz, leaving behind a changed country and a polarizing legacy. It was vintage Angela Merkel: The woman who has dominated European politics for the better part of two decades handed over her office to the next German chancellor …

The United Nations’ top court has ordered both Armenia and Azerbaijan to work to prevent racial hatred and discrimination and ease their feud following last year’s war between the South Caucasus neighbors over the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) also told Azerbaijan on December 7 to …