President Tayyip Erdogan’s political opponents said his call to expel the ambassadors of 10 Western allies was an attempt to distract attention from Turkey’s economic difficulties, while diplomats hoped the expulsions might yet be averted. On Saturday Erdogan said he ordered the envoys be declared ‘persona non grata’ for seeking …
Read More »Libyan elections commission to start registering candidates in Nov – commission head
Registration for candidates in Libya’s presidential and parliamentary elections should open in November, the head of the electoral commission said on Sunday. Elections are a key step in a U.N.-backed process to end a decade of violence by creating a new political leadership whose legitimacy is widely accepted. But wrangling …
Read More »Dozens killed in fighting between Somalia army and former allied group
At least 30 people died and over 100 were injured in intensified fighting between the Somali National Army and its former ally Ahlu Sunnah Wal Jama’a (ASWJ) in the Somali state of Galmudug over the weekend, residents and hospital officials said. The clashes, in the state’s second-largest district of Guriceel, …
Read More »Fire blazes on cargo ship containers off British Columbia
A fire broke out on Saturday on containers on a cargo ship carrying mining chemicals off British Columbia, and the Canadian Coast Guard said it is working with the U.S. Coast Guard to assess the situation, including environmental hazards. Sixteen crew members have been evacuated from the MV Zim Kingston, …
Read More »Hungary’s Orban accuses US, Soros of meddling as 2022 election nears
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has accused the United States and Jewish American billionaire George Soros of trying to meddle in his country’s politics as Budapest is bracing for a parliamentary vote that is expected to be its toughest election in 15 years. Speaking during an event in central Budapest …
Read More »Group report: Thousands killed, half a million homes destroyed in Saudi war
A Yemeni human rights group, called The Eye of Humanity Center for Rights and Development, has released a report on casualties caused by six years of Saudi-led war on Yemen. The report says more than 44,000 civilians have been killed or injured since 2015 when Riyadh launched aggression against Sana’a. …
Read More »Syrian army troops block US convoy in Hasakah, force it to return
A US military convoy has been forced to retreat from an area in Syria’s northeastern province of Hasakah after government soldiers blocked it, amid public anger at the deployment of foreign forces in the oil-rich region. Syrian army troops, deployed at a security checkpoint near the village of al-Damkhiya southwest …
Read More »Italian former minister Matteo Salvini goes on trial for kidnap over blocked migrant ship
Former Italian interior minister Matteo Salvini is facing up to 15 years in prison in a controversial trial over his 2019 order to prevent migrants picked up by NGOs while crossing the Mediterranean Sea from entering Italy. The trial, which started on Saturday in Palermo, is about one particular incident …
Read More »China passes education law to cut homework pressure on students
China has passed an education law that seeks to cut the “twin pressures” of homework and off-site tutoring in core subjects, the official Xinhua news agency said on Saturday. Beijing has exercised a more assertive paternal hand this year, from tacking the addiction of youngsters to online games, deemed a …
Read More »US to release more information related to Kennedy assassination in December
The Biden administration said it will release more records related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in December. Some of the information regarding Kennedy’s death on Nov. 22, 1963, remained off-limits to “protect against an identifiable harm to the military defense, intelligence operations, law enforcement, or the conduct …
Read More »NATO gradually gathering forces near border: Russian defense chief
Russia’s defense minister accused NATO on Saturday of gradually gathering forces near Russia’s borders and being unwilling to discuss European security with Moscow on equal terms, Interfax news agency reported. Shoigu’s comments were the latest sign of mounting tension between Russia and NATO after defense ministers from the Western alliance …
Read More »US nuclear envoy visits S.Korea amid N.Korea missile tension, stalled talks
The US envoy for North Korea arrived in South Korea on Saturday amid stalled denuclearization talks and tension over Pyongyang’s recent missile tests. Special Representative Sung Kim’s visit came days after North Korea fired a new submarine-launched ballistic missile which prompted criticism from Washington and calls for a return to …
Read More »Deadly clashes as banned Pakistan party continues protest seeking to free leader
Thousands of supporters of a banned radical party Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) on Saturday departed the eastern Pakistan city of Lahore, clashing for a second straight day with police who lobbed tear gas into the crowd, a party spokesman and witnesses said. The group began their journey Friday with the goal …
Read More »Dozens break out of jail in southwest Nigeria: Official
Gunmen have attacked a prison in southwest Nigeria, freeing dozens of inmates, an official told The Associated Press on Saturday. The third jailbreak in Africa’s most populous country this year raises more concerns about how safe detention facilities are in the West African nation where authorities have struggled to stem …
Read More »Russian, Chinese warships hold first joint patrols in the Western part of Pacific
Russian and Chinese warships held their first joint patrols in the Western part of the Pacific ocean on October 17-23, Russia’s defense ministry said in a statement on Saturday. Moscow and Beijing, which staged naval cooperation drills in the Sea of Japan earlier in October, have cultivated closer military and …
Read More »S.Korea says it reaches goal of 70% vaccinations for COVID-19
South Korea said on Saturday that it has achieved its goal of vaccinating 70 percent of its 52 million people, paving the way for a planned return to normal next month. The target, set a month before the country kicked off its inoculation campaign in late February, was reached by …
Read More »Turkey’s Erdogan orders expulsion of envoys from 10 countries including US, Germany
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday told his foreign minister to expel the ambassadors of 10 countries including Germany and the United States who appealed for the release of a jailed civil society leader. “I have ordered our foreign minister to declare these 10 ambassadors as persona non grata …
Read More »Kosovo president declares two Russian diplomats personae non grata
The president of the unrecognized state of Kosovo accused Russia of exerting “malign influence in order to wreck Pristina’s, as well as the US’, NATO’s, and European Union’s achievements” Kosovo’s President Vjosa Osmani-Sadriu has declared two Russian diplomats personae non grata. According to Osmani, she issued a request to the …
Read More »Death toll from Nepal floods, landslides tops 100 with dozens still missing
Authorities are still trying to ascertain the number of displaced and the full extent of damage in the wake of this week’s heavy rains, floods, and landslides in the Himalayan nation. Nepalese authorities have been searching for dozens of people missing in this week’s heavy rains, floods, and landslides, as …
Read More »Thousands rally in Pakistan for release of banned religious party leader
Saad Rizvi, the head of the outlawed Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan party, was arrested last year amid demonstrations against France over publishing caricatures of Prophet Muhammad. Thousands of supporters of a far-right religious party have launched their “long march” from the eastern city of Lahore toward Pakistan’s capital, demanding that the government …
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