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A senior US envoy said on Saturday he had delivered reassurances to Ukraine and Poland on mitigating any threat posed by Russia’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, but that the project was now a “reality”. Amos Hochstein, the State Department’s senior adviser for energy security, told Reuters there was “breathing …

The Ukrainian army is locked in a conflict with breakaway fighters in Donetsk and Lugansk that erupted after Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula in 2014. Two Ukrainian soldiers have been killed and 10 others wounded in the country’s war-torn east as clashes tick back up, the army said on Sunday. …

Qatari foreign minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani held talks with the Taliban-appointed prime minister on Sunday, a Taliban spokesman said, in the highest level foreign visit to Kabul since the group seized the capital last month. Qatar is considered one of the countries with the most influence over the …

The British royals, who trace their history back more than 1,000 years, could be gone within two generations, writer Hilary Mantel said in an interview published on Saturday. The monarchy traces its history back at least to William the Conqueror, who invaded England in 1066 but also claims ties to …

US President Joe Biden will announce new steps to slow the spread of COVID-19 before the UN General Assembly meets, Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy said Sunday. Murthy did not specify what those steps would be. The next session of the General Assembly opens Tuesday; the first day of the …

A major commission of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has denounced as an “act of collective punishment” Israel’s repressive measures against the Palestinian prisoners, in the wake of a daring escape by at least six inmates from a high-security Israeli jail. In a statement on Sunday, the OIC Independent …

The Bahraini people protested against the normalization of ties with the Zionist regime by Al-Khalifa. Bahrainis continue their series of demonstrations against the normalization of relations with the Zionist regime by Al-Khalifa, Manama Voice reported. According to the report, the Bahraini people held the demonstration in the city of Sanabes …

US President Joe Biden has a simple message for fellow Democrats about his plan to raise taxes to remake large swaths of the American economy: look beyond the bottom line. Biden is trying to persuade Democrats to embrace a more emotional argument, namely that the plan is fair, that it …

Iran has agreed to allow the UN nuclear watchdog to service surveillance equipment installed at Iranian nuclear sites following talks with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)’s Director General Rafael Grossi in Tehran, Iran’s permanent ambassador to international organizations in Vienna says. Kazem Gharibabadi made the remarks in a string …

Pope Francis said on Sunday that Hungary could preserve its Christian roots while opening up to the needy, an apparent response to nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s stand that Muslim immigration could destroy its heritage. Francis was in Hungary for an unusually short stay that underlined differences with the anti-immigrant …

A Somali asylum-seeker was arrested by Italian police after he allegedly stabbed four women and a six-year-old child in the tourist town of Rimini on Saturday night, ANSA news agency reported on Sunday. Investigators were for the moment ruling out terrorism as the motive, ANSA added. Interior minister Luciana Lamorgese …

The FBI has released the first batch of certain documents related to its investigation of the 9/11 attacks which fortified suspicions of official Saudi involvement with the hijackers of the planes. The families of the attacks’ victims have for years pushed the US government to declassify and make public more …

Afghan police officers have returned to work alongside Taliban security at the Kabul airport, as the international airfield is resuming operations following the hasty withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan. According to reports, Afghan police had abandoned their posts after the Taliban took power last month. But the Taliban have …

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Africa reached 8,024,502 as of Sunday morning, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said. The Africa CDC, the specialized healthcare agency of the African Union, said the death toll from the pandemic across the continent stands at 202,915, while …

The Taliban’s higher education minister has announced that Afghan women would be allowed to study at university as long as they are separated from men, stressing that there would be a ban on mixed classes. Abdul Baqi Haqqani made the announcement at a press briefing on Sunday, as he elaborated …

Torrential monsoon rains and mudslides hit areas in northwestern Pakistan early on Sunday, destroying homes and killing at least 17 people, police said. Officer Mohammad Nawaz Said eleven bodies were recovered from the debris of mud and brick houses in the Tor Ghar district, and rescuers were searching for the …

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has hailed the recent Baghdad conference, which aimed at promoting regional de-escalation and dialog, as an “important diplomatic achievement,” saying Iraq is key to promoting stability between Iran and Saudi Arabia. In a blog post published on the website of the European External Action Service (EEAS) …

The United States has removed its most advanced missile system and Patriot batteries from Saudi Arabia in recent weeks, the Associated Press reports, even as the kingdom faces retaliatory missile and drone strikes from Yemen. The US news agency said its analysis of satellite pictures showed the redeployment of the systems …

A US military contractor being sued for its involvement in the brutal torture of Iraqi inmates at the country’s Abu Ghraib Prison during the US-led invasion of the nation has argued that recent Supreme Court cases make clear it cannot be held liable for misconduct that occurred overseas. According to …

Anti-Taliban resistance leader Ahmad Massoud is still in Afghanistan, Iranian FARS news agency reported on Saturday, citing a source. The source reportedly said that rumors about Massoud leaving Afghanistan for Turkey or any other place were false and that 70 percent of Panjshir’s main streets had fallen to the control …