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The UN rights office on Friday said that the Taliban response to peaceful marches in Afghanistan has been increasingly violent, with authorities using live ammunition, batons, and whips and causing the deaths of at least four protesters. Protests and demonstrations, often led by women, pose a challenge to the new …

On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken criticized the Taliban and revealed that they were not allowing charter flights to evacuate US citizens and at-risk Afghans to depart the airport. The Taliban allowed a flight of foreigners, including American citizens, to finally depart Afghanistan on Thursday after the top …

US President Joe Biden has signed an executive order requiring all federal workers and contractors to be vaccinated against Covid-19, according to multiple reports. The order is one of several measures Biden is expected to announce. Biden signed the order on Thursday, hours before he was due to give a …

A record amount of rain – the equivalent of two months’ rainfall in three hours – fell on Wednesday evening in the city of Agen in southwestern France, with streets turning into rivers, cars submerged and houses flooded. In some parts of Agen, in France’s Lot-et-Garonne region, there were as …

Ethiopia said on Thursday that rebellious forces from the Tigray region had been defeated in the adjacent Afar region and had withdrawn, but the Tigrayan forces said they had merely shifted troops to neighboring Amhara for an offensive there. “The TPLF force has left Afar (region),” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Dina …

Afghanistan’s Kabul Airport is about 90 percent ready for operations but its reopening is planned gradually, a Qatari official said speaking on the tarmac on Thursday. There would be a flight on Friday, another Qatari official said speaking to journalists, adding that a flight out from Kabul on Thursday was …

US President Joe Biden on Thursday will outline new approaches to control the COVID-19 pandemic in the US, which rages on despite the wide availability of vaccines. In a speech, Biden will focus on six areas, including new plans to get more people vaccinated, enhancing protection for those who already …

German prosecutors said on Thursday they had seized documents at the finance and justice ministries as part of an investigation into possible obstruction of justice by a government agency that is responsible for investigating money laundering. Prosecutors said in a statement they had been investigating the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) …

French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said Thursday that France would not accept Britain violating international maritime law or “financial blackmail” as London steps up efforts to prevent migrants crossing the Channel. “France will not accept any practice that breaks maritime law, nor any financial blackmail,” Darmanin wrote on Twitter. “Britain’s …

Loud bangs and bright flashes have been witnessed after a knife attacker forced staff at a petrol station in Bristol to hide inside a safe room. Police say a man has been detained. Around half a dozen loud ‘bangs’ could be heard from inside the petrol station, before a man …

The death toll from a blaze that tore through an Indonesian jail has risen to 44, as authorities pledged to look at whether more inmates could receive rehabilitation for drug-related offences to ease chronic overcrowding in the prison system. Wednesday’s fire at the penitentiary in Tangerang, on the outskirts of …

Italian police warned on Thursday that anti-vaccine campaigners had called for armed attacks during planned anti-government protests this weekend and that eight people were being investigated for incitement to crime. A police statement said searches had been conducted in six Italian provinces, including Milan, Rome, and Venice, and that the …

Morocco’s liberal RNI party has won most seats in the country’s parliamentary elections followed by another liberal party, PAM, while co-ruling moderate PJD Islamists suffered a crushing defeat, preliminary results showed on Thursday. RNI, led by billionaire agriculture minister Aziz Akhannouch, took 97 of the 395-seat parliament, followed by PAM …

Indonesia and Australia agreed to deepen security ties during a ministerial meeting on Thursday, with discussions underway towards enabling joint military training in Australia and participation in its defence academies. Agreements were signed over counter-terrorism, defence and cybersecurity, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said, plus another agreement on support for …

North Korea held a massive parade to celebrate 73 years since the state’s foundation, with soldiers and civilians alike seen marching in an elaborate procession, which omitted Pyongyang’s typical displays of major weapon systems. Held in Kim Il Sung Square in the nation’s capital on Wednesday night, the event saw …

At least 10 people have been killed in a fire that engulfed a modular Covid-19 hospital in the town of Tetovo, North Macedonia. Reports indicate that the blaze erupted after an explosion rocked the building. The fire was extinguished after a few hours.It was unclear how many patients were in …

As Democrats ramped up efforts to shore up California Governor Gavin Newsom against a recall vote, an angry activist in a gorilla mask threw an egg at his Republican challenger Larry Elder and attacked his entourage. Elder was visiting the Los Angeles neighborhood of Venice on Wednesday when an activist …

France will make access to birth control free for women aged up to 25 years old from January 1 onwards, in a new measure that will cost the state 21 million euros ($24.8 million) per year, French Health Minister Olivier Veran said on Thursday. The policy announcement comes as President …

Two hundred Americans and other foreigners who remain in Afghanistan are set to depart the war-ravaged country on charter flights from Kabul on Thursday after the new Taliban government agreed to their evacuation, a U.S. official said. The departures will be among the first international flights to take off from …

A 12-ton statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee, the largest remaining Confederate monument, has been taken down in Richmond. The removal was ordered by Democrat Governor Ralph Northam last year, triggering a bitter court battle. Worker crews showed up at the equestrian monument early on Wednesday, taking it down from …