Four Americans left Afghanistan by land on Monday with Taliban knowledge in the first departures arranged by the US government since its military pullout, a US official said. The four US citizens left by land and were greeted by American diplomats, said a senior official, without specifying to which country …
Read More »American efforts to stop Nord Stream 2 have failed – Russian foreign minister
Years of economic sanctions and political efforts from Washington have come to nothing, and work on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is now nearing the final stages of completion, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said. Speaking at a meeting in St. Petersburg on Monday, the veteran diplomat announced …
Read More »US-led airstrikes killed 22,000 civilians in Africa, West Asia in past 20 years: Report
At least 22,000 civilians have been killed in airstrikes conducted by US-led forces in a number of countries in Africa and West Asia over the past 20 years of the so-called ‘forever wars,’ a conflict monitor says. In a new approximation, the UK-based organization Airwars said at least 22,679 civilians, …
Read More »Mexico City swapping Columbus statue with one of Indigenous woman
The Columbus statue was a frequent target of protesters denouncing European suppression of Mexico’s Indigenous civilisations. A statue of Christopher Columbus that was a prominent presence on Mexico City’s most iconic boulevard will be replaced by a statue honouring Indigenous women, the city’s mayor has announced. The 19th-century bronze statue …
Read More »In DR Congo, militants raid villages and kill civilians
Militants have hacked to death at least 30 people in a new massacre in the restive northeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Locals and sources from the United Nations (UN) said on Monday that the militants armed with machetes, sticks and clubs had raided an area of Ituri …
Read More »Taliban claim control of Panjshir, opposition says resistance will continue
The Taliban claimed victory on Monday in the last part of Afghanistan still holding out against their rule, declaring that the capture of the Panjshir valley completed their takeover of the country and they would unveil a new government soon. Pictures on social media showed Taliban members standing in front …
Read More »UK to extend Northern Ireland’s Brexit grace periods
Britain plans to further extend post-Brexit grace periods on some goods imports to Northern Ireland, Brexit minister David Frost said on Monday, in a move designed to give London and Brussels more time for talks about trade with the province. The fate of British-ruled Northern Ireland was the most contentious …
Read More »Guinea coup leader promises national government as politicians arrested
The leaders of a military coup in Guinea promised on Monday to set up a transitional government of national unity after ousting President Alpha Conde and dissolving his cabinet. Sunday’s coup, in which Conde and other top politicians were detained or barred from traveling, is the third since April in …
Read More »Young Tunisian wounded in 2011 Arab Spring burns self alive
A young man wounded in Tunisia’s 2011 revolution has burned himself alive after the government failed to provide any compensation, his family told AFP on Monday. The self-immolation by 26-year-old Neji Hefiane recalls the death of Mohamed Bouazizi, the street seller whose suicide by fire on December 17, 2010 launched …
Read More »US will be ‘going back into Afghanistan’ in the future: Republican Senator
Top US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham has said that Washington may be “going back into Afghanistan” in the future, according to the BBC. “We’ll have to [go back to Afghanistan] because the [terror] threat will be so large,” he said in an interview with the BBC on HARDtalk. The Taliban …
Read More »New Zealand lifts COVID-19 lockdown this week, barring Auckland
New Zealand will mostly lift its Covid-19 lockdown this week, with only the country’s infection epicenter Auckland to remain under strict stay-at-home orders, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday About three million New Zealanders will no longer be under stay-at-home orders as of Tuesday overnight, and schools will reopen …
Read More »German ambassador to China dies two weeks into the job
Germany’s ambassador to China Jan Hecker died suddenly, less than two weeks after taking up his post, the European nation’s foreign office said on Monday. Hecker, 54, a foreign policy adviser to Chancellor Angela Merkel, had presented his credentials at China’s foreign ministry on August 24, the embassy in the …
Read More »Ex-EU commissioner named Greek civil protection minister
Greece appointed its first civil protection minister on Monday in a broad revamp of its civil defense mechanisms following sharp criticism of the government’s response to a spate of devastating wildfires this summer. The new minister is Christos Stylianides, a former European Commissioner for humanitarian aid and crisis management. During …
Read More »Belarus protest leader Kolesnikova sentenced to 11 years in jail
A court in Belarus on Monday sentenced key opposition figure Maria Kolesnikova — who led mass protests against President Alexander Lukashenko last year — to 11 years in prison on national security charges. Kolesnikova’s lawyer Maxim Znak was also handed a 10-year prison sentence, according to the press service of …
Read More »Rally marks 1,000 days since two Canadians detained in China over Huawei dispute
Supporters of two Canadians accused of spying and held in prison in China for 1,000 days rallied on Sunday, demanding their release in a case that has soured diplomatic ties between Ottawa and Beijing. Businessman Michael Spavor and former diplomat Michael Kovrig were detained in December 2018, shortly after Canada …
Read More »Ethiopia Airlines says weapons seized in Sudan was ‘legal’ shipment of hunting guns
Ethiopian Airlines said on Monday its transport of weapons to Sudan was a “legal and commercial” shipment of hunting guns, after reports the cargo had been confiscated by the authorities in Khartoum. Sudan’s SUNA news agency had said on Sunday that the weapons were seized by customs and an investigation …
Read More »Leader of Afghanistan’s Panjshir resistance movement calls for ‘national uprising’
The leader of the resistance movement in Afghanistan’s Panjshir Valley on Monday called for a “national uprising” against the Taliban. In an audio message sent to media, National Resistance Front commander Ahmad Massoud said: “Wherever you are, inside or outside, I call on you to begin a national uprising for …
Read More »US Scientist Claims He Heard About Covid Breakout Two Weeks Before Beijing Reported First Cases
Washington and Beijing remain locked in a high-stakes battle to convince the world that the other was responsible for causing the global coronavirus pandemic, a calamity that has caused more than 4.5 million deaths, devastated economies around the planet, and led to severe restrictions in personal freedoms in some countries. …
Read More »‘It Will Divide Europe’: NATO Chief Fumes Over Concept of European Army
The idea of a European army independent of the US-led NATO alliance has been around since the early 1950s but was largely forgotten during the Cold War. The concept reemerged with the signing of the 2007 Treaty of Lisbon, which proposed the defence integration of EU member states. Germany and …
Read More »US hits 40 million Covid cases as Delta variant spreads
According to the latest tally the U.S. has recorded 40,000,070 cases and 651,690 deaths due to Covid. The United States logged 40 million Covid-19 cases since the start of the pandemic, as the fourth wave brought on by the delta variant continues to spread throughout the country. The country has …
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