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New blood donor research suggests that more than 80 percent of American adults now have COVID-19 antibodies due to vaccinations or infections. Published in the open-access medical journal JAMA on Thursday, the study estimated that more than 80 percent of Americans above 16 years of age had COVID-19 antibodies as …

Taliban forces have taken full control of Afghanistan including the Panjshir valley where opposition forces had been holding out, three Taliban sources said on Friday as heavy celebratory gunfire was heard in the Afghan capital Kabul. “By the grace of Allah Almighty, we are in control of the entire Afghanistan. …

At least 400 people have been hospitalized with viral fever in an Indian city as a mystery illness that has killed more than 60 people in the space of a week continues to spread through the state of Uttar Pradesh. According to a report from the Daily News and Analysis …

India has tightened restrictions on movement in the part of Kashmir that it administers to contain protests after the burial of a top independence leader. Dozens of armed soldiers patrolled the streets of Kashmir’s main city of Srinagar ahead of midday prayers on Friday as tensions ignited in the disputed …

A small group of Afghan women protested near the presidential palace in Kabul on Friday, demanding equal rights from the Taliban as Afghanistan’s new rulers work on forming a government and seeking international recognition. The Taliban captured most of the country in a matter of days last month and celebrated …

China and the United States did not reach an agreement on climate change, with Beijing rebuffing calls to make more public pledges on climate change before a United Nations climate summit in November, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported on Friday citing a source. “China already has its own …

Thick smoke billowed above Brazil’s Amazon jungle as fire tore through the butchered rainforest and discarded trees littered the scorched earth like dead matchsticks, burnt and black. A Reuters witness saw vast burned and clear cut areas on Wednesday and Thursday, as the arc of deforestation advanced deeper into the …

A major fire broke out in the centre of the northern Italian city of Turin on Friday, forcing around 100 people to be evacuated from their homes, emergency services said. The fire started in the attic of building close to the main train station and soon spread to adjacent properties, …

A delegation from Lebanon’s caretaker government will visit Syria on Saturday in the highest-level visit in years, aiming to pave the way for a plan to ease a power crisis in Lebanon by transmitting electricity via the Syrian grid. Lebanese government officials have mostly avoided Syria since the war began …

Several thousand people gathered in Bangkok to call for the resignation of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha on Friday, one day before lawmakers hold a no-confidence vote over his government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Protests against Prayuth have gathered steam since late June as university students who sought his removal …

Indonesia condemned on Friday an attack on a house of worship belonging to the Ahmadiyah, a Muslim minority sect, on its part of the Borneo island, calling it an “illegal act”. In a video posted on social media dozens of people can be seen attacking the building, in a village …

Romania’s Prime Minister Florin Citu was due to hold crisis talks with his coalition partners on Friday, urging them to stay united to rebuild the economy after the coronavirus pandemic despite a row over the sacking of the justice minister. The USR-Plus, a junior ally to Citu’s Liberals, has begun …

Japan’s prime minister Yoshihide Suga has announced he will not run for the leadership of his governing party later this month – paving the way for a new premier after just a year in office marred by an unpopular COVID-19 response. Mr. Suga was appointed to the role in September …

Germany’s health minister has warned that Covid-19 is becoming the “pandemic of the unvaccinated” as 90% of the country’s intensive care patients are those who refused a potentially life-saving shot. Speaking on Friday, Health Minister Jens Spahn said people who have not been vaccinated against the virus have a responsibility …

Britain will not recognise the Taliban as the new government in Kabul, but must deal with new realities in Afghanistan and does not want to see its social and economic fabric broken, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said on Friday. Speaking during a visit to Pakistan, Raab said it would not …

Fighting broke out in Tripoli early on Friday between rival armed forces, witnesses said, the heaviest clashes in the Libyan capital since the conflict between eastern and western factions paused a year ago. A resident of the Salah al-Din district in southern Tripoli said shooting began at about 2.30 a.m. …

As long as cocaine is illegal, the cat-and-mouse game between drug runners from Colombia and the authorities will continue. Decades of busts and subsequent innovation have led to a regular sort of news story, where black-market businessmen have created a new way to get drugs to their customers. Tunnels, planes, …

New Zealand police on Friday shot dead an Islamic State-inspired attacker after he injured six people in a supermarket knife rampage, despite round-the-clock surveillance by undercover officers. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she was “gutted” the man, a Sri Lankan national, had managed to carry out his “hateful” assault even …

Mullah Baradar, the head of the Taliban’s political office, will lead the new government in Afghanistan, at least three sources in the group said on Friday. Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, the son of late Taliban founder Mullah Omar, and Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai will take senior positions in the government, the …

The European Commission and AstraZeneca said on Friday they had reached a settlement on delivering remaining COVID-19 vaccine doses by the British drugmaker and also ended pending litigation in Brussels. The settlement clears a major overhang for AstraZeneca, whose cheap and easily transportable vaccine has faced several setbacks, including the …