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Tropical Storm Ida strengthened into a hurricane and made landfall over the Isle of Youth in Cuba on Friday as it heads toward the Gulf of Mexico this weekend. The storm is forecast to become increasingly dangerous throughout Saturday and is expected to make landfall over the coast of Louisiana …

Peruvian lawmakers on Friday confirmed a new leftist Cabinet nominated by President Pedro Castillo, giving the fledging administration some respite after a contentious first month in office. Overall, 73 lawmakers voted in favor and 50 voted against confirming the Cabinet. Castillo’s party, the Marxist-Leninist Peru Libre, holds only a minority …

China, in the midst of a rapid nuclear weapons buildup, will soon surpass Russia as the United States’ top nuclear threat, a senior U.S. military official said on Friday, warning that the two countries have no mechanisms to avert miscommunication. U.S. Air Force Lieutenant General Thomas Bussiere, the deputy commander …

Numbers show a grim picture emerging, with 25,000 people currently in intensive care and daily deaths reaching 364. As the Delta variant of the coronavirus races across the United States, the number of people hospitalised with COVID-19 has risen to 100,000, the highest since January when the pandemic peaked in …

Cristiano Ronaldo has agreed a sensational return to Manchester United, the club announced on Friday, in a €15 million deal with a potential further €8m in add-ons, according to multiple sources. The 36-year-old has returned to Old Trafford 12 years after leaving the club to join Real Madrid and will …

Ninety children abducted from a school in Nigeria were reunited on Friday with their parents after being held captive for nearly three months, part of a wave of mass kidnappings by armed gangs that have spread fear across the north of the country. “Today is the happiest and most joyful …

Afghans with valid documents will be able to travel in the future at any time, a senior Taliban official said on Friday in a televised address aimed at calming fears the movement planned harsh restrictions on freedom. “The Afghan borders will be open and people will be able to travel …

US President Joe Biden is shedding support from independents, a crucial voting bloc that helped Democrats win the White House and Congress last year, as a resurgence of COVID-19 cases slows the country’s return to normal from the pandemic, Reuters/Ipsos polling shows. The drop in support comes at a precarious …

The Iraqi Foreign Ministry condemned today the bloody bombing that targeted the Afghan capital, Kabul. The vicinity of Kabul Airport witnessed two explosions targeting crowds of Afghans who were trying to leave their country. The bombing killed at least 12 American soldiers. The Foreign Ministry said in a statement, “We …

The United States and allies are hurrying to evacuate as many people from Afghanistan as possible before an Aug. 31 deadline amid deteriorating security. The United States and partners have evacuated about 105,000 people since Aug. 14, the day before the Taliban entered Kabul, the White House said on Friday. …

The Lebanese parliament on Friday told the judge who is investigating last year’s Beirut port explosion that he had exceeded his powers by issuing a subpoena for caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab after he failed to show up for questioning. Judge Tarek Bitar, leading the inquiry into the huge explosion, …

Scores of Afghan civilians and at least 13 members of the US military have been killed and many more injured in the Kabul suicide bombing attacks claimed by the Daesh terrorist group. Two explosions rattled the area outside the airport in the Afghan capital on Thursday amid the precarious security …

There is a race among Arab countries to repair ties with the Syrian government as the hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan is construed as a prelude to a US military exit from Syria, US news publication Foreign Policy says. The Arab world has taken note of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan …

An Italian economy undersecretary has resigned after causing an uproar by saying a park in his hometown should be renamed after the brother of fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. Claudio Durigon, a member of the right-wing League, said earlier this month his party was committed to restoring the original name of …

Danish lawmakers on Friday voted through an emergency law that will effectively end a strike among more than 6,000 nurses over pay which has postponed tens of thousands of operations and other treatments. More than a tenth of Denmark’s nurses went on strike in mid-June after union members voted against …

Blasts triggered by a fire at a Kazakh munitions storage facility killed nine servicemen and firefighters and wounded 90 others, authorities in the central Asian nation said on Friday. Four people remained missing, the government said. It is unclear what caused Thursday’s fire at the military base in the southern …

Montenegro police said on Friday they had seized more than a tonne of cocaine, their biggest ever drug bust, concealed in a shipment of bananas, and that two people were arrested. The raid was carried out in Mojanovici, a suburb of the capital Podgorica in the tiny Adriatic country, the …

Kerala and Maharashtra asked to consider night curfews in areas with high cases as the country reports more than 40,000 new infections for two days in a row. India has asked the states of Kerala and Maharashtra to consider night curfews in areas with high COVID-19 case numbers as the …

Thailand will lift most coronavirus restrictions on retail and dining from next month and permit gatherings of up to 25 people in Bangkok and other high-risk areas, its COVID-19 task force said on Friday. Easing restrictions and adjusting measures were necessary to revive the economy safely, the task force said, …

New Zealand on Friday extended pandemic restrictions by four days after which they will be eased slightly, although businesses and schools will remain shut and the biggest city Auckland will be locked down for longer. New Zealand had been largely virus-free, barring a small number of cases in February, but …