Worldwide

The UK government has spent at least £350-million promoting opposition forces and projects in rebel-held areas in Syria, Declassified has found. Several projects have directly supported what the UK government claims are the “moderate” armed opposition fighting the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. Whitehall’s Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF), …

Hundreds of undocumented immigrants, on hunger strike in Brussels for the last two months to demand residence rights, have begun refusing water, putting themselves close to death and the Belgian government in danger of collapse. Around 400 migrants, many of whom have been in Belgium for years, are already emaciated …

Where’s your health pass? Visitors heading to museums, cinemas, or swimming pools in France will be denied entry from Wednesday if they cannot show the document that proves they have been vaccinated against COVID-19 or have had a recent negative test. Summary| Health pass needed for cinemas, museums from Wednesday …

The English city of Liverpool was removed from UNESCO’s list of world heritage sites on Wednesday because new buildings undermined the attractiveness of its Victorian docks, making it only the third site to be removed from the prestigious list. Liverpool was named a World Heritage Site by the United Nation’s …

Britain on Wednesday demanded a new deal to oversee post-Brexit trade involving Northern Ireland and warned the European Union that London would be justified in unilaterally deviating from a deal it struck with the bloc just last year. The Northern Ireland protocol was agreed upon by Britain and the European …

Police and government authorities have secured the release of 100 people, including women, children, and nursing mothers, who were kidnapped from their village in northwestern Nigeria over a month ago, a local police spokesperson said. Nigeria is battling an increase in armed robberies and kidnappings for ransom, mainly in northwestern …

At least 25 people have died in China’s flood-stricken central province of Henan, a dozen of them in a subway line in its capital that was drenched by what weather officials called the heaviest rains for 1,000 years. About 100,000 people have been evacuated in Zhengzhou, the capital, where rail …

More than 4,300 people have died of the deadly “black fungus” in India in a growing epidemic that mainly affects Covid-19 patients. India has reported 45,374 cases of this rare and dangerous infection, called mucormycosis, Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has said. It affects the nose, eyes, and sometimes the brain, …

Brisbane was picked Wednesday to host the 2032 Olympics, the inevitable winner of a one-city race steered by the IOC to avoid rival bids. The Games will go back to Australia 32 years after the popular 2000 Sydney Olympics. Melbourne was hosted in 1956. “We know what it takes to …

The Moroccan government used Israeli malware to spy on French President Emmanuel Macron’s phone calls, Le Monde has reported. More than a dozen other French politicians were reportedly targeted in a scheme denied by Morocco. Hours after Paris prosecutors launched an investigation into allegations that Morocco’s intelligence agencies used Israeli …

Former Trump Inaugural Chairman Thomas Barrack has been arrested on federal charges in Los Angeles.

German authorities faced pressure on Tuesday to set aside longstanding privacy concerns and send mobile phone alerts directly to people in potential disaster zones following the devastation wrought by last week’s catastrophic floods. Unlike many other countries, including Japan, Israel and New Zealand, Germany has no way of sending text …

Greek authorities on the eastern Aegean island of Lesbos say they are drawing up a criminal case, including on charges of espionage, against 10 people, all foreign nationals, for allegedly helping migrants enter the country illegally. Police in Lesbos said on Monday the investigation had been ongoing for several months …

The US Department of State Spokesperson Ned Price reacted to a US media report Monday evening that sanctions against Iran could escalate if the Vienna talks fail. The US is considering tighter sanctions on Iranian oil sales to China as a way to encourage Tehran to conclude a nuclear deal and raise …

The US military has begun relocating Afghan nationals who worked with American forces to a military base near Washington. Media reported on Monday that translators and others employed by the US occupant forces were housed at an army base about 200km south of Washington, DC. The Afghans who aided the …

A Norwegian man who went to extreme lengths to illegally milk the country’s Covid relief program has been nabbed by authorities, but only after he used hundreds of stolen identities as part of his massive fraud scheme. The 35-year-old suspect has been accused of collecting around 10 million Norwegian krone …

The president of Mexico has vowed to open an investigation into reports that members of the previous government had bought Israeli spying software and had used it to spy on the country’s current socialist leader, among others. In a speech on Tuesday, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador labeled allegations that …

With a maximum range of 600 km, the latest missile weapon system carried out live-fire exercises to hit a high-speed ballistic target at Kapustin Yar training ground, Russian defence ministry says. Russia said it had successfully test-fired its new S-500 air defence missile systems at a southern training range and …

Jovenel Moise had tapped Ariel Henry to replace Claude Joseph as prime minister in the days before the president was shot dead in his home in Port-au-Prince in the early hours of July 7. Haiti’s interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph, who has run the country following the assassination of president …

The battle for control of Venezuela’s gold reserves in the Bank of England (BOE) has reached the final stage where the Supreme Court will get to decide if the British government’s recognition of Venezuela’s self-styled opposition leader, Juan Guaidó,  justifies freezing the reserves indefinitely. In a previous round of legal hearings in …