Worldwide

A few thousand pilgrims have streamed out of the holy city of Mecca to perform the annual Hajj pilgrimage for the second downsized rituals staged during the coronavirus pandemic. Since Saturday, groups of pilgrims have been performing the “tawaf,” the circumambulation of the Ka’ba, a large cubic structure towards which …

Speakers at an international conference on the human rights implications of arms trade have argued that Western nations and arms companies are complicit in aiding repressive Arab regimes in West Asia region to spy on their citizens. Participants at ‘Selling Death: Why the International Arms Trade Must be Controlled’ conference …

A Bahraini opposition protest movement has underlined the need for “a real political leap” and a new constitution drafted by the will of the people to put an end to dictatorship in the Persian Gulf country. According to Press TV, in a statement released on Saturday, the February 14 Youth Coalition, taking …

This week, in what Minister of Culture Dario Franceschini called a “historic” move, Italy’s cabinet of ministers approved a ban on ships weighing more than 25,000 metric tons or longer than 180 meters (590 feet) entering the lagoon basin near Venice’s St. Mark’s Square, the narrow Giudecca Canal and the …

US President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, Anthony Fauci, has said that he thinks smallpox and polio would still be spreading in the United States if today’s “false information” was there then. “If you look at the extraordinary historic success in eradicating smallpox and eliminating polio from most of the …

Two buses collided head-on in Bangladesh’s northwestern division of Rangpur on Sunday, leaving at least six people dead and 40 others injured, media reported. The accident took place early on Sunday after the driver of one of the buses fell asleep at the wheel, the Dhaka Tribune newspaper reported, citing …

Some 114,000 people have rallied across France to denounce what they see as government intrusion into their private lives. The protests were in response to the rollout of Covid-19 certificates and mandatory vaccination plans. Thousands-strong protests took place in major French cities on Saturday, with a total of 137 protest …

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan heads to Northern Cyprus to mark the anniversary of Turkey’s 1974 invasion, a visit that is bound to draw the ire of Greek Cypriots. Erdogan will embark on the two-day trip to the Turkish Cypriot-controlled northern territories on Monday. He is scheduled to meet with …

The Parliamentary Committee for Foreign Relations sent an urgent message to the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding Britain consenting an asylum application to an Iraqi citizen accused of executing dozens of prisoners during the era of Saddam Hussein. Committee member, MP Mukhtar al-Mospawi told Alghadeer News, “the Iraqi Foreign …

The military build-up continues ‘like never before’ on both sides of the 2,100-mile border despite high-level talks It was described as a dialogue, the first high-level meeting in months between the Indian and Chinese foreign ministers to address the ongoing border aggressions that have pushed the two nuclear-armed countries to …

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak will enter quarantine as normal after contact with Health Secretary Sajid Javid who tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday, Downing Street said Sunday. This marked a U-turn on the pair’s initial decision to avoid self-isolation by taking part …

Flash floods hit southern Germany on Sunday, killing at least one person, turning roads into rivers, and adding to the flooding devastation that has claimed the lives of more than 180 people across Europe in recent days. Some vehicles were swept away and swathes of land were buried under thick …

Assailants also destroyed equipment belonging to Chinese and Mauritanian construction companies. Gunmen have abducted three Chinese nationals and two Mauritanians from a construction site in southwestern Mali, according to the country’s armed forces. The assailants stormed the site 55km (34 miles) from the town of Kwala on Saturday, and made …

Hundreds of Palestinians struggle to see a future as Israel demolishes homes and businesses in occupied territories. Occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem – Hundreds of Palestinian families are struggling to put their lives back together after their homes and businesses were demolished by Israeli authorities, either as collective punishment …

The Taliban’s supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada on Sunday said he “strenuously favors” a political settlement to the conflict in Afghanistan even as the movement has launched a sweeping offensive across the country. “In spite of the military gains and advances, the Islamic Emirate strenuously favors a political settlement in the …

At least 13 people have died after a petrol tanker overturned and caught fire in western Kenya on Sunday night. The crash reportedly happened as the driver tried to avoid a head-on collision with another lorry on the busy road between Kisumu and Busia. People rushed to the scene with …

At least 30 people died in three Mumbai suburbs when several houses collapsed after landslides triggered by heavy rain, local officials said on Sunday. Rescuers were seen using their hands to dig up the ground and retrieve bodies, local television showed, and authorities said more victims could be trapped inside …

Afghanistan’s authorities say the daughter of the ambassador to Pakistan was briefly kidnapped and “severely tortured” in the Pakistani capital. According to a statement by the Afghan Foreign Ministry on Saturday, Silsila Alikhail, the daughter of Ambassador Najibullah Alikhail, was kidnapped and tortured by unidentified men on her way home …

The death toll in devastating flooding in western Germany and Belgium rose to at least 170 on Saturday after burst rivers and flash floods this week collapsed houses and ripped up roads and power lines. Some 143 people died in the flooding in Germany’s worst natural disaster in more than …

Hundreds of people were arrested and businesses shut in the Ethiopian capital on suspicion of supporting Tigrayan rebels in the country’s war-torn northern region, police told state media Saturday. Addis Ababa Police Commissioner, Getu Argaw, said those detained had suspected links to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the region’s …