Journalist Peter R de Vries was reportedly shot in the head by an unidentified gunman, according to Het Parool newspaper. A man believed to be Dutch crime reporter Peter R de Vries was shot and seriously wounded on a street in Amsterdam, newspaper Het Parool reported on Tuesday, adding he …
Read More »US weighs drone strikes, commando raids in Afghanistan after exit: CNN
The Biden administration is considering whether to continue to authorize the CIA and the Pentagon to carry out deadly drone strikes and commando raids in Afghanistan after the complete withdrawal of US forces from the country. CNN reported on Monday that as withdrawal from Afghanistan nears completion, the administration of …
Read More »Fake COVID-19 vaccine scam sees 2,000 people allegedly injected with saltwater
Authorities in India arrested 14 people in connection with a scheme that allegedly saw 2,000 people injected with fake COVID-19 vaccines containing saltwater in Mumbai, the New York Times reported on Sunday. A total of around $20,000 was confiscated from the arrested suspects, some of whom are medical professionals. At …
Read More »Russia detains Estonian diplomat in St Petersburg – Ifax
Russia’s Federal Security Service detained an Estonian diplomat based in St Petersburg, Mart Latte, on Tuesday as he was receiving confidential information from a Russian citizen, Interfax news agency reported. “Measures in line with the norms of international law will be applied to the foreign diplomat,” Interfax quoted the Federal …
Read More »Ethiopia resumes filling mega-dam, infuriating Egypt
Egypt has said it received an official notice from Ethiopia that it had started the next phase of filling a controversial huge dam on the Nile River’s main tributary, raising tensions days before an upcoming meeting of the United Nations Security Council on the issue. In a statement late on …
Read More »Jordan court sets Monday for verdict in plot to destabilise monarchy – source
Jordan’s security court will hand down its verdict in a behind-closed-doors trial of a former royal confidant accused of destabilising the monarchy on Monday, an official source said. The prosecution accuses former finance minister Bassem Awadallah, along with a minor royal, of backing the aspirations of the former heir to …
Read More »Russia drills attack helicopters, pledges help to secure Tajik-Afghan border
Russian military helicopters based in Tajikistan fired air-to-surface missiles during a training exercise on Tuesday as Moscow said its forces in the Central Asian nation were fully equipped to help secure the border with Afghanistan. Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon on Monday ordered the mobilisation of 20,000 military reservists to bolster …
Read More »French prosecutors probe modern-day slavery lawsuit against Saudi prince
French prosecutors said Monday they are investigating claims that a Saudi prince kept seven employees in a state of modern-day slavery at an apartment he owned outside Paris. The inquiry for human trafficking was opened after the women, most from the Philippines filed complaints of modern-day slavery in October 2019, …
Read More »US police hunt for killer after 3 bodies found at golf club
Police in the southern US state of Georgia were searching Monday for a shooter after a suspect drove onto a golf course, killed one employee there, and then fled, leaving two corpses in the bed of his pickup truck. Five shots were heard Saturday on the Pinetree Country Club in …
Read More »Taliban aim to present written peace plan at talks as soon as next month -spokesman
The Taliban plan to present a written peace proposal to the Afghan government side as soon as next month, a spokesman for the Islamist insurgents said even as they make major territorial gains in the breach left by departing foreign forces. Hundreds of Afghan security force members have fled into …
Read More »French Senate blocks referendum on climate change
The French Senate has voted to block a referendum promised by President Emmanuel Macron on whether to enshrine the fight against climate change in the French constitution, it said in a statement on Monday. Macron had pledged to organise such a vote in response to criticism that he has not …
Read More »Ukraine to hold land military drills with US, Poland, Lithuania
Ukraine, the US, Poland, and Lithuania will hold a large military exercise in the western part of Ukraine later in July, the Ukrainian military said on Monday, the second round of war games involving Kyiv and foreign partners in a month. The drill, Three Swords-2021, will involve more than 1,200 …
Read More »UN Security Council to meet on controversial Ethiopia mega-dam project
The United Nations Security Council is set to meet on Thursday on Ethiopia’s mega-dam project, which has sparked fears in downstream Sudan and Egypt over their water supplies, diplomats said. Both nations have been pushing Ethiopia to ink a binding deal over the filling and operation of its Grand Ethiopian …
Read More »Britain plans to end legal mandates for masks and social distancing on July 19, Boris Johnson says
Boris Johnson on Monday announced that Britain was set to soon end virtually all government mandates to control the spread of the coronavirus, telling people that in two weeks it would likely be completely up to them whether to wear a face mask or social distance. At an evening news …
Read More »Miami condo collapse: death toll reaches 27 as demolition expands search area
Three more victims were discovered in the rubble of the collapsed South Florida condo building on Monday after crews set off a string of explosives that brought down the last of the structure, allowing search efforts to resume. Miami-Dade’s assistant fire chief, Raide Jadallah, told family members that the bodies …
Read More »UN raises alarm over Yemeni children’s education amid conflict
More than two million children are out of school because of the continuing war across Yemen, says UNICEF. The United Nations has warned that Yemeni children’s education and futures were under threat because of the continuing war in the Middle Eastern country. In a report titled Education Disrupted: Impact of …
Read More »Italy arrests four suspected of sending funds to Islamic State
Italian police said on Monday they had arrested four men accused of sending funds to people across Europe and the Middle East who were collecting on behalf of Islamic State, in an investigation that led to a larger suspected terrorism-funding network. The four men were suspected of wiring 30,000 euros …
Read More »Merkel, Macron discuss EU ties, trade, climate with China’s Xi
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron exchanged views on European Union-China relations with China’s President Xi Jinping in a video conference on Monday, Merkel’s office said. “They also discussed international trade, climate protection, and biodiversity,” her office added in a statement. “The conversation also revolved around cooperation …
Read More »Fire rages, mass evacuation after Thai factory blast
Thousands of people on the outskirts of Thailand’s capital were being evacuated on Monday as firefighters battled blazes for hours after a factory explosion that killed a rescue worker and wounded 29 people, officials said. Disaster authorities said 70 houses were damaged and fires were still being fought 15 hours …
Read More »Gunmen attack Nigeria school, abduct about 150 students
Around 150 children are missing after armed men attacked a school in northwest Nigeria’s Kaduna state, a parent and an administrator told Reuters on Monday. Police said gunmen shooting wildly raided the Bethel Baptist High School in southern Kaduna state overnight. “They … overpowered the school’s security guards and made …
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