The shooter still at large; it remains unclear what sparked the shooting. At least 13 people have been wounded, two critically, after a shooting in downtown Austin, Texas. Gunfire erupted just before 1:25 am (06:25 GMT) on Saturday along Sixth Street, a popular area filled with bars and restaurants. The …
Read More »UK PM Johnson likely to delay England’s final stage of reopening-media
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to delay lifting the remaining coronavirus restrictions in England as data show a further rise in cases of the rapidly spreading Delta variant, British media reported. Johnson is due to announce on Monday whether the planned lifting of restrictions, which would see an …
Read More »China factory chemical leak leaves eight people dead, three injured
Eight people died and three others were injured when a toxic chemical leaked Saturday at a plant in the southwestern Chinese city of Guiyang, authorities said. The leak happened as workers were unloading a shipment of methyl formate from a vehicle at a chemical handling facility. An investigation is underway, …
Read More »Algeria votes for new parliament as activists plan boycott
Polls opened in Algeria on Saturday for a parliamentary election that the ruling establishment hopes will turn a page on two years of political unrest, but which many voters are expected to ignore. President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has called for a high turnout, but there has been little public enthusiasm for …
Read More »N.Korea’s Kim calls for boosting military power -KCNA
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un chaired a Central Military Commission meeting, state media KCNA said on Saturday, where he called for boosting military power, but KCNA did not have details of any military activities planned. The meeting on Friday called for a “high-alert posture” against the “recent fast-changing” situation …
Read More »Thousands march in support of Muslim family killed in truck attack in Canada
Thousands of people marched on Friday in support of a Canadian Muslim family run over and killed by a man driving a pick-up truck last Sunday in an attack the police described as a hate crime. The four victims, spanning three generations, were killed when Nathaniel Veltman, 20, ran into …
Read More »Putin says relations with US at lowest point in years
Russian President Vladimir Putin, in an interview with NBC News ahead of his meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden next week, said U.S.-Russia relations are at their lowest point in years. Putin and Biden will meet in Geneva on Wednesday. The White House has said Biden will bring up ransomware …
Read More »Israeli troops kill Palestinian teen in West Bank
Israeli forces have brutally suppressed anti-settlement protests in the occupied West Bank, leaving a Palestinian teenager killed. The Palestinian Red Crescent said Mohammad Said Hamayel, 15, succumbed to wounds he sustained when Israeli troops shot him on Sobeih Mountain in Beita town, south of the occupied West Bank city of …
Read More »UN rapporteur urges UAE to free five rights activists
A United Nations special rapporteur has called on the United Arab Emirates to immediately free five human rights defenders who have been held in harsh conditions in the country’s prisons for eight years. Mohamed al-Mansoori, Hassan Mohammed al-Hammad, Hadif Rashed Abdullah al-Owais, Ali Saeed al-Kindi, and Salim Hamdoon al-Shahhi are …
Read More »France kills extremist suspected in journalists’ killing
A French military offensive in Mali has killed an extremist leader linked to al-Qaeda who is believed to have helped orchestrate the kidnapping and killing of two French journalists in 2013, France’s defense minister said Friday. Three other extremists were also killed in the weekend anti-terrorist operation around Aguelhok in …
Read More »Algeria arrests prominent journalists, activist before election
Amnesty says arrests of Khaled Drareni, Ihsane El-Kadi, and Karim Tabbou are evidence of ‘chilling escalation’ in the clampdown on dissent. Authorities in Algeria have arrested two prominent journalists and a well-known opposition figure, just days before the country’s parliamentary election. Algeria is set to hold its first legislative election …
Read More »Close to 10,000 Mozambicans fleeing violence forcibly removed from Tanzania – U.N.
Almost 10,000 Mozambicans have been forcibly removed from Tanzania so far this year after fleeing a deadly Islamist insurgency in their homeland, a spokesperson for the U.N. refugee agency said on Friday. Mozambique’s northern-most province of Cabo Delgado has been the focus of an insurgency linked to the Islamic State …
Read More »US must first lift Iran sanctions to return to JCPOA: China
Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the United States should first lift all the sanctions it has imposed on Iran in order to return to the 2015 nuclear deal as negotiations continue in the Austrian capital to revive the agreement, which was abandoned by the US three …
Read More »Venezuela accuses US of blocking its access to Covax vaccines with sanctions
Venezuela’s Vice President Delcy Rodriguez has stated that US sanctions are preventing the South American nation from accessing Covid vaccines by blocking a $10 million payment to the global Covax scheme. The statement made by the Venezuelan government official during a televised broadcast claimed that the US is blocking “resources …
Read More »G7 to donate 1 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses to poorer countries
Wealthy nations begin a key summit with Biden in attendance, as some campaign groups condemn vaccine ‘charity’ plan as a drop in the ocean. G7 leaders are meeting for their first in-person talks in nearly two years, with an expected pledge to donate one billion COVID-19 vaccine doses to the …
Read More »Turkey’s troops should leave Afghanistan under 2020 deal: Taliban
Taliban spokesman tells Reuters Turkey should withdraw troops as part of deal with the US for pullout of foreign forces. Turkey should withdraw its troops from Afghanistan under the 2020 deal for the pullout of foreign forces, a Taliban spokesman has said, effectively rejecting Ankara’s proposal to guard and run …
Read More »Demolishing Palestinian homes for an Israeli religious theme park
More than 100 buildings housing about 1,500 people in the al-Bustan area of Silwan in occupied East Jerusalem faces demolition. Nearly 120 Palestinian families face the destruction of their homes to make way for an Israeli religious theme park where the Israelis believe King David had a garden in biblical …
Read More »Thousands of Greeks protest ‘monstrous’ labour reform bill
Thousands of Greeks marched in Athens on Thursday against government plans to overhaul labour laws which unions say will undermine workers’ rights and let companies bring in longer hours through the back door. Greece’s biggest private and public sector unions staged a day-long strike that brought public transport to a …
Read More »Mumbai building collapse in monsoon rain kills at least 11, mostly children
Building collapses are common in India during the June-September monsoon season when heavy rains weaken the foundations of structures that are poorly built. A three-story dilapidated building has collapsed following the first monsoon downpour in India’s Mumbai, killing at least 11 people, including eight children. Dozens of rescuers were clearing …
Read More »Three Palestinian security officers killed as Israeli forces raid Jenin
Israeli army forces have raided the northern West Bank city of Jenin, fatally shooting three Palestinian security personnel. The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced that Adham Yasser Eleiwi, 23, and Tayseer Ayasa, 32, both members of the Palestinian Military Intelligence Service, were killed by Israeli army gunfire in Jenin early …
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