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Pilgrims were quarantined Tuesday in the Muslim holy city of Mecca ahead of the dramatically downsized hajj as Saudi authorities strive to prevent a coronavirus outbreak during the five-day pilgrimage. Up to 10,000 people already residing in the kingdom will participate in the annual ritual starting Wednesday, according to hajj …

In a rare peace gesture, Taliban militants have said they will not conduct any “operations” for three days starting on Friday, to let their fighters mark one of the holiest Muslim holidays following a recent upsurge of violence. The Afghan militants were “instructed” not to launch any attacks between July …

This would be the earliest ‘I’ storm on record in the Atlantic It may only be late July, but the Atlantic Ocean appears to be on the verge of cranking out its ninth named storm of the 2020 hurricane season, a milestone more typical of late September. Meteorologists are watching …

Nearly two in three Americans have said they support the nationwide pro-justice protests triggered by the police killing of handcuffed black man George Floyd earlier this year. A Gallup poll released on Tuesday showed 65% of the adult population in states across the US supported the pro-justice protests. The vast …

“In the wake of George Floyd’s death, violent rioters and anarchists have hijacked legitimate protests to wreak senseless havoc and destruction on innocent victims,” Barr said. Attorney General William Barr faced a grilling from Democrats at a contentious congressional hearing Tuesday as he spoke about the protests following George Floyd’s …

Boris Johnson has warned there are signs of a “second wave” of coronavirus in Europe, as he defended a 14-day quarantine on travellers from Spain. The PM said the government had to be “swift” – and it would continue to take further action “where it is necessary”. It comes after …

The world’s biggest nuclear fusion project has entered its five-year assembly phase. After this is finished, the facility will be able to start generating the super-hot “plasma” required for fusion power. The £18.2bn (€20bn; $23.5bn) facility has been under construction in Saint-Paul-lez-Durance, southern France. Advocates say fusion could be a …

U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration plans to allow so-called ‘Dreamer’ immigrants to renew deportation protections for a year while it reviews a Supreme Court ruling, a senior administration official said on Tuesday. The administration is preparing a fresh attempt to end the program that shields from deportation hundreds of thousands …

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte asked parliament on Tuesday to extend a state of emergency, which expands his government’s powers as it tackles the coronavirus health crisis. Opposition parties objected that Conte was trying to keep too much power in his own hands despite a dramatic fall in the rate …

Twitter Inc said on Tuesday it had reined in access to Donald Trump Jr’s account for 12 hours because a tweet he had posted violated the social media site’s misinformation policy on COVID-19. The eldest son of U.S. President Donald Trump had posted a video on Monday of doctors talking …

US President Donald Trump is reportedly sending more federal troops to crush protest against police brutality and racial injustice in Portland, Oregon. The Department of Homeland Security is considering to deploy 50 other US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents to Portland on top of the 100 deputy marshals sent …

Australian police on Tuesday said they arrested six people and ordered about 50 others to disperse after they gathered in Sydney to go ahead with a Black Lives Matter protest, despite an official ban because of the coronavirus pandemic. The march had been called to highlight the deaths of Aboriginal …

China has announced the suspension of extradition treaties between Hong Kong and Canada, Australia, and Britain, in response to similar moves by those countries. The three governments suspended their extradition arrangements with Hong Kong earlier this month in reaction to the enactment of a uniform national security law in the …

Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) is conducting large-scale aerial and naval drills off the strategic Strait of Hormuz and in the Persian Gulf, with the country’s first domestic multi-purpose satellite monitoring the process. According to the IRGC’s Sepah News, the final phase of the exercises, codenamed Payambar-e A’zam (The Great …

Iran detained two Swedish nationals over drug smuggling, the website of the country’s judiciary reported on Tuesday. The spokesman for the judiciary, Gholamhossein Esmaili, was quoted by the Mizan news agency as saying the case is under investigation and that Iran has informed the Swedish government and its embassy in …

Lebanese PM Hassan Diab said on Tuesday that Israel had violated his country’s sovereignty with a “dangerous military escalation” along the border on Monday, and called for caution after a rise in tensions. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said the country’s forces had thwarted an attempt by the Lebanese group Hezbollah …

The Libyan armed forces loyal to the internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) are waiting for a political solution to enter the city of Sirte “peacefully”. A spokesman for the Sirte and Al-Jafra operation of the Libyan armed forces, Brigadier Abdul Hadi Dara, said the Libyan army wishes to …

Six U.S. mayors, all Democrats, urged Congress on Monday to halt President Donald Trump’s deployment of federal forces to their cities, saying the move has escalated tensions at anti-racism protests spreading across the country. The request came on the same day the U.S. attorney for Oregon announced the arrest of …

Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak was found guilty Tuesday in his first corruption trial linked to one of the world’s biggest financial scandals — the billion-dollar looting of the 1MDB state investment fund. The British-educated Najib, who faces a total of 42 charges in five separate trials linked to …

Antagonisms between the U.S. and China are rattling governments around the world, prompting a German official to warn of “Cold War 2.0” and Kenya’s president to appeal for unity to fight the coronavirus pandemic. Global trade already was depressed by two years of tariff warring between the world’s two biggest …