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The White House on Saturday denied that President Donald Trump was briefed on reported US intelligence that Russia’s military offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants to kill US troops in Afghanistan, with Democratic rival Joe Biden criticizing Donald Trump for failing to take action against Moscow. White House Press Secretary Kayleigh …

Residents were forced to leave their homes as authorities struggle to contain a large bushfire nearing residential areas in Utah. The blaze was started by fireworks and flared up by gusty winds. Two large blazes broke out on the hills surrounding the Traverse Mountain area late Saturday night. While one …

China has extended COVID-19 tests to newly reopened salons amid a drop in cases, while South Korea continues to face new infections after it eased social distancing rules to lift the economy. In the U.S., Vice President Mike Pence called off off a planned campaign bus tour in Florida following …

Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) will soon receive “surprise systems” to expand its capabilities and is not in any way affected by the US effort to extend the Iran arms embargo through the United Nations, Commander Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami has announced. “The ground forces have put technological …

The “liberation” of Sirte and Jufra from Khalifa Haftar’s forces has become “more urgent than ever” for Libya’s Government of National Accord (GNA) following the deployment of mercenaries in the country, the United Nations-recognised government’s army spokesperson said. In a statement on Saturday, Muhammad Qanunu said “Sirte was the most …

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday rejected a request by Texas Democrats to allow all of the state’s 16 million registered voters to vote by mail during the coronavirus pandemic. The denial is not the end of the ongoing battle over mail-in voting in Texas, but it remains a loss …

Thousands of villagers have fled their homes in Myanmar’s Rakhine state after a local administrator warned dozens of village leaders that the army planned “clearance operations” against insurgents, a lawmaker and a humanitarian group said. But a government spokesman said late on Saturday an evacuation order issued by border-affairs officials …

A man has died after being shot in a park in Kentucky where people had gathered to protest against the death of Breonna Taylor. The shooting on Saturday night in Louisville also resulted in a second person being taken to hospital with injuries described by police as non-life-threatening. Video on …

US Vice President Mike Pence has been forced to cancel re-election campaign events as the coronavirus surged in a number of battleground states. The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country rose to more than 2.5 million on Saturday, according to a tally kept by John Hopkins University. …

Two people were left dead and at least four people were in fair condition at a hospital Saturday after a man drove into a Walmart distribution centre in California and started shooting at people. The two deceased people and the four injured ones were treated at St Elizabeth Community Hospital …

Hundreds of Hong Kongers marched silently through the city’s streets on Sunday in protest against the looming national security legislation to be implemented by the mainland Chinese government. Riot police armed with shields were present as the crowd moved from Jordan to Mong Kok in the Kowloon district, as part …

France’s oldest nuclear power plant will shut down on Tuesday after four decades in operation, to the delight of environmental activists who have long warned of contamination risks but stoking worry for the local economy. The Fessenheim plant opened in 1977 and already three years over its projected 40-year life …

The US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has vowed to annihilate all the benefits that Iran could draw from the JCPOA, says a former French ambassador to Tehran. “This is why, after the sanctions on practically all economic activities, he has pushed for sanctions on Iranian exports of uranium and …

Last week, US President Donald Trump confirmed media reports that he wants to pull 9,500 soldiers from Germany to bring down the count to 25,000, after accusing Berlin of being “delinquent” in its defense spending. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has urged European countries to think about a new reality when …

Donald Trump visited one of his own private golf courses in Virginia on Saturday as America continued to see the fallout from a rapid surge in coronavirus cases and a day after the US president said he would stay in Washington DC to “make sure law and order is enforced” …

A woman who gave birth at sea was among 93 migrants rescued off Libyan shores as they tried to reach Europe, but six others died along the way, the UN’s migration agency said. The survivors were brought back overnight to the port city of Khoms, 120km (75 miles) west of …

The US has made “remarkable progress” in dealing with coronavirus, Mike Pence has said, despite a record rise in daily case numbers and more than 120,000 deaths across the country. Speaking at the first press conference held by the US coronavirus task force in nearly two months, the Vice-President told …

Britain will be ready to quit its transitional arrangements with the European Union “on Australia terms” if no deal on their future relationship is reached, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, told his Polish counterpart Mateusz Morawiecki on Saturday. Britain left the bloc on Jan. 31. A transition period, during which Britain …

Shanghai received 3.73 million visits by tourists during the three-day Dragon Boat Festival holiday, according to the Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism. With tighter restrictions and caps on the number of visitors amid the COVID-19 epidemic, the city’s 150 tourist sites recorded 1.29 million visits during the holiday …

The head of Ireland’s center-right Fianna Fáil (the Republican) party has taken the post of Taoiseach (Prime Minister) following the latest parliamentary session. His party came first at the February general elections but failed to gain enough seats to form a majority government. It also lost a popular vote to …