US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is heading to Southeast Asia to “strengthen relationships” with allies as the Biden administration intensifies efforts to counter China. Austin will become the first cabinet secretary to visit Southeast Asia this week since President Joe Biden took office six months ago. “You’ll hear me talk …

Tunisian President Kais Saied has dismissed the country’s prime minister and suspended parliament following a day of rallies against the ruling Ennahda Party, a move greeted with both celebrations and protests on the streets. Saied announced on Sunday he would assume executive authority with the assistance of a new prime …

A top Chinese diplomat took a confrontational tone on Monday in rare high-level talks with the United States, accusing it of creating an “imaginary enemy” to divert attention from domestic problems and suppress China. Amid worsening relations between the world’s two largest economies, Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, the …

A mixed vaccination of first AstraZeneca and then a Pfizer COVID-19 shot boosted neutralizing antibody levels by six times compared with two AstraZeneca doses, a study from South Korea showed. The study involved 499 medical workers – 100 receiving mixed doses, 200 taking two doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech shot, and …

The Russian prime minister on Monday visited the Pacific islands claimed by Japan and said the government is considering setting up a special economic zone there. Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin is touring Russia’s Far East and Siberia this week, and the Kuril Islands were his first stop on Monday. Mishustin …

Forty-six Afghan soldiers sought refuge in Pakistan after losing control of military positions across the border following advances by the Taliban, Pakistan’s army said on Monday. Hundreds of Afghan army soldiers and civil officials have fled to neighboring Tajikistan, Iran, and Pakistan in recent weeks after Taliban offensives in border …

The past 12 months may have been a year marked by COVID-19, the impeachment of former US President Donald Trump, Brexit – and even Megxit, but it also marked an explosion of new billionaires across the planet. Rapid-fire public offerings, skyrocketing stock prices, and surging cryptocurrencies led to the number …

Russia’s media regulator has blocked 49 websites linked to jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, his ally said Monday, as pressure mounts on the movement of the opposition leader ahead of parliamentary elections in the autumn. Navalny, President Vladimir Putin’s most vocal domestic critic, was arrested in January after he returned …

Italy asked European states on Sunday to send firefighting aircraft to help tame fires that have swept across parts of the island of Sardinia, prompting the evacuation of hundreds of people. Italy’s Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said on Facebook the country’s civil protection authority had issued the request and …

Hundreds of thousands of people have been evacuated from the coastal areas of the Chinese city of Shanghai as Typhoon In-Fa hits the coast to its south. All flights to the city and high-speed train services have been suspended. Shanghai issued the second-highest-level typhoon warning as In-Fa is expected to …

The attackers stormed Bethel Baptist High School in Kaduna State on July 5, abducting 121 students from their dorms. Gunmen who seized 121 students at a high school in northwestern Nigeria in early July have released another 28 teenagers, a school official said. The attackers stormed Bethel Baptist High School …

France’s 83-76 victory was the first Olympic men’s basketball loss for Team USA since 2004. The US men’s basketball team has been defeated 83-76 by France, losing at the Olympics for the first time since 2004 and for just the sixth time in the history of the tournament. The French …

Ten people have lost their lives and at least 44, including children, have been injured, after a bus traveling from Germany swerved off the highway in Croatia after the driver apparently briefly fell asleep. The incident took place early on Sunday morning. The bus was traveling along a highway linking …

Security authorities in Iraq’s Kurdistan apprehended a person involved in the suicidal bomb attack that took place in a market in Sadr City, east of Baghdad, a few days ago. Yesterday, Saturday, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi announced the arrest of a “terror cell” behind a Baghdad market bombing that …

Ethiopia’s Amhara region on Sunday called on all armed residents to mobilize for battle against rebels from conflict-hit Tigray, calling it a “survival campaign,” state media reported. Amhara borders Tigray to the south, and the two regions are embroiled in a decades-old land dispute that has become central to the …

Countries across Europe have begun to tighten borders and implement stricter quarantine requirements as governments seek to prevent the spread of COVID-19 across the continent as the fast-spreading Delta variant continues to paralyze nations. Authorities in Malta have barred entry to unvaccinated travelers, while Germany has targeted people arriving from …

A ten-year-old boy in the United States’ Colorado has died from “causes associated with the plague”, according to the state’s officials, online news media The Hill reported on Saturday. After conducting lab tests, Colorado’s Department of Public Health and Environment confirmed in a statement released on Thursday the presence of …

Top US infectious disease official Anthony Fauci said on Sunday that Americans who are immune-compromised may end up needing COVID-19 vaccine booster shots. “Those who are transplant patients, cancer chemotherapy, auto-immune diseases, that are on immunosuppressant regimens, those are the kind of individuals that if there’s going to be a …

 Sierra Leone’s parliament voted unanimously on Friday to repeal the death penalty more than two decades after the West African country carried out its last execution. President Julius Maada Bio is expected to soon sign the bill into law, which will make Sierra Leone the 23rd African country to abolish …

French President Emmanuel Macron appealed for national unity and mass vaccination to fight the resurgent coronavirus and lashed out at those fueling anti-vaccine sentiment and protests. About 160,000 people protested around France on Saturday against a special COVID-19 pass for restaurants and mandatory vaccinations for health workers. Many marchers shouted …