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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

Iraq reported 8030 COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Health said today. The daily epidemiological report on the COVID-19 situation stated that 29 COVID-19 deaths were registered today. On the other hand, 5789 patients achieved full recovery. Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 in Iraq, 1379505 …

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 …

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 …

An airbase in Iraq’s western province of Anbar, where American military forces and trainers are stationed, has reportedly come under attack by a barrage of rockets. An Iraqi security source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that three Katyusha rockets targeted the vicinity of Ain al-Asad Air Base, located about …

OPEC+ ministers will look to salvage their oil output talks on Monday after clashing last week when the United Arab Emirates balked at a proposed eight-month extension to output curbs. Saudi energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman on Sunday called for “compromise and rationality” to secure a deal after two …

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 …

Aid agencies have distributed a strawberry-flavored tablet for children living with HIV in six African countries, the first generic pediatric version of a key anti-retroviral, global health agency UNITAID said on Sunday. UNITAID and Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) funding procured 100,000 packs of the dolutegravir formulation across Nigeria, Malawi, …

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 …

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 …

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 …

Russia’s Orthodox Church admonished people refusing to be vaccinated against COVID-19, calling them sinners who would have to atone for the rest of their lives, as the country reported another jump in new infections and deaths. The church urged all its faithful to be inoculated as another 24,353 new COVID-19 …

Hackers suspected to be behind a mass extortion attack that affected hundreds of companies worldwide late on Sunday demanded $70 million to restore the data they are holding ransom, according to a posting on a dark website. The demand was posted on a blog typically used by the REvil cybercrime …

More than 1,000 Afghan security personnel fled across the border into Tajikistan on Sunday after Taliban advances in northern Afghanistan, the Tajik border guard service said, while dozens of others were captured by the insurgents. The crossings underscore a rapidly deteriorating situation in the country as foreign troops near a …

Nineveh Operations Command launched on Monday a military operation to pursue sleeper cells in the areas of Al-Sabuniya and Al-Tiniya, southwest of Mosul. A statement issued by the Command, received by the Iraqi News Agency (INA), stated that the security forces conducted a military operation to pursue the sleeper cells …

The swearing in of the architects of Chile’s new constitution got off to an inauspicious start on Sunday after protests outside and inside the venue, and clashes with police forced a delay to the event. Problems arose after marches organised by independent, left-wing and indigenous groups fielding delegates for the …