Are Israel’s child-killing snipers any different to the Mafia’s hitmen? It is easy to kill and get away with killing. A former hitman I got to know well while writing a book years ago about Canada’s nefarious spy service once made that stunning admission to me. It was stunning because …

Nvidia on Wednesday sought EU antitrust approval of its $54 billion takeovers of British chip designer Arm, according to a European Commission filing, with regulators likely to echo worries similar to those voiced by the UK watchdog last month. The world’s biggest maker of graphics and AI chips announced the …

While humans are protected from solar storms by the Earth’s magnetic field and atmosphere, they still have the potential to cause immense damage to infrastructure which could induce an “internet apocalypse,” new research finds. The report, entitled ‘Solar Superstorms: Planning for an Internet Apocalypse’, states that “one of the greatest …

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo will announce a bid to become France’s first woman president on Sunday, joining a growing list of challengers to incumbent Emmanuel Macron, several MPs from her Socialist party told AFP. Hidalgo’s intention to seek France’s highest office has been an open secret for months. On Tuesday, …

The vaccine-sharing facility Covax said Wednesday it should be able to provide COVID jabs to no more than 20 percent of people in poorer countries this year, far fewer than anticipated. Covax acknowledged that it now expects to access just 1.425 billion vaccine doses this year – far short of …

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday accepted his party’s nomination to run for vice president in next year’s election, forging ahead with a plan criticized by rivals as a cynical move to maintain his political power. The mercurial leader, 76, is barred by the constitution from seeking a second term …

The head of the World Health Organization is calling on rich countries with large supplies of coronavirus vaccines to refrain from offering booster shots through the end of the year, expanding a call that has largely fallen on deaf ears. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also said on Wednesday he …

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has called upon the international community, financial institutions, and the private sector to come together to spark a “green recovery” to help meet the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). “A green recovery has become an urgent need, coming at the top of the government …

Indian authorities are restricting major religious festivals that start this week and attract huge crowds, warning that a new COVID-19 wave had already begun in the financial capital Mumbai. State governments across the country of 1.3 billion people, which saw a devastating coronavirus surge in April-May, are clamping down on …

The European Union on Wednesday said the “caretaker” government unveiled by the Taliban in Afghanistan failed to honor vows from the new rulers to include different groups. “Upon initial analysis of the names announced, it does not look like the inclusive and representative formation in terms of the rich ethnic …

Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) arrested two prominent members of ISIS in the capital, Baghdad. PMF said in a statement, “A force from the Popular Mobilization Forces, in cooperation with the 22nd Brigade of the Iraqi Army, in the Nahr Safi area, north of Baghdad, arrested a terrorist belonging to …

South Korea is drawing up a plan on how to live more normally with COVID-19, expecting 80 percent of adults to be fully vaccinated by late October, health authorities said on Wednesday. The country is in the middle of its worst wave of infections, but it has kept the number …

Germany’s foreign minister has responded skeptically to the Taliban’s announcement of an interim government line-up for Afghanistan. Heiko Maas released a statement on Wednesday, a day after the Taliban announced an all-male interim government. The Cabinet is stacked with veterans of their hard-line rule from the 1990s and the 20-year …

Russia’s Emergencies Minister Yevgeny Zinichev died during a training exercise in the Arctic, the RIA news agency cited the ministry as saying on Wednesday. The 55-year-old official, who had headed the high-profile emergencies ministry since 2018, died while saving someone’s life, it said without providing further details. “… Zinichev died …

Former Afghan president Ashraf Ghani has apologized, saying he regretted “how it ended,” according to a statement released. “Leaving Kabul was the most difficult decision of my life, but I believed it was the only way to keep the guns silent and save Kabul and her 6 million citizens. I …

On Wednesday, the Counter-Terrorism Service arrested eight terrorists in different areas. The Agency said in a statement today that “the Service arrested four terrorists in the capital, Baghdad, the Tarmiyah district and the Radwaniyah district. Counter-Terrorism launched another operation in Al-Anbar Governorate in the districts of “Fallujah, Hit, and Karma, …

Paris suspect Salah Abdeslam says in court that he is a soldier of ISIS, Reuters reports. A court trial began on Wednesday into the November 2015 terrorist attacks on Paris, which left some 130 people killed and hundreds wounded when gunmen with suicide vests targeted six bars and restaurants, the …

Iraq registered 58 mortalities and 5405 new cases, according to the daily COVID-19 report issued by the Ministry of Health today. The report said that 7046 patients have recovered from the virus in the past day. According to the Ministry’s stats, 1934335 citizens have tested positive for the virus since …

Libyan interim Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibeh said on Wednesday he would visit Tunisia Thursday and meet President Kais Saied after weeks of friction between the North African neighbors over security. Neither the Tunisian foreign ministry nor presidency were immediately available to confirm Dbeibeh’s visit. The two countries have been in …

Documents obtained by The Intercept reveal that the US government-funded studies into coronavirus in bats in Wuhan long before the pandemic, with the proposal showing it was aware of the risk that researchers would be infected. More than 900 pages of material related to this research were published on the …