From August 2020 to January 2021, “fake news,” or misinformation, got six times more clicks and likes than trustworthy news sources on Facebook, according to a study. The peer-reviewed study looked at user behavior on Facebook around the 2020 US election campaign, according to a report by The Washington Post. …

Germany’s ambassador to China Jan Hecker died suddenly, less than two weeks after taking up his post, the European nation’s foreign office said on Monday. Hecker, 54, a foreign policy adviser to Chancellor Angela Merkel, had presented his credentials at China’s foreign ministry on August 24, the embassy in the …

Greece appointed its first civil protection minister on Monday in a broad revamp of its civil defense mechanisms following sharp criticism of the government’s response to a spate of devastating wildfires this summer. The new minister is Christos Stylianides, a former European Commissioner for humanitarian aid and crisis management. During …

A court in Belarus on Monday sentenced key opposition figure Maria Kolesnikova — who led mass protests against President Alexander Lukashenko last year — to 11 years in prison on national security charges. Kolesnikova’s lawyer Maxim Znak was also handed a 10-year prison sentence, according to the press service of …

Supporters of two Canadians accused of spying and held in prison in China for 1,000 days rallied on Sunday, demanding their release in a case that has soured diplomatic ties between Ottawa and Beijing. Businessman Michael Spavor and former diplomat Michael Kovrig were detained in December 2018, shortly after Canada …

Ethiopian Airlines said on Monday its transport of weapons to Sudan was a “legal and commercial” shipment of hunting guns, after reports the cargo had been confiscated by the authorities in Khartoum. Sudan’s SUNA news agency had said on Sunday that the weapons were seized by customs and an investigation …

The leader of the resistance movement in Afghanistan’s Panjshir Valley on Monday called for a “national uprising” against the Taliban. In an audio message sent to media, National Resistance Front commander Ahmad Massoud said: “Wherever you are, inside or outside, I call on you to begin a national uprising for …

The Iraqi Minister of Planning, Khaled Battal, said that the 2022 general budget law is being prepared by the Ministry of Finance. Battal said in an interview, “There is a strategy for preparing the draft budget law, which is now in its final stages and will require some time to …

The Iraqi army, the federal police, and al-Hashed al-Shaabi (PMF) launched a large-scale security operation today, in Diyala and Saladin. The Security Media Cell said in a statement that the operation aims to pursue terrorist gangs and destroy their hideouts. For his part, the commander of the Nidaa Diyala Brigade …

Washington and Beijing remain locked in a high-stakes battle to convince the world that the other was responsible for causing the global coronavirus pandemic, a calamity that has caused more than 4.5 million deaths, devastated economies around the planet, and led to severe restrictions in personal freedoms in some countries. …

The idea of a European army independent of the US-led NATO alliance has been around since the early 1950s but was largely forgotten during the Cold War. The concept reemerged with the signing of the 2007 Treaty of Lisbon, which proposed the defence integration of EU member states. Germany and …

By end of 2021, rich countries will have 1.2 billion doses of vaccine shots not earmarked for donations. Wealthy countries could potentially have a surplus of more than one billion COVID-19 vaccine doses available by the end of the year that is not designated as donations to poorer nations, according …

According to the latest tally the U.S. has recorded 40,000,070 cases and 651,690 deaths due to Covid. The United States logged 40 million Covid-19 cases since the start of the pandemic, as the fourth wave brought on by the delta variant continues to spread throughout the country. The country has …

Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced Sunday, that the representative of the European Union, Josep Borrell, will visit Iraq tomorrow. The ministry said in a statement received by the Iraqi News Agency (INA), that “Foreign Minister Fouad Hussein will meet tomorrow, Monday, at the ministry’s headquarters, with the representative of …

A week after declaring America’s “new chapter” of engagement with Afghanistan, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will aim to form a united front with allies this week on how to tackle the Taliban and ensure continued support for the U.S. bid to help evacuate Americans and at-risk Afghans who …

The US government’s road safety agency has added another fatality involving a Tesla to the list of crashes it is probing due to the use of partially automated driving systems. A special crash investigation team was dispatched to a July 26 crash on the Long Island Expressway in New York …

Four oil refineries in Louisiana have initiated the restart process since Saturday after Hurricane Ida knocked out most of the state’s oil processing, while five have yet to resume operations. In the last 24 hours, all three oil refineries in the Baton Rouge area and one near New Orleans have …

Ten bulls charged through the streets of Villaseca de la Sagra on Sunday in pursuit of hundreds of runners as the first bull-running fiesta was held in Spain since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Villages and towns across Spain hold the fiestas but they were prohibited last year as …

Tanzania suspended on Sunday another newspaper accused of false stories even though President Samia Suluhu Hassan had pledged to uphold media freedoms quashed by her predecessor. Raia Mwema, a leading Swahili-language weekly, was suspended for 30 days from Monday, for “repeatedly publishing false information and deliberate incitement,” Gerson Msigwa, the …

Venezuela this week will receive the first coronavirus vaccines obtained via COVAX, President Nicolas Maduro said on Sunday, following months of stalled attempts to obtain inoculations through the global vaccine program. The South American nation has been inoculating its population with doses acquired directly from China and Russia, following months …