The head of the joint operations command in Kirkuk, Lieutenant-General Ali Al-Fariji, issued an order to track down and arrest a group of “weak-spirited” people in the governorate. The command said in a statement that the operation comes after a video clip was published showing a group of people storming …

An arrangement whereby Johnson & Johnson was shipping COVID-19 vaccine doses to Europe that had been packaged in South Africa has been suspended, African Union (AU) envoy Strive Masiyiwa said on Thursday. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said last month he was “stunned” by the arrangement, since Europe has very …

Authorities blanket disputed region with troops and clamp down on communications to prevent protests over Syed Ali Shah Geelani’s death. Syed Ali Shah Geelani, the veteran separatist leader from Indian-administered Kashmir, has been laid to rest as the Indian authorities crackdown on public movement and impose a near-total communications blackout …

Apple Inc is facing an antitrust challenge in India for allegedly abusing its dominant position in the apps market by forcing developers to use its proprietary in-app purchase system, according to a source and documents were seen by Reuters. The allegations are similar to a case Apple faces in the …

A joint force carried out a military operation against ISIS elements in the west of Mosul. A security source told Alghadeer News that the Iraqi Army and the Counter-Terrorism Service, launched the operation in the Asthana Mountains, west of Mosul. According to the source, the preliminary information indicates that the …

The head of Al-Fatah Alliance Hadi Al-Amiri said that there will be no foreign forces presented on the Iraqi territory after 2022. Al-Amiri said, “within December 31, 2021, there will be no foreign forces on Iraqi lands, including the American, French and Turkish troops.” It is noteworthy that Iraq and …

India reported the biggest single-day rise in COVID-19 cases in two months on Thursday, as the government worries about the virus spreading from the most-affected Kerala state, schools reopening, and the start of the festival season. Densely populated Kerala, on India’s southern tip, accounted for nearly 70 percent of the …

A rescue crew was able to find a swimmer who was missing for 12 hours off the Ireland coast after they spotted a dolphin pod surrounding him, the BBC reported last week. “The RNLI volunteers spotted the exhausted man among the dolphins in the sea near Castlegregory in County Kerry,” …

Romania’s centrist ruling coalition faced possible collapse on Thursday as a junior party withdrew support for the prime minister in a row over the sacking of its justice minister, threatening economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The dismissal of Stelian Ion deepened rifts in the centrist coalition formed between Prime …

The Indonesian Navy says it has seized a Panamanian-flagged tanker in the waters off Riau islands after the foreign vessel was found to be carrying more than 4,000 tons of oil without valid permits. Indonesian Navy commander admiral Arsyad Abdullah said in a statement late Wednesday that the Panamanian-flagged tanker, …

Abu Dhabi will remove the need to quarantine for all vaccinated travellers arriving from international destinations starting Sunday, said the Abu Dhabi government media office on Twitter on Thursday. A negative PCR test remains a requirement to travel to the United Arab Emirates’ capital, it said.

Twelve million French children headed back to school on Thursday, wearing facemasks, using sanitizer at the entrance and standing distanced from each other in the yard under strict government rules aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19. “This is very different from usual ‘back-to-school’ days,” said Matthieu Seguin, deputy director …

Composer Mikis Theodorakis, whose infectious, earthy score for the film “Zorba the Greek” helped foster a sunny, carefree image of his country for millions of tourists, died on Thursday, aged 96. As news of his passing swept through the nation, parliament held a moment of silence. “Today we lost a …

The Kremlin said on Thursday that U.S. military assistance to Ukraine could make Kyiv behave unpredictably and dangerously in the conflict in its east, and expressed regret at a U.S.-Ukrainian friendship it said was motivated by opposition to Russia. U.S. President Joe Biden told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Washington …

Two senior European Union officials urged the bloc’s governments on Thursday to set up a rapidly deployable military force to intervene around the world, saying the crisis in Afghanistan offered a chance to end years of inaction. The EU’s top diplomat and its military chief said the bloc needed to …

The governors of New York and New Jersey declared a state of emergency late on Wednesday as record-breaking rains from tropical storm Ida led to flooding and hazardous conditions on the roads, with media reporting at least six deaths. “I am declaring a state of emergency to help New Yorkers …

Thousands of UK students hoping to spend the year abroad are caught in limbo after facing challenges to complete their language courses or take up internships in the European Union (EU). While some of the students have deferred their study projects or even have switched continents because of visa delays, …

Armed men kidnapped 73 children from a school in the northwestern Nigerian state of Zamfara in the latest mass abduction in the region, police said in a statement on Wednesday. Police said a large number of armed bandits invaded the Government Day Secondary School in the village of Kaya in …

One student was injured in a shooting at a high school in the North Carolina city of Winston-Salem on Wednesday, and authorities are “actively seeking the suspect,” a county spokesperson said. The shooting happened at Mount Tabor High School on the city’s northwest side, the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office said …

The World Health Organisation recommends against using spare doses of COVID-19 vaccine to give booster shots to countries’ fully-vaccinated populations since the priority is to ensure the global population is vaccinated, the agency’s head said. Speaking in Berlin at the opening of a new epidemic intelligence hub, Director-General Tedros Adhanom …