Algeria decided Saturday to recall its ambassador to France for consultations, as diplomatic tensions mount with Paris. The move comes after France’s President Emmanuel Macron made critical remarks about Algeria published in French daily Le Monde in which he said the former French colony was ruled by a “political-military system.” …

Joint European-Japanese mission to Mercury gets its first glimpse of the planet A joint European-Japanese spacecraft got its first glimpse of Mercury as it swung by the solar system’s innermost planet while on a mission to deliver two probes into orbit in 2025. The BepiColombo mission made the first of …

We may be in the tail end of 2021, but Microsoft is on the verge of releasing the latest edition of the non-subscription version of its office suite bearing this year in its name. Microsoft Office 2021 is due for release on October 5, the same day as Windows 11, …

Positive clinical trial results for Merck & Co’s (MRK.N) experimental antiviral COVID-19 pill reverberated through the healthcare sector on Friday, sending the drugmaker’s stock price soaring while denting high-flying shares of vaccine companies and makers of other coronavirus therapies. Merck shares jumped as much as 12.3% and hit their highest …

Georgians vote in local elections on Saturday that could escalate a political standoff between the ruling party and the opposition a day after the arrest of ex-president and opposition politician Mikheil Saakashvili. Saakashvili, who left Georgia in 2013 and was sentenced to prison in absentia in 2018, was arrested on …

Children are dying of starvation in Afghanistan, local and international sources said Saturday, following warnings that a million youngsters there could face life-threatening malnutrition by the end of the year. In Ghor, one of the affected provinces, at least 17 children among those who made it to hospital have died …

Compared to coronavirus cases earlier in the pandemic, infections with the Delta variant lead to worse outcomes for unvaccinated pregnant women, new data suggest. Doctors studied 1,515 pregnant women with COVID-19 who received care from a large public health system in Dallas from May 2020 through Sept. 4, 2021. Overall, …

The British government has extended an emergency visa program for truck drivers as fuel shortages showed few signs of abating Saturday, particularly in London and the southeast of England. In an announcement late Friday, the Conservative government said temporary visas for nearly 5,000 foreign truck drivers it hopes to recruit …

Taiwan sharply criticized China on Saturday after Beijing marked the founding of the People’s Republic of China with the largest ever incursion by the Chinese air force into the island’s air defense zone. Taiwan, a democratically governed island that is claimed by China, has complained for more than a year …

Bangladesh’s foreign minister vowed “stern action” on Saturday against the killers of Rohingya refugee leader Mohib Ullah as calls grew to investigate his shooting. Mohib Ullah, who was in his late 40s, was killed by unknown gunmen in a camp in Cox’s Bazar on Wednesday night. He led one of …

The UN agency helping Palestinian refugees is facing an “existential” budget crisis and appealing for urgent funding of $120 million to keep essential education, healthcare, and other services running, the agency’s chief said Friday. “We keep struggling, running after cash,” Philippe Lazzarini told a small group of reporters. “The financial …

US health officials are preparing to consider more COVID-19 vaccine boosters for adults and the first vaccine shots for children younger than 12. The Food and Drug Administration said its panel of outside vaccine experts will meet Oct. 14 and 15 to consider whether to recommend booster doses for adults …

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Saturday he was retiring from politics, a surprise move that fuelled speculation he was clearing the way for his daughter to run to succeed him. “Today, I announce my retirement from politics,” Duterte said, accompanying loyalist Senator Christopher “Bong” Go from their ruling PDP-Laban …

Ireland does not expect Britain to trigger a clause in Northern Ireland’s fraught post-Brexit trading deal to unilaterally jettison some of its terms, Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Friday it was possible the British government would trigger “Article 16” if the European Union did …

Biden administration officials say a new pill that could provide an easier, effective way to treat COVID 19 is good news while adding vaccination remains the key to controlling the pandemic. Officials at drug maker Merck say they’ll soon seek regulatory approval for the experimental pill, which reduced hospitalizations and …

A powerful earthquake of magnitude 7.2 struck near the Vanuatu islands in the South Pacific on Saturday, the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre said. No tsunami warning was issued due to the depth of the quake, said the US Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii. The quake, which was upgraded from a …

The Independent High Electoral Commission clarified today, Saturday, the reasons for not including the personnel of the Popular Mobilization Forces in the special voting, stressing that their right to vote is preserved in the general voting. IHEC spokeswoman Jumana al-Ghalay said: “IHEC is very keen on the participation of the …

The University of Bristol has fired one of its professors over his explicitly anti-Zionist standpoints and opposition to the Israeli regime and its powerful US and UK-backed worldwide lobby. “Professor David Miller is no longer employed by the University of Bristol,” the university said in a statement on Friday. Miller …

The United States surpassed 700,000 coronavirus-related deaths on Friday, according to a Reuters tally, as officials roll out booster doses of vaccines to protect the elderly and people working in high-risk professions. The country has reported an average of more than 2,000 deaths per day over the past week, which …

A senior American official has apologized for how the United States has treated Haitian migrants, describing it as an “injustice.” During a visit to Haiti on Friday, Juan Gonzalez, who is the director for the Western Hemisphere for the US National Security Council, said that the people of Haiti deserved …