Iraq’s Ministry of Health said on Friday (April 15) it recorded 204 coronavirus infections and five deaths in the country over the past 24 hours. Of that total, 65 of the newest cases are in Baghdad governorate, along with 27 in Basra, twenty-one in Karbala, fifteen in Sulaimani, fourteen in …

The Food and Drug Administration has granted emergency use authorization to a new COVID-19 test that can detect infections with only a sample of a patient’s breath, using a device that can yield results in less than three minutes. The agency says the InspectIR COVID-19 Breathalyzer will only be available …

The U.S. Space Command announced this week that it determined a 2014 meteor hit that hit Earth was from outside the solar system. The meteor streaked across the sky off the coast of Manus Island, Papua New Guinea three years earlier than what was believed to be the first confirmed …

Saudi Arabian authorities have arrested at least nine prominent judges amid reports that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) is seeking to get rid of political dissidents and potential royal challengers with the aim of clearing his path to the succession once his elderly and ailing father, King Salman, steps …

A Ukrainian military factory outside Kyiv that produced missiles allegedly used to hit Russia’s Moskva warship was destroyed by overnight Russian strikes, an AFP journalist at the scene saw Friday. A workshop and an administrative building at the Vizar plant, which lies near Kyiv’s international Zhuliany airport, were seriously damaged. …

The death toll from days of flooding on South Africa’s east coast rose to 395 on Friday, up from an earlier estimate of 341. This week’s floods in Kwazulu-Natal Province have knocked out power lines, shut down water services, disrupted operations at one of Africa’s busiest ports, and strewn highways …

Israeli forces have stormed the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the occupied Old City of al-Quds, injuring more than 150 worshipers in stepped-up violence in the fasting holy month of Ramadan. The Palestinian Ma’an news agency said the violence broke out at dawn on Friday when the occupation forces raided the …

China says it conducted military drills around Taiwan on Friday, coinciding with a US Congressional delegation’s visit to the island, with Beijing blaming the visitors for raising tensions with the “provocative” trip. The People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theatre Command said in a statement that its military sent frigates, bombers, and …

The latest moment of confusion for the US president occurred in North Carolina US President Joe Biden has been widely mocked following a public appearance on Thursday. After delivering a speech in North Carolina, he appeared to offer a handshake with no one there to receive it. The president visited …

Lindsey Graham was the first American lawmaker to step off the airplane after his congressional delegation landed at Songshan Airport in Taipei on Thursday evening, starting a whirlwind visit to Taiwan that has already angered China. The Republican senator for South Carolina is leading the congressional delegation, or CODEL, which …

Canada will deploy up to 150 military personnel to Poland to support Ukrainians fleeing Russia’s war and address a growing refugee crisis at Poland’s border with Ukraine, Defense Minister Anita Anand said on Thursday. More than half of the over 4.5 million who have left since Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion …

G20 host Indonesia said on Thursday Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov had confirmed he plans to attend virtually next week’s meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors from the Group of 20 major economies. Indonesian finance ministry official Wempi Saputra also told a briefing that Jakarta was considering whether …

The Philippine military and aid workers pledged on Thursday to keep searching for 103 people missing after tropical storm Megi ripped through central areas this week, burying many under landslides and killing at least 138. Megi was the first cyclone this year to hit the Philippines, an archipelago of more …

Protesters share milk rice and oil cakes to celebrate the traditional new year near Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s office, where they have camped out for six days. Sri Lankans have shared milk rice and oil cakes to celebrate their traditional new year opposite the president’s office, where they have camped out for …

Tunisia will raise local fuel prices every month this year by no less than 3 percent, an official in the energy ministry said on Thursday, which may mean an increase of at least 30 percent by the end of 2022. Tunisia raised fuel prices by 5 percent on Wednesday, its …

Two attack helicopters reportedly entered Russian airspace and delivered at least six strikes on residential buildings Russia has claimed that two Ukrainian helicopters were responsible for an attack on the border village of Klimovo in the Bryansk Region on Thursday, which left seven people injured. The incident had earlier been …

New research published in Science Advances describes complex structures in rocks from Quebec, Canada, estimated to be between 3.75 and 4.28 billion years old and of possible organic origin. The structures found in Canada are more than 200 to 700 million years older than the previous oldest fossils of microbes …

Iraq’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Fuad Hussein, on Wednesday, called for “extensive talks” with Tehran over the issues related to the security of both countries. Speaking in a joint press conference with his Iranian counterpart, Hussein Amir Abdullahian, Hussein said, “our doors are always open for dialogue with Iran on …

Global COVID-19 cases surpassed 500 million on Thursday, according to a Reuters tally, as the highly contagious BA.2 sub-variant of omicron surges in many countries in Europe and Asia. The rise of BA.2 has been blamed for recent surges in China as well as record infections in Europe. It has …

Russia’s security service said on Thursday that a border post in the Bryansk region had been fired at with mortars from Ukraine in the latest of a series of reported cross-border attacks that Moscow has said may trigger an escalation of the conflict. No one was injured in the incident …