COVID-19 no longer represents a global health emergency, the World Health Organization said on Friday, a major step towards the end of the pandemic that has killed more than 6.9 million people, disrupted the global economy and ravaged communities. “Yesterday, the Emergency Committee met for the 15th time and recommended …

Tehran has expelled four Azerbaijani diplomats after a similar decision by Baku amid heightened tensions between the two neighbors. Iran’s news agency IRNA reported on Friday that the diplomats were declared persona non grata last month. They were working at Azerbaijan’s embassy in Tehran and its consulate in the northwestern …

Heavy gunfire echoed around Khartoum again on Friday as civilians trapped in the Sudanese capital said the army and rival paramilitary forces were fighting on and ignoring their plight. “It’s been four days without electricity and our situation is difficult… We are the victims of a war that we aren’t …

Foreign ministers from a group of nations led by China and Russia met Friday in the Indian coastal resort state of Goa, where they were expected to discuss regional security, combating terrorism, and deepening economic and cultural ties. India’s Foreign Minister Subhramanyam Jaishankar in opening remarks to the Shanghai Cooperation …

King Charles will hold a reception on Friday for world leaders gathered in London for his coronation this weekend, the biggest ceremonial event to be staged in Britain for 70 years. Charles, 74, and his wife Camilla will be crowned at London’s Westminster Abbey in a glittering but solemn religious …

Russia’s claims that the United States is behind a drone attack on the Kremlin are false, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said on Thursday. “I can assure you that there was no involvement by the United States in this. Whatever it was did not involve us,” Kirby told …

Hollywood’s largest film and TV studios are halting payments to some producers, an escalation of the writers’ strike and a sign they expect the industry’s labor dispute to persist for a while, according to people familiar with the matter. The Writers Guild of America, which represents some 11,500 screenwriters nationally, …

Iraq has extended an agreement with Jordan for another year to supply it with 10,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil under preferential terms, the Iraqi oil ministry said on Thursday. The announcement came after a meeting on Thursday between Iraqi Oil Minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani and Jordan’s Energy Minister …

Oil prices were steady on Thursday after an European Central Bank (ECB) decision to slow interest rate hikes but were unable to claw back much of this week’s more than 8% decline as demand concerns in major consuming countries continued to weigh. Brent futures were up 28 cents, or 0.39%, …

Iraq has launched a multi-million-dollar initiative to combat chemical pollution in the country in collaboration with the World Bank and the Global Environment Facility (GEF), Environment Minister Nizar Amedi said on Thursday. Praising this “crucial shift” in the country’s efforts to mitigate pollution, Amedi said the projects mustered unprecedented international …

Britain’s competition regulator said on Thursday it would start examining the impact of artificial intelligence on consumers, businesses and the economy and whether new controls were needed on technologies such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT. While research on AI has been going on for years, the sudden popularity of generative AI applications …

Manchester City’s Erling Haaland scored his record-breaking 35th Premier League goal of a stupendous season to help secure a 3-0 victory against West Ham United that sent his side back to the top of the table on Wednesday. The marauding Norwegian ended some stubborn West Ham resistance when he dinked …

At least seven teachers were killed in a shooting at a school in northwestern Pakistan on Thursday, in an apparent retaliation to an earlier attack in which another teacher was shot dead, Geo TV reported. Both incidents took place on Thursday in the Parachinar area of Kurram tribal district near …

The UN’s Special Representative to Iraq, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, called for international assistance, particularly from Iraq’s neighboring countries, to help address the country’s water shortage and drought issues. Speaking on the sidelines of the Iraq Forum on Thursday, Hennis-Plasschaert stressed the importance of finding a comprehensive solution to the climate change …

The arrival of the first batch of new US aircraft was pushed to 2024, the top defense official said. Delivery of 66 F-16V fighter jets from the US to Taiwan has been delayed due to pandemic-related production and supply-chain problems, the island’s defense minister, Chiu Kuo-cheng, said on Thursday. The …

South Africans are calling for Britain to return the world’s largest clear-cut diamond, known as the Great Star of Africa, as many South Africans view Britain’s acquisition of the jewels as illegitimate. As King Charles III prepares for his coronation on Saturday, demands for the return of the Great Star …

Russian President Vladimir Putin must be brought to justice for his war in Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Thursday in The Hague, calling for the creation of a special tribunal dedicated to judging Russia’s invasion. “We are going to set up a separate tribunal to show these people …

In Sudan, heavy fighting was reported in and around the capital Khartoum early Thursday, despite a weeklong cease-fire agreed to by both sides in the conflict. Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Defense Forces each appeared to be trying to push the other out of central Khartoum and control areas …

Israeli forces have killed three Palestinian men and injured several others during a raid on the West Bank city of Nablus, followed by a separate act of aggression that killed a woman near the city. In a statement released on Thursday, the Palestinian Health Ministry initially said the facial features …

Russia has blamed the US for planning “a deliberate attempt” to kill President Vladimir Putin in a drone attack against the Kremlin, vowing retaliatory measures when it deems appropriate. Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov underlined in a Thursday statement that Moscow is aware that Washington had selected the target of the …