Chinese State councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed Afghanistan and US-China relations in a phone call on Sunday, Chinese state media said, amid tensions between the world’s two largest economies. Wang said it is necessary for all sides to engage with the …
Read More »Ida nears Louisiana as most intense hurricane in years
Ida could be worst direct hit in 170 years, governor says Storm surge, flooding rains to reach inland communities Hurricane Ida was on the verge of making landfall in the United States on Sunday as an extremely dangerous Category 4 storm that could plunge much of the Louisiana shoreline underwater …
Read More »Only 300 American citizens left to be evacuated from Afghanistan: Blinken
Only 300 American citizens still in Afghanistan are seeking to leave the country, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday, just days ahead of the US deadline for evacuations. “We are down to a population of 300 or fewer Americans who are still on the ground there, and we …
Read More »Biden to receive bodies of U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan
US President Joe Biden headed to Dover Air Force Base on Sunday to honor members of the U.S. military killed in a suicide bomb attack during the evacuation of civilians from Kabul airport last week. An Islamic State suicide bombing just outside Kabul airport on Thursday killed scores of Afghans …
Read More »Hospitals in US South are running low on oxygen amid high COVID-19 hospitalizations
Hospitals in the Southeast are running low on oxygen, with the worst-hit left only 12 to 24 hours’ worth, said Premier Inc., a hospital-supply purchasing group. This comes amid the region’s struggle over the summer with high numbers of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. Now Hurricane Ida is set to hit …
Read More »Civilians were allegedly shot & killed by US forces during Kabul airport bombing mayhem, eyewitnesses tell BBC
Some of the dozens of civilians reportedly killed in a suicide blast outside Kabul’s airport, may have been shot by US soldiers amid the chaos caused by the deadly explosion, according to the BBC. Eyewitnesses who survived Thursday’s attack, which claimed at least 95 lives and left 150 people wounded, …
Read More »Hurricane Ida: ‘Life-altering’ storm to hit New Orleans, Louisiana, on Hurricane Katrina’s 16th anniversary
Hurricane Ida has been graded as a category four storm capable of “catastrophic” damage even more devastating than Katrina. Thousands on the south coast of the US are bracing themselves before Hurricane Ida is expected to slam ashore this weekend. It’s set to bring winds reaching 140mph (225kph) with torrential …
Read More »Health experts warn against use of anti-parasitic horse medication to treat COVID-19
Health experts in the US are warning people against the use of Ivermectin, a drug that is often used to treat or prevent parasites in horses and other animals, as a home remedy for COVID-19. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said recently of a growing trend interest in using …
Read More »Islamic State ‘planner’ killed in drone strike, US says
The United States attacked an Islamic State “planner” in Afghanistan in retaliation for a deadly bombing outside Kabul airport and said there was a high risk of further blasts as it winds up its mission to evacuate civilians and withdraw troops. U.S. and allied forces have been racing to complete …
Read More »US warship transits Taiwan Strait after Chinese assault drills
A US warship and a US Coast Guard cutter sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Friday, the latest in what Washington calls routine operations through the sensitive waterway that separates Taiwan from China, which claims the self-ruled island. The passage comes amid a spike in military tensions in the past …
Read More »Ida strengthens into hurricane and makes landfall in Cuba
Tropical Storm Ida strengthened into a hurricane and made landfall over the Isle of Youth in Cuba on Friday as it heads toward the Gulf of Mexico this weekend. The storm is forecast to become increasingly dangerous throughout Saturday and is expected to make landfall over the coast of Louisiana …
Read More »China will soon surpass Russia as a nuclear threat –senior US military official
China, in the midst of a rapid nuclear weapons buildup, will soon surpass Russia as the United States’ top nuclear threat, a senior U.S. military official said on Friday, warning that the two countries have no mechanisms to avert miscommunication. U.S. Air Force Lieutenant General Thomas Bussiere, the deputy commander …
Read More »US COVID-19 hospitalisations rise to 100,000, most since January
Numbers show a grim picture emerging, with 25,000 people currently in intensive care and daily deaths reaching 364. As the Delta variant of the coronavirus races across the United States, the number of people hospitalised with COVID-19 has risen to 100,000, the highest since January when the pandemic peaked in …
Read More »Poll: Biden shedding support from independent voters as Delta variant spreads
US President Joe Biden is shedding support from independents, a crucial voting bloc that helped Democrats win the White House and Congress last year, as a resurgence of COVID-19 cases slows the country’s return to normal from the pandemic, Reuters/Ipsos polling shows. The drop in support comes at a precarious …
Read More »Factbox: Evacuations from Afghanistan by country
The United States and allies are hurrying to evacuate as many people from Afghanistan as possible before an Aug. 31 deadline amid deteriorating security. The United States and partners have evacuated about 105,000 people since Aug. 14, the day before the Taliban entered Kabul, the White House said on Friday. …
Read More »Arabs gear up for US exit from Syria, in race to improve ties
There is a race among Arab countries to repair ties with the Syrian government as the hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan is construed as a prelude to a US military exit from Syria, US news publication Foreign Policy says. The Arab world has taken note of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan …
Read More »85 killed in Kabul airport carnage as US braces for more ISIS attacks
– Summary Attack kills at least 85 in all: 72 Afghans, 13 U.S. soldiers Evacuations accelerate despite ISIS threat – Western official Biden says the U.S. will hunt bombers down Foreign forces aim to get citizens embassy staff out by Aug. 30 Nearly 100,000 evacuated in 12 days U.S. forces …
Read More »Seven US Capitol police sue Trump, say he incited deadly attack
Seven U.S. Capitol Police officers on Thursday sued former President Donald Trump, alleging that he conspired with far-right extremist groups to provoke the deadly Jan. 6 attack on Congress. The officers in a lawsuit filed in Washington, D.C. federal court allege the attack was the culmination of months of rhetoric …
Read More »US should invest in development, not just migration restrictions -Mexico president
The United States needs to invest in development, not just migration restrictions, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Thursday. Mexico will always seek to have a good relationship with the United States, Lopez Obrador said at a regular news conference in response to a question about the U.S. …
Read More »Democrats urge Biden to fight restart of Trump immigration policy
Democratic lawmakers and immigration advocates pressed President Joe Biden on Wednesday to take new steps to end an immigration policy begun by his predecessor Donald Trump after the top U.S. court ordered that the “remain in Mexico” program be reinstated. The policy put in place by Trump, a Republican, forced …
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