Pyongyang has declared North Korea coronavirus-free, with zero confirmed cases since the outbreak of the global pandemic, while the authorities have imposed severe restrictions to stop the disease from entering the country. North Korean authorities have ordered the elimination of cats and pigeons in border areas due to pandemic fears, …

The incumbent US administration has named China as its main threat and rival, representing the greatest danger to the United States. Since the previous administration of Donald Trump, the US has exerted significant diplomatic and economic pressure on China over a range of issues, including trade and military development. US …

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) Data showed, on Saturday, that Iraqi oil exports to the United States decreased by 184 thousand BPD in the past week. EIA stated in a report, “Iraq oil exports dropped to about 184 thousand BPD in the second week of November, while US imports also …

Sri Lanka is facing its worst beach pollution crisis as tons of plastic waste from a burning container ship wash ashore, a senior environment official said Saturday. Fishermen have been banned from an 80-kilometer (50-mile) stretch of coast near the Singapore-registered MV X-Press Pearl as an international firefighting operation went …

Four people die in and around protest-hit Cali as talks to end month-long demonstrations remain stalled. Colombian President Ivan Duque has deployed military troops to the western province of Valle del Cauca and its capital, Cali after four people died in protests that marked a month of anti-government demonstrations. The …

Manila lodges diplomatic protest against the ‘incessant and prolonged’ presence of Chinese vessels near Thitu Island. The Philippines has protested China’s “continuing illegal presence and activities” near islands it holds in the South China Sea. In a statement on Saturday, the Philippines’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it had lodged …

Coup leader’s appointment raises the stakes as West African leaders prepare to respond to the coup in Mali. Mali’s constitutional court has named the colonel who led a military coup this week as the country’s new interim leader. The ruling, issued late on Friday, said Assimi Goita would “lead the …

In one of his sharpest attacks so far, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has taken the Narendra Modi-led government to task for not having handled India’s COVID-19 situation properly. India’s main opposition party, Congress, on Friday, slammed the Narendra Modi-led government for mishandling the country’s COVID-19 crisis. While addressing a press …

The White House on Friday sent Congress a $6 trillion budget plan that would ramp up spending on infrastructure, education, and combating climate change, arguing it makes good fiscal sense to invest now, when the cost of borrowing is cheap, and reduce deficits later. The first comprehensive budget offered by …

Russia has signed a deal with Pakistan to build a major gas pipeline linking the nation’s southern port of Karachi to industrial hubs in the north. The deal is set to be the biggest between Moscow and Islamabad since the 1970s. Russia’s Energy Minister Nikolay Shulginov and the Pakistani Ambassador, …

Security Media Cell (SMC) announced the raid of three terrorist hideouts in Kirkuk. Iraqi forces raided three terrorist hideouts in Wadi al-Shay near the village of Albu Fashakah in Kirkuk, which the terrorist gangs use as a safe haven and a launching pad for their criminal operations, noting that the …

A container ship broke down in the Suez Canal on Friday but was refloated and repaired with no impact on traffic in the waterway, the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said. The 353-meter (1,158-foot) Maersk Emerald experienced sudden engine failure near Ismailia during its passage southwards through the canal but was …

Property owners operating with ‘total impunity’ in areas where the building is forbidden, zone’s head says. Just beyond the towering pyramids of what was once the largest city of the Americas, an illegal building project threatens to cause irreparable harm to the remains of temples and some two dozen other …

Digital tokens took a hit on Friday as a growing list of central bankers expressed concerns about their usefulness. Bitcoin slumped 7% to near $35,500, recalling levels seen in the crypto meltdown last week as traders brace for fresh volatility over the long weekend. Prices across digital tokens took a …

Warning sirens were sounded at an American base Friday in Baghdad International Airport, hours after finding missiles close to the area. A security source said that warning sirens were sounded at the US Camp Victoria in Baghdad International Airport, as part of testing. Earlier on Friday, Baghdad Operations Command thwarted …

Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian during clashes in the occupied West Bank on Friday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. A few hundred Palestinians had gathered near Nablus in the northern West Bank to protest Israeli settlements. Israeli soldiers opened fire, killing one man, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. …

Nigerian authorities have recovered the bodies of more than 70 people after an overloaded boat capsized in the northwestern state of Kebbi on Wednesday, a state spokesman said. “Seventy-six corpses have so far been recovered, while 22 (people) were rescued, divers are still looking for more bodies,” Abubakar Dakingari, spokesman …

In a first-of-its-kind, peer-reviewed study, researchers have turned back the biological clock in 43 healthy adult males, by up to three years and over just eight weeks, through diet, sleep, exercise, and relaxation interventions. In the randomized, controlled clinical trial, all of the volunteers were aged between 50 and 72 …

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has approved the Covid-19 vaccine made by the US-German partnership Pfizer-BioNTech for children aged 12 to 15, allowing kids in the bloc to be vaccinated against the virus for the first time. New data shows that the ‘Comirnaty’ vaccine is safe for the younger cohort, …

Real Madrid has confirmed the long-anticipated arrival of Austria international David Alaba on a free transfer from Bayern Munich. The versatile 28-year-old had been linked with Europe’s top clubs after announcing in February he would leave Bayern at the end of his contract this summer, having turned down several offers …