Australia’s second-most populous state Victoria on Sunday reported two new locally acquired COVID-19 cases, with the low number raising hopes that a hard lockdown in the state’s capital Melbourne will be eased on June 10. Two other new cases were reported on Sunday by an aged care home, but the …

A black box from a ship loaded with chemical and plastic that is sinking off Sri Lanka has been located, officials said Sunday, as investigators probe what caused the vessel to catch fire. The Voyage Data Recorder, also known as a maritime “black box”, enables investigators to review procedures and …

Firefighters have managed to control a blaze at Zarand Iranian Steel Company in the southeastern Kerman province. The fire broke out with a loud noise early Sunday, but there was no report of casualties. کارخانهٔ فولاد #زرند – کرمان #Zarand Steel Factory – Kerman. Iran pic.twitter.com/3KkCYu5nds — AJ News Club …

The move, if approved, would make El Salvador the first country in the world to formally accept cryptocurrency as legal money. El Salvador may become the first country to make Bitcoin legal tender after President Nayib Bukele announced he would soon propose a bill that could transform the remittance-dependent economy. …

NASA has just approved two missions to Venus that will provide the scientific community with a wealth of new data on Earth’s closest planetary neighbor. “The combined results of these missions will tell us about the planet from the clouds in its sky through the volcanoes on its surface all …

The Iraqi Commission for Human Rights in Iraq announced today that it had documented 87 suicides and attempted suicides in the country during the first half of the current year. Commission member Fadel Al-Gharawi said in a statement that the outbreak of COVID-19, the deterioration of the economic situation, unemployment, …

Backlog of 305,000 applications in post-Brexit settlement scheme prompts calls for extension of 30 June deadline Hundreds of thousands of European citizens face legal limbo if the Home Office fails to clear a backlog of more than 300,000 applications before the EU settlement scheme closes at the end of this …

Filming in Britain on the latest installment of the Tom Cruise franchise is halted for two weeks after people working on the movie tested positive for coronavirus. Filming in Britain on the latest “Mission: Impossible” movie has been shut down for two weeks after some people working on the movie …

Police caught a suspect in a knife attack that killed six people and injured 14 on Saturday in the eastern Chinese city of Anqing, local authorities said on Sunday. The suspect in the attack, which took place on a pedestrian shopping street, is an unemployed 25-year-old man who was “venting …

Peruvians will pick a president on Sunday in an election that has bitterly divided them by class and geography, with urban and higher-income citizens preferring right-wing Keiko Fujimori while the rural poor support leftist political novice Pedro Castillo. Polls in the runoff election are to open at 7 a.m. (1200 …

Diversity in flu virus strains and lineages has declined during the COVID-19 pandemic, with some experts speculating the potential extinction of certain virulent strains, news reports revealed. Over the years, flu continuously evolves to weaken and evade immune defenses developed by humans to fend them off and in the years …

A huge mass of marine mucilage has bloomed in Turkey’s Marmara, as well as in the adjoining Black Sea and the Aegean Sea. Turkey’s president has promised to rescue the Marmara Sea from an outbreak of “sea snot” that is alarming marine biologists and environmentalists. A huge mass of marine …

After it was reported that sirens were heard at Ain al-Assad Air Base, local Iraqi media now report that the base had been targeted by a drone strike last night. The Iraqi Sabereen News-Telegram Channel reported that the siren went off at the Ain al-Assad base in Al Anbar Province …

Yemen’s army troops and their allies have carried out a fresh drone strike on a major airbase in Saudi Arabia’s southwestern province of Asir in retaliation for the ongoing military aggression and blockade against the country. They hit sensitive targets inside the King Khalid Airbase near the Saudi city of …

The candidates in Iran’s 2021 presidential election have held the first debate on live television, clashing over policy — and credentials — and offering roughly two divergent visions on how the country should be run. The debate, the first of three and intended to focus on the economy, was held …

Arturo Cruz’s detention comes three days after opposition presidential candidate Cristiana Chamorro was placed under house arrest. Police in Nicaragua have taken opposition politician Arturo Cruz into custody, detaining a second presidential hopeful in less than a week and escalating the battle ahead of November elections in which President Daniel …

Burkina Faso mourns as UN chief calls on countries to redouble efforts to fight ‘violent extremism and its unacceptable human toll’. Gunmen have killed at least 132 people in Burkina Faso’s volatile north, the government said, as the United Nations chief condemned “the heinous attack” and called on countries to …

Former President Donald Trump on Saturday sharply attacked U.S. infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, demanded reparations from China, and denounced an investigation into his finances in a speech in North Carolina. Speaking in Greenville, North Carolina, at the state’s Republican Party convention, Trump …

US donation comes after Taiwan accused China of trying to block the island from accessing vaccines internationally. The United States will give Taiwan 750,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines, as part of the country’s plan to share millions of jabs globally, a delegation of US senators have announced after Taipei complained …

Landmine explosion occurs hours before Taliban leaders and UN officials met in Qatar to discuss the Afghan peace process. At least 11 civilians have been killed in northern Afghanistan when their vehicle set off a land mine, local government officials said on Sunday, accusing the Taliban of planting the roadside …