British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will meet French President Emmanuel Macron this weekend amid a row over post-Brexit fishing rights in which France has seized a British boat and London has threatened to board French trawlers. The flare-up is part of a wider dispute over post-Brexit trade arrangements between Britain …
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Sudan coup leader says technocrat will lead new government, ousted PM could return
Sudan’s military coup leader, facing pressure at home and abroad to restore power to civilians, said a technocratic prime minister could be announced in a week, and left the door open for the man he ousted to return and form the new government. Western countries have cut off hundreds of …
Read More »G20 wants 70% of world vaccinated by mid-2022, sets up pandemic task force
Finance and health ministers from the world’s 20 biggest economies (G20) said on Friday they would take steps to ensure 70% of the world’s population is vaccinated against COVID-19 by mid-2022 and created a task force to fight future pandemics. They could not reach an agreement on a separate financing …
Read More »Russia using gas to bully Moldova says EU
The European Union’s top diplomat said on Thursday that Moscow was using natural gas to bully Moldova, as the prime minister of the ex-Soviet republic said the country could not afford the prices Russia was now offering. Moldova’s gas contract with Russia’s Gazprom expired at the end of September. Moldova’s …
Read More »Iraq reports 1,471 new Covid-19 cases, 22 more deaths
Iraq recorded 1,471 COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Health said today, Thursday. The daily epidemiological report on the COVID-19 situation stated that 22 COVID-19 deaths were registered today. On the other hand, 2,249 patients achieved full recovery. Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 in Iraq, …
Read More »Ancient dog-sized scorpion fossil discovered in China
Imagine a scorpion! What usually comes to mind is a reasonably small, finger-length, venomous creature who primarily inhabits the land. But imagine diving into a sea and coming face-to-face with a meter-long scorpion! Scientists from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology recently unearthed a fossil of a scorpion that …
Read More »Salih: terrorists involved in ISIS attacks shall be brought to Justice
Iraqi President, Barham Salih, hosted the Head of the United Nations Investigative Team to promote accountability for crimes committed by Da’esh/ISIL (UNITAD), Christian Ritscher, at al-Salam Palace in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. According to a readout issued by the President’s bureau, the meeting laid emphasis upon providing all the necessary …
Read More »IHEC: manual recount results are 100% compatible with the electronic in Babel
The Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) has completed the manual recount of the ballots for the centers whose results were challenged in Babel. A source in IHEC’s office in Babel said that results of the manual recount completed earlier today, Thursday, are 100% compatible with the electronic count, “consequently, there …
Read More »Iraq | Mortar attack targets al-Miqdadiyah as night curfew was imposed
On Thursday, a security source said that 4 mortar shells fell behind two villages in Diyala Governorate. The source told Al-Ghadeer that “4 mortar shells fell behind the villages of Al-Hroub and Al-Anbakiyah in Diyala, without any casualties.” Regarding the conditions of the Muqdadiya district, the source indicated, “The security …
Read More »Ethiopia air strike on Tigray kills 6: Sources
Ethiopia’s military on Thursday carried out an airstrike on the capital of the war-torn Tigray region that a hospital official and rebel sources said killed six people and injured 21 others. The government said the strike, the latest in a campaign of air bombardments, hit a factory in Mekele used …
Read More »China to build outpost for Tajikistan special forces near Afghan border
China will finance the construction of an outpost for a special forces unit of Tajikistan’s police near the Tajik-Afghan border, the Central Asian nation’s parliament said on Thursday. The post will be located in Tajikistan’s eastern Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province in the Pamir mountains, which borders China’s Xinjiang province as well …
Read More »European states urge Israel to stop West Bank settlement expansion
Germany, along with other 11 European countries, urged Israel on Thursday to reverse its decision to advance plans to construct around 3,000 settlement units in the West Bank. In a joint statement by the foreign ministries of Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, and …
Read More »France warns two British fishing boats in its waters in wake of Brexit
France gave verbal warnings to two British boats that were fishing in waters off its port of Le Havre, the government said on Thursday, as tension simmers between the neighbors over post-Brexit arrangements. The French maritime ministry said it gave the warnings overnight to the two boats, one of which …
Read More »China urges World Bank, IMF to help cash-strapped Afghanistan
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Wednesday to resume financing support to cash-strapped Afghanistan for reconstruction. The Taliban takeover in August saw billions of dollars in central bank assets frozen and international financial institutions suspend access to funds, although humanitarian aid …
Read More »India tests ballistic missile with 5,000 km range
India has tested a ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead up to 5,000 kilometers (3,100 miles), the defense ministry said, in what media called a “stern signal” to China as the two remain locked in a border spat. The Agni-5 missile blasted off from Abdul Kalam Island off …
Read More »Russia’s capital embarks on sweeping lockdown as COVID-19 deaths surge
The Russian capital brought in its strictest lockdown measures since June 2020 on Thursday as hospitals confront a rising wave of coronavirus cases that has sent one-day pandemic deaths to record highs. The partial lockdown, in which only essential shops like pharmacies and supermarkets are allowed to remain open, while …
Read More »Death toll of Sudan anti-coup protestors rises to seven: Official
Seven protesters have been killed in Sudan since a military coup four days ago, a health official said Thursday, adding that other bodies had since arrived without giving an exact number. Four protesters were already reported killed on Monday, hours after the military coup was announced. “On Monday, morgues in …
Read More »Taiwan leader says she has ‘faith’ US will defend island against China
Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen said she has “faith” that the US will defend the island in the event China launches a military strike, in an interview with CNN broadcast Wednesday. “I do have faith” that US forces would help defend Taiwan, Tsai told the news network, adding that Washington’s commitment …
Read More »Afghan girls learn, code ‘underground’ to bypass Taliban curbs
Cooped up at home in Herat, Afghanistan, Zainab Muhammadi reminisces about hanging out with her friends in the cafeteria after coding class. Now she logs on every day to secret online lessons. Her school shut down after the Taliban took control of the country in August. But that did not …
Read More »China warns US that support for Taiwan poses ‘huge risks’
China condemned the US’s latest overture toward Taiwan, warning that ties between the two countries faced “huge risks” just weeks after Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping agreed to hold a video summit. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s call for greater participation by Taiwan in UN organizations violated the …
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