Worldwide cases due to COVID-19 were approaching 250 million on Sunday as the surge from the Delta variant eases and more normal trade and tourism resume, although some countries in eastern Europe are experiencing record outbreaks. Over the last three months, the daily average number of cases has fallen by …

Joyful crowds pelted each other with fistfuls of cow manure this weekend as part of one village’s local ritual to mark the end of Diwali, India’s most important Hindu festival. Similar to Spain’s “La Tomatina” — the eccentric tomato-hurling celebration of the local fruit — residents of Gumatapura instead fling …

The head of Libya’s national unity government plans to run for president next month, according to a senior official, an apparent breach of a pledge to remain neutral when he took office in March under an UN-backed peace process. Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah has become popular with big public spending programs after …

India’s manufacturing capital Chennai came to a standstill on Sunday with many areas flooded after the southern Indian coast was battered by heavy rainfall overnight, prompting authorities to issue warnings and evacuate people from low-lying areas. Local media showed footage of cars submerged underwater, uprooted trees, and people being rescued …

A US federal appeals court issued a stay on Saturday freezing the Biden administration’s efforts to require workers at US companies with at least 100 employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or be tested weekly, citing “grave statutory and constitutional” issues with the rule. The ruling from the United States …

The Popular Mobilization Forces announced, on Saturday, that it had repelled an ISIS attack southwest of Nineveh. In a statement, the PMF media said, “A force from the 44th Brigade repelled an ISIS attack Al-Jazeera, Wadi Al-Tharthar and Al-Makhazin areas. Meanwhile, the Federal Intelligence and Investigations Agency of the Ministry …

A 27-year-old man who stabbed four people with a knife on a German high-speed train apparently attacked his victims “at random” and showed signs of mental illness, authorities said Sunday. Police and investigators told reporters in Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz that the attacker’s intentions were still unclear, but there is …

Tigray forces fighting Ethiopia’s government on Sunday played down reports that they would face a hostile population or cause a “bloodbath” if they advanced into the capital city. Several countries have urged their nationals to leave Ethiopia and the US has withdrawn diplomats as the year-long conflict in the north …

The Taliban-run Afghan public health ministry announced on Sunday the start of a four-day nationwide polio vaccination campaign aimed at inoculating children under age 5. For the past three years before taking control of Afghanistan, the Taliban had barred UN-organized vaccination teams from doing door-to-door campaigns in parts of the …

Sudan’s army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan met with a delegation of the Arab League, state television reported on Sunday. Sudan state TV gave no further details. The Arab League, which has called for Sudanese parties to stick to the democratic transition after the army took over power last month, had …

A hand grenade blast has reportedly injured two civilians in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, earlier today, Sunday. A source told Alghadeer News that the hand grenade was placed near the fence of an elementary school in the “Abu Dechir” in the Dawra area, south of Baghdad. Two civilians sustained moderate …