Geneva (AFP) – The World Health Organization strengthened its air quality guidelines on Wednesday, saying air pollution was now one of the biggest environmental threats to human health, causing seven million…
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Geneva (AFP) – The World Health Organization strengthened its air quality guidelines on Wednesday, saying air pollution was now one of the biggest environmental threats to human health, causing seven million…
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UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Racism, the climate crisis and the world’s worsening divisions will take center stage at the United Nations on Wednesday, a day after the U.N. chief issued…
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SYDNEY/MELBOURNE (Reuters) A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck near Melbourne on Wednesday, Geoscience Australia said, one of the country’s biggest quakes on record, causing damage to buildings in the country’s second largest city and sending tremors throughout neighbouring states. The quake’s epicentre was near the…
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SYDNEY, Sept 21 (Reuters) – France shouldn’t have been surprised that Australia cancelled a submarine contract, as major concerns about delays, cost overruns and suitability had been aired officially and…
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NEW YORK/BOSTON/HONG KONG, Sept 21 (Reuters) – The risks of China Evergrande Group (3333.HK) defaulting on its mountain of debt loomed large over nervous markets on Tuesday, as investors looked…
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States will reopen in November to air travelers from 33 countries including China, India, Brazil and most of Europe who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, the White House said on Monday,…
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Copenhagen (AFP) – The World Health Organization on Monday recommended doubling alcohol taxes in Europe as a means to prevent nearly 5,000 cancer deaths every year. Increasing taxes on alcoholic beverages…
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(AP) – Pfizer said Monday its COVID-19 vaccine works for children ages 5 to 11 and that it will seek U.S. authorization for this age group soon — a key…
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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Netflix’s “The Crown” and “The Queen’s Gambit” combined with Apple TV+’s “Ted Lasso” to win top series honors at the Sunday’s Emmy Awards, a first for…
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UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Last year, no leaders came at all. This year will be quite different — sort of. With the coronavirus pandemic still raging in many parts of…
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Four SpaceX tourists returned to Earth safely on Saturday after spending three days in space, successfully concluding the first orbital mission in history with no professional astronauts on board. The…
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PARIS – France on Friday recalled its ambassadors to the United States and Australia for consultations in a ferocious row over the scrapping of a submarine contract, an unprecedented step…
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BEIJING (AP) — A trio of Chinese astronauts returned to Earth on Friday after a 90-day stay aboard their nation’s first space station in China’s longest mission yet. Nie Haisheng,…
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BEIJING, Sept 16 (Reuters) – China has filed an application to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the commerce ministry said, as the world’s second-biggest economy…
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SYDNEY, Sept 17 (Reuters) – Australian officials will trial a home quarantine system for fully vaccinated international travellers arriving in Sydney, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Friday, as the…
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WASHINGTON/CANBERRA, Sept 16 (Reuters) – China on Thursday denounced a new Indo-Pacific security alliance between the United States, Britain and Australia, saying such partnerships should not target third countries and…
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WASHINGTON/CANBERRA (Reuters) – The United States, Britain and Australia said on Wednesday they would establish a security partnership for the Indo-Pacific that will involve helping Canberra acquire nuclear-powered submarines, as Chinese influence over the…
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CAPE CANAVERAL (Reuters) – A SpaceX rocket ship blasted off from Florida on Wednesday carrying a billionaire e-commerce executive and three less-wealthy private citizens he chose to join him in the first all–civilian crew ever launched into Earth orbit. The quartet…
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GENEVA (AP) — The World Health Organization said there were about 4 million coronavirus cases reported globally last week, marking the first major drop in new infections in more than…
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In an industrial unit on the outskirts of Taipei chefs are plating meals that will never be served in a restaurant: welcome to the world of “ghost kitchens”. Even before…
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United States (AFP) – The weather seems cooperative and the passengers are raring to go: SpaceX’s first space tourists were a picture of calm Tuesday as they prepared to blast off on…
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COVID-19 deaths and cases in the U.S. have climbed back to levels not seen since last winter, erasing months of progress and potentially bolstering President Joe Biden’s argument for his…
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MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Four former Minneapolis police officers charged with violating George Floyd’s civil rights pleaded not guilty Tuesday in a federal hearing that included arguments on several pretrial motions,…
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Sept 13 (Reuters) – A cyber surveillance company based in Israel developed a tool to break into Apple iPhones with a never-before-seen technique that has been in use since at…
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JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli aircraft struck a series of targets in the Gaza Strip early Monday while Palestinian militants launched rockets into Israel in the third consecutive night of fighting…
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SEOUL, Sept 13 (Reuters) – North Korea carried out successful tests of a new long-range cruise missile over the weekend, state media said on Monday, seen by analysts as possibly…
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Seoul (AFP) – North Korea test-fired a new “long-range cruise missile” over the weekend, state media reported Monday, with the United States saying the nuclear-armed country was threatening its neighbours and beyond….
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Los Angeles (AFP) – Pop princess Britney Spears on Sunday announced her engagement to her boyfriend Sam Asghari via social media. Spears, 39, showed off a diamond ring in an Instagram…
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BEIRUT (AP) — Al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri appeared in a video marking the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, attacks, months after rumors spread that he was dead. The SITE…
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Chinese authorities have ordered gaming giants to end their focus on profits and cut content perceived to be breeding “effeminacy”, as Beijing tries to direct youth culture, gender ideals, and…
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America marked the 20th anniversary of 9/11 Saturday with pleas for unity at solemn ceremonies given added resonance by the messy withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan and return to…
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LOS ANGELES, Sept 10 (Reuters) – Walt Disney Co said on Friday it will release “Eternals,” “West Side Story” and the rest of its 2021 films exclusively in theaters before…
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The quick fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban has made the 20th anniversary of Sept 11 even more sad. The loss of tens of thousands of lives, both American and Afghan,…
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Washington (AFP) – US President Joe Biden talked with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping for the first time in seven months Thursday, urging they ensure that “competition” between the two powers…
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(Reuters) – Britain’s Queen Elizabeth and other members of the royal family support the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, a senior representative of Buckingham Palace told Channel 4 News in an interview. Ken Olisa, the first…
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(Reuters) – Two hundred Americans and other foreigners who remain in Afghanistan are set to depart the war-ravaged country on charter flights from Kabul on Thursday after the new Taliban…
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SEOUL, Sept 9 (Reuters) – North Korea celebrated the 73rd anniversary of its foundation with a night time military parade, state media reported on Thursday, publishing photographs of marching rows…
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(Reuters) – Europe’s medicines regulator has added an extremely rare nerve-damaging disorder, Guillain-Barré syndrome, as a possible side–effect of AstraZeneca‘s COVID–19 vaccine, regular safety updates from the watchdog showed on Wednesday. The European Medicines Agency said a causal relationship between GBS…
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SHANGHAI, Sept 8 (Reuters) – China’s crackdown on “fan culture” is aimed at maintaining public order and will not affect its relations with any country, the Chinese embassy in South…
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(AP) — A massive fire raged through an overcrowded prison near Indonesia’s capital early Wednesday, killing at least 41 inmates, two of them foreigners serving drug sentences, and injuring 80…
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(Reuters) – A powerful earthquake struck southwestern Mexico near the beach resort of Acapulco on Tuesday, killing at least one man who was crushed by a falling post, and causing…
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SAN SALVADOR (AP) — El Salvador became the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender Tuesday, but the rollout stumbled in its first hours and President Nayib Bukele said…
Read MoreGENEVA (Reuters) – Hundreds of thousands of people will die of tuberculosis left untreated because of disruption to healthcare systems in poor countries caused by the COVID–19 pandemic, a global aid fund said. In a few of the…
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KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban on Tuesday announced an all-male interim government for Afghanistan stacked with veterans of their hard-line rule from the 1990s and the 20-year battle against…
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Students across Afghanistan have started returning to university classrooms after the Taliban stormed to power, and in some cases, females have been separated from their male peers by curtains or…
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The Taliban on Monday claimed total control over Afghanistan, saying they had won the key battle for the Panjshir Valley, the last remaining holdout of resistance against their rule. Following…
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San Salvador (AFP) – El Salvador on Tuesday becomes the first country in the world to accept bitcoin as legal tender, despite widespread domestic skepticism and international warnings of risks for consumers….
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(Reuters) – The Taliban claimed victory on Monday over opposition forces in the Panjshir valley northeast of Kabul, declaring that it completed the Islamist group’s takeover of Afghanistan and promising to announce a new government soon….
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BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s Vice Premier Liu He vowed the government would keep supporting the private sector amid growing concern a regulatory crackdown on a wide range of industries was hurting businesses. Liu said, “guidelines and policies for supporting the private economy have not changed… and will…
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Washington (AFP) – A former sniper in the US military went on a shooting spree in central Florida, killing four people, including an infant boy in his mother’s arms, officials said…
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TOKYO (AP) — The final act of the delayed Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics came Sunday, almost eight years to the day after the Japanese capital was awarded the Games. The…
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“America is back,” goes President Joe Biden’s catchphrase, but his unapologetic exit from Afghanistan shows America won’t be back to business as usual. Beyond the trauma of the Kabul evacuation,…
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Kabul (AFP) – The Taliban were on Friday close to forming a government, with the hardliners under intense international scrutiny over their vow to rule Afghanistan with greater tolerance, especially on…
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Wellington (AFP) – An attacker inspired by the Islamic State group stabbed six people at a New Zealand supermarket on Friday before police who had the man under surveillance shot him…
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Tokyo (AFP) – Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said Friday he will not run for re-election as party leader this month, effectively ending his tenure after just one year, his party’s…
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MAPLEWOOD, N.J. (Reuters) – Flash flooding killed at least 44 people in four Northeastern states as remnants of Hurricane Ida unleashed torrential rains that swept away cars, submerged New York City subway…
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New York (AFP) – The remnants of Hurricane Ida triggered spectacular flash flooding and a rare state of emergency in New York City overnight into Thursday and killed at least eight…
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Tokyo (AFP) – The course of true love never did run smooth, but after public controversy and a wedding delay, Japan’s Princess Mako is reportedly set to tie the knot and…
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(Reuters) – Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie says she hopes to empower children around the world with tools to “fight back” for their rights with a book she has written with Amnesty International. “Know…
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Washington (AFP) – Moderna said Wednesday that tainted batches of its Covid-19 vaccine sent to Japan were contaminated with stainless steel particles, but the company did not expect it posed “an…
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Manchester (AFP) – Cristiano Ronaldo revealed his relationship with former Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson played the key role in convincing the Portuguese to return to Old Trafford. Ferguson retired as boss…
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Paper mills in southwest China’s Sichuan Province are turning leftover bamboo from panda bases into useful products in an attempt to eliminate waste. At Dujiangyan Base of the China Conservation…
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Australian authorities on Wednesday extended the COVID-19 lockdown in Melbourne for another three weeks, as they shift their focus to rapid vaccination drives and move away from a suppression strategy…
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Beijing (AFP) – Chinese pupils returned to school Wednesday with new textbooks peppered with “Xi Jinping thought”, as the Communist Party aims to extend his personality cult to children as young…
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Joe Biden on Tuesday defiantly rejected criticism of his decision to stick to a deadline to pull out of Afghanistan this week, a move that left up to 200 Americans in the…
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(Reuters) – Celebratory gunfire resounded across Kabul on Tuesday as Taliban fighters took control of the airport before dawn, following the withdrawal of the last U.S. troops, marking the end…
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Tokyo (AFP) – After a dramatic evacuation from Taliban-held Kabul and a secret operation to fly him to Tokyo, Afghan Paralympian Hossain Rasouli beat the odds on Tuesday to compete in…
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BEIJING (AP) — Universal Studios announced Monday that its first theme park in China will open in the country’s capital in September. The company set the opening date for Sept….
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Nuclear-armed North Korea appears to have restarted its plutonium-producing reprocessing reactor in a “deeply troubling” development, the UN atomic agency has said, a possible sign Pyongyang is expanding its banned…
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Aug 30 (Reuters) – U.S. anti-missile defences intercepted rockets fired at Kabul’s airport early on Monday, as the United States flew its core diplomats out of Afghanistan in the final…
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(Reuters) – A U.S. drone strike killed a suicide car bomber who Pentagon officials said was preparing to strike Kabul airport on Sunday, as American forces worked to complete a…
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A SpaceX shipment of ants, avocados and a human-sized robotic arm rocketed toward the International Space Station on Sunday. The delivery — due to arrive Monday — is the company’s…
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NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Hurricane Ida was rapidly intensifying early Sunday, becoming a dangerous Category 4 hurricane on track for a potentially devastating landfall on the Louisiana coast while emergency…
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A Tesla using its partially automated driving system slammed into a Florida Highway Patrol cruiser Saturday on an interstate near downtown Orlando and narrowly missed its driver, who had pulled…
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US military commanders believe that another terror attack like the deadly suicide bombing at Kabul airport is “highly likely in the next 24-36 hours,” President Joe Biden warned Saturday. After…
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KABUL (AP) — Evacuation flights from Afghanistan resumed with new urgency on Friday, a day after two suicide bombings targeted the thousands of people desperately fleeing a Taliban takeover and…
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(Reuters) – U.S. troops helping to evacuate Afghans desperate to flee Taliban rule braced for more attacks on Friday after Islamic State struck the crowded gates of Kabul airport, killing scores of civilians and at least 13 U.S. troops….
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Two suicide bombers and gunmen targeted crowds massing near the Kabul airport on Thursday, in the waning days of a massive airlift that has drawn thousands of people seeking to…
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The United States and allies urged Afghans to leave Kabul airport on Thursday, citing the threat of an attack by Islamic State (IS) militants, as Western troops hurry to evacuate…
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YouTube said Wednesday it has removed more than one million videos with “dangerous coronavirus misinformation” since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. The statement by the Google-owned video platform comes…
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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Fox News Channel, bolstered by viewers’ rapt attention to the U.S.-led evacuation from Afghanistan, was last week’s most-watched TV outlet on broadcast or cable, according to…
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The slow rollout of coronavirus vaccines will cost the global economy $2.3 trillion in lost output, a report released Wednesday found. The Economist Intelligence Unit’s study found that emerging and…
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Aug 24 (Reuters) – Western forces at Kabul airport worked frantically on Tuesday to get people out of Afghanistan before an Aug. 31 deadline, as U.S. President Joe Biden faced…
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Hong Kong authorities on Tuesday said they plan to amend a film censorship law to forbid screenings of movies deemed contrary to national security. The proposed changes to Hong Kong’s…
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WASHINGTON (AP) — The lightning-fast changes in Afghanistan are forcing the Biden administration to confront the prospect of a resurgent al-Qaida, the group that attacked America on Sept. 11, 2001,…
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(Reuters) – The U.S. drug regulator on Monday granted full approval to the Pfizer Inc/BioNTech SE COVID–19 vaccine – the first to secure such Food and Drug Administration validation – prompting President Joe Biden to make a fresh pitch to vaccine skeptics…
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KABUL (AP) — A firefight at one of the gates of Kabul’s international airport killed at least one Afghan soldier early Monday, German officials said, the latest chaos to engulf…
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WAVERLY, Tenn. (AP) — At least 22 people were killed and rescue crews searched desperately Sunday amid shattered homes and tangled debris for dozens of people still missing after record-breaking…
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PayPal on Monday said it will this week begin to allow users in Britain to buy, hold and sell cryptocurrency through the online payment platform for the first time. The…
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The United States on Sunday enlisted several major airlines in its frantic evacuation of tens of thousands of Afghans, Americans, and other foreigners from Kabul following its fall to Taliban…
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Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in the streets of France again on Saturday against the government’s Covid-19 vaccination policies amid concern from rights groups about anti-Semitic sentiment in the…
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The Biden administration is considering calling on U.S. commercial airlines to provide planes and crews to assist in transporting Afghan refugees once they are evacuated from their country by military…
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Vice President Kamala Harris has picked the two outstanding US allies in ASEAN for her first visit to the Southeast Asian region beginning on Sunday. From the US perspective, these…
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Chaos around the Kabul airport was so bad this week that the U.S. military was forced to use three helicopters to transport 169 Americans into the complex from a building just 200…
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KABUL (Reuters) – More than 18,000 people have been flown out of Kabul since the Taliban took over Afghanistan‘s capital, a NATO official said on Friday, pledging to redouble evacuation efforts as criticism of the…
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WASHINGTON, Aug 19 (Reuters) – U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris’s trip to Singapore and Vietnam starting on Sunday will show that the United States is in the region “to stay,”…
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Sydney (AFP) – Sydney extended its two-month-old lockdown for another month and introduced a partial curfew Friday, as Australia’s largest city struggled to contain a fast-spreading coronavirus outbreak. New South Wales…
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Hong Kong (AFP) – Hong Kong’s decision to grant Hollywood star Nicole Kidman a quarantine exemption as she films an Amazon-funded series about the lives of wealthy expats has sparked public…
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Tokyo (AFP) – A first coronavirus case has been detected in the Paralympic Village, days before the Games open, organisers said Thursday as Japan battles a record wave of infections. The…
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UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United States is urging the more than 150 countries planning to send their leader or a government minister to New York to speak in person…
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