Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan speaks at a joint press conference with European Council President Charles Michel in Yerevan on July 17, 2021. (KAREN MINASYAN / AFP) MOSCOW – Armenia's constitutional court has ruled that the result of last month's parliamentary elections, won by the party of acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, be upheld, Russia's […]
Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar speaks, bottom right, talks at the opening session of the peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban in Doha, Qatar, Sept 12, 2020. (HUSSEIN SAYED / AP) KABUL – Afghan politicians met with representatives of the Taliban insurgents in Qatar on Saturday with each side calling for […]
Hospital workers transport a victim of COVID-19 into the morgue of Thammasat Hospital, in Pathum Thani province just north of Bangkok on July 17, 2021. (LILLIAN SUWANRUMPHA / AFP) SYDNEY / PHNOM PENH / NEW DELHI / JERUSALEM / ULAN BATOR / ISLAMABAD / SEOUL / SINGAPORE / COLOMBO / BANGKOK / MANILA / ANKARA […]
This Nov 20, 2020, handout picture released by the Lebanese Army shows Lebanon's Army Commander General Joseph Aoun receiving French Armies Chief of Staff General Francois Lecointre (left) at the Lebanese Army headquarters in Yarze, east of Beirut. (LEBANESE ARMY / AFP) BEIRUT – Lebanon's army chief General Joseph Aoun said on Friday the situation […]
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, second right, chairs a virtual APEC Leaders meeting from Wellington, New Zealand, July 16, 2021. (JEFF TOLLAN / APEC2021 VIA AP) WELLINGTON – The top priority for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders is "achieving widespread access for vaccines globally and working collaboratively to provide them to everyone as […]
Afghan militia forces stand guard at an outpost as they patrol against the Taliban fighters in the Tange Farkhar area of Taloqan in northern Takhar province on July 6, 2021. (NASEER SADEQ / AFP) WASHINGTON – The United States, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan formed a new diplomatic platform to support peace and stability in Afghanistan […]
Soldiers man a roadblock set up during emergency restrictions to help curb the spread of the coronavirus in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia, July 15, 2021.(BINSAR BAKKARA / AP) ISLAMABAD / SYDNEY / DHAKA / PHNOM PENH / NEW DELHI / TEHRAN / JERUSALEM / KUWAIT CITY / KUALA LUMPUR / ULAN BATOR / YANGON / KATHMANDU / SEOUL / BANGKOK / MANILA […]
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, right, walks with US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Ruth Sherman, left, prior to their meeting at the Patriarchate in Istanbul, Turkey, on May 29, 2021. (OZAN KOSE / POOL / AP) SEOUL – US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman will visit South Korea next week to discuss bilateral relations […]
In this June 17, 2021, file photo, people walk past a big screen as Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga holds a news conference in a live broadcasting on the current state of Japan's response to the coronavirus, in Tokyo. (EUGENE HOSHIKO/AP) TOKYO – Struggling with rising coronavirus cases and a deeply unpopular Olympics, Japanese Prime […]
A smoke plume rises from houses amid ongoing fight between Afghan security forces and Taliban fighters in the western city of Qala-e- Naw, the capital of Badghis province, on July 7, 2021. (PHOTO / AFP) KABUL – Government officials in a western Afghan province said on Thursday they had negotiated "an indefinite ceasefire" with the […]
A health worker gives a shot of the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine to a man during a mass vaccination in Jakarta, Indonesia, June 21, 2021. (DITA ALANGKARA / AP) Southeast Asia is emerging as a battlefield for one of the world’s worst COVID-19 outbreaks, due to the fast-spreading Delta variant and the slow rollout of vaccines. […]
This handout photo taken on July 20, 2020 and received on July 21 from South Korea's Defense Acquisition Program Administration shows a Falcon 9 rocket carrying the ANASIS-II satellite blasting off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. (HANDOUT / SOUTH KOREA'S DEFENSE ACQUISITION PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION / AFP) South Korea's space program is set for […]
In this photo released by Lebanon's official government photographer Dalati Nohra, Lebanese Prime Minister-Designate Saad Hariri, center, arrives for his meeting with Lebanese President Michel Aoun (not in frame) at the presidential palace in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, July 14, 2021. (DALATI NOHRA / LEBANESE OFFICIAL GOVERNMENT VIA AP) Lebanon’s Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri […]
Health workers in protective suits spray disinfectant after carrying the body of a COVID-19 victim in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia, on July 15, 2021. (FIRDIA LISNAWATI / AP) SUVA / DHAKA / BANGKOK / TOKYO / KUALA LUMPUR / COLOMBO / YANGON / SEOUL / DELHI / HANOI – Indonesia on Thursday recorded 56,757 new cases […]
Afghan refugee girls pull a trolley laden with water bottles in Afghan Basti area on the outskirts of Lahore on June 19, 2021 on the eve of World Refugee Day. (PHOTO / AFP) ISLAMABAD – Afghan President Ashraf Ghani meets regional leaders for talks in Uzbekistan on Thursday as deteriorating security in his country raises […]
President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan gestures as he gives a press conference after the cabinet meeting at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, Turkey, on Sept 21, 2020. (ADEM ALTAN / AFP) ANKARA – Turkey and Israel have agreed to work towards improving their strained relations after a rare phone call between their presidents, a […]
Storage tanks hold treated water at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, Fukushima prefecture, Japan, as seen on April 13. (KYODO NEWS VIA AP) A decision by Japan to dump into the sea tons of contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant came under renewed opposition from environmental groups at a virtual […]
In this photo released by Lebanon's official government photographer Dalati Nohra, Lebanese President Michel Aoun, left, meets with Lebanese Prime Minister-Designate Saad Hariri, at the presidential palace, in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, July 14, 2021. (DALATI NOHRA / LEBANESE OFFICIAL GOVERNMENT VIA AP) BEIRUT – Lebanon's Prime Minister-designate Saad al-Hariri has presented a […]
In this file photo dated Aug 13, 2015, US army soldiers walk as a NATO helicopter flies overhead at coalition force Forward Operating Base (FOB) Connelly in the Khogyani district in the eastern province of Nangarhar, Afghanistan. (WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP/GETTY IMAGES) WASHINGTON – The United States will launch "Operation Allies Refuge" in late July to evacuate […]
In this photo released by the official website of the office of the Iranian Presidency, President Hassan Rouhani speaks during a meeting at the presidency compound in Tehran, Iran, July 6, 2021. (PHOTO / IRANIAN PRESIDENCY OFFICE VIA AP) DUBAI – Iran said on Wednesday it could enrich uranium up to 90 percent purity – […]
People wearing face masks to help protect against the spread of the coronavirus walk along a street during a state of emergency in Tokyo, Japan, July 12, 2021. (KOJI SASAHARA / AP) ANKARA / SINGAPORE / MANILA / JAKARTA / TOKYO / HANOI / ISTANBUL / PHNOM PENH / CANBERRA / KUALA LUMPUR – Tokyo […]
This picture taken on July, 12, 2021 shows a view of the sign marking the entrance of the United Arab Emirates' embassy at the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange building, also known as the Bursa, the Israeli Mediterranean coastal city. (EMMANUEL DUNAND / AFP) TEL AVIV – The United Arab Emirates on Wednesday became the first […]
People wait in line to register at a Covid-19 vaccination center set up at the Royal Melbourne Exhibition Centre in Melbourne, Australia, on June 8, 2021. (PHOTO / BLOOMBERG) Just a few months ago, Australia’s virtually COVID-19-free status made it the envy of the world. Then the Delta variant flipped the script. After about half […]
In this March 9, 2020 file photo, Malaysia's Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin unveils his new cabinet members at the Prime Minister's Office in Putrajaya. (MOHD RASFAN / AFP) Malaysian cabinet ministers on Wednesday unanimously pledged support for Muhyiddin Yassin to continue as the nation’s prime minister. The backing comes a week after the United Malays National […]
In this file photo taken on May 05, 2021, Afghan security forces stand near an armoured vehicle during ongoing fighting between Afghan security forces and Taliban fighters in the Busharan area on the outskirts of Lashkar Gah, the capital city of Helmand province. (SIFATULLAH ZAHIDI / AFP) KABUL – Taliban fighters on Wednesday said they […]
This photograph taken on Feb 3, 2021 shows workers assembling solar panels on the shore of the Tengeh reservoir as part of the constuction of a floating solar power farm in Singapore. (ROSLAN RAHMAN / AFP) SINGAPORE – Singapore unveiled on Wednesday one of the world's largest floating solar panel farms, spanning an area equivalent […]
This undated photo shows a closed ration shop in Sangam Vihar in New Delhi, India. (PRASHANTH VISHWANATHAN / BLOOMBERG) Chanchal Devi’s three children haven’t tasted milk for almost a year. The staple was among items the 35-year-old and her husband could no longer afford after they both first lost work when India’s capital New Delhi […]
Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga speaks during a press conference on a new COVID-19 state of emergency stretching throughout the Tokyo Olympics, at the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo on July 8, 2021. (Nicolas Datiche / POOL / AFP) TOKYO – Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga apologized on Wednesday for a controversial request to […]
Negotiations in Vienna near conclusion, foreign ministry notes in positive tone Iran's Governor to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Kazem Gharib Abadi, and political deputy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran, Abbas Araghchi (right), leave the 'Grand Hotel Vienna' where closed-door nuclear talks take place in Vienna, Austria, June 20, 2021. (FLORIAN […]
In this file photo dated March 7, 2021, Nepal's Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba arrives to attend the first meeting of the House of Representatives convened after the Supreme Court reinstated the parliament in February in Kathmandu. (PRAKASH MATHEMA / AFP) KATHMANDU – Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba was appointed prime minister of the […]