Hamid Shalizi, Hameed Farzad KABUL (Reuters) – Afghanistan agreed on Sunday to release 400 “hard-core” Taliban prisoners, paving the way for peace talks aimed at ending almost two decades of war. Under election-year pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump for a deal allowing him to bring home American troops, the war-torn country’s grand assembly, or Loya […]
TAIPEI (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar arrived in Taiwan on Sunday as the highest-level U.S. official to visit in four decades, a trip condemned by China which claims the island as its own, further irritating Sino-U.S. relations. Washington broke off official ties with Taipei in 1979 in favour of […]
Diane Craft Healthcare workers at Fountain Valley Regional Hospital hold a rally outside their hospital for safer working conditions during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Fountain Valley, California, U.S., August 6, 2020. REUTERS/Mike Blake (Reuters) – The United States set a record for coronavirus cases on Saturday, with more than 5 million […]
Beirut port explosion Dozens of protesters in Beirut have entered the foreign ministry during a wider demonstration over Tuesday’s huge explosion that left at least 158 dead. Several thousand people are on the streets in a planned protest, but there has been violence. Police fired tear gas at stone-throwing demonstrators. Sounds of gunfire have also […]
Investigators have found the so-called “black boxes” of a plane that crashed in the southern India state of Kerala, killing at least 18 people. The Air India Express plane, en route from Dubai, skidded off the runway during bad weather before breaking in two while landing at Kozhikode airport. There were 190 people on board […]
Hong Kong anti-government protests The US Treasury has imposed sanctions on Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam and 10 other top officials from Hong Kong and mainland China. The sanctions were used to target those undermining Hong Kong’s autonomy, said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. “The United States stands with the people of Hong Kong,” Mr […]
In mid-July, Vietnam still shone as a Covid-19 outlier. No reported deaths, and months without a locally transmitted case. Fans packed into football stadiums, schools had reopened, and customers returned to their favourite cafes. “We were already back to normal life,” said Mai Xuan Tu, a 27-year-old from Da Nang in central Vietnam. Like many […]
At least 22 people have been killed after monsoon-season floods triggered a landslide in the southern Indian state of Kerala. Houses in Idukki district were swept away after torrential rain and flooding late on Friday night. Rescuers have been recovering bodies from under debris but 44 people remain missing, Idduki MP Dean Kuriakose told the […]
The president’s unsubstantiated claims of tech giants’ anti-conservative bias are a key pillar of his reelection playbook — and a rallying cry for campaign donations. By Jesselyn Cook, HuffPost US President Donald Trump would like you to believe that the world’s biggest tech platforms are conspiring against him in a bid to silence his campaign ahead […]
Health experts at the University of Washington said 70,000 lives could be saved if people were scrupulous about wearing masks. Doina Chiacu and Rich McKay WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Nearly 300,000 Americans could be dead from COVID-19 by Dec. 1, University of Washington health experts forecast on Thursday, although they said 70,000 lives could be saved […]
