EU reaches summer goal of 70% of adults getting COVID-19 vaccine
The European Union said it reached its goal of getting 70% of adults fully vaccinated against COVID-19 before the end of summer.
World News
‘War has been forced on us’: In Panjshir mountains, resistance fighters dig in against Taliban
As the United States makes its final official exit from Afghanistan, a lone anti-Taliban province stands firm in the mountainous Panjshir region, rallying around the son of a legendary resistance leader who stood up to Soviet and Taliban forces.
China tests new missiles in simulated Taiwan strike
China’s recent test of reported new missiles appears to have been a simulated attack on a Taiwan airfield and also a possible test launch of a new hypersonic weapon, according to a U.S. Air Force research center analysis.
Biblical Euphrates River Drying Threatening Humanitarian Disaster In Syria
Aid groups have warned of a looming humanitarian disaster in northeast Syria as one of the Bible’s most famous rivers is drying up fast. The Euphrates, which is believed to have flown through the Biblical ‘Garden of Eden,’ now barely runs for almost 2,800 kilometers (1,700 miles) across Turkey, Syria, and Iraq.
WHO Seeks Global Digital Vaccination System
The World Health Organization (WHO) says its member states should roll out a universal digital information system to check if people are vaccinated against COVID-19.
US to be removed from EU travel ‘safe list’
The European Union is reportedly planning to recommend that its member nations reinstate restrictions on travelers from the U.S. due to the rising level of COVID-19 infections.
General: ‘Hundreds Of Americans Left Behind In Afghanistan’
The United States is potentially facing its biggest hostage crisis in decades Tuesday, with a key U.S. general confirming that at least hundreds of Americans are left behind in Afghanistan.
US Military Leaves Afghanistan Ending America’s Longest War
The last U.S. planes have flown out of Afghanistan, perhaps ending America’s longest war after a 20 years presence, the U.S. military confirmed.
Poland: Police regional council to maintain “LGBT-free zone” despite risking loss of EU funding
A regional council in predominantly Catholic Poland has voted to remain an “LGBT-free zone,” risking a loss of funding from the European Union, Reuters reports. The southern Malopolska region has received a letter from the EU warning it could lose more than €2.5 billion in funds unless it revokes its 2019 “LGBT-free zone” declaration by mid-September.
US special operations vets carry out daring mission to save Afghan allies
With the Taliban growing more violent and adding checkpoints near Kabul’s airport, an all-volunteer group of American veterans of the Afghan war launched a final daring mission on Wednesday night dubbed the “Pineapple Express” to shepherd hundreds of at-risk Afghan elite forces and their families to safety, members of the group told ABC News.
UN Watchdog: ‘North Korea’s Restart Of Nuclear Enrichment Plant Deeply Troubling’
The United Nations nuclear watchdog warned Monday that nuclear-armed North Korea appears to have restarted its plutonium-producing reprocessing reactor.
New COVID variant detected in South Africa, most mutated variant so far
A new coronavirus variant, C.1.2, has been detected in South Africa and a number of other countries, with concerns that it could be more infectious and evade vaccines, according to a new preprint study by South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases and the KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform. The study is awaiting peer review.
‘Civilians Killed As US Strike Targets Suicide Bombers’
Innocent civilians may have been killed when a U.S. drone strike blew up a vehicle carrying “multiple suicide bombers” from Afghanistan’s Islamic State, U.S. officials said Sunday.
Taliban: ‘US Kills Suicide Bomber In Afghanistan’
Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban says the United States has carried out an airstrike targeting a suicide bomber in a vehicle Sunday who wanted to attack the Kabul International airport.
US Drone Strike Kills “Planner” Of Kabul Attacks
The United States has carried out a drone strike against an Islamic State (IS) group “planner” in eastern Afghanistan after an attack outside Kabul’s airport killed 13 U.S. troops and at least 169 Afghans, officials say.
US President Biden Warns Islamist State After Kabul Blasts Kill 13 American Troops, 60 Civilians
A visibly moved U.S. President Joe Biden addressed the nation Thursday, saying it “is a tough day” after the bloodiest attack in Afghanistan in a decade killed 13 American troops and scores of civilians around Kabul’s airport.
US General Warns Of More Attacks After Kabul Airport Bombings
U.S. General Kenneth F. McKenzie has warned of more attacks after 12 American troops were killed in suicide blasts and shootings around Kabul’s main airport. “They range from rocket attacks to suicide vehicles for a small to a bigger vehicle as well as a walking vest-wearing suicide attacker,” he said.
Kabul Airport Suicide Blasts Kill Four U.S. Marines
Four U.S. Marines were among dozens killed in twin suicide attacks and gunfire at Kabul’s airport, U.S. officials and other sources said. Three American Marines and roughly 120 other people were injured. The blasts and gunfire erupted around Hamid Karzai International Airport.
Islamic State Involved In Kabul Airport Suicide Attacks; 15 Killed
The Islamic State group was involved in twin suicide bombings targeting crowds outside Kabul’s airport, killing more than a dozen people, U.S. and Russian officials said Thursday.
Afghanistan’s Taliban Rulers Appoint Former U.S. Terror Suspect As Defense Minister
Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban group has appointed a suspected terrorist who was held at the U.S.-run Guantanamo Bay prison facility as acting defense minister. The Islamist rulers named ex-detainee Abdul Qayyum Zakir, a mullah or Muslim mosque leader, as a minister, reported the Qatar-based Al Jazeera news channel citing a Taliban source.