World News

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said on Thursday that the country’s military is in the “final phase” of its operation against fighters in the Tigray region’s capital, Mekele.

Pope Francis urged people to put others before themselves as the world struggles to come out of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Trump administration plans to tighten sanctions on Tehran during its final months in power, the top US envoy on Iran said on Wednesday, as he urged President-elect Joe Biden to use the leverage to press for a deal that reduces the regional and nuclear threats posed by the Islamic Republic.

The coming days in the Brexit negotiations will be “decisive” as to whether Britain and the EU are able to agree on a free trade deal, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday.

The British government announced a new COVID-19 community-testing plan Monday, under which people who test negative for the virus in certain regions may face fewer restrictions, Forbes reports. Dubbed “freedom passes” by UK media, the lower restrictions would be available for people testing negative in areas of the country that will be coming under the strictest measures.

Amid a mounting public outcry, France’s interior minister on Tuesday ordered an internal police investigation into police violence against migrants fleeing war, persecution, and poverty. He made the announcement after security forces were filmed tossing migrants out of tents while evacuating a Paris protest camp.

After Pope Francis urged “solidarity”, German Chancellor Angela Merkel demands the distribution of controversial coronavirus vaccines among poorer nations. Her appeal comes as countries rush to start with coronavirus vaccinations before Christmas, despite fresh concerns they impact people’s behavior and DNA.

Chinese President Xi Jinping wants other nations to adopt a coronavirus tracking system that uses QR codes to track travel during the pandemic.

Qantas Airways Ltd. plans to require future international passengers to have a Covid-19 vaccination before they fly, and said it’s likely to become a requirement at airlines across the world.

An English-language newspaper controlled by the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda department paid U.S. media companies nearly $2 million for printing and advertising expenses over the past six months, even amid heightened scrutiny over Beijing’s disinformation efforts in the West.

While still trying to reach a post-Brexit trade deal with the European Union, the United Kingdom has been able to agree to an interim trade deal with Canada, Fox News reports. The agreement offers a source of business security for Britain, which must reach an agreement with the EU by the end of the post-Brexit transition period on 31 December or move instead into World Trade Organization terms with the European trading bloc.

The United States exited the Treaty on Open Skies on Sunday, six months after the Trump administration signaled it would. The administration cited repeated Russian Federation violations of the treaty designed to allow unarmed aerial surveillance flights by the treaty participants in Europe, Russia, and the U.S.

Iran has instructed allies across the Middle East to be on high alert and avoid provoking tensions with the US that could give an outgoing Trump administration cause to launch attacks in the US president’s final weeks in office, Iraqi officials have said.

North Korea is hiding coronavirus patients in ”quarantine camps” where they are left to starve to death, Christian aid workers revealed.

The Institute of International Finance (IFF) has issued a quarterly report showing that global debt has surged by over $15 trillion since 2019, reaching a massive new record of over $272 trillion in Q3 2020. The IFF also reports that, while there has been a dramatic increase since the COVID-19 pandemic, there has also been an “unprecedented” build-up of debt over the last four years, with global debt rising by $52 trillion since 2016.

Hungary, where believers suffered under communism, has praised “the Trump administration” for raising the issue of persecuted Christians amid concerns about terror attacks.

European Union leaders argued at a summit Thursday over Poland and Hungary’s attempts to block the passage of the EU budget and coronavirus rescue package.

The U.S. State Department hit East African al Qaeda affiliate group al Shabaab with a series of sanctions to hold the group accountable for recent terrorist attacks.

The United States hit Iran with new sanctions on Wednesday, as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made the case that undoing the actions of the Trump administration would be foolish and dangerous.

Saudi Arabia has announced it will consider obtaining nuclear weapons if Iran acquires them, the Times of Israel reports. The Saudi Minister for foreign affairs Adel al-Jubeir made the announcement during a recent interview with the German news agency DPA.