World News

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Tuesday that his nation had registered the world’s first coronavirus vaccine despite international skepticism.

The United States on Tuesday circulated a revised resolution that would extend a UN arms embargo on Iran indefinitely, seeking to gain more support in the 15-member Security Council where veto-wielding Russia and China have voiced strong opposition.

British immigration minister said Tuesday that the U.K. and France have agreed to a plan to stop a wave of illegal immigration that has seen hundreds of migrants making their way across the English Channel into Britain this month.

Lebanese security officials who were concerned about the massive stockpile of ammonium nitrate in Beirut’s port had sent a letter to the country’s prime minister and president two weeks before the blast, warning that the material “could destroy” the capital city if it exploded, a report says.

Six Arab Gulf countries sided with the US in sending a letter to the United Nations Saturday, asking for a continued arms embargo on Iran, the Washington Examiner reports. The embargo was scheduled to expire once the 2015 Iran deal comes into force.

The U.N. Security Council is preparing to vote this week on a U.S. proposal to extend an arms embargo on Iran, a move that some diplomats say is bound to fail and put the fate of a nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers further at risk.

Lebanon’s Prime Minister Hassan Diab announced Monday that he and his government have resigned amid public outcry over a Beirut port explosion that killed 160 people. The August 4 blast also injured 6,000 men, women, and children and left hundreds of thousands of residents homeless.

Britain’s government pledged Friday to strengthen border security, as a daily record number of people crossed the English Channel to the U.K. in small boats. The measures that reportedly could involve the Royal Navy, come amid broader concerns in Europe about a rising number of migrants re-emerging following lengthy coronavirus lockdowns.

Election officials in Belarus say the county’s longtime President Alexander Lukashenko has won his sixth consecutive term, taking over 80 percent of the vote. Monday’s announcement followed a night of riots in which dozens of people were injured, and possibly one person was killed amid mounting anger over his perceived autocratic style.

The Trump administration’s Iran strategy will face a key test this week as the United States calls for a vote at the United Nations on its resolution to extend an arms embargo against the Islamic Republic.

A six-nation bloc of Gulf Arab nations torn apart by internal strife endorsed an extension of a United Nations arms embargo on Iran, just two months before it is set to expire.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Friday he was “pained” after a special flight carrying nearly 200 coronavirus evacuees from abroad skidded offa runway in southern Kerala stare killing at least 16 passengers and injuring 123 more.

A new study has found that infection with common cold viruses can teach the human immune system to recognize the SARS-CoV-2 virus which causes COVID-19, Live Science reports.

The Netherlands is among several European nations stepping up measures to halt a new rise in coronavirus infections.

Japan on Thursday marked the 75th anniversary since the world’s first atomic bomb attack, but the coronavirus pandemic meant events were curtailed.

US President Donald Trump on Thursday ordered an unspecified ban on “transactions” with the Chinese owners of the consumer apps TikTok and WeChat.

Hundreds of thousands of people, including many Christians were homeless in Beirut on Wednesday after an explosion killed at least 135 people and injured 5,000 others. 

France faced two battles Wednesday with firefighters struggling to contain wildfires and authorities warning of a new wave of coronavirus infections.

The U.S. designation last week of a new Turkey-based member of the notorious Rawi Network for allegedly facilitating money transfers to the Islamic State (IS) in Syria has raised fresh concerns among observers that jihadists continue to use Turkey to fund their activities in Syria.

Lebanon’s prime minister has declared a national day of mourning after his nation’s worst explosion in years devastated Beirut killing scores of people and injuring thousands.