World News

An ‘unprecedented’ locust swarm is forming in the Horn of Africa, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, and is expected to cause major food shortages across Africa and the Middle East later this summer.

The European Union announced that member nations will close the EU’s external borders for the next 30 days to slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

A member of the Assembly of Experts, which has the power to appoint or dismiss the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has died from the COVID-19 illness caused by the virus, the semi-official Fars and Tasnim news agencies reported Monday.

Russia’s Constitutional Court has approved constitutional amendments that could enable President Vladimir Putin to stay in power for another 16 years.

The International Monetary Fund on Monday said it ‘stands ready’ to use its $1 trillion lending capacity to help countries around the world that are struggling with the humanitarian and economic impact of the novel coronavirus.

Europe proposed shutting its external borders to foreigners for 30 days on Monday in a bid to turn the page on its scramble to contain the coronavirus, but it drew criticism for doing too little, too late.

New economic data released Monday shows China’s economic activity in all areas plunged in the first two months of 2020 as the novel coronavirus outbreak first erupted and took hold in the world’s second-largest economy.

Vladimir Putin has formally signed off on constitutional amendments that would allow the Russian leader to run again for president in 2024, the Interfax news agency reported on March 14.

The World Health Organization says Europe has replaced China as the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic.

Iran said Saturday the coronavirus outbreak has killed another 97 people, pushing the death toll in the country to 611, as war-ravaged Syria announced a number of strict measures despite the government saying it has no confirmed cases.

The regime in Tehran is in lots of trouble these days. As U.S. sanctions tighten, at least a quarter of Iran’s oil rigs are now out of action, ‘dealing a potentially long-term blow to its oil industry.’ The coronavirus ‘has now spread to every province in the country and people are fearful that the true scale of the outbreak is even worse than is being disclosed.’

The Trump administration will extend a 30-day ban on travel from European countries to the United Kingdom and Ireland.

As it enters its tenth year, the war in Syria is anything but abating, as foreign powers scrap over a ravaged country where human suffering keeps reaching new levels.

The United States is conducting retaliatory airstrikes against an Iran-backed militia group operating in Iraq following a deadly attack a day earlier against a base hosting Western forces near Baghdad, the Pentagon says.

The National Hockey League (NHL) announced Thursday that it’s suspending the remainder of its season because of the coronavirus pandemic.

A rocket attack Wednesday night on an Iraqi military base housing coalition personnel cost the lives of three coalition personnel, the U.S. military confirmed. Details were not provided pending notification of next of kin, but military sources said two Americans and a British soldier were killed.

Russian President Vladimir Putin could stay leader of Russia for many years to come.

The World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a pandemic Wednesday, after weeks of resisting the label in light of a nearly worldwide spread of the virus.

A US General has warned that US counter-terrorism efforts and the efforts of national governments in Africa are not curtailing the spread of the Islamic State and al-Qaeda there, and that a new caliphate may soon be established.

The Trump administration this week disclosed plans to seek an extension of the 2010 New START agreement to limit China’s growing nuclear arsenal and restrict exotic new weapons not covered by the treaty.