US starts troop pullout, seeks end to Afghan leaders’ feud
The United States began withdrawing troops from Afghanistan, the US military said on Tuesday, taking a step forward on its peace deal with the Taliban while also praising Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s promise to start releasing Taliban prisoners after he had delayed for over a week. The US-Taliban deal signed on February 29 was touted as Washington’s […]
China’s Xi pays first visit to virus epicentre Wuhan
Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Wuhan on Tuesday for his first visit to the epicentre of the coronavirus epidemic since the crisis erupted in January — a major sign that officials believe the outbreak is under control. Xi’s unannounced visit comes as unprecedented quarantine measures that have sealed off Wuhan and the rest of […]
15 million put under lockdown in northern Italy
ROME: A quarter of the Italian population was in lockdown on Sunday as the government took drastic steps to stop the spread of the deadly coronavirus sweeping the globe, while Iran recorded another 49 deaths and the national airline suspended flights to Europe. Italy’s COVID-19 death count is now 233, more than any other country […]
Coronavirus: 21 people test Covid-19 positive on cruise ship off California
Twenty-one people aboard a mammoth cruise ship off the California coast tested positive for the new coronavirus and 19 of them are crew members, Vice President Mike Pence announced Friday, amid evidence the vessel was the breeding ground for a deadly cluster of more than 10 cases during its previous voyage. He said federal officials […]
Adviser to Iran’s foreign minister dies of coronavirus
An adviser to Iran’s foreign minister who took part in the 1979 US embassy hostage crisis has died from coronavirus, the official IRNA news agency reported. Hossein Sheikholeslam, “a veteran and revolutionary diplomat” died late on Thursday, IRNA said. Iran has been scrambling to contain the rapid spread of coronavirus which so far has infected 3,513 people and killed […]
Former UN chief Javier Perez de Cuellar dead at 100
Former UN chief Javier Perez de Cuellar, who was known for his peace-making efforts including brokering a ceasefire in the Iran-Iraq war, died Wednesday in his native Peru, aged 100, his son said. Perez de Cuellar served as UN secretary general from 1981 to 1991, when he was often described as a “pacifist by vocation […]
US strikes Taliban in first hit since peace deal
US military spokesman Col. Sonny Leggett said the “defensive” attack was to counter a Taliban assault on Afghan government forces in Nahr-e Saraj in the southern Helmand province. The US says it has conducted its first airstrike against Taliban forces in Afghanistan, after signing an ambitious peace deal with the militant group days before in the Mideastern […]
Coronavirus treatments could be available by summer, says US vice president Mike Pence
The number of US deaths from the novel coronavirus rose to six on Monday, all in the state of Washington, officials said, signalling the contagion has taken root in the Pacific Northwest. Vice President Mike Pence announced a treatment for the disease could be available by summer or early fall, but that a vaccine was […]
Oil prices fall as coronavirus spreads outside China with death toll at 2,900
With the viral outbreak spreading to more countries, the price of oil has dropped precipitously as global demand weakens even further. That has sent shares tumbling for oil giants like Exxon and Chevron while smaller producers with idling rigs continue to slash jobs. Hundreds of new cases of the virus that causes the COVID-19 disease […]
Afghan peace: US, Taliban set to sign historic deal in Qatar
America’s longest war may finally be nearing an end. The United States and the insurgents it toppled from power in Afghanistan are poised to sign a peace deal on Saturday after a conflict that outlasted two US commanders in chief and is now led by a third eager to fulfill a campaign promise to extricate […]
