The United States on Tuesday accused companies in the United Arab Emirates, the Central African Republic and Russia of engaging in illicit gold deals to help fund the mercenary fighters of Russia's Wagner Group. The U.S. Treasury Department said in a statement it has sanctioned four companies linked to Wagner and its leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, that it alleged were used to help pay the paramilitary's forces fighting in Ukraine and undertaking operations to support Russian interests in Africa. "The Wagner Group funds its brutal operations in part by exploiting natural resources in countries...
French authorities sent police special forces to the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, an overseas territory of France, as protests over COVID-19 restrictions erupted into rioting and looting for the third day in a row. The protests were called for by trade unions to denounce France's COVID-19 health pass, which is required to access restaurants and cafes, cultural venues, sport arenas and long-distance travel. Demonstrators are also protesting France's mandatory vaccinations for health care workers. French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin denounced the violence as "unacceptable" in an...
The top U.S. infectious disease expert on Sunday urged millions of Americans who already are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to get booster shots "to optimize their status." To date, 34.5 million of the 196 million fully vaccinated people in the United States have received booster shots, according to the government's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, even as about 60 million people remain unvaccinated against the illness caused by the coronavirus. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and President Joe Biden's top medical...
A new law requiring Hong Kong public schools to raise the Chinese flag and sing China's national anthem once a week can be "dangerous" and "ineffective" as part of a move by Beijing to promote a sense of Chinese identity in Hong Kong among students, according to experts. Starting at the beginning of next year, all public kindergartens and primary and secondary schools in the former British colony will be required to display the national flag on every school day and conduct a flag-raising ceremony with singing of the national anthem once a week. The mandate was announced after the...
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said on Wednesday she had constructive talks with officials from Japan and South Korea, despite "bilateral differences" that caused her two counterparts to pull out of a planned news conference. Addressing reporters alone after the three-hour meeting with South Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong Kun and Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Takeo Mori, Sherman said the talks were "constructive [and] substantive." The three officials discussed freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea, the three countries' commitment to...
Pfizer has signed an agreement with a global United Nations-backed public health group to authorize generic drugmakers to produce its experimental COVID-19 pill for 95 countries. The American drug company said Tuesday it signed a deal with the Geneva-based Medicines Patent Pool to make the pill for low- and middle-income countries comprising about 53% of the world's population. Pfizer has said the pill reduced the risks of hospitalization and death by nearly 90% in people with mild to moderate coronavirus cases. Independent experts recommended ending Pfizer's study because of its...
North and South Korea have restored a communication hotline that was cut off by Pyongyang last June.
According to the South's presidential office, the leaders of both countries have agreed to...
Critical infrastructure facilities were hit by drone strikes early on Thursday, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the deputy head of the Volodymyr Zelenskiy's presidential office said on Thursday.
"Another attack...
Andrew McCabe, pejabat FBI No. 2 yang secara umum dikritik Presiden Donald Trump atas dugaan bias politik, mundur dari biro tersebut hari Senin waktu AS, beberapa minggu sebelum masa pensiunnya,...