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...
The United States is monitoring for new coronavirus variants as it braces for a potential outbreak of COVID-19 infections following Beijing's easing of strict controls that kept the pandemic at bay in China. "We have a very robust surveillance program that we use for travelers as people come in, in terms of identifying people who are infected, tracking variants," Ashish Jha, White House coronavirus response coordinator, told VOA during a briefing with reporters on Thursday. "And if there are new variants that emerge, I'm confident that we will be able to identify them." Jha said the...
China's top health body said Wednesday the true scale of coronavirus infections in the country is now "impossible" to track, with officials warning cases are rising rapidly in Beijing after the government abruptly abandoned its zero-COVID policy. Beijing's decision to scrap mass testing and quarantines after nearly three years of attempting to stamp out the virus has led to a corresponding drop in officially reported infections, which hit an all-time high only last month. But those numbers no longer reflected reality because testing is no longer required for much of the country, China's...
Arrivals in Hong Kong will be free from COVID-19 movement restrictions from Wednesday and no longer barred from certain venues, Chief Executive John Lee said, adding that the city will also scrap a government-mandated COVID-19 mobile application. The news of a further loosening of COVID-19 curbs in the global financial hub, which has trailed most of the world in easing them, may boost resumption of travel and business. An amber code issued to international arrivals for their first three days in Hong Kong meant they were not allowed to eat or drink inside bars and restaurants. From...
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday that the cost of Western sanctions on Russia is mounting daily, making it more difficult for Moscow to replenish its weaponry to advance its ongoing war with Ukraine. With trade controls imposed by the United States and its allies, Blinken said Russia cannot import the parts it needs to build more weapons to replace the ones that have been destroyed on the battlefields in Ukraine or sometimes abandoned as Moscow's forces have retreated in the face of Ukrainian advances. The top U.S. diplomat told CNN's "State of the Union" show, "The costs...
In a filthy alley behind a Los Angeles doughnut shop, Ryan Smith convulsed in the grips of a fentanyl high -- lurching from moments of slumber to bouts of violent shivering on a warm summer day. When Brandice Josey, another homeless addict, bent down and blew a puff of fentanyl smoke his way in an act of charity, Smith sat up and slowly opened his lip to inhale the vapor as if it was the cure to his problems. Smith, wearing a grimy yellow T-shirt that said "Good Vibes Only," reclined on his backpack and dozed the rest of the afternoon on the asphalt, unperturbed by the stench of rotting...
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,...