Category: World

Over 300 detained in Belarus during protests against leader

Demonstrators wearing face masks to help curb the spread of the coronavirus, at right one waves an old Belarusian national flag, during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus, Sunday, Dec. 6, 2020. Protests in Belarus have continued for almost four months after President Alexander Lukashenko won his sixth term in office in an election the opposition says was rigged. Photo Courtesy: AP

KYIV, Ukraine (AP): More than 300 people were detained in the Belarusian capital on Sunday, where crowds of people took to the streets for the 18th consecutive weekend, demanding the ouster of the country’s authoritarian leader who won a sixth term in office in an election widely seen as rigged. Thousands of people Sunday took… Continue reading Over 300 detained in Belarus during protests against leader

Iran ready to show goodwill if U.S., Europe abide by nuclear deal: Zarif

FILE PHOTO: Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif speaks in Baghdad, Iraq July 19, 2020. Photo Courtesy: Reuters

ROME (Reuters): Iran will fully comply with a 2015 deal aimed at preventing it from developing nuclear weapons if both the United States and Europe honour their original commitments, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Thursday. U.S. President Donald Trump quit the pact in 2018, saying it did not do enough to curb… Continue reading Iran ready to show goodwill if U.S., Europe abide by nuclear deal: Zarif

Disputing Trump, Barr says no widespread election fraud

FILE - In this Oct. 15, 2020, file photo Attorney General William Barr speaks during a roundtable discussion on Operation Legend, a federal program to help cities combat violent crime in St. Louis. Attorney General William Barr said Tuesday, Dec. 1, that the Justice Department has not uncovered evidence of widespread voter fraud and has seen nothing that would change the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. Photo Courtesy: AP

WASHINGTON (AP): Disputing President Donald Trump’s persistent, baseless claims, Attorney General William Barr declared the U.S. Justice Department has uncovered no evidence of widespread voter fraud that could change the outcome of the 2020 election. Barr’s comments, in an interview Tuesday with the The Associated Press, contradict the concerted effort by Trump, his boss, to… Continue reading Disputing Trump, Barr says no widespread election fraud

Sweden: Mother suspected of locking up her son for 28 years

Police at the scene of an apartment where a woman is suspected of locking up her son, in Haninge, south of Stockholm, Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2020. Police in Stockholm are investigating a woman in her 70s for locking up her son for 28 years in an apartment south of the Swedish capital, investigators said Tuesday. Prosecutor Emma Olsson, who heads the preliminary investigation, said the woman who was arrested Monday, was held on suspicion of unlawful deprivation of liberty and grievous bodily harm. (Claudio Bresciani/TT via AP)

STOCKHOLM (AP): Police in Stockholm are investigating a woman in her 70s suspected of having kept her son locked up — reportedly for 28 years — in an apartment south of the Swedish capital, investigators said Tuesday. Prosecutor Emma Olsson, who heads the preliminary investigation, said the woman who was held on suspicion of unlawful… Continue reading Sweden: Mother suspected of locking up her son for 28 years

U.S. Supreme Court weighs Trump bid to bar illegal immigrants from census totals

President Donald Trump listens during an event in the briefing room of the White House in Washington, Friday, Nov. 20, 2020, on prescription drug prices. Photo Courtesy: AP

WASHINGTON (Reuters): The Supreme Court on Monday is set to take up President Donald Trump’s unprecedented and contentious effort to exclude illegal immigrants from the population totals used to allocate U.S. House of Representatives districts to states. The challengers to Trump’s July directive include various states led by New York, cities, counties and immigrant rights… Continue reading U.S. Supreme Court weighs Trump bid to bar illegal immigrants from census totals

Afghan officials say 34 killed in separate suicide bombings

Afghan national army soldiers arrive at the site of a suicide bombing in Ghazni province west of Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, Nov. 29, 2020. Over 30 people were killed on Sunday in two separate suicide bombings in Afghanistan that targeted a military base and a provincial chief, officials said. Photo Courtesy: AP

GHAZNI, Afghanistan (AP): At least 34 people were killed on Sunday in two separate suicide bombings in Afghanistan that targeted a military base and a provincial chief, officials said. There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the attacks, which took place as Afghan government representatives and the Taliban hold face-to-face talks in Qatar for… Continue reading Afghan officials say 34 killed in separate suicide bombings

Iran’s supreme leader vows revenge over slain scientist

A group of protesters burn pictures of the U.S. President Donald Trump, top, and the President-elect Joe Biden in a gathering in front of Iranian Foreign Ministry on Saturday, Nov. 28, 2020, a day after the killing of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh an Iranian scientist linked to the country's nuclear program by unknown assailants near Tehran. Photo Courtesy: AP

TEHRAN, Iran (AP): Iran’s supreme leader on Saturday demanded the “definitive punishment” of those behind the killing of a scientist who led Tehran’s disbanded military nuclear program, as the Islamic Republic blamed Israel for a slaying that has raised fears of reignited tensions across the Middle East. After years of being in the shadows, the… Continue reading Iran’s supreme leader vows revenge over slain scientist

Trump says he’ll leave if Electoral College seats Biden

File Photo Photo Courtesy: AP

WASHINGTON (AP): President Donald Trump said Thursday that he will leave the White House if the Electoral College formalizes President-Elect Joe Biden’s victory — even as he insisted such a decision would be a “mistake” — as he spent his Thanksgiving renewing baseless claims that “massive fraud” and crooked officials in battleground states caused his… Continue reading Trump says he’ll leave if Electoral College seats Biden

China’s Xi congratulates Biden, hopes for ‘win-win’ ties

File Photo. Photo Courtesy: AP

BEIJING (AP): Chinese President Xi Jinping congratulated U.S. President-elect Joe Biden on Wednesday and expressed hope for “win-win cooperation” amid conflicts over trade, technology and security that have plunged Sino-American relations to their lowest level in decades. Biden is widely expected to try to resume cooperation with China on North Korea, climate change and the… Continue reading China’s Xi congratulates Biden, hopes for ‘win-win’ ties

Biden transition OK’d to start as Trump runs out of options

President-elect Joe Biden, accompanied by Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, speaks about economic recovery at The Queen theater, Monday, Nov. 16, 2020, in Wilmington, Del. Photo Courtesy: AP

WASHINGTON (AP): The federal government recognized President-elect Joe Biden as the “apparent winner” of the Nov. 3 election, formally starting the transition of power after President Donald Trump spent weeks testing the boundaries of American democracy. Trump relented after suffering yet more legal and procedural defeats in his seemingly futile effort to overturn the election… Continue reading Biden transition OK’d to start as Trump runs out of options