Taliban enter Afghan capital, President Ghani leaves for Tajikistan

Taliban insurgents entered Afghanistan›s capital Kabul on Sunday and an official said President Ashraf Ghani had left the city for Tajikistan, capping the militants› lightning push for power.

Haiti earthquake death toll jumps to 724

Officials have raised the death toll from a devastating earthquake in Haiti to 724, with thousands more injured. Reeling from the quake, the Caribbean country is now bracing itself for a tropical storm.

India set for huge boost in COVID vaccine supplies

India expects to get about 266 million COVID-19 vaccine doses in August as a simpler licensing process has helped the government secure far more than earlier expected, the President of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party said on Friday.

Former K-pop singer jailed over prostitution, fraud scandal

Former South Korean K-pop star known as Seungri was sentenced to three years in prison and fined nearly $1 million on Thursday after a court convicted him of crimes including procuring prostitutes for potential investors, local media reported.

US demography ‘changing dramatically’: New census data

Newly released data from the US Census Bureau show the percentage of white Americans declining sooner than demographers expected, while Asian, Hispanic, and Other categories are on the rise. Most Covid-19 deaths weren’t counted.

Australia’s capital goes into snap lockdown

Australia’s capital Canberra was ordered into a seven-day lockdown Thursday, after a single Covid-19 case was detected in the city that has largely avoided virus restrictions.

Taliban take strategic Afghan city of Ghazni on road to Kabul

Taliban fighters captured the strategic Afghan city of Ghazni on Thursday, taking them to within 150 km (90 miles) of Kabul following days of fierce clashes as the Islamist group ruled out sharing power with the government based there.

Death toll after landslide in India climbs to 14, many still missing

Four more bodies were recovered from the site of a landslide in a mountainous region in northern India on Thursday, raising the death count to 14, officials said.

President Ghani rallies army in Taliban-besieged Mazar-i-Sharif

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani flew to the besieged northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif Wednesday to rally his beleaguered forces, with Taliban fighters having now taken more than a quarter of the country’s provincial capitals in less than a week.

At least 65 killed in Algerian wildfires

Wildfires tearing through forested areas of northern Algeria have killed at least 65 people, state television reported on Wednesday, as some of the most destructive blazes in the country’s history continued to rage.

Prince Andrew accuser files civil case in US

Virginia Giuffre, whose lawsuit against Ghislaine Maxwell revived the interest in Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking and ultimately brought him down, has sued Prince Andrew for the British royal’s participation in her abuse.

Taliban control 65% of Afghanistan: EU official 

Taliban insurgents tightened their grip on captured Afghan territory on Tuesday as civilians hid in their homes, with an EU official saying the militants now controlled 65% of the country after a string of sudden gains as foreign forces pull out.

Thousands flee in Greece as wildfires sweep through Mediterranean

Thousands of people fled their homes on the outskirts of Athens on Friday as emergency crews struggled to stop wildfires from spreading to more towns while scorching winds fuelled blazes across Greece for the fourth day.

Resurgent Taliban take provincial capital, kill Afghan gov’t spokesman

The Taliban captured an Afghan provincial capital and assassinated the government’s top media officer in Kabul on Friday, dealing twin high-profile blows to the Western-backed administration.

Japan COVID cases hit 1 million

Japan reached the milestone of one million coronavirus cases on Friday, domestic media reported, as infections surged in Olympic host Tokyo to other urban areas and the country grapples with an unprecedented speed of spread of the Delta variant.

Raisi takes office as Iran’s president as regional tensions run high

Ebrahim Raisi officially took office as Iran’s new president on Thursday, according to Iranian media, in a move that places all three branches of the government - the executive, legislative and judiciary - in the hands of conservative hardliners.

Two rockets from Lebanon hit Israel, drawing Israeli retaliation

Two rockets launched from Lebanon on Wednesday struck Israel, which responded with artillery fire, amid heightened regional tensions over an alleged Iranian attack on an oil tanker in the Gulf last week.

Blast in Afghan capital as Taliban claim attack on minister’s compound

A blast near the office of Afghanistan’s main security agency wounded three people on Wednesday hours after a bomb and gun attack on a minister’s compound brought surging Taliban violence to the capital.

Tehran to drop prisoner swap plans with US

Iran is dropping plans for prisoner swaps with the United States due to “breaches” by Washington in efforts to free the detainees, an unnamed Iranian official told the semi-official Nour News agency on Tuesday.

Afghan army urges civilians to evacuate city besieged by Taliban

Residents were urged Tuesday to evacuate a besieged Afghan city as the army prepared a major offensive against Taliban insurgents after three days of heavy fighting.

Top Japan medic urges nationwide state of emergency

The head of the Japan Medical Association called on Tuesday for a nationwide state of emergency to contain a surge in COVID-19 cases in Olympics host city Tokyo and elsewhere, Kyodo news agency said, as worries grow about a strained healthcare system.

Wildfires blaze on in drought-hit Turkey as criticism grows

Firefighters using planes and helicopters, and locals with buckets of water, battled wildfires raging for a sixth day near southern coastal resorts in drought-hit Turkey on Monday and the government faced fresh criticism of its handling the disaster.

Iran warns of response if security threatened after ship attack

Iran will respond promptly to any threat against its security, a foreign ministry spokesman said on Monday, after the United States, Israel and Britain blamed Tehran for an attack on an Israeli-managed tanker off the coast of Oman.

Afghan forces battle Taliban for control of southern city

Taliban fighters pushed deeper into the southern Afghan provincial capital of Lashkargahon Monday and closed in on government buildings, a senior official said, as the insurgents pressed a rapid advance.

Israel has ‘proof’ Iran behind deadly ship attack off Oman: PM Bennett

Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has claimed there is “proof” that Iran is behind the deadly ship attack off the coast of Oman, adding that the incident is a “reminder of Iranian aggression.”

Taliban rockets hit Kandahar airport, clashes intensify in Afghanistan

Taliban fighters struck Kandahar airport in southern Afghanistan with at least three rockets overnight, the insurgent group’s spokesman said on Sunday, adding that the aim was to thwart air strikes conducted by Afghan government forces.

Thousands protest against COVID-19 health pass in France

Thousands of people protested in Paris and other French cities on Saturday against a mandatory coronavirus health pass for entry to a wide array of public venues, introduced by the government as it battles a fourth wave of infections.

UN headquarters attacked in western Afghanistan

The main U.N. compound in the capital of the western Afghan province of Herat was attacked by “anti-government elements” on Friday and at least one security guard was killed, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said.

Japan widens emergency over ‘frightening’ spike

Japan said on Friday it will expand states of emergency to three prefectures near Olympic host Tokyo and the western prefecture of Osaka, as COVID-19 cases spike in the capital and around the country, overshadowing the Summer Games.

Over 100,000 children in Tigray could die of hunger: UNICEF

The United Nations children’s agency said on Friday that more than 100,000 children in Ethiopia’s northern region of Tigray could suffer life-threatening malnutrition in the next 12 months, a 10-fold increase to normal numbers.