White House denies ‘split’ strategy for COVID-19 relief legislation

The White House on Thursday denied a media report that it could split President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief proposal into two bills, as part of a strategy to get the divided Senate to quickly pass some aid for Americans.

EU tightens export oversight, UK demands its orders

Europe’s fight to secure COVID-19 vaccine supplies intensified on Thursday when the European Union said it would tighten oversight of exports after a row with AstraZeneca and Britain demanded that it receive all the shots it paid for.

Vaccine row with AstraZeneca escalates as EU grapples with delays

The European Union is asking AstraZeneca to publish the contract it signed with the bloc on COVID-19 vaccine supplies, an EU official said on Wednesday, as frustrations over delivery delays bubble to the surface.

Trump impeachment case ‘Dead on arrival’: Rand Paul

Only five Republican senators opposed a motion by colleague Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) to declare Donald Trump’s impeachment trial unconstitutional, signaling that Democrats won’t have enough votes to convict the former president.

Russia, U.S. extend arms pact: Kremlin

Russia and the United States have struck a deal to extend the New START nuclear arms control treaty, the Kremlin said on Tuesday, a move that preserves the last major pact of its kind between the world’s two biggest nuclear powers.

S. Arabia seeks to provide vaccines to Yemen

Saudi Arabia is holding talks with coronavirus vaccine makers to supply low-income countries, including war-torn Yemen, with vaccines, Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan said on Tuesday.

Indian farmers breach Delhi’s Red Fort, clash with police

Tens of thousands of farmers drove convoys of tractors into New Delhi, clashed with the police and stormed the historic Red Fort during a protest against agricultural laws, even as the country celebrated its Republic Day on Tuesday.

House sends Trump impeachment article to Senate, triggering trial

The US House of Representatives presented a single article of impeachment to the Senate on Monday accusing Donald Trump of inciting the storming of the Capitol, setting in motion the first-ever impeachment trial of a former president.

Anger and grief as UK’s COVID-19 death toll nears 100,000

As the United Kingdom’s COVID-19 death toll approaches 100,000, grief-stricken relatives of the dead expressed anger at Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s handling of the worst public health crisis in a century.

India says troops had ‘minor face-off’ with China

Indian and Chinese troops were involved in a “minor face-off” last week in a disputed stretch of their shared border in the eastern Himalayas, the Indian army said on Monday, underlining the fraught situation at the border.

EU states no longer recognise Guaido as Venezuela’s interim president

Venezuela’s Juan Guaido is a “privileged interlocutor” but no longer considered interim president, European Union states said in a statement on Monday, sticking by their decision to downgrade his status.

Eleven trapped miners rescued in China

Chinese rescuers pulled 11 gold miners to safety on Sunday with most of them in good condition after 14 days trapped underground after an explosion, but 10 colleagues were still unaccounted for, state media reported.

New Zealand probes first community COVID case in months

New Zealand health officials said on Sunday they were investigating what they said was probably the country’s first community coronavirus case, in months in a woman who recently returned from overseas.

Biden administration to unveil more climate policies

President Joe Biden’s administration next week will release more policies it believes are needed to tackle climate change and is urging China to toughen one of its targets on greenhouse gas emissions, his top climate advisers said on Saturday.

Republicans seek to delay Trump impeachment trial until February

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is reviewing a request from Republicans to put off the start of former President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial until mid-February, a Schumer spokesman said Thursday.

Unions reject government proposal to suspend laws for 18 months

Protesting farm unions have rejected the Centre’s proposal to suspend the three farm reform laws for one and a half years. They intend to continue their agitation until the three laws are repealed, and a legislation guaranteeing minimum support prices for all farmers is enacted.

Three dead in Russian mine blast

Three people were killed Friday in a gas explosion at a mine in the Russian region of Siberia, prosecutors said.

Biden introduces pandemic initiatives

President Joe Biden launched initiatives on Thursday to rein in the raging COVID-19 pandemic, tackling his top priority on his first full day in the White House as he tries to turn the page on Donald Trump’s tumultuous leadership.

Twin suicide bombings kill 32, injure over 110 in Iraq

At least 32 people were killed in a twin suicide attack that targeted a street market in central Baghdad, the Health Ministry said on Thursday. The updated death toll makes it the most serious attack to hit the Iraqi capital in around three years.

Bangladesh set to begin Covid-19 vaccinations in early February

Bangladesh is set to begin inoculating people against Covid-19 early next month as the South Asian country received a gift of 2 million vaccine doses from neighbouring India, officials said on Thursday.

Biden to immediately roll back Trump policies on wall, climate, health

Joe Biden will sign 15 executive actions after he is sworn in as U.S. president on Wednesday, aides said, undoing policies put in place by outgoing President Donald Trump and making his first moves on the pandemic and climate change.

At least two dead after blast brings down building in Madrid

At least two people died and several were injured when a building in a central Madrid belonging to the Catholic Church collapsed on Wednesday after an explosion, Mayor Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida told reporters.

Germany to extend lockdown on fears of COVID variants

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is set to agree with regional leaders to extend a lockdown for most shops and schools until mid-February as part of a package of steps to try to rein in the coronavirus, sources said before talks on Tuesday.

Trump mulling pardons on last full day in power

President Donald Trump began his final full day in the White House Tuesday with a long list of possible pardons to dish out before snubbing his successor Joe Biden’s inauguration and leaving for Florida.

‘Arson’ destroys four UNICEF schools in Rohingya camps

Four UNICEF schools for Rohingya children in refugee camps in Bangladesh have been destroyed in a fire, officials said Tuesday, with the UN children’s agency calling it arson.

US state capitals gird for armed pro-Trump protests

Protesters are expected to descend on statehouses across the United States on Sunday in support of baseless claims that electoral fraud robbed President Donald Trump of a second term, as law enforcement officials girded for possible violence.

Quake death toll at 78 as Indonesia struggles with string of disasters 

At least 78 people have been killed after an earthquake struck Indonesia’s West Sulawesi province on Friday, the Search and Rescue agency (Basarnas) said on Sunday, the latest in a string of disasters to hit the Southeast Asian country.

Biden proposes 1.9-trillion-dollar coronavirus relief bill

US President-elect Joe Biden announced a 1.9-trillion-dollar coronavirus stimulus proposal which includes funding for a national vaccine programme and 1,400 dollar cheques for many Americans.

Indonesia quake kills at least 42, injures hundreds

A powerful earthquake killed at least 42 people and injured hundreds on Indonesia’s island of Sulawesi on Friday, trapping several under rubble and unleashing dozens of aftershocks as authorities warned of more quakes that could trigger a tsunami.

N. Korea shows off new submarine-launched missiles

2021-North Korea displayed what appeared to be a new submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) at a parade on Thursday night, state media reported, capping more than a week of political meetings with a show of military might.