Israel said that it would be easing commercial restrictions on the Gaza Strip and expand entry of goods to the Palestinian enclave following days of heightened tensions.

India, the US, Australia, and Japan began their annual naval partnership off Guam in the western Pacific today, aimed at ensuring a rules-based international order and freedom of navigation in the face of China’s aggressive build-up in the Indo-Pacific.

She was called "the leader of the free world" as authoritarian populists were on the march in Europe and the United States but Angela Merkel is wrapping up a historic 16 years in power with an uncertain legacy at home and abroad.

The United States and allies urged people to move away from Kabul airport on Thursday due to the threat of an Islamic State terror attack as Western troops hurry to evacuate as many Afghans as possible before an August 31 deadline.

The effectiveness against infection of the Pfizer and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines dropped from 91 percent before the Delta variant became dominant to 66 percent afterwards, according to a large study of US health workers published Tuesday.

At least 15 people died in the Venezuelan Andes after heavy rains triggered mud and rock slides, authorities said Tuesday.

Survivors from a migrant boat who were rescued off the Canary Islands yesterday said 11 people who had embarked with them went missing in the attempted crossing, Spain’s coastguard said.

Iraq has invited Iran and Tehran’s Gulf Arab foes to a summit in Baghdad with the aim of calming tensions which have brought them close to open conflict in recent years.

Chinese and Russian leaders discussed Afghanistan yesterday, Chinese state media said, but did not echo the G7’s call for the Taliban to allow people to flee the country after Aug 31, as desperate crowds left behind by the withdrawal of US troops continue to fear for their safety.

1920 - American women won the right to vote when the 19th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified.

A classified US intelligence report delivered to the White House on Tuesday was inconclusive on the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic, in part due to a lack of information from China, according to US media reports.

US Vice President Kamala Harris yesterday again charged China with bullying its Southeast Asian neighbours, the second time in two days she has attacked Beijing during a regional visit, as Washington tries to rally regional partners to take on China’s growing economic and military influence.

An attacker wielding an assault rifle was shot dead after killing three police officers and an employee of a private security company near the French embassy in Tanzania on Wednesday, President Samia Suluhu Hassan said.

Algeria cut diplomatic relations with Morocco on Tuesday, citing what it called hostile actions by its most populous neighbour with which it has had strained relations for decades.

Starting from former US President Barack Obama’s decision to pull out of Afghanistan, Trump’s hurried plans to withdraw before Christmas of 2020, to Biden calling them all home by August 31 – here’s how the decision unfolded through three different US administrations.

US President Joe Biden said Tuesday that he aims to have all US forces out of Afghanistan by August 31, ending a massive two-week airlift from the country at the risk of leaving potential evacuees behind.

1944 - Paris was liberated when the local German commander surrendered to the allies

A fundamental red line will be the Taliban’s treatment of women and girls. … The onus is now fully on the Taliban to translate these commitments into reality.

The UN human rights chief yesterday said that she had received credible reports of serious violations committed by the Taliban in Afghanistan, including “summary executions” of civilians and Afghan security forces who have surrendered.

The coronavirus pandemic may have pushed as many as 80 million people in developing Asia into extreme poverty last year,