Belarus on Wednesday ordered the United States to reduce its embassy staff after Washington imposed a fresh round of sanctions on the regime of President Alexander Lukashenko.

UN experts yesterday called for an international moratorium on the sale of surveillance technology until regulations are implemented to protect human rights following an Israeli spyware scandal.

Former president Donald Trump blasted his successor Joe Biden yesterday for putting no conditions on the US withdrawal from Afghanistan and said that a violent Taliban surge in the war-torn country was “not acceptable.” 

French authorities rescued more than 100 migrants Wednesday seeking to sail to England in four separate boats that officials said got into trouble in the Channel.

A Philippine court has dismissed a libel case against Maria Ressa, a lawyer said yesterday, one of several lawsuits filed against the journalist who says she has been targeted because of her news site’s critical reports on President Rodrigo Duterte.

Israel is to approve 2,000 new homes for Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank, defence sources said yesterday, despite opposition from dovish members of the governing coalition.

New Zealand plans to allow quarantine-free entry to vaccinated travellers from low-risk countries from early 2022, as it looks to open its borders again after nearly 18 months of pandemic-induced isolation.

Taliban fighters could isolate Afghanistan’s capital in 30 days and possibly take it over in 90, a US defence official told Reuters yesterday citing US intelligence, as militants took control of an eighth provincial Afghan capital. 

Faced with mounting legal pressures and demands for his departure from President Joe Biden and others, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo resigned on Tuesday following an inquiry that found he sexually harassed 11 women, capping a startling downfall for one of the most prominent politicians in the United States.

Sudan will hand longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir to the International Criminal Court along with other officials wanted over the Darfur conflict, Foreign Minister Mariam al-Mahdi said yesterday.

1898 - The brief Spanish-American War comes to an end when Spain formally agrees to a peace protocol on US terms: the cession of Cuba, Puerto Rico and Manila in the Philippines to the United States pending a final peace treaty.

US President Joe Biden will gather world leaders in December for a virtual “Summit for Democracy” that is being seen as a challenge to authoritarian China and an alternative to the traditional G20 meeting.  

Firefighters, troops and civilian volunteers battled blazes in forests across northern Algeria yesterday as the country reeled at a death toll of at least 65 people in the latest wildfires to hit the Mediterranean.

Afghan leaders have to come together. They’ve got to fight for themselves. US President Joe Biden defends his decision to withdraw US troops

Australia’s second-biggest city Melbourne yesterday extended lockdown despite growing anger among people as world struggles on to stamp out infections caused by the highly infectious Delta variant of the coronavirus. 

The UN special envoy on Myanmar said the country’s military leader appears determined to solidify his grip on power following a February coup and ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s political party could soon be disbanded. 

California’s largest single wildfire in recorded history continued to grow after destroying nearly 550 homes while authorities in Montana ordered evacuations as a wind-driven blaze roared toward several remote communities.

Britain's Heathrow Airport said that passenger numbers surged in July as the government eased travel restrictions and a recovery was underway, but warned that overall numbers were still down 80% on pre-pandemic levels as many barriers remain.

German police have arrested a British man who worked at the British embassy in Berlin on suspicion of passing documents to the Russian intelligence service in exchange for cash, prosecutors said on Wednesday.

Queen Elizabeth II’s second son, Prince Andrew, was sued in a New York court on Monday for alleged sexual abuse of a woman who says she was “lent out” for underage sex by late US financier Jeffrey Epstein.