Iran warns Trump against ‘adventurism’

Iran has warned the US president against any “adventurism” before leaving the White House, after Donald Trump said he would hold “Iran responsible” for any fatal attack on Americans in Iraq.
25 December 2020

Turkey says China’s Sinovac Covid vaccine 91pc effective

Turkey will receive its first shipment of China’s Sinovac coronavirus vaccine within days as preliminary domestic tests showed it was 91% effective, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said.
25 December 2020

What we know

Tariffs: The deal means there will be no tariffs or quotas on goods produced in the UK and EU moving between the two sides. London has hailed the lack of tariffs as a major positive of the deal -- but it simply helps maintain part of the benefits Britain already enjoyed as a member of the bloc.
25 December 2020

Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch sold for $22 million

Michael Jackson’s famed Neverland Ranch in California has finally sold, more than 10 years after the death of the pop star who abandoned the
25 December 2020

Police killing of unarmed Black man ignites fresh US outrage

The fatal shooting of an unarmed Black man by police in Columbus, Ohio -- the US city’s second such killing this month -- sparked a fresh
25 December 2020

Trump admin pushing $500m arms sale to Riyadh: report

Donald Trump’s administration plans to authorise the sale of nearly $500m in weapons to Saudi Arabia before the United States president leaves the White House, US media outlets have reported, a move that one expert slammed as “a moral outrage”.
25 December 2020

Mass vaccination starts in Latin America

Three Latin American countries launched mass immunization programs on Thursday as fears grew in Europe over a variant coronavirus strain that is believed to be far more contagious than the original version.
25 December 2020

Death toll from attack in western Ethiopia reaches 222, Red Cross says

The death toll from an attack in the western Benishangul-Gumuz region of Ethiopia has risen to 222 people, according to a volunteer from the country’s Red Cross.
25 December 2020

Pope urges nations to share Covid-19 vaccines in Christmas message

Pope Francis in his Christmas message has said political and business leaders must not allow market forces and patent laws to take priority over making Covid-19 vaccines available to all, condemning nationalism and “the virus of radical individualism”.
25 December 2020

A pandemic Christmas: Churches shut, borders complicated

Curfews, quarantines and even border closings complicated Christmas celebrations Friday for countless people around the globe, but ingenuity, determination and imagination helped keep the day special for many.
25 December 2020

Modi calls farmer protests over contested laws politically motivated

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that protests by farmers against three laws brought by his government were politically motivated, as he touted the success of an agricultural scheme launched last year.
25 December 2020

Erdogan says Turkey wants better ties with Israel

President Tayyip Erdogan said today that Turkey would like to have better ties with Israel, adding that talks at intelligence level continued between the two sides.
25 December 2020

Russia opens criminal case against ally of Kremlin critic Navalny

Russian law enforcement agencies opened a criminal case against Lyubov Sobol, an ally of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, and took her in for questioning early on Friday after raiding her home, Navalny and his supporters said.
25 December 2020

Brazilian institute says Chinese CoronaVac vaccine effective

Clinical trials of the CoronaVac coronavirus vaccine developed by Chinese laboratory Sinovac have “reached the efficacy threshold” demanded by the
24 December 2020

Trump vetoes $740 billion US defense bill

US President Donald Trump vetoed a broad defense funding bill sent to him by Congress Wednesday, complaining that it helps Russia and China and
24 December 2020

Macron free of Covid symptoms: presidency

French President Emmanuel Macron is free of Covid-19 symptoms, his office said yesterday, a week after he tested positive for the coronavirus.
24 December 2020

Gunmen kill more than 100 in Ethiopia attack

Ethiopia’s military killed 42 armed men accused of attacking a village in the western Benishangul-Gumuz region, state-affiliated Fana TV reported yesterday, as the government sent in more troops to contain ethnic tensions.
24 December 2020

‘Think it over’

US President Donald Trump has warned he would hold “Iran responsible” in the event of a fatal attack on Americans in Iraq, as the first anniversary of the killing of a top Iranian general in a US air strike approaches.
24 December 2020

20 feared dead as migrant boat sinks off Tunisia

At least 20 African migrants died when their boat sank off Tunisia yesterday as they tried to cross the Mediterranean to the Italian island of Lampedusa, a Tunisian security official said.
24 December 2020

BJP’s war against ‘love jihad’

In India’s most populous state, the Hindu nationalist BJP government is on a mission against “love jihad”, the conspiracy theory that Muslims are luring Hindu brides with the aim of conversion and eventually national domination.
24 December 2020