Category: World

Afghan officials say at least 25 people have been killed by a suicide bomber who carried out an attack in a mostly Shi’ite neighborhood on the west side of Kabul. …

A Tatar activist says he has been detained for questioning by Russian police as part of an investigation into suspected financial fraud. …

British counterterrorism police say they believe they know the identity of the man they arrested Tuesday after he crashed a car into a group of pedestrians and cyclists outside the Houses of Parliament in London. Authorities have not publicly identified the man, saying only he is a 29-year-old British national who is originally from Sudan. …

Read more “British Police ‘Satisfied’ They Know Identity of Car Attack Suspect”

Pakistan’s lower house of parliament has chosen a lawmaker from the Pakistan Tehrik-e Insaf (PTI) party to be the parliament speaker following general elections in July that were marred by allegations of fraud. …

The foundation of Democrat Ilhan Omar’s historic primary election win to represent Minnesota’s 5th District in the U.S. Congress was built on a simple campaign message.   “I am a millennial with student debt,” the 35-year-old state lawmaker told an audience in a crowded auditorium at the University of Minnesota’s Hubert Humphrey School of Public …

Read more “Ilhan Omar Closer to Becoming First African Refugee in Congress”

The Chilean government asked the Vatican on Tuesday to hand over documents related to accusations of sex abuse committed by clergy in Chile against minors, as local prosecutors stepped up raids of Roman Catholic Church offices in Santiago. Chilean prosecutors said in a statement that the Chilean foreign ministry, through its embassy in Italy, had requested from the Vatican …

Read more “Chile Asks Vatican for Info on Sex Abuse Cases”

Bread shortages have hit Sudan, with wheat traders blaming a foreign currency crisis for shortages of the staple that have left people lining up for hours outside bakeries. Sudan’s economy has been struggling since the south seceded in 2011, taking with it three-quarters of its oil output and depriving it of a crucial source of …

Read more “Sudanese Hit by Bread Shortages as Currency Crunch Escalates”

Tesla’s board named a special committee of three directors on Tuesday to evaluate possibly taking the electric carmaker private, although it said it had yet to see a firm offer from the company’s chief executive, Elon Musk. The Silicon Valley billionaire last week said on Twitter he wants to take Tesla private at $420 a …

Read more “Tesla Appoints Independent Directors to Weigh Any Deal”

The European Union has welcomed the decision by an Azerbaijani court to release opposition politician Ilqar Mammadov after more than five years in prison. …

Afghanistan looks to be an indirect casualty of U.S. sanctions on Iran. …

The leader of Russia’s opposition Levy Front (Left Front) movement, Sergei Udaltsov, has been detained in Moscow. …

An earthquake and an aftershock that followed Sunday were the two largest recorded temblors to rock Alaska’s North Slope, according to quake experts. A magnitude 6.4 earthquake shook the ground at 6:58 a.m. Sunday on the northern side the Brooks Range, the mountains that run west to east from northern Alaska to Yukon Territory. The …

Read more “Alaska’s North Slope Shaken by 2 Largest Recorded Quakes”

Tons of dead fish. A smell so awful you gag with one inhale. Empty beaches, empty roads, empty restaurants.   A toxic algae bloom has overrun Florida’s southern Gulf Coast this summer, devastating sea life and driving people from the water.   “I’ve never seen it this bad,” said 31-year-old Heather Lamb of Venice. She’s …

Read more “Devastating Toxic Algae Bloom Plagues Florida’s Gulf Coast”

Tesla’s handling of Chief Executive Elon Musk’s proposal to take the carmaker private and its failure to promptly file a formal disclosure has raised governance concerns and sparked questions about how companies use social media. Musk stunned investors last Tuesday by announcing on Twitter that he was considering taking Tesla private in a potential $72 …

Read more “Tesla’s Slow Disclosure Raises Governance, Social Media Concerns”

Norwegian Fisheries Minister Per Sandberg has resigned amid a wave of criticism for not informing the government of his recent private trips to Iran and China. …

The leaders of Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan signed a convention on the legal status and delimitation of the Caspian Sea. …

Five people have died in a helicopter accident in eastern Tajikistan, including three Russian mountaineers and two Tajik members of the helicopter crew, officials say. …

Members of Pakistan’s newly-elected parliament have been sworn in following general elections last month that were marred by allegations of fraud. …

The Turkish finance minister says his government has prepared an “action plan” to help ease market worries as the national currency continues to tumble in the face of planned U.S. sanctions. …

China’s state-run media claimed on August 13 that the country has prevented a “great tragedy” in the far-western Xinjiang region, the country’s first response to remarks by a United Nations panel saying it was “deeply concerned” about the flight of 1 million ethnic Uyghurs there. …

Planning is under way in South Korea to renew and expand tourism ties with North Korea, contingent upon the lifting of economic sanctions that the U.S. insists will remain in place until Pyongyang dismantles its nuclear arsenal. The South Korean Incheon Port Authority (IPA) on Monday announced plans to facilitate foreign cruise ship visits to …

Read more “Inter-Korean Tourism Surge Expected if Peace Prevails”

High-profile U.S. officials have visited South America in recent weeks to signal strength in inter-American alliances amid U.S. competitors’ increased interest in the region. Speaking to reporters while traveling to Brazil Sunday, Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis said Russian and Chinese involvement in South America has had “zero impact” on military-to-military relationships with America’s Latin …

Read more “US Wants to Remain ‘Partner of Choice’ in South America”

The people who attended dueling rallies in the nation’s capital Saturday and Sunday came to be heard, although their messages were vastly different. About two dozen white supremacists, some shielding their faces behind masks and unfurled American flags, rallied in a park across the street from the White House Sunday afternoon but the event ended …

Read more “‘Unite the Right’ Doesn’t Live Up to the Hype”

Israel’s prime minister has criticized the presence of Palestinian flags at a protest against a contentious new law defining the country as a Jewish state.   Benjamin Netanyahu told the Cabinet on Sunday that Palestinian flags “flying in the heart of Tel Aviv” was “conclusive evidence” that many protesters oppose Israel’s existence, and proves the …

Read more “Israel PM Defends Contentious Law in Face of Arab Protest”