U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday to “hold Iran accountable” and extend an arms embargo due to expire in October. “Renewing the embargo will exert more pressure on Tehran to start to behave like a normal nation,” Pompeo told a virtual meeting of the council that is held twice aRead more
Iranian state television is reporting an explosion from a gas leak in a medical clinic in northern Tehran has injured at least three people. The explosion Tuesday night led to fire and state TV said firefighters were battling the blaze. Online videos appeared to show more than one explosion and thick black smoke rising from the flames.Read more
Pakistan International Airlines will not be allowed to fly into most of Europe for the next six months, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) said on Tuesday, following revelations that nearly a third of Pakistani pilots had cheated on their pilot exams. In a letter banning Pakistan’s national airline, the EASA cited concerns about “the validity of the Pakistani pilotRead more
Former Marine fighter pilot Amy McGrath won the Senate Democratic nomination in the U.S. state of Kentucky Tuesday, setting up a November contest against one of the most powerful political figures in the country, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell. A week after voting ended and with the extended vote count nearly completed, McGrath defeatedRead more
A 60-year-old U.K. citizen drove into a Detroit parking garage on a recent afternoon, lowered the window of her SUV to swear an oath, and left as a newly minted American. It took less than 30 minutes. Anita Rosenberger is among thousands of people around the country who have taken the final step to citizenship this monthRead more
Police in Slovakia are investigating after Peter Sabo, a reporter for the news outlet Aktuality, found a bullet in his mailbox.The threat against Sabo comes just over two years after the February 2018 murder of Slovak journalist Ján Kuciak, who worked for the same outlet.Sabo joined Aktuality a few months after the killing, to help continue Kuciak’s investigations. Sabo had recently reported on international tax fraud and drug crimes. TheRead more
Belgium’s King Philippe expressed regret Tuesday for 75 years of his country’s exploitative rule in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The king spoke on the African country’s 60th anniversary of independence. “I want to express my deepest regret for these past injuries, the pain of which is regularly revived by the discrimination that is still allRead more
An Iranian journalist whose online work helped inspire nationwide economic protests in 2017 has been sentenced to death for his actions. Judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili announced Ruhollah Zam’s sentence on Tuesday. Zam’s website, AmadNews, and a channel he created on the popular messaging app Telegram had informed people on the timing of the protests and published embarrassingRead more
In Russia, a second effort is underway to hold a weeklong national vote to change the country’s constitution. The Kremlin was forced to scuttle an earlier April vote amid the outbreak of the coronavirus. From Moscow, Charles Maynes reports.VIDEOGRAPHER: Ricardo Marquina PRODUCER: Henry Hernandez …Read more
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has directly accused rival India of being behind a deadly terrorist attack on his country’s stock exchange building in Karachi.Four heavily armed assailants attempted to storm the key economic installation in the southern port city Monday, but security guards swiftly confronted and killed them in a shootout that officials saidRead more
Saying it is not too soon to begin planning for the post-COVID-19 economy, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson Tuesday pledged to invest more than $17 billion in the country’s education system and $6.13 billion for infrastructure investment. Speaking at Dudley College of Technology in central Britain, Johnson acknowledged it might seem premature to discuss a post-COVIDRead more
Arab governments have warned Israel that plans to annex the West Bank will trigger violence and regional instability. Unilateral annexation could happen as early as July 1, but European states, the United Nations, the Arab League and senior members of the U.S. Democratic Party say the move will harm chances for peace between Israel andRead more
The Taliban said Tuesday its political chief in a video call with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has reassured him the Islamist insurgency does not allow anyone to use Afghanistan to plot attacks against other nations. Pompeo’s contact with Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, head of the Taliban’s political office in Qatar, came asRead more
The Taliban said Tuesday its political chief in a video call with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has reassured him the Islamist insurgency does not allow anyone to use Afghanistan to plot attacks against other nations. Pompeo’s contact with Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, head of the Taliban’s political office in Qatar, came asRead more
Long a symbol of pride to some and hatred to others, the Confederate battle flag is losing its place of official prominence 155 years after rebellious Southern states lost a war to perpetuate slavery. Mississippi’s Republican-controlled Legislature voted Sunday to remove the Civil War emblem from the state flag, a move that was both yearsRead more
Eight Republican lawmakers attended a White House briefing about explosive allegations that Russia secretly offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants for killing American troops in Afghanistan — intelligence the White House insisted the president himself had not been fully read in on. Members of Congress in both parties called for additional information and consequences forRead more
Better-than-expected economic numbers from China Tuesday helped Asian markets rebound from Monday’s staggering losses. Tokyo’s Nikkei index gained 1.3% Tuesday, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was up 0.5% and the Shanghai’s Composite index finished 0.7% higher. The S&P/ASX index in Sydney earned 1.4%, with Seoul’s KOSPI index up 0.7% and the TSEC in Taiwan up 0.6%. Read more
A month before the National Basketball Association is set to resume its novel coronavirus-shortened season, two key members of the league’s Brooklyn Nets franchise have tested positive for the disease caused by the virus. The team said DeAndre Jordan and Spencer Dinwiddie tested positive for COVID-19 since returning to the New York City borough last weekRead more