Foreign
China sets growth target of ‘above 6%’ for 2021
President Xi Jinping of China China’s leaders on Friday set a growth target “above six percent” for 2021, putting it back above pre-pandemic levels, after the virus was largely brought
Reading aloud of 628-page Covid bill delays debate in US Senate
The US Senate finally took up the $1.9 trillion Covid relief package Thursday but a brazen ploy by opponents — reading the entire 628-page bill aloud on the chamber floor
UK police rule out probe into 1995 Princess Diana interview
UK police on Thursday said they would not launch a formal probe into claims of underhand tactics by a BBC journalist to secure a 1995 television interview with the late
US House passes police reforms ahead of Floyd murder trial
Unarmed Black man George Floyd is seen pinned to the ground by a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota. PHOTO: Al Jazeera A sweeping police reform package that bans choke
Egypt’s ‘Scorpion King’ turns venom into money
PHOTO: AFP Surrounded by thousands of live scorpions in a laboratory deep in Egypt’s Western Desert, Ahmed Abu al-Seoud carefully handles one of the curved-tailed arachnids before extracting a drop
One dead in rocket attack on Iraq base hosting US troops
At least 10 rockets slammed into a military base in western Iraq hosting US-led coalition troops on Wednesday, security sources said, leaving one civilian contractor dead. The attack on the
Youngest Hong Kong protester sentenced for rioting
Protesters in Hong Kong A Hong Kong teenager became the youngest person so far to plead guilty to rioting during 2019’s huge pro-democracy protests on Wednesday, as he admitted throwing
Burkina Faso ambulance bomb blast kills four
Four people including a pregnant woman were killed in northern Burkina Faso on Tuesday when the ambulance they were in was blown up by an improvised bomb, sources told AFP.
In Iraq, Pope reaches out to top Shiite cleric
Pope Francis Pope Francis, on a historic trip to Iraq, will on Saturday hold a hugely symbolic meeting with Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, seeking to deepen his cautious dialogue with
Biden withdraws budget chief pick after Senate pushback
Joe Biden on Tuesday abandoned his plan for Neera Tanden to be White House budget director after pushback from key senators, marking the first cabinet defeat for the US president.
