International

IRAQ: Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr’s party was the biggest winner in an Iraqi election on Monday, increasing the number of seats he holds in parliament, according to initial results, officials and a spokesperson for the Sadrist…

Thailand plans to end Covid quarantine requirements for fully vaccinated travellers from at least 10 low-risk nations from 1 November, officials say. PM Prayuth Chan-ocha admitted that "this decision comes with some risk" - but it…

An oil spill involving a deteriorating tanker moored off the coast of Yemen could potentially disrupt food and water supplies for millions of people in the conflict-ridden country, as well as further afield, in an environmental…

The United Kingdom government’s early response to COVID-19 and the delay in imposing a lockdown early last year was “one of the most important public health failures” in the country’s history and cost thousands of lives, a damning…

An Afghan interpreter who helped rescue then-senator Joe Biden from the harsh Afghanistan countryside has managed to leave the region with his family. In 2008, a blizzard forced a military helicopter carrying Biden and other US…

Afghanistan’s acting foreign minister has appealed to the world for good relations but avoided making firm commitments on girls’ education, despite international demands to allow all Afghan children to go back to school. Almost…

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has issued an executive order banning all organisations, including private companies, from enforcing vaccinations in the state. Mr Abbott, a Republican, has been one of the most vocal US leaders opposed…

THE PHILIPPINES: Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa used her new prominence to criticise Facebook as a threat to democracy, saying the social media giant fails to protect against the spread of hate and disinformation and is “biased…

RUSSIA: At least 16 people are dead and seven others injured after an L-410 plane crashed near a near the town of Menzelinsk in the Republic of Tatarstan of central Russia on Sunday, the emergency services were cited as saying by local…

FRANCE: Cases of depression and anxiety surged by more than a quarter globally during the first year of the pandemic, especially among women and young adults, a major study showed. In the first worldwide estimate of the mental…