International

FRANCE: Vaccination is highly effective at preventing severe cases of COVID-19, even against the Delta variant, a vast study in France has shown. The research published Monday -- focusing on prevention of severe COVID and death,…

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…

IRAQ: Iraqis voted on Sunday in parliamentary elections held months ahead of schedule as a concession to a youth-led popular uprising against corruption and mismanagement. But the voting was marked by widespread apathy and a…

INDIA: Mukesh Ambani, Asia’s richest person, joined Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk in the world’s most exclusive wealth club with a fortune of at least $100 billion. The chairman of India’s Reliance Industries Ltd. entered the rarefied…

QATAR: The United States said on Sunday the first face-to-face meeting between senior U.S. and Taliban officials since the hardline group retook power in Afghanistan was "candid and professional" and that the U.S. side reiterated that…

Austria's Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has stepped down, after pressure triggered by a corruption scandal. He has proposed Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg as his replacement. Kurz and nine others were placed under…

Iraqis headed to the polls for an early election billed as a concession to anti-government protests but one expected to be boycotted by many voters who distrust official promises of reform. Polls opened at 7:00am (04:00 GMT) on…

Abolhassan Banisadr, who became Iran’s first president following the country’s 1979 revolution, has died in Paris, where he lived for decades after fleeing his country. A statement by his website and reports by Iranian media on…