World

(Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP) President Donald Trump’s false claims to have won the White House race have been rejected by the courts but have deepened the wounds in a bitterly divided nation and risk leaving long-lasting scars on American democracy. “This kind of poison can really seep into a democracy and delegitimize how normal politics occurs in this country,” said David Farber, a history professor at the University of Kansas. “We’re in an era in which the legitimacy of our institutions is being challenged like it never has been before except perhaps during the (1861-65) Civil War.” Ahead…

Turkey on Saturday rebuked Tehran for “offensive language” aimed at President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in connection with a controversial poem that might suggest Iran’s northwestern provinces belong to Azerbaijan. Iran and Turkey have increased economic cooperation over the past decade but remain rivals in several parts of the Middle East and Central Asia. On Thursday, Erdogan paid a visit to staunch ally Azerbaijan for a military parade marking Baku’s victory over Armenia after six weeks of fighting over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. During his visit, Erdogan recited a poem that Tehran said could fan separatism among Iran’s Azeri minority. Iran…

[FILES] The kingdom on Thursday became the fourth Arab state this year to normalise relations with Israel, in a deal announced by outgoing US President Donald Trump. Hussein FALEH / AFPAn adviser to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has condemned Morocco’s normalisation of ties with the Islamic republic’s arch foe Israel, calling it a “betrayal of Islam”. The kingdom on Thursday became the fourth Arab state this year to normalise relations with Israel, in a deal announced by outgoing US President Donald Trump. In return, Washington fulfilled a decades-old goal of Rabat by recognising its sovereignty over disputed Western…

South Korea has previously been held up as a model of how to combat the pandemic Ed JONES/AFPSouth Korea on Saturday reported its highest daily number of coronavirus cases so far, with a surge centred on the capital region sparking fears the country could lose control of the spread. Officials announced 950 new infections after several days reporting numbers ranging from about 500 to 600. Some 669 were reported in the greater Seoul area on Saturday, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, prompting worries about a major outbreak in the densely populated area — home to half the country’s…

FILE PHOTO: Vials with a sticker reading, “COVID-19 / Coronavirus vaccine / Injection only” and a medical syringe are seen in front of a displayed Pfizer logo in this illustration taken October 31, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File PhotoThe US green lighted the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine late Friday, paving the way for millions of vulnerable people to receive their shots in the world’s hardest-hit country. President Donald Trump immediately released a video on Twitter, where he hailed the news as a “medical miracle” and said the first immunizations would take place “in less than 24 hours.” It comes as infections across America…

(COMBO) This combination of pictures created on December 11, 2020 shows an undated handout picture released by the University of Oxford (L) on November 23, 2020 showing a vial of the University’s COVID-19 candidate vaccine, known as AZD1222, co-invented by the University of Oxford and Vaccitech in partnership with pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca. And a picture taken on December 4, 2020 showing a vial of Russia’s Gam-COVID-Vac vaccine against Covid-19 registered under trade name Sputnik V, developed by the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology in coordination with the Russian Defence Ministry. – Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca’s Russian branch said on…

(From L) Swiss Finance Minister Ueli Maurer, Swiss President Simonetta Sommaruga and Swiss Interior and Health Minister Alain Berset wear disposable protective face masks as they leave after a press conference on new measures against the Covid-19 pandemic on December 11, 2020 in Bern. – Switzerland, which is failing to control the Covid-19 epidemic with the highest contamination rates in Europe, adopted a package of measures including the closure of restaurants, bars and shops at 7pm. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP) Switzerland announced Friday that all shops, bars and restaurants must close from 7:00pm as it struggles to tame…

FILE PHOTO: Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed speaks during a media conference at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, October 29, 2018. Michel Euler/Pool via REUTERS//File Photo Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed insisted Friday that his government would take the lead in delivering aid to Tigray, where his troops have been fighting forces loyal to the regional government. Nearly four weeks after ordering soldiers to dislodge the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which rules the northern region, Abiy declared victory on November 28. The United Nations and aid agencies have been unable to access the region since the start of…

This illustration picture taken on November 23, 2020 shows a bottle reading “Vaccine Covid-19” and a syringe next to the Pfizer and Biontech logo. – The European Commission has signed five contracts to pre-order vaccines, among which with the U.S.-German company Pfizer-BioNTech (up to 300 million doses). (Photo by JOEL SAGET / AFP) US experts voted Thursday to recommend granting emergency approval for Pfizer-BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine, paving the way for America to become the next country to move ahead with mass immunization. It comes as the worst-hit country in the world logged nearly 6,000 virus deaths in 48 hours and…

Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson (L) adjusts his facemask at a press meet in the Berlaymont building at the EU headquarters in Brussels on December 9, 2020, prior to a post-Brexit talks’ working dinner with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. – Prime Minister Boris Johnson met EU chief Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday for a working dinner that could save — or kill off — hopes for a post-Brexit trade deal. (Photo by Aaron Chown / POOL / AFP)Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday vowed to go the “extra mile” for a Brexit trade deal but instructed…