World

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) council via a video link at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow on December 2, 2020. (Photo by Alexey NIKOLSKY / SPUTNIK / AFP) Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday hailed Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s “courage” in agreeing to a peace deal over Nagorno-Karabakh that triggered a backlash against the leader at home. Armenia signed a Russian-brokered accord with Azerbaijan on November 9 after six weeks of heavy fighting over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Under the deal, Armenia ceded three districts around the ethnic…

WASHINGTON, DC – NOVEMBER 29: U.S. President Donald Trump, followed by his grandchildren walk on the south lawn of the White House on November 29, 2020 in Washington, DC. President Trump spent the weekend at Camp David and at Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia. Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images/AFP Donald Trump has threatened to veto a major military funding bill unless Congress abolishes a liability law protecting social media firms regularly accused of bias by the president. Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act gives immunity to tech companies such as Facebook and Twitter from legal action on content posted…

A woman walks past a “Covid-19 vaccine not yet available” sign outside a store in Arlington, Virginia on December 1, 2020. (Photo by Olivier DOULIERY / AFP)The Pfizer and Moderna Covid vaccines could be approved in a matter of weeks, but who in the United States will get them first? Though nothing has yet been decided, US experts may differ from other countries in prioritizing “critical workers” who keep society running — potentially even before people at the highest risk. To be clear, there won’t be one single set of rules for the whole nation. At the risk of creating…

President-elect Joe Biden on Tuesday called on Congress to quickly approve a "robust" aid plan to address the Covid-19 economic crisis, which his pick to lead the US Treasury called a "tragedy" for American families. As he presented his economic team, including former Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen as Treasury secretary, Biden said his administration will push for even more measures to right the economy reeling from the damage wrought by the coronavirus pandemic. "I know times are tough, but I want you to know that help is on the way," Biden said at the event. Yellen said later that…

Jail PHOTO:Shutterstock More than 20 women prisoners were raped after a riot broke out in a jail in the southeastern Democratic Republic of Congo in September, investigators said Tuesday. The French station Radio France Internationale (RFI), which broke the story, said some of the women were raped for days by male convicts after prison authorities lost control of the facility. The riot erupted in a prison in Lubumbashi on September 25 as the city was attacked by a militia group. Public prosecutor Teddy Katumbo Lumbu told AFP: “According to the prison governor, all the women there were raped. There were…

(FILES) In this file photo taken on November 23, 2020 is pictured a bottle reading “Vaccine Covid-19” next to US pharmaceutical company Pfizer and German biotechnology company BioNTech logos on November 23, 2020. – Pharma companies Pfizer and BioNTech on December 1, 2020 filed for European approval for their coronavirus vaccine, following in the footsteps of competitor Moderna, while the OECD predicted the world economy would bounce back to pre-pandemic levels by late 2021. (Photo by JOEL SAGET / AFP) Europe’s medicines regulator said Tuesday it would decide by December 29 whether to grant emergency approval to a Covid-19 vaccine…

President Donald Trump’s controversial coronavirus adviser resigned Monday, while hopes for a first wave of vaccinations before the end of 2020 received a further boost with an announcement from US firm Moderna. Scott Atlas, a favored coronavirus adviser of the US president, who tweeted in October “Masks work? NO,” has submitted his resignation, effective as of December 1, Fox News reported. Lacking relevant experience or qualifications in public health or infectious disease, he also called in November for people in Michigan to “rise up” against Covid-19 measures. Atlas stepped down as hopes rose for a first wave of vaccinations before…

United States President-elect Joe Biden has named a Nigerian, Adewale Adeyemo, as Deputy Treasury Secretary along with four women as key members of his economic team. ‘Wally’, who is president of Obama Foundation in Chicago, would be serving under Janet Yellen, named as the Treasury Secretary. If confirmed, the Nigerian would be first black deputy treasury secretary. Adeyemo served on the National Economic Council of the Obama administration. Biden also appointed Neera Tanden to lead the Office of Management and Budget, elevating the CEO and president of the left-leaning Centre for American Progress, to the top ranks of his administration.…

(FILES) In this file photo taken on December 13, 2017 former Federal Reserve Board Chair Janet Yellen speaks during a briefing at the US Federal Reserve in Washington, DC. – US President-elect Joe Biden on November 30, 2020 selected former Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen as his choice for Treasury secretary. “Janet Yellen is nominated to serve as Secretary of the Treasury. If confirmed, she will be the first woman to lead the Treasury Department in its 231-year history,” Biden’s transition team said in a statement. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP) US President-elect Joe Biden on Monday named former…

(FILES) In this file photo US President Donald Trump speaks to reporters after participating in a Thanksgiving teleconference with members of the United States Military, at the White House in Washington, DC, on November 26, 2020. – In the first TV interview since losing his re-election bid, President Donald Trump indicated on November 29, 2020 that he will never concede to Joe Biden and abandon his conspiracy theory about mass ballot fraud. “It’s not like you’re gonna change my mind. My mind will not change in six months,” Trump told Fox News interviewer Maria Bartiromo. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS /…