WORLD

  London, UK | XINHUA |  Former BBC director general Tony Hall announced Saturday that he has resigned as the National Gallery’s chairman after an inquiry into BBC’s 1995 interview with Britain’s Princess Diana. Continuing in the role “would be a distraction”, said Hall, who was director of news during …

Washington, U.S. | Xinhua | Former U.S. President Donald Trump has been sued by a civil rights group for calling COVID-19 the “China virus.” The complaint, filed in a federal court in New York by the Chinese Americans Civil Rights Coalition (CACRC), alleged that Trump’s use of that phrase and other similar …

Tokyo 2020 enters operational delivery mode ➡ 75% of Village residents secured vaccination ➡ Limitation on participants entering Japan ➡ Games-time medical system review ➡ Medical personnel from abroad ➡ 54k+ athletes in 430+ safe major events since 9/2020 Tokyo, Japan | THE INDEPENDENT | With up to 75 per cent …

Jerusalem, Israel | XINHUA |  Both Israel and Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, have accepted an Egyptian-brokered deal to cease fighting at 2 a.m. Friday local time (2300 GMT Thursday) to end the 11-day bloodshed. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced that the Israeli security cabinet approved on …

Tehran, Iran | THE INDEPENDENT |  Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said on Thursday that the “main agreement” to revive the 2015 nuclear deal has already been reached in the Vienna talks, and Iran’s counterparts have agreed on the need to lift “all main sanctions.” “The other parties … agree that …

Helsinki, Finland | THE INDEPENDENT |  Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met here for the first time on Wednesday, expressing willingness to cooperate but also admitted “serious differences” amid the two countries’ tense relations. Meeting with his counterpart on the sidelines of an …

Jakarta, Indonesia | THE INDEPENDENT | Indonesian President Joko Widodo said on Tuesday the construction progress of the Jakarta-Bandung High Speed Railway (HSR) has reached 73 percent, hoping the railway will operate by the end of 2022. Widodo said in a statement released by KCIC, a joint venture consortium between Chinese …

Beijing, China | THE INDEPENDENT |  The smooth kickoff of China-Russia nuclear energy cooperation project will promote the upgrading of bilateral ties, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said here Tuesday. Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin will jointly witness the opening ceremony of the two countries’ nuclear energy …

Gaza, Israeli | THE INDEPENDENT | The main COVID-19 testing center in Gaza city was damaged due to intensive Israeli fighter jet strikes waged on the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian health official said Tuesday. Yousef Abu al-Reesh, health ministry director-general in Gaza, told reporters that the COVID-19 testing center in the …

Tehran, Iran |  XINHUA |  Iran’s Constitutional Council, which supervises elections in the country, on Sunday started the process of vetting the large number of registered presidential hopefuls, of whom a few number would qualify, with heavyweights already in the spotlight. As scheduled, the vetting body will release the names …