World

PORTLAND, MAINE – Planned Parenthood announced Tuesday that it is endorsing a Democratic challenger to Republican Sen. Susan Collins in Maine, saying Collins “turned her back” on women and citing her vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court as well as other judicial nominees who oppose abortion. Sara …

Iran acknowledged on Tuesday that its armed forces fired two Russian anti-aircraft missiles at a Ukrainian jetliner that crashed after taking off from Tehran’s main airport earlier this month, killing all 176 people on board.  The new preliminary report by Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization however stopped short of blaming the …

Sikandar Sultan Raja. Photo: File ISLAMABAD: After months of deadlock on the appointment of a chief election commissioner (CEC), the government and the opposition are likely to name Sikandar Sultan Raja as the new head of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), The News reported on Tuesday. Sources told The …

Thousands of gun-rights activists, including armed militia members, rallied peacefully Monday in the capital of the southeastern U.S. state of Virginia in opposition to proposed gun control regulations. Despite fears the rally could turn violent, the protest ended without reports of incidents or arrests. Reporters at the rally say the …

WASHINGTON – U.S. President Donald Trump’s lawyers on Monday assailed the impeachment case against him as a “dangerous perversion of the Constitution,” asserting he did “absolutely nothing wrong” in pressing Ukraine to launch investigations to benefit himself politically. The lawyers for the U.S. leader said Democratic lawmakers pushing for the …

PENANG, MALAYSIA – Malaysia has sent back 150 containers of plastic waste to 13 mainly rich countries since the third quarter last year, with the environment minster warning on Monday that those who want to make the country a rubbish bin of the world can “dream on.” Shipments of unwanted …

RICHMOND, VA – Virginia’s capital city is bracing for the expected arrival of thousands of gun-rights activists and other groups that have vowed to descend on Richmond to protest Democrats’ plans to pass gun-control legislation. Gov. Ralph Northam declared a temporary state of emergency days ahead of Monday’s rally, banning …

DAVOS, SWITZERLAND – The world’s billionaires have doubled in the past decade and are richer than 60% of the global population, the charity Oxfam said Monday. It said poor women and girls were at the bottom of the scale, putting in “12.5 billion hours of unpaid care work each and …

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights is appealing for $375.5 million to support its efforts to promote and protect human rights in dozens of countries around the world at a time of great turbulence and erosion of fundamental rights. Human rights is one …

BERLIN – Germany is bringing together the key players in Libya’s long-running civil war in a bid to curb foreign military meddling, solidify a cease-fire and help relaunch a political process to determine the North African nation’s future.  Chancellor Angela Merkel invited leaders from 12 countries as well as the …