WORLD

The US State Department has confirmed plans to shut down its mission in Vladivostok, in Russia’s Far East, and suspend work at a consulate in Ekaterinburg, a major city in the Ural Mountains. The move would make the embassy in Moscow the sole US diplomatic outpost in Russia, forcing the …

The Washington, DC-headquartered public policy institute on Friday expressed its displeasure over rumors that President Donald Trump is mulling a pardon for the WikiLeaks founder, who is fighting extradition to the US.  “We support a free and open press–but Assange is not a free speech hero,” the think tank wrote, …

You know how it goes, you spend half your life waiting for the US military to help make a sentimental, Christmas-themed romantic comedy and then two come along at once: Hallmark’s ‘USS Christmas’ and Netflix’s ‘Operation Christmas Drop’.   Neither film could have been made without military support – nearly half …

The emergency vaccination program will continue in the country during the winter period, the director of the State Council’s vaccine research and development work group, Zeng Yixin, said on Saturday. “During the winter and spring seasons, carrying out novel coronavirus vaccination work among some key population groups is of great …

Anastasia Radzinskaya, who goes by the name Nastya on her channel, is the world’s seventh-wealthiest blogger, having generated 39 billion views in 2020 – the biggest viewer score among those listed. Her earnings reportedly reached $18.5 million in the 12 months to December. Born in the Russian southern city of …

Admiral Chris Barrie, who led the Australian Defence Force from 1998 to 2002, called for a royal commission to investigate allegations that Australian special forces in Afghanistan carried out unlawful killings, and insisted that responsibility for such crimes ultimately rests with the country’s military command. A four-year investigation, led by …

Ackie, who starred in Hollywood blockbuster ‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’, will play iconic singer Whitney Houston in an upcoming biopic, ‘I Wanna Dance with Somebody’. Director Stella Meghie said she spent months in an “exhaustive search” to find an actress who could “embody” the legendary performer. Meghie expressed …

Pinera was hit with the penalty on Friday, local health authorities announced in a statement, noting that the president will pay more than than 2.5 million Chilean pesos (just over $3,500) after filing a “self-complaint” notifying them of his “non-compliance with the use of a mask in a public space” …

The incoming Democratic government in the US will take a somewhat new approach to Venezuela, a nation that the Trump administration designated as part of a Latin American “troika of tyranny” and pounded with relentless sanctions. According to Bloomberg, Joe Biden is willing to negotiate with President Maduro and is …

While it must be hard for the Queen to ignore the clamour of the woke constituency, especially when one’s own grandchildren are the poster couple for this increasingly insidious mindset, caving in over the relabelling of ‘The Defence of Rorke’s Drift,’ at Christmas of all times, is really a step …