BRUSSELS (AA) – Bulgaria and Romania have officially joined the Schengen zone, following a decision by the EU Council on December 12, 2024. Although the two countries gained Schengen access by air and sea in March 2024, their full integration was delayed due to vetoes from Austria, Hungary, and the Netherlands, which cited concerns over [&hell...
HAMILTON, Canada (AA) – An official from the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has termed the death of seven newborns and infants from cold in Gaza as “tragic and unacceptable.” “It’s tragic and unacceptable that since 23 December, 7 newborns and infants have reportedly died from the cold and a lack of adequate shelter ...
SANAA, Yemen (AA) – The Yemeni Houthi resistance group has claimed to have shot down a US drone in central Yemen. Military spokesman Yahya Saree said a US MQ-9 drone was intercepted “while carrying out hostile missions” over Marib province. He said the drone was shot down by “a domestically made surface-to-air missile.” The spokesman [&h...
GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) – Heavy rains have inundated over 1,542 tents housing displaced civilians in the Gaza Strip in the past two days amid Israel’s genocidal war on the enclave, the Civil Defense Service has said. “Hundreds of tents were flooded with rainwater at a level exceeding 30 centimeters,” the agency said in a […]
WASHINGTON (AA) – The US imposed sanctions Tuesday on entities in Iran and Russia accusing them of attempting to interfere in the 2024 election. The Treasury Department said a subsidiary of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and an organization affiliated with the Russian Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) “aimed to st...
ISTANBUL (AA) – Hundreds of thousands of people gathered at Istanbul’s Galata Bridge on New Year’s Day to express solidarity with Palestine. Participants marched from mosques across the historic peninsula and beyond after early morning prayers, beating the wintry chill and carrying Turkish and Palestinian flags. The event was organized b...
ANKARA (AA) – Iran has said that it will hold a new round of nuclear talks with the European troika – France, Germany and the UK (E3) – in the Swiss city of Geneva on January 13. “What is happening between Iran and the E3 is talks, not negotiations,” Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said […]
ISTANBUL (AA) – President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team has imposed a strict social media ban on Cabinet nominees as the incoming administration faces growing tensions over H-1B visas for skilled immigrants. “All intended nominees should refrain from any public social media posts without prior approval of the incoming White ...
ISTANBUL (AA) – The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has announced that the 10 hottest years on record have all occurred within the past decade. “This is climate breakdown in real time,” Guterres said on X. “In 2025, countries must put the world on a safer path by dramatically slashing emissions & supporting th...
ISLAMABAD (AA) – With at least 685 fatalities, 2024 was a deadly year for Pakistani security forces, the Center for Research and Security Studies said in a report. Security forces killed 934 suspected militants. The violence took the heaviest toll on the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, followed by southwestern Balochistan provi...
