INTERNATIONAL

Russia intends to register a COVID-19 vaccine by August 10-12 2020. If the vaccine, developed by Moscow’s Gamaleya Institute, is registered it would be the world’s first official approval of inoculation against the pandemic. According to a source, regulators may approve the Russian Direct Investment Fund for civilians to access the vaccine within three to seven days of registration. According to Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova, the Gamaleya vaccine will undergo trials on another 1,600 people in order to get conditional registration in August. The production for the vaccine should begin in September, stated the Prime Minister. In a televised meeting of officials, President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday said, “The key requirements for a vaccine are its proven effectiveness and s...

Following speculations regarding participation in cyberattacks across the world, the European Union imposed travel and financial sanctions on a department of Russia’s military intelligence service along with North Korean and Chinese firms. In its first-ever sanctions associated with cybercrime, the EU targeted the department for special technologies of the Russian military intelligence service, which is known as the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Russian service has been accused of being involved in the two cyberattacks that happened in June 2017, which hit several companies in Europe. The service is also accused of two cyberattacks against Ukraine’s power grid in 2015 and 2016. As many as four individuals of the Russian milita...

5,000 protesters on two major crossroads in front of government headquarters in Sofia, Bulgaria, have blocked roads and set up tents on Eagle Bridge as they demand Prime Minister Boyko Borissov to resign with an immediate effect. Since early July this year, Bulgarians have been daily protesting accusing three-times Prime Minister Borissov of failing to fight corruption that erodes the rule of law and benefits powerful local tycoons. 61-year-old Borissov, who has dominated Bulgaria’s political life in the past decade, has vowed to stay in office until next March when regular elections are due. He clearly refuses to quit. Nikolay Hadjigenov, one of the protest organizers said, “The traffic blockades and other civil disobedience action would be maintained until Prime Minister Boyko B...

The Republican and Democratic leaders of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee recently introduced legislation to provide $300 million of annual military financing to Ukraine. The issue of military aid to Ukraine was at the centre of impeachment inquiry last year into US President Donald Trump. The bill was introduced by the committee’s chairman Jim Risch and ranking member Bob Menendez, along with Republicans Rob Portman and John Barrasso and Democratic committee members Chris Murphy and Jeanne Shaheen. In addition, the legislation also authorizes up to $4 million to train Ukrainian military officers. It requires a report on the Department of Defense and State Department regarding the requirements of Ukraine’s armed forces and detailed a plan to supply security assistance. ...

Ahead of Eid-ul-Adha and the commencement of the three days ceasefire, in Pul-e-Alan, eastern Afghanistan, 18 people were killed including security forces in a suspected car bombing. According to a senior doctor in the Logar province of Pul-e Alan hospital, Sediqullah, eighteen dead bodies, and more than 21 injured people were brought to the hospital . The ceasefire was recently announced by the Taliban due to Eid-ul-Adha, while the violence was at its peak across the war-torn country. The violence persisted as the US-brokered peace talks between the Taliban armed forces and the Afghan government-mandated committee await the completion of prisoner exchanges from both sides. Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesperson of the Taliban, in a statement, denied the responsibility for the bombing. ...

To prevent contagion of coronavirus the Saudi government this year decided to begin the annual Hajj pilgrimage in the holy city of Mecca with mask-clad Saudi residents only. Every year more than 2 million Muslims from every part of the world perform Hajj. However, due to the pandemic, the Saudi government cut short the annual participation of people to 10,000 Saudi residents for a five-day pilgrimage. “There are no security related concerns in this pilgrimage, but downsizing is to protect pilgrims from danger of pandemic”, said Saudi Arabia’s director of public security Khalid bin Qarar Al-Harbi. A worshiper has to undergo a coronavirus test before arriving at Mecca and quarantine themselves after they complete Hajj. There will be frequent temperature checks and a short quarantine...

United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) on Wednesday reported that approximately half of all the cases of violence faced by African migrants crossing to the Mediterranean coast are committed by law enforcers. “In 47% of the cases, the victims reported the perpetrators of violence are law enforcement authorities, whereas, in the past, we believe that it was mainly smugglers and traffickers,” UNHCR special envoy for the central Mediterranean, Vincent Cochetel, said during a news conference in Geneva. According to the UNHCR report, 1,750 people had died trying to get to the sea in 2018 and 2019, but Cochetel stated that the real figures were expected to be higher. “That is just the visible tip of the iceberg. There are many families looking for their loved ones along the routes, and th...

On Wednesday, Tahir Ahmad Naseem, accused of blasphemy, was shot six times amid his hearing in a northwestern Pakistani district court in the city of Peshawar, police official Ijaz Ahmed told Al Jazeera. Naseem was under police custody since 2018 for an accusation of committing blasphemy by claiming to be a prophet. Police official Ahmed said: "The culprit accepts responsibility for killing him, and says that he killed him for having committed blasphemy," "[The suspect] has been arrested from the scene,” he added. Anyone claiming to be a prophet is a violation of Pakistan’s blasphemy laws, some of which could lead to death penalties. Naseem was convicted of violating the Pakistani penal code sections 295-A, 295-B, and 295-C. Section 295-C carries a mandatory death penalty. ...

A study published by a High Follow-up Committee for Arab Citizens of Israel has revealed that the Israeli authorities have turned 15 mosques into Jewish synagogues, Anadolu Agency reported. The study also showed that 40 mosques were either destroyed, closed, or abandoned, while 17 others were turned into barns, bars, restaurants, or museums. For example, the al-Ahmar Mosque in the northern town of Safed was turned into a concert hall, while al-Jadid Mosque in the city of Caesarea was turned into a bar, according to the study. The Ayn Hawd Mosque in Haifa and the upper floor of the al-Siksik Mosque in Jaffa suffered a similar fate. “After the Nakba, around 539 Palestinian villages were destroyed,” Kamal Khatib of the High Follow-up Committee for Arab Citizens of Israel, told Ana...