German authorities shut down illegal darknet marketplace

Berlin [Germany], December 21: German authorities have shut down the server infrastructure of the illegal darknet marketplace "Kingdom Market," the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA)...

Vietnam to increase regional minimum salary

Hanoi [Vietnam], December 21: Vietnam will lift regional minimum salary for laborers by 6 percent next year, local media reported on Wednesday.

S. Korea's top court orders Japanese firms to compensate WWII forced labor...

Seoul [South Korea], December 21: South Korea's top court on Thursday ordered Japanese firms to compensate the victims who were forced into harsh labor without...

UNICEF chief raises alarm about drinking water crisis for children in Gaza

United Nations, December 21: The head of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) on Wednesday issued a dire warning that the absence of safe drinking water...

Hurricane Otis kills 52 in Mexico

Mexico City [Mexico], December 21: Hurricane Otis has killed 52 and left 32 missing in Mexico, Governor of Guerrero state, Evelyn Salgado, said Wednesday.

EU migrant pact hailed by Italian gov't, slammed by groups

Rome [Italy], December 21: The European Union's (EU) New Pact on Migration and Asylum has been welcomed by government officials in Italy -- one of...

Polish gov't dismisses public media chiefs

Warsaw [Poland], December 21: Poland's Culture Minister sacked the heads of three state media outlets on Wednesday, leading to protests from the conservatives.

Cambodia records 11,506 new business establishments in first 11 months

Phnom Penh [Cambodia], December 21: Cambodia issued operating licenses to 11,506 new companies and enterprises in the first 11 months of 2023, up 14.5 percent...

Australia rebuffs U.S. request for warship in Red Sea

Canberra [Australia], December 21: The Australian government has announced that it will not send a warship to the Red Sea but will deploy additional troops...

Behind the 'revolution' led by Myanmar's ethnic minority fighters

Namhsan [Myanmar], December 21: Pickup trucks carrying ethnic minority fighters rolled into a town in Myanmar's northeastern Shan state recently cleared of junta troops...

Survivors of China's deadliest quake brave freezing cold

Jishishan [China], December 21: Survivors of China's deadliest earthquake in years huddled in makeshift aid tents despite freezing temperatures on Wednesday, too scared to return...

Egypt seeks to broker Gaza ceasefire as Hamas

Cairo [Egypt], December 21: The U.S. said "very serious" negotiations were taking place on a new Gaza ceasefire and release of more Israeli hostages, but...

Polish government takes public TV news channel off air amid reform drive

Warsaw [Poland], December 21: Poland's new government took a public news channel off the air on Wednesday and dismissed executives from state media to restore...

Macron defends new French migration law despite political tensions

Paris [France], December 21: French President Emmanuel Macron defended a bill to toughen immigration laws despite an embarrassing parliamentary vote that put his ruling alliance...

Trump urges US Supreme Court not to expedite 2020 immunity claim

Washington [US], December 21: Former President Donald Trump urged the U.S. Supreme Court to reject a request by federal prosecutors to immediately review his claim...

Anti-war candidate Duntsova applies to run in election against Russia's Putin

Moscow [Russia], December 21: Former TV journalist Yekaterina Duntsova put her name forward on Wednesday to stand in a Russian presidential election in March that...

Biden attacks Trump's anti-immigrant 'blood' comments in Wisconsin visit

Washington [US], December 21: U.S. President Joe Biden criticized presidential opponent Donald Trump's recent anti-immigrant comments as he visited a Black-owned business in Milwaukee, Wisconsin,...

Ukrainians prepare for first wartime Christmas on new calendar

Kyiv [Ukraine], December 21: Ukrainians are gearing up to celebrate their first Christmas according to a new calendar, another step towards erasing all traces of...

Kazakhstan starts building new railroad to China

Astana [Kazakhstan], December 21: Abai region of Kazakhstan started building a new 272 km-long railway line en route Bakhty-Ayagoz, a railway line leading to the...

German court orders repeat of 2021 election in parts of Berlin

Berlin [Germany], December 20: Germany's Federal Constitutional Court ruled on Tuesday that the 2021 national election must be repeated in parts of Berlin in February...

NASA to launch new mission to help build 3D map of Milky...

Los Angeles [US], December 20: NASA is preparing to launch a new mission that will stare at the space between stars, helping build a 3D...

Mexican president to challenge U.S. new anti-immigrant law

Mexico City [Mexico], December 20: Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Tuesday that his government plans to challenge a law recently approved by...

Italy to request 5th installment of EU recovery fund

Rome [Italy], December 20: Italy said on Tuesday it is on course to formally request the fifth installment of the European Union (EU)'s post-COVID recovery...

Australian government defends weather agency from criticism amid floods

Canberra [Australia], December 20: Australia's Emergency Management Minister has defended the weather service agency from criticism over its warning system in the lead-up to flooding...

UN official warns attacks likely to rise in Gaza over holiday period

Geneva [Switzerland], December 20: A senior United Nations (UN) official on Tuesday warned that the holiday period would likely bring an increase in attacks in...

Zelensky: "No one knows" when Russia-Ukraine conflict ends

Kyiv [Ukraine], December 20: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said at his annual press conference on Tuesday that "no one knows" when the Russia-Ukraine conflict...

Radio sets make a comeback in war-torn Gaza

Gaza [Gaza Strip], December 20: Before war broke out in Gaza, Mahmud al-Daoudi could never have imagined the radio sets gathering dust in his shop...