WORLD

image captionThe withdrawal will be completed by 11 September The US has started formally withdrawing troops from Afghanistan, beginning the end of what President Joe Biden called “the forever war”. The US and Nato have had a presence in Afghanistan for almost 20 years. But the withdrawal, which runs until …

Families in Israel have begun burying their loved ones after at least 45 people died in a crush at a crowded Jewish festival overnight. Some 150 people were also injured at the Lag B’Omer festival, near Mount Meron, when people became trapped in an overcrowded passageway. Funerals were allowed to …

At least 44 people have been killed in a stampede at a religious festival in the north-east of Israel. The national emergency service Magen David Adom (MDA) said dozens more had been wounded at the Lag B’Omer festival, at the foot of Mount Meron. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described it …

 Woman arrested A woman hid a loaded gun in her vagina to smuggle it into prison and officers didn’t find it until weeks later.   Amy Wilhite, 39, brought the .22 calibre revolver to Boone County Jail in Missouri, the US, on February 14, fully loaded with five rounds.   Officers …

IMAGE COPYRIGHTGETTY IMAGESimage captionVoters in the Indian state of West Bengal go to the polls People in the Indian state of West Bengal are voting in the final phase of elections despite soaring Covid cases. Long queues were seen outside polling booths, raising concerns about the further spread of the …

IMAGE COPYRIGHTGETTY IMAGESimage captionPresident Biden will try to build support for two massive spending packages US President Joe Biden is expected to call for free pre-school and community college in his first speech to a joint session of Congress. Speaking on the eve of his 100th day in office, the …

IMAGE COPYRIGHTREUTERSimage captionAndrew Brown’s death on 21 April triggered six nights of protests Police in the US state of North Carolina are facing growing calls to release footage of an incident that led to the fatal shooting of a black man. Andrew Brown, 42, was shot and killed last week …

IMAGE COPYRIGHTEPAimage captionEU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen oversees trade relations with the UK The European Parliament is expected to ratify the post-Brexit EU-UK trade deal – a key move to ensure that tariff- and quota-free trade continues. The Trade and Co-operation Agreement (TCA) has been operating provisionally since …

The European Union said Monday it had launched legal action against the British-Swedish drug company AstraZeneca after it repeatedly under-delivered on its shipments of Covid-19 vaccines to the bloc. The 27 nations in the European Union have rolled out a relatively sluggish vaccination program as the company’s deliveries to the union have …

IMAGE COPYRIGHTGETTY IMAGES The US will share up to 60 million doses of its AstraZeneca vaccine with other countries as they become available, the White House says. The doses will be able to be exported in the coming months after a federal safety review, AP news agency reports. Although the …