Hundreds of unmanned aircraft, including "suicide drones", were to be used in the drill, according to Iranian news agencies, with exercises in both air-to-air and air-to-ground combat.
The move comes amid high tension between Iran and the United States.
On Wednesday (December 30), the U.S. military flew two nuclear-capable B-52 bombers to the Middle East in a message of deterrence to Iran.
The National Council of Churches Singapore said it was alarmed by news of a youth who attended church and was planning to attack two mosques in Singapore.
Vulnerabilities in the world's food supply system have been laid bare by the COVID-19 pandemic, making global leaders more aware that if not fixed they could mean famine and mass migration, the head of United Nations' World Food Programme said. The crisis has disrupted supply chains across the globe, pushing 270 million people to the brink of starvation, David Beasley, the WFP's Executive Director, said at a virtual meeting of the World Economic Forum. "If we don't receive the support and funds we need you will have mass famine, destabilization of nations and you will have mass migration and the cost of that is one thousand times more," Beasley said, adding there would be more COVID-type events.
Eddie Jones has told Joe Marler he will still be considered for future England selection despite withdrawing from the reigning champions' Six Nations squad to spend time with his family during the coronavirus pandemic.
An international debate over how countries tax big U.S. technology companies such as Google, Amazon and Facebook is heating up, presenting a challenge for new President Joe Biden's administration. There's a mid-year deadline for talks on a global deal that aims to defuse trade disputes with France and other countries that are imposing go-it-alone taxes the U.S. sees as discriminatory. France has imposed its own 3% tax on digital revenue for large tech companies — in effect singling out the U.S. tech giants — but has said it would withdraw the tax in favor of an international solution being negotiated under the auspices of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a Paris-based international organization of 37 advanced economies.
Israel, however, currently leads the world on per capita vaccinations, having inoculated 29% of its population with at least one dose. "As part of the Israel vaccination for corona procedure already 50% of all the Israel Olympic athletes delegation to Tokyo have been vaccinated," a Committee spokeswoman told Reuters in an email.
For some survivors of the Holocaust, the vow to "never forget" takes on a special meaning when they have only faded memories, or none at all, of parents they lost as young children. Leah Nebenzahl was a baby when her parents, Pipha and Zvi Herschman, were murdered in Nazi-occupied Poland. On Wednesday, Holocaust survivors mark the 76th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp by Soviet troops.
Germany's coronavirus lockdown is starting to take effect, the new leader of the ruling Christian Democrats said on Wednesday, noting that the seven-day infection rate had fallen to 97.2 per 100,000 in his state of North Rhine Westphalia. "The current development is encouraging," Armin Laschet, also state premier, told the regional parliament, adding that Chancellor Angela Merkel's office and regional leaders were working on a "sequence of steps for possible openings" after the current lockdown is due to end on Feb. 14. The number of confirmed cases in Germany increased by 13,202 to 2,161,279, data showed on Wednesday, down from a rise of 15,974 a week ago, although the reported death toll rose by 982 to 53,972.
Tunisian police slapped and arrested a photojournalist working at night despite his having an authorisation to be out after curfew, the national press syndicate said on Wednesday amid criticism of the security forces' handling of protests. Islem Hkiri, a freelance photographer, was charged with breaking curfew and assaulting a public servant. He had earlier published pictures of police using pepper spray during a recent surge of protests in Tunisia, a democracy since the 2011 revolution that inspired the "Arab spring".
Zlatan Ibrahimovic squared up to Romelu Lukaku in Tuesday's all-Milan Italian Cup quarter-final, riling his former Manchester United teammate by evoking voodism and calling him "a little donkey", according to reports on Wednesday.
People testing positive for the new British variant of the coronavirus are more likely to report coughing, sore throat or fatigue as symptoms of COVID-19, but are less likely to lose their sense of taste or smell, a British survey has found. The variant, identified in southeast England in December, is thought to be more transmissible, and could also be associated with higher mortality, though data suggesting increased death rates are uncertain and not yet strong. Britain's Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that other differences had been observed between those with the variant from the United Kingdom and others with COVID-19.
Dane DeHaan has confirmed that he will be (virtually) the only Spider-Man villain not to be returning for the upcoming Spider-Man 3.
Israel, however, currently leads the world on per capita vaccinations, having inoculated 29% of its population with at least one dose. "As part of the Israel vaccination for corona procedure already 50% of all the Israel Olympic athletes delegation to Tokyo have been vaccinated," a Committee spokeswoman told Reuters in an email.
In Lebanon the people are increasingly angry, hungry, and desperate. This is the city of Tripoli in the north of the country; a country where people have been ordered to stay indoors amid the strictest lockdown since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Hundreds of protesters ran street battles with soldiers in tanks; demonstrators demanding help to stay at home. "I am standing with the people here, the poor and hungry people, people who can't find something to eat." Many say lockdown is increasing their poverty. Lebanon, like most countries, is juggling the need to save lives alongside the need to save livelihoods, but the crisis is particularly acute here. The pandemic comes on top of a financial collapse and a huge port blast in August that had already brought the health system to its knees. Lebanon registered three and a half thousand new COVID-19 infections on Tuesday, with almost 2,500 deaths recorded in a country of around 6 million people.
U.S. President Joe Biden's nominee to be ambassador to the United Nations will stress on Wednesday the importance of U.S. re-engagement with the 193-member world body in order to challenge efforts by China to "drive an authoritarian agenda." Veteran diplomat Linda Thomas-Greenfield is due to appear before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for her confirmation hearing. "We know China is working across the U.N. system to drive an authoritarian agenda that stands in opposition to the founding values of the institution - American values," Thomas-Greenfield will say, according to excerpts from her statement.
Spain is launching a new migration policy in the Canary Islands, opening camps for undocumented migrants in a sign that it expects a significant influx of new arrivals, while it largely refuses to transfer them to the mainland. After a huge jump in arrivals from Morocco and sub-Saharan Africa last year sparked tensions in the archipelago, authorities have started to move some migrants to tents in two camps on Gran Canaria. Four more will be opened in mid-February on Gran Canaria, Tenerife and Fuerteventura islands for up to 7,000 migrants.
Weeks after other Latin American countries began inoculating their citizens against coronavirus, Brazil finally administered its first shot on Jan. 17 using China's Sinovac Biotech Ltd vaccine. With efficacy of just over 50% - barely above Brazil's threshold for regulatory approval - the Chinese shot was not the government's first choice. The country's principle strategy - to manufacture 100 million doses of the AstraZeneca PLC vaccine locally - has been plagued by repeated delays.
A former principal at a Jewish ultra-Orthodox school returned to Australia under extradition Wednesday to face dozens of child sexual assault charges, more than 12 years after she fled the country.
In an interview with Reuters, Gates said the millions of online posts about him and about top U.S. infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci had likely taken hold in part because of the combination of a frightening viral pandemic and the rise of social media. Gates, a billionaire who stepped down as chairman of Microsoft Corp in 2014, has through his philanthropic Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation committed at least $1.75 billion to the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic. That includes support for some makers of vaccines, diagnostics, and potential treatments. Since the pandemic began a year ago, millions of conspiracies have spread over the Internet, fuelling misinformation about the coronavirus, its origins and the motives of those working to fight it.
GEORGE TOWN, Jan 27 — The Penang government will explore its options for the iconic ferry that Penang Port Commission (PPC) has presented to the state, said state exco Zairil Khir Johari. The...
The European Union is asking AstraZeneca to publish the contract it signed with the bloc on COVID-19 vaccine supplies, an EU official said on Wednesday, in an escalation of the row over delivery delays. The company pulled out of a meeting with the European Union scheduled for Wednesday, the official said. In an interview with newspapers on Tuesday, AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot said the EU contract was based on a best-effort clause and did not commit the company to a specific timetable for deliveries.
