The U.S. Department of State has designated Chinese-run Confucius Institutes, which teach Chinese culture and language in the United States, as "foreign missions," requiring them to meet administrative requirements on par with diplomatic offices, Bloomberg reported Aug. 13.
Muharrem Ince, former presidential candidate and member of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), is launching the “Motherland Movement in 1,000 days” as an alternative to existing political parties, Hurriyet reported Aug. 13.
The first day of voting for Egypt’s newly created Senate saw low turnout, which the government attributed to heavy traffic and hot weather, the Egypt Independent reported Aug. 12.
A U.S. appeals court reversed a lower court ruling against the San Diego-based semiconductor firm Qualcomm in an antitrust lawsuit brought by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) last year, Reuters reported Aug. 12.
Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen said the insurgent group is reportedly ready to start direct peace negotiations with Kabul following the Afghan government’s decision to release the 400 remaining Taliban prisoners in its custody, Kashmir Monitor reported Aug. 12.
More than 1,000 protesters in Belarus were detained during the third night of anti-government demonstrations following President Alexander Lukashenko’s disputed electoral victory, Reuters reported Aug. 12.
Belarusian presidential candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya has reportedly fled to Lithuania after visiting with Belarus's election commission to dispute President Alexander Lukashenko’s victory in the country's Aug. 9 election, Euronews reported Aug. 11.
Russia has officially registered a COVID-19 vaccine named “Sputnik V,” becoming the first country in the world to approve a vaccine for use to prevent the novel virus, Novaya Gazeta reported Aug. 11.
Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab and his ministerial cabinet resigned amid renewed anti-government protests following last week’s deadly port explosion in Beirut, The Daily Star reported Aug 10.
European Commission Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said that the bloc’s debt and deficit rules for national budgets will remain suspended until at least 2022 due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, the Financial Times reported Aug. 10.
