WORLD

Colombo, Sri Lanka | Xinhua | Acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe was elected as the new president of Sri Lanka in an election held in parliament on Wednesday. Soon after winning the election, Wickremesinghe addressed the parliament, calling on all legislators including the opposition parliamentarians to unite and work together with him to …

Washington, U.S. | Xinhua | The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill on marriage equality on Tuesday in a 267-157 vote, with 47 Republicans joining all Democrats in supporting the measure. The Respect for Marriage Act, which calls for the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, will face an …

Tehran, Iran | Xinhua | Tehran and Moscow on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding, based on which the latter is expected to make an investment worth roughly 40 billion U.S. dollars in Iran’s petroleum industry, the Iranian Oil Ministry’s news service Shana reported. The document was signed during an online …

Moscow, Russia | Xinhua | In an article published on Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called for closest attention to the Pentagon’s military biological activities around the world. There is “multiplying evidence of (the Pentagon’s) criminal experiments with the most dangerous pathogens in order to create biological weapons conducted under …

Moscow, Russia | Xinhua | A court in Moscow ruled on Monday to fine Google LLC 21.077 billion rubles (about 369 million U.S. dollars) for repeated failure to delete content prohibited in Russia. The administrative fine amounts to one tenth of the revenue of Google and its affiliated companies registered with …

Washington, U.S. | Xinhua | Two former White House aides to Donald Trump will reportedly testify at Thursday’s primetime hearing to be held by the House select committee to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol attack last year, especially Trump’s inaction when the riot unfolded. Matthew Pottinger, former deputy national security adviser, …

Ankara, Turkey | Xinhua | Turkey will suspend Finland and Sweden’s NATO accession process if they do not keep promises on counter-terrorism, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday. “I would like to remind you that we will freeze the process if they do not take the necessary steps to meet …

London, UK | Xinhua | Lawmakers in the House of Commons, the lower house of the British parliament, backed outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government in a confidence vote on Monday night. Johnson’s government called for the confidence vote itself to see off a rival move by the main opposition Labour …

New York, U.S. | Xinhua | The de-dollarization or decline of dollar hegemony will put the United States in a slow crash and make everyday Americans poorer, an economist told Xinhua. Other countries have to de-dollarize because of American foreign policy, forcing them to create an alternative, said Michael Hudson, professor …

Tehran, Iran | Xinhua | U.S. President Joe Biden’s first Middle East tour meant to rally support to counter what he called “Iranian threats” is most likely to see a watered-down achievement, given Iran’s sustained efforts to improve relations with neighbors and other countries in the region, analysts said. A handful …