WORLD

London, England | THE INDEPENDENT |    British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Monday that the post-Brexit trade deal is a new starting point for Britain and the European Union (EU). “I welcomed the importance of the UK/EU Agreement as a new starting point for our relationship, between sovereign equals,” Johnson …

Houston,USA | THE INDEPENDENT |    U.S. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner on Sunday urged community leaders to work together to bring down violence in the city. Joining community leaders at a “Stop the Violence H-Town” rally, Turner said the number of violent crimes in Houston has been on the rise in …

New York, U.S. | Xinhua | Wall Street’s major averages posted mixed results in the holiday-shortened week as investors weighed the fate of additional U.S. fiscal stimulus and impact of a new coronavirus variant. For the week, the Dow rose 0.1 percent, the S&P 500 lost 0.2 percent and the Nasdaq …

Washington, U.S. | Xinhua | The 900-billion-U.S.-dollar relief plan is up in the air over Christmas after House Republicans rejected President Donald Trump’s demand to raise direct payments to Americans. Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday blocked an attempt from House Democrats to raise the bill’s 600-dollar direct …

Buenos Aires, Brazil | Xinhua | A second autopsy has shown that Argentine football legend Diego Maradona did not consume alcohol or narcotics in the days before his death, a local prosecutor’s office said on Wednesday. The 1986 World Cup winner died of a heart attack aged 60 on November 25, …

Moscow, Russia | Xinhua | Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that the situation will not get worse for Russia during the Biden administration. “With regard to the statement that the leadership in the United States is changing and it will be more difficult for us, I don’t think this …

Tehran, Iran | Xinhua | The Iranian Foreign Ministry on Thursday dismissed as “baseless” U.S. President Donald Trump’s allegation that Iran was behind a recent attack on the U.S. Embassy in Iraq. “Such repeated, baseless, and fabricated allegations can be assessed in the framework of conventional White House projections aimed at …

Washington, USA | THE INDEPENDENT |   The U.S. Congress on Sunday passed another stopgap funding bill to avert a government shutdown and provide lawmakers more time to vote on the COVID-19 relief deal and long-term government funding. The House of Representatives on Sunday night approved a funding measure that will …

Vientiane, Laos | THE INDEPENDENT |    The Vientiane-Vangvieng section of the China-Laos expressway, the first highway in Laos jointly constructed by the Lao government and China’s Yunnan Construction and Investment Holding Group (YCIH), was inaugurated on Sunday. The opening ceremony was held simultaneously in Vientiane, the capital of Laos, and …

New York, US | Xinhua | Wall Street’s major averages eked out gains in the week as investors monitored negotiations on additional U.S. fiscal stimulus and pored through the Federal Reserve’s latest statement. For the week ending Friday, the Dow rose 0.4 percent, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq climbed …