An Iranian citizen was Thursday sentenced to life imprisonment by a Swedish court after being convicted of committing grave war crimes and murder during the final phase of the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s. The Stockholm District Court that said Hamid Noury took part in severe atrocities in July-August 1988 while working as an assistant to the deputy prosecutor at the Gohardasht prison outside the Iranian city of Karaj. A life sentence in Sweden generally means a minimum of 20 to 25 years in prison, but it could be extended. If he is eventually released, Noury will be expelled from Sweden. Noury

British rail workers will go on strike on July 27 over an ongoing pay dispute, a month after the country's most disruptive railway strike in three decades paralyzed train networks across the U.K. The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers said Wednesday its members will walk out for 24 hours, threatening travel chaos during the busy summer holidays. Union leaders said they have rejected a new pay rise offer from Network Rail to resolve the dispute over jobs, pay and working conditions. The union staged three strikes last month that saw 40,000 workers walk off their jobs, crip

Singapore reported 5,979 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, bringing the total tally to 1,540,788. Of the new cases, 5,743 were local transmissions and 236 were imported cases. Among the local cases, 508 cases were detected through PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests and 5,235 through ART (antigen rapid test) tests, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Health. A total of 679 cases are currently warded in hospitals, with 15 cases in intensive care units. Five deaths were reported due to COVID-19 infection, pushing the death toll to 1,437, the ministry said.

World Health Organization (WHO) chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Tuesday warned the world that fresh waves of COVID-19 cases show that the pandemic is "nowhere near over." In a media briefing on COVID-19, the WHO chief said, "I am concerned that cases of COVID-19 continue to rise - putting further pressure on stretched health systems and health workers - and deaths are unacceptably high." He urged governments to regularly review and adjust their COVID19 response plans based on the current epidemiology and also the potential for new variants to appear. The Emergency Committee on COVID-1

Russia has confirmed the first case of monkeypox in a young man who recently returned from Europe, the country's consumer rights watchdog told reporters on Tuesday. "The first case of monkeypox has been confirmed in Russia. The disease was detected in a young man who returned from a trip to Europe and came to a medical facility with a rash that is common [for this disease]," Russia's rights watchdog Rospotrebnazor was quoted as saying by Sputnik. Rospotrebnadzor clarified that the patient has mild symptoms and is isolated. In the last week of June, the World Health Organization (WHO) said the

After Boris Johnson stepped down as Prime Minister of Britain, former minister Rishi Sunak has put forward his contendership to become the next Prime Minister of Britain. "I'm standing to be the next leader of the Conservative Party and your Prime Minister," he tweeted, adding that it is about time to rebuild the economy and reunite the country. In a further statement, he said, "Someone has to grip the moment and make the right decisions. That's why I am standing to be the next leader of the conservative party and your Prime Minister." I want to lead this country in the right direction, he add

Japanese Police have identified the suspect arrested for shooting former prime minister Shinzo Abe on Friday as Tetsuya Yamagami, a 41-year-old resident of Nara City, according to local media. Earlier today Abe, 67, was rushed to hospital after he collapsed at 11.30 am (local time) during a campaign speech in the western Japanese city of Nara ahead of Sunday's elections for Japan's upper house of Parliament. Local media reported that police has detained the assailant and retrieved a gun from the scene. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida condemned the "barbaric" attack on former PM Shinzo Ab

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has given into demands for his resignation. Fifty members of his government had left their positions citing Johnson's integrity as the reason for their departure. Speaking outside Number 10 Downing Street, Johnson expressed his gratitude and offered assurances that government will keep working as usual. Johnson said a timetable for choosing a new prime minister will be announced next week.

Sri Lanka's Central Bank has raised its key interest rates to 14.50% and 15.50% to try to contain inflation that has added to the country's economic woes. Sri Lankans have suffered months of acute shortages of essentials such as food, fuel, cooking gas and medicines. The central bank said it had raised its Standing Deposit Facility Rate and the Standing Lending Facility Rate that it charges commercial banks by 100 basis points each to 14.50% and 15.50%, respectively.