Thailand Lunar New Year
AFP - A dancer carries a dragon head on the crowded main street in Chinatown on the first day of the Lunar New Year in Bangkok on February 12, 2021.
(Photo by Mladen ANTONOV / AFP)
International
China Lunar New Year
AFP - This photograph taken on February 11, 2021 shows people burning incense and praying for good luck on the eve of the Lunar New Year at a temple in Nanning, in China's southern Guangxi region.
(Photo by - / AFP) / China OUT
NETHERLANDS RELIGION
AFP - Pastor Pierre Valkering leaves his home in Amsterdam by order of a bailiff, on February 12, 2021. - Valkering was fired in 2019 by the Diocese of Haarlem-Amsterdam for revelations about his homosexual orientation, changing sexual encounters and struggles with a porn addiction.
(Photo by Ramon van Flymen / ANP / AFP)
PALESTINIAN HEALTH VIRUS RELIGION ISLAM
AFP - A Palestinian woman, wearing a protective mask amid the COVID-19 pandemic, prays outside the Dome of the Rock Mosque in Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque compound on February 12, 2021.
(Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP)
US Acquires 200 mn New Doses as Vaccine Drive Begins in Pharmacies
WASHINGTON - US President Joe Biden announced plans to vaccinate most Americans by the end of July with the help of 200 million newly acquired doses, as the country's inoculation campaign kicked off a new phase in drugstores and supermarket pharmacies, some of which will offer shots as of Friday. Even as the Biden administration inked deals to acquire "100 million more Moderna and 100 million mor...
Tokyo 2020 Chief Mori Resigns
TOKYO - Tokyo 2020 organizing committee president Yoshiro Mori has announced his resignation on Friday due to protests over his sexist remarks about women last week.
The 83-year-old former Japanese prime minister made the announcement at a special meeting of its executive members. He told the meeting that his inappropriate remarks have caused chaos and wish to "resign as president as of today...
15Militants Killed in Fresh Army Offensive in Southern Afghanistan
KABUL - At least 15 Taliban militants were killed during the latest army's offensive in Afghanistan's southern province of Kandahar, the country's Ministry of Defense confirmed on Friday.
"Fifteen Taliban terrorist group's fighters were killed and seven others wounded in the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) targeted strikes in surrounding areas of Arghandab district, Kandah...
US NEW YORK CITY’S CHINATOWN PREPARES FOR LUNAR NEW YEAR
NEW YORK : People shop in Chinatown on the eve of the Lunar New Year holiday on February 11, 2021 in New York City. Lunar New Year, also known as the Chinese New Year or Spring Festival, begins on Friday and will conclude the Year of the Rat and begin the Year of the Ox.
While the annual Chinese celebration is usually a time for gatherings with family and friends, this year’s events will ...
ETHIOPIA-UNREST
People organize piles of items during an items distribution by an international non-governmental organization for Internally Displaced People (IDP) fleeing from violence in the Metekel zone in Western Ethiopia, in Chagni, Ethiopia, on January 28, 2021. - Inter-ethnic violence in Ethiopia's west -- concentrated in a lowland area known as Metekel -- predates a brutal three-month-old conflict farthe...
Australian Open Tennis
Spain's Garbine Muguruza celebrates after defeating Russia's Liudmila Samsonova in their second round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne,
Photo/Andy Brownbill