It wasn't Santa on a sleigh, but it was close: just before dusk on Christmas Eve, a busload of volunteers pulled into the Iraqi Christian town of Qaraqosh to deliver holiday happiness. Under a pinkish sky, they disembarked from their charter bus with cardboard boxes full of Christmas cards,...

The sacrifices made to protect people during the coronavirus pandemic must not be squandered over the festive period, the World Health Organization's chief said in a Christmas message. Millions were making "heart-wrenching sacrifices" by staying away from loved ones on Christmas Day, Tedros...

South Africa's health minister has rejected his British counterpart's claim that a new coronavirus variant in the country is more contagious or dangerous than a similar one in spreading the UK. "At present, there is no evidence that the 501.V2 (variant) is more transmissible than the United...

 Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday corrected statements he had made in parliament, apologising for what he said were mistakes regarding a political funding scandal that has also cast a pall over the current premier. Abe said he felt deeply responsible for making...