The Hong Kong government’s priority is to “restore the political system from chaos”, Chief Executive Carrie Lam said on Wednesday in her annual policy address, which did not deliver blockbuster steps to boost the economy or ease a housing crisis. Lam’s lengthy address to the semi-autonomous...

A car with slogans scrawled on its sides crashed into the gate of the office of German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on Wednesday, a Reuters witness said. Reuters pictures from the scene showed police inspecting the estate car at the gate with the words "Stop Globalisation Politics"...

The Azerbaijani army has entered the Kalbajar region, one more territory ceded by Armenian forces in a truce that ended deadly fighting over the separatist territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday. The cease-fire, brokered by Russia two weeks ago,...

A restaurant dining ban in Los Angeles was due to come into force Wednesday as officials warned Americans to stay at home for the Thanksgiving holiday, while parts of Europe eyed looser lockdowns over the festive season. The three-week order in America’s second-biggest city will begin as...

The Australian Open will likely be delayed by one to two weeks, officials said Wednesday, as talks continue over staging the tournament in Melbourne, which has only recently emerged from months of coronavirus lockdown. A delay for a week or two to the first Grand Slam of the year, scheduled...

The United Arab Emirates has stopped issuing new visas to citizens of 13 mostly Muslim-majority countries, including Lebanon, Iran, Syria and Somalia, according to a document issued by a state-owned business park. The document, which was sent to companies operating in the park and was seen...

On the doorstep of a terraced house in northern England, virus hunter Colin Hutchinson came face-to-face with the new wave of COVID-19, and the obstacles to slowing its spread. A retired surgeon, Hutchinson is part of a local team of “contact tracers” in Halifax, Yorkshire, that aims to...

Spain suffered its deadliest day since mid-April in the novel coronavirus outbreak on Tuesday, with the Health Ministry reporting another 537 fatalities. Spain's official COVID-19 death toll now sits at 43,668 -- up nearly 2,000 from one week ago. Although deaths continue to mount at...

In his first cabinet appointments, President-elect Joe Biden is signaling that he favors competence and centrism and is not out to please his Democratic Party's left-wing base, although he achieved historic firsts for women and minorities. Here are a few takeaways from Biden's unveiling of...

 The United States pledged $600 million in civilian aid to Afghanistan next year at a key donor conference on Tuesday, but made half of it conditional on progress in U.S.-brokered peace talks underway with the Taliban. Dozens of nations, international institutions and the European...

Italy on Tuesday reported 853 fatalities related to the novel coronavirus -- the biggest single-day rise since the end of March. With the new additions in the past 24 hours, the death toll reached 51,306. The country also reported 23,232 more cases on Tuesday, raising the total to 1.45...

French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to announce lighter coronavirus restrictions on Tuesday thanks to a recent drop in new infections, paving the way for shops to reopen swiftly and allow travel for Christmas. In an evening television address, Macron will also outline France's...

The majority of US Republicans would vote for President Donald Trump in the 2024 election if he ran again for office, according to a poll released Tuesday.  Fifty-four percent would vote for Trump if the 2024 presidential primary was held today, a Morning Consult-Politico poll showed....

Mohammad Salah is available to play for Liverpool in the Champions League match against Atalanta Wednesday after returning to training following repeated negative tests for the coronavirus. The Egypt forward twice tested positive for COVID-19 during the international break and missed the...

Iran's supreme leader dismissed the prospect of new negotiations with the West on Tuesday, even as the Tehran government spoke optimistically about the return of foreign companies in "the absence of Trump" and his sanctions. President-elect Joe Biden's victory has raised the possibility...

A close friend of Jamal Khashoggi told a Turkish court on Tuesday that the slain Saudi journalist felt threatened by people close to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The main court in Istanbul held a second hearing in the trial in absentia of 26 Saudi suspects in the Washington Post...

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani urged the international community to keep supporting Afghanistan on Tuesday even as he acknowledged that donors are likely to cut aid under the strain of the coronavirus pandemic. Ghani's call came in a virtual address to a global donor conference in Geneva,...

The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis in Yemen said it had destroyed five mines laid by the Iran-aligned group in the Red Sea, Saudi state TV reported on Tuesday. The mines are of the Iranian-made 'Sadaf' type, the channel said, adding that the coalition had destroyed a total of...

Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine is 95 percent effective according to a second interim analysis of clinical trial data, its developers said on Tuesday. The two-dose vaccine will be available on international markets for less than $10 (8.40 euros) per dose, they said, and will be free...

When Manal Saab heard that a massive explosion had struck Beirut, she grabbed her phone, frantically trying to reach loved ones there. The news she received was good: Her mother-in-law and sister-in-law, both of whom live not far from the Lebanese capital’s port that was devastated by the...