A massive explosion shook Lebanon's capital Beirut on Tuesday wounding a number people and causing widespread damage. The afternoon blast shook several parts of the capital and thick smoke billowed from the city center. Residents reported windows being blown out and a false ceilings...

The World Health Organization on Tuesday urged Russia to follow the established guidelines for producing safe and effective vaccines after Moscow announced plans to start swiftly producing COVID-19 jabs. Russia said Monday it aims to launch mass production of a coronavirus vaccine in...

A magnitude 5.2 earthquake shook Turkey's eastern province of Malatya on Tuesday, according to the country's disaster agency. The Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) said the quake struck the Puturge district at 12.37 p.m. local time (0937GMT). The earthquake occurred at...

The number of people who have died in Yemen after contracting the new coronavirus has reached 500, according to a Reuters tally, although aid organizations say the death toll is probably much higher. About 80 percent of the population rely on humanitarian assistance in Yemen after years of...

Iran confirmed Tuesday over 2,700 new COVID-19 infections, its highest single-day count in more than a month, as the health ministry called for those without masks to be fined. Deaths and infections from the novel coronavirus have been on a rising trajectory in the Islamic republic since...

European shares fell after opening higher, following a mixed bag of earnings results, while the dollar's rebound stalled as investors waited for progress in talks on government aid in the United States. Strong US manufacturing data boosted sentiment through the Asian session, even as...

The health of the Kuwait's 91-year old emir has shown "significant improvement", parliament quoted the prime minister as saying in a tweet Tuesday. "There is a significant improvement, thank God," Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid Al-Sabah was quoted as saying. Emir Sheikh Sabah...

Britain faces a second wave of COVID-19 this winter twice as widespread as the initial outbreak if it reopens schools without a more effective test-and-trace system in place, according to a study published Tuesday. Researchers from University College London and the London School of Hygiene...

The aphorism "perfect is the enemy of good enough" has been played out to tragic effect in the US's inadequate testing for the coronavirus, according to researchers calling for quick tests that cost only about a dollar each, and which may not be as accurate but can be carried out several times...

The coronavirus pandemic is worsening the humanitarian situation in the world's deadliest conflicts and threatens to unleash economic devastation that will intensify violence, United Nations diplomats and experts warn. COVID-19 is hampering aid programs, diverting the attention and...

With skilled fingers, disabled Gazan couple Nihad and Zeinab Jarboa have supported themselves by sewing finely detailed dolls and costumes, but coronavirus has hurt their already meagre income. Making a living is a challenge for all residents of the Israeli-blockaded Palestinian territory,...

Japan this week marks the 75th anniversary of the atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which killed over 200,000 people and left many more deeply traumatised and even stigmatised. Here are some facts about the devastating attacks: - The bombs - The first atomic bomb was...

Thousands of Indian troops imposed a curfew in Kashmir on Tuesday, with razor wire and steel barricades blocking main roads a day ahead of the one-year anniversary of the restive region being stripped of its autonomy. Prime Minister Narendra Modi imposed direct rule last August 5, promising...

US President Donald Trump said Monday the US government should get a "substantial portion" of the sales price of the US operations of TikTok and warned he will ban the service in the United States on September 15 without a sale. The turnaround came after Trump Friday he said he was planning...

Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed they shot down a US-made drone over the country's northern border with Saudi Arabia. The US military said later Monday that no American aircraft had been lost. A Houthi military spokesman, Brig. Gen. Yehia Sarie, said in a statement that their air defenses...

Spain’s former monarch, Juan Carlos I, says he is leaving Spain to live in another, unspecified, country amid a financial scandal, according to a letter published on the royal family's website Monday. The letter from Juan Carlos to his son, King Felipe VI, said: "I am informing you of my...

Alphabet Inc's Google said Monday its first 5G-enabled phones, Pixel 4a (5G) and Pixel 5, will be available this fall at a starting price of $499. The company also cut the starting price for its smartphone lineup with a non-5G version of 4a priced at $349, looking to broaden its appeal to...

Afghan security forces Monday killed at least 10 Daesh fighters who had taken control of a prison in the eastern city of Jalalabad, ending a siege in which hundreds of prisoners escaped. At least 29 people were killed in the militants' assault on the prison Sunday evening and subsequent...

 Global football body FIFA has described the decision by Swiss authorities to open criminal proceedings against its president Gianni Infantino last week as grotesque and absurd. Swiss authorities said Thursday that proceedings had been launched against the current FIFA boss by a...

Pakistan's US-requested mediation efforts between Gulf rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran have been making slow progress, Prime Minister Imran Khan said Monday. Prompted by Washington, former cricket great Khan in October visited Tehran and Riyadh to facilitate talks after attacks on Gulf oil...