The global tally for novel coronavirus infections surpassed 4.8 million late Monday, according to US-based Johns Hopkins University.  The university's data showed that the death toll worldwide from the virus has reached 318,465, with the number of recoveries exceeding 1.78 million....

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin returned to work on Tuesday after recovery from coronavirus, according to the government's press service. Mishustin, 54, tested positive for COVID-19 on April 30 and hospitalized afterwards in a condition of moderate severity. Last week,...

Hatice Cengiz, the fiancee of slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, has urged the British government to block a planned Saudi Arabia-funded takeover of Premier League team Newcastle United. Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Cengiz urged the UK government to stop Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed bin...

The Libyan army has captured two towns near Tunisian border from eastern warlord Khalifa Haftar's militias. The capture of the two towns was announced by the media office of the government-led Burkan Al-Ghadab (Volcano of Rage) Operation. "Our heroic forces have entered the towns of...

The United Nations called Tuesday for an immediate reduction of violence in Afghanistan, warning that civilian casualties at the hands of both the Taliban and Afghan security forces are on the increase. The U.N. mission also expressed concern about stepped-up attacks and brutality of the...

Iran reported no new coronavirus deaths Tuesday in nearly a third of its provinces for 24 hours but said there were more than another 2,100 cases of infection nationwide. The virus spread rapidly to all 31 of Iran's provinces soon after the country's first cases - two deaths in the holy...

Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque will reopen to worshippers after the Eid holiday, a statement from its governing body said Tuesday, two months after closing due to the coronavirus. "The council decided to lift the suspension on worshippers entering the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque after the Eid...

President Donald Trump threatened Monday to pull the U.S. out of the World Health Organization, accusing it of botching the global coronavirus response and of being a "puppet of China". The American leader has been locked in a bitter spat with Beijing, alleging it covered up the initial...

The Saudi military student who killed three Americans at a U.S. naval base in December had longstanding ties to Al-Qaeda and planned an attack before he arrived in the United States, U.S. justice officials said Monday. The December 6 attack by Mohammed Alshamrani, a Royal Saudi Air Force...

 One rocket hit near the U.S. embassy in Baghdad early Tuesday morning, security sources told AFP, the first to land in the high-security zone in weeks. The blast could be heard across the Iraqi capital and triggered security sirens at the US embassy compound but did not cause...

Congressional Democrats say the State Department watchdog fired by President Donald Trump last week was investigating possible impropriety in a massive arms sales to Saudi Arabia last year, adding new questions to the watchdog’s abrupt dismissal. Democrats said Monday that ousted Inspector...

President Vladimir Putin was forced to intervene personally on Monday in the epidemic sweeping Russia's North Caucasus region of Dagestan, as local officials described the coronavirus situation as a "catastrophe." For several days now, there have rumours of mounting fatalities and...

Premier League clubs will return to training Tuesday after agreeing to allow "small group" sessions to begin, the first step on the road to a return to competitive action. The league held a conference call for all 20 clubs Monday where the move was given unanimous backing. It is the...

The chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee said on Monday the State Department inspector general may have been fired because he was investigating President Donald Trump's declaration of an emergency to clear the way for military sales to Saudi Arabia last year....

Germany and France jointly proposed a 500 billion-euro recovery fund Monday to boost European economies hit by the coronavirus pandemic. In a joint statement, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron said the fund would see European Union budget money used to...

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said Monday that he would initiate an independent evaluation of its handling of the coronavirus pandemic at the "earliest appropriate moment" and vowed transparency and accountability. "We all have lessons to learn from the pandemic. Every...

Michel Piccoli, one of the most original and versatile French actors of the last half century, has died aged 94, his family said Monday. They told AFP he died “in the arms of his wife Ludivine and his children Inord and Missia after a stroke.” Piccoli starred in a string of classics which...

Tourism-dependent Spain aims to reopen borders to visitors around the end of June as its coronavirus lockdown fully unwinds, a minister said Monday, in a much-needed boost for the ravaged travel sector. Madrid last week surprised its European Union partners by imposing a two-week quarantine...

Just one week after a third of French schoolchildren went back to school in an easing of the coronavirus lockdown, there's been a worrying flareup of about 70 COVID-19 cases linked to schools. Some schools were opened last week and a further 150,000 junior high students went back to the...

Iran on Monday said it was entering a new phase of trying to eliminate the novel coronavirus after bringing the Middle East's deadliest outbreak under control in many regions. "Reports show we have passed the management and control phase and are now in the phase of curbing" the spread of...