South Korea played down a report Tuesday that the North's leader Kim Jong Un was being treated after surgery, as speculation mounted over his absence from a key anniversary. Pyongyang marked the birthday of its late founder, Kim's grandfather Kim Il Sung, on April 15 -- by far the most...

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro said Monday he wants quarantines imposed by several state governors lifted this week, despite health ministry warnings that the coronavirus pandemic has yet to peak there. "I hope that this is the last week of the quarantine, that way of fighting the virus...

The Taliban have killed at least 23 Afghan troops and nine civilians, officials said Monday, as a fresh wave of violence grips Afghanistan despite a deal with the US and a worsening coronavirus crisis. Under the terms of the US-Taliban deal, the Afghan government and the insurgents were by...

Manga, music and even video games: calls from Tokyo's governor for residents to practise social distancing to stem the spread of coronavirus have inspired a slew of viral online tributes. On Twitter, a clip from a game in which players roam around town finding and breaking up gatherings was...

New Zealand will ease a nationwide COVID-19 lockdown next week after claiming success in stopping "an uncontrolled explosion" of the virus, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Monday. "We have done what very few countries have been able to do," Ardern said. "We have stopped a wave of...

Displaced women and girls are facing a heightened risk of gender-based violence during the coronavirus crisis, the UN Refugee Agency said Monday. The UNHCR said they may be forced into "survival sex" or child marriages. Lockdowns imposed to control the spread of COVID-19 have restricted...

Governors in U.S. states hardest hit by the novel coronavirus sparred with President Donald Trump over his claims they have enough tests and should quickly reopen their economies as more protests are planned over the extension of stay-at-home orders. "The administration I think is trying to...

Pressures mounted Sunday on governments to ease the economic pain of coronavirus lockdowns after protests from those fearing for their livelihoods, and authorities responded with a wide range of possible dates and solutions and a few emphatic "not yets." Shutdowns that began in China in...

 U.S. lawmakers are very close to an agreement on approving extra money to help small businesses hurt by the coronavirus pandemic and could seal a deal as early as Sunday, congressional and Trump administration officials said. "I think we're very close to a deal today and I'm hopeful...

Tens of thousands of stranded labourers have been herded into camps and shelters across India like the Yamuna sports complex in Delhi where their suffering has been forgotten amid the world's biggest coronavirus lockdown. Once used for the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the air is now rank with...

Polls opened in Mali Sunday for the final round of legislative elections aimed at reviving public faith in the country's embattled institutions despite a bloody jihadist conflict and the coronavirus pandemic.  Voters in Mali, one of the world's most impoverished nations with a...

The director of a maximum-security laboratory in China's coronavirus ground-zero city of Wuhan has rejected claims that it could be the source of the outbreak, calling it "impossible". Beijing has come under increasing pressure over transparency in its handling of the pandemic, with the US...

American families slammed by the coronavirus pandemic are turning more and more to food banks to get by, waiting hours for donations in lines of cars stretching as far as the eye can see. And with 22 million people out of work seemingly overnight as business after business closes under the...

As a member of the 2020 "class of coronavirus," Kenia Molina needed to find a laptop in order to graduate high school -- a technology gap that has caused thousands of poorer students to miss out on weeks of education. With many US schools and universities shut for the academic year, the...

"Mr President we are in the middle of a food crisis. It's war out here," warned Joanie Fredericks, a community leader in Mitchells Plain township in Cape Town. The desperate plea was made in a video posted on social media to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa who imposed a...

Tens of thousands of people defied a nationwide coronavirus lockdown in Bangladesh on Saturday to attend the funeral of a top Islamic preacher, even as authorities battle a surge in virus cases. Police had agreed with the family of Jubayer Ahmad Ansari, that only 50 people would attend...

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo agreed on a call on Friday to continue coordinating efforts to overcome the crisis in oil markets and the challenges posed by the new coronavirus, a statement said. The Russian foreign ministry statement said the...

A surge in fighting between the Myanmar military and insurgents has killed at least 32 civilians, mostly women and children, in the restive Rakhine and Chin states, the U.N. human rights office said on Friday, adding the military had destroyed homes and schools. Myanmar’s military denies...

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s absence from an important anniversary event this week rekindled speculation over his potential health problems, analysts said on Friday. North Korea on Wednesday marked the anniversary of the birthday of its national founder and Kim’s grandfather, Kim Il...

 As coronavirus explodes across Latin America, Venezuela’s leaders have taken to the airwaves to laud the nation’s efforts to control the spread. Since it confirmed its first case on March 13, the socialist government says it has performed almost 270,000 tests and is carrying out...