The United Kingdom passed 500,000 confirmed coronavirus infections on Sunday, official figures showed, in the latest grim milestone for the European country worst-hit by the pandemic. Health authorities blamed a technical glitch for a sudden spike in cases announced in evening figures that...

Breakthroughs in the field of health will be honoured Monday when the 2020 Nobel season kicks off with the medicine prize, as the world battles the worst pandemic in a century. The medicine prize announcement, due at 11:30 am (0930 GMT), will be followed by the physics prize on Tuesday and...

Paris and the Ile-de-France region were put on maximum coronavirus alert late Sunday with more restrictions to come. The capital is the latest major city to be placed at the level, one of three the Health Ministry established last week to determine the risk level associated with the spread...

Fierce forest fires, a monster explosion that killed friends, then more Beirut blazes; Lebanon's emergency services are reeling from a devastating year, but are determined to press on. Lebanese firefighter Afraa Obeid, a 27-year-old woman with long black hair, recounted how she lost her...