President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus was sworn in for a new term Wednesday in an inauguration denounced as illegitimate by the opposition, which called for more protests against his 26-year rule. The sudden ceremony, which would normally be publicised as a major state occasion but was...

Saudi Arabia will gradually lift a coronavirus-related travel ban for the Umrah pilgrimage starting early next month, its official news agency said early Wednesday.  The decision to allow the resumption of Umrah, or the minor pilgrimage undertaken by Muslims, came after a nearly...

India’s total death toll crossed 90,000 mark early Wednesday as the country recorded 83,347 new COVID-19 cases and 1,085 more deaths in the last 24 hours, according to the Health Ministry data.  The national toll of confirmed infections stood at 5.6 million, including 90,020 deaths...

At least 380 whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia, officials said Wednesday, with rescuers managing to free just a few dozen survivors. Nearly the entire pod of 460 long-finned pilot whales stuck in Macquarie Harbour, on the rugged and sparsely populated west coast of...