The rapid spread of the coronavirus increased fears of a pandemic on Friday, with six countries reporting their first cases and the World Health Organization (WHO) raising its global spread and impact risk alert to “very high”. World shares fell again, winding up their worst...

The U.N. Security Council will hold an emergency meeting Friday to discuss the escalation of fighting in Syria, diplomats said. The meeting is expected to begin at 2100 GMT, the acting chairman of the council, Belgian ambassador Marc Pecsteen de Buytswerve, told reporters. He said the...

Refugees in Turkey headed towards European frontiers on Friday after an official declared that borders had been thrown open in response to the escalating war in Syria, a day after 33 Turkish soldiers were killed by Russian-backed Syrian government troops. European officials rushed to...

Saudi Arabia, the biggest producer in OPEC, and some other members are considering agreeing an output cut of 1 million barrels per day (bpd) for the second quarter of 2020, more than an initially proposed cut of 600,000 bpd, the sources said. The Financial Times newspaper was first to...