International news

The global death toll from COVID-19 rose past 1 million on Tuesday, a bleak milestone in a pandemic that has devastated the global economy, overloaded health systems and changed the way people live.

The Philippines accused Facebook of censoring pro-government content and called for new measures to regulate the social media giant.

A northern California wildfire raging in the foothills of the Cascade range has claimed three lives, officials said on Monday, as a separate blaze prompted mass evacuations of Napa and Sonoma counties.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel paid a personal visit to Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny while he was undergoing treatment in a Berlin hospital for poisoning, her spokesman said on Monday.

At least 16 military members and several civilians were killed on Sunday in the heaviest clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan since 2016.

China's capital Beijing will protect whistleblowers who disclose information about public health emergencies, it said on Sunday.

A US judge has temporarily blocked a Trump administration order that was set to bar Apple and Google from offering Chinese-owned TikTok app for download at 11:59 pm on Sunday.

Armenia declared martial law on Sunday after clashes with Azerbaijan over the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region in which sources on both sides reported fatalities.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged at the UN on Saturday that his country's vaccine production capacity would be made available globally to fight the COVID-19 crisis.

Democrats blasted President Donald Trump's choice of conservative judge Amy Coney Barrett for the Supreme Court, focusing on the threat she would pose to healthcare for millions.

Lebanon's prime minister-designate quit on Saturday after trying for almost a month to line up a non-partisan cabinet, failing despite French pressure on sectarian leaders to rally together to deal with the worst crisis since a 1975-1990 civil war.

President Donald Trump on Saturday plans to name conservative appellate judge Amy Coney Barrett (left) as his third U.S. Supreme Court appointment, setting off a scramble in the Republican-led Senate to confirm her before Election Day in 5-1/2 weeks.

The world's nations must do all they can to understand the origins of COVID-19, Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Saturday, comments that could worsen tensions with China.

French Prime Minister Jean Castex said on Friday that four people were injured, including two seriously, in a knife attack that took place near the former office of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

A British police officer has been shot dead by a man who was being detained at a custody centre in south London in the early hours of Friday.

North Korea expressed regret on Friday that it shot dead a missing South Korean to prevent the spread of coronavirus, the South's national security adviser said, amid growing political and public backlash.

Thailand began legal action on Thursday against Facebook and Twitter for ignoring requests to take down content, in its first such move against major internet firms.

Australian officials have started planning the task of disposing of almost 400 whale carcasses as hopes faded there would be more survivors of one of the world's biggest mass strandings of the mammals.

North Korean troops shot dead a South Korean fisheries official who went missing earlier this week, before burning his body in what was likely an effort to prevent a coronavirus outbreak.

Two police officers were shot and wounded late on Wednesday in Louisville, during protests that erupted after a grand jury decided not to charge any one with the death of Breonna Taylor.

Canada has entered a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau warning that the country was on the brink of a surge if people did not follow public health guidelines.

Paris' Eiffel Tower has been evacuated, a spokesman for the company operating it told Reuters on Wednesday, confirming a security source report.

Ukraine's national police website has been temporarily shut down after it was hacked by persons unknown who published false information on the site, the police said on Wednesday.

Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny has been discharged from the hospital in Berlin where he has been treated after falling ill on a domestic flight in Siberia last month.

European airlines are pinning hopes on pre-flight COVID-19 tests that deliver results as fast as pregnancy tests to help restore passengers' confidence in taking to the skies in confined spaces with shared air.

Rescue workers battled rain and cramped conditions to look for possible survivors as the toll from an apartment building collapse in the Indian city of Mumbai rose to 35.

Rescuers were racing against the tide on Wednesday to free whales beached off the Australian coast, with more than half the estimated 470 mammals already believed dead.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told people on Tuesday to work from home where possible and ordered bars and restaurants to shut earlier in a bid to tackle a fast-spreading second wave of COVID-19.

China sentenced a former property executive who once called President Xi Jinping "a clown" to 18 years in prison for graft, a court said on Tuesday.

Russia is so confident in its COVID-19 vaccine that it will shoulder some of the legal liability should anything go wrong, rather than requiring buyers to take on the full risk.

A Vietnamese court sentenced 20 people to between two and 24 years in prison on terrorism charges on Tuesday over their involvement in a police station bombing two years ago.

Rescue workers and sniffer dogs scoured the ruins of a collapsed building looking for any sign of life on Tuesday, as the death toll climbed to 20 a day after disaster struck Mumbai.

Rescuers were trying to refloat hundreds of whales stranded on a sandbar off the remote west coast of the Australian island of Tasmania on Tuesday, hoping to end one of the country's worst beaching events.

South Korea suspended free flu shots on Tuesday after reports of problems in storing the vaccinations during transportation.

The Philippines' President has eased an overseas travel ban on nurses and medical workers to allow more to take jobs abroad, his spokesman said on Monday.

A new study that analysed the coronavirus outbreak in Brazil has found a link between the spread of the virus and past outbreaks of dengue fever that suggests exposure to the mosquito-transmitted illness may provide some level of immunity against COVID-19.

India reopened its famed monument to love, the Taj Mahal, with the first visitors trickling in on Monday, as authorities reported 86,961 new coronavirus infections, with no signs of a peak yet.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Monday lifted all coronavirus restrictions across the country, except in second-wave hotspot Auckland, as the number of new infections slowed to a trickle.

At least 10 people were killed on Monday and dozens were feared trapped when a portion of a three-storey residential building collapsed on the outskirts of the Indian city of Mumbai.

Schools in the South Korean capital Seoul and nearby areas resumed in-person classes for the first time in almost a month on Monday after daily coronavirus cases dropped to the lowest levels since mid-August.

People in England who break new rules requiring them to self-isolate if they have been in contact with someone infected with COVID-19 will face a fine of up to £10,000 (around AED 47,441).

South Korea has extended level 2 social distancing for a week until September 27 and may tighten limits for the Chuseok holiday when people traditionally reunite with families.

Three people have died after Cyclone Ianos, a rare storm known as a medicane, battered Greece, flooding streets and homes.

Openly challenging the monarchy of Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn, thousands of protesters marched in Bangkok on Sunday to present demands that include a call for reforms to curb his powers.

President Donald Trump said he will nominate a woman to sit on the US Supreme Court, a move that would tip the court further to the right following the death of liberal Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Thousands of protesters in Thailand's capital demonstrated against the government of former coup leader and Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha on Saturday, with many also demanding reforms to the powerful monarchy.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a stalwart liberal on the US Supreme Court since 1993, died on Friday at age 87, the court said.

India's parliament session that began this week is likely to be cut short after 30 lawmakers were found infected with the coronavirus, two senior parliament officials said, as the number of cases in the country rose to 5.3 million.

The Australian state at the centre of the country's coronavirus outbreak on Saturday reported its lowest daily increase of infections in three months, putting it on course to relax a hard lockdown in the capital city by the end of the month.

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has decided to retain the 1 metre (three feet) social distance requirement on public transport to reduce coronavirus infecions, rejecting moves to reduce it to 30 centimetres (12 inches), his spokesman said on Saturday.

Israel entered a second nationwide lockdown on Friday at the onset of the Jewish high-holiday season, forcing residents to stay mostly at home amid a resurgence in new coronavirus cases.

Jordan announced jail sentences of up to a year for anyone organising weddings, parties, funerals or social gatherings where more than 20 people attend.

Tropical storm Noul made landfall in Vietnam on Friday, killing at least one person and triggering heavy rain in the central parts of the country, though authorities later downgraded the weather system.

Australia said it would increase the number of citizens allowed to return home each week to 6,000 as it manages to get new COVID-19 infections under control.

If Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine proves to be at least 70 per cent effective, the company plans to seek emergency authorisation for its use in high-risk groups, the company's chief executive told Reuters.

The US Justice Department said it has charged five Chinese residents and two Malaysian businessmen in a wide-ranging hacking effort that encompassed targets from videogames to pro-democracy activists.

The nerve agent used to poison Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was detected on an empty water bottle from his hotel room in the Siberian city of Tomsk, his team said on Thursday.

Hurricane Sally uprooted trees, flooded streets and cut power to hundreds of thousands of homes as it brought "historic and catastrophic" flooding to the Alabama-Florida coast.

US President Donald Trump announced a viable coronavirus vaccine would be available by November, directly contradicting a top administration health expert.

Russia's sovereign wealth fund has agreed to supply 100 million doses of its coronavirus vaccine, Sputnik-V, to Indian drug company Dr Reddy's Laboratories, the fund said on Wednesday.

Japan's Yoshihide Suga has been voted Prime Minister by the Japanese parliament's lower house, becoming the country's first new leader in nearly eight years.

Greek authorities have brought under control a fire that broke out near a migrant camp on the northeastern Aegean island of Samos late on Tuesday, fire brigade and police officials said.

US President Donald Trump said a vaccine against coronavirus could be three or four weeks away, despite cautionary notes sounded by public health officials about accelerated timeline.

A fire erupted in a landmark building in central Beirut's commercial district on Tuesday before being put out, a civil defence official and Reuters witness said.

Australia's Victoria state, the country's COVID-19 epicentre, on Tuesday reported zero deaths from the virus in the past 24 hours, a milestone not recorded for two months.

Britain has issued new a travel advisory for China, warning that its nationals may be at risk of arbitrary detention.

Joe Biden branded President Donald Trump a "climate arsonist" on Monday for refusing to acknowledge global warming's role in deadly wildfires sweeping the western United States.

South Korea will secure early supply of the novel coronavirus vaccines for 30 million people, or 60% of its population, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun told a cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

Some Asian countries are rolling out early influenza vaccination programmes this year, seeking to reduce the potential of people contracting the flu and COVID-19 simultaneously.

Paul Rusesabagina, portrayed as a hero in a Hollywood movie about Rwanda's 1994 genocide, appeared in a Rwandan court amid tight security on Monday.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga has won a landslide victory in a ruling party leadership election, paving the way for him to replace Shinzo Abe in the nation's top job.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) reported a record one-day increase in global coronavirus cases on Sunday, with the total rising by 307,930 in 24 hours.

New Zealand will lift coronavirus restrictions across the country on September 21, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday.

AstraZeneca has resumed British clinical trials of its COVID-19 vaccine, after getting the green light from safety watchdogs, the company said on Saturday.

The M5-RFP coalition in Mali that led anti-government protests before last month's coup has rejected a political charter pushed through by the ruling junta on Saturday.

Seventy-four people have been arrested in Australia's Victoria state and another 176 fined after scattered protests against the coronavirus lockdown continued for a second straight day.

South Korea on Sunday eased its tough social distancing policy for the next two weeks in Seoul, with new daily novel coronavirus cases hovering stubbornly within triple digits.

Russians vote on Sunday in dozens of local elections that will be scrutinised for signs of discontent with the ruling United Russia party following the suspected poisoning of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.

India reported a record daily jump in coronavirus cases for a second consecutive day, logging 97,570 new infections on Saturday.

Raids on Chinese journalists living in Australia are "utterly appalling" and damage relations between the two countries, state news agency Xinhua said.

Canada reported zero COVID-19 deaths in the past 24 hours for the first time since March 15, according to public health agency data released late on Friday.

Millions of coronavirus cases may have gone undetected in India earlier this year, a research paper estimates, saying that for every confirmed case in May, there were 82 to 130 infections that were not recorded.

Moscow said on Friday it would ask to send investigators to Germany in the case of Alexei Navalny, a proposal all but certain to be brushed off by Berlin, which says the Russian opposition politician was poisoned with a banned nerve agent.

Lebanese firefighters and army helicopters on Friday put out the remains of a huge fire at Beirut's port that had flared up a day earlier, barely a month after a massive blast devastated the port and the surrounding area.

China and India said on Friday they had agreed to de-escalate renewed tensions on their contested Himalayan border and take steps to restore 'peace and tranquillity' following a high-level diplomatic meeting in Moscow.

A store of oil and tyres at Beirut port caught fire on Thursday, a military source said, a little more than a month after a massive blast devastated the port.

Belarus opposition politician Maria Kolesnikova said security officers put a bag over her head and threatened to kill her when they tried to forcibly deport her to Ukraine earlier this week.

The United States military on Wednesday announced that it would reduce its presence in Iraq from 5,200 to 3,000 troops this month, formalising a long-expected move.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said there was a "substantial chance" that the suspected poisoning of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny was ordered by senior Russian officials.

The US has revoked visas for more than 1,000 Chinese nationals over security risks.

A Norwegian lawmaker has nominated US President Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize for 2021 for helping broker a deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates.

A roadside bomb in Kabul targeted first Afghan Vice President Amrullah Saleh on Wednesday morning but he escaped unharmed.

AstraZeneca said it has paused global trials, including large late-stage trials, of its experimental coronavirus vaccine because of an unexplained illness in a study participant.

A fire broke out at Greece's overcrowded migrant camp of Moria on the island of Lesbos in the early hours of Wednesday.

Singapore is reviewing penalties for violent offences following an outcry over a 12-day prison sentence for a student who strangled his girlfriend until she blacked out.