WASHINGTON: The US is pulling out four of its powerful Patriot missile systems from Saudi Arabia, after determining the threat from Iran that sparked an arms buildup in the region last year had waned, a Defense Department official said Thursday. Two of the anti-missile batteries deployed following...

BEIJING: China said Friday it supports a World Health Organization-led review into the global response to the coronavirus outbreak, but only “after the pandemic is over”.The comments from foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying came as China faces increasing global pressure to allow...

BERLIN: The European Space Agency said Friday that human urine could one day become a useful ingredient in making concrete to build on the moon.The agency said researchers in a recent study it sponsored found that urea, the main organic compound in urine, would make the mixture for a “lunar...

BERLIN: The world must draw lessons from the past and work together to beat the coronavirus pandemic, European leaders urged as the continent marked 75 years since the end of World War II in Europe. With parades and commemoration events cancelled or scaled down to contain the outbreak, Europe and...

BEIJING: China should expand its stock of nuclear warheads to 1,000 soon, Global Times editor-in-chief Hu Xijin said on Friday, even as US President Donald Trump repeats his call for China to join an arms control treaty, foreign media reported.The Global Times is published by the People’s...

AHMEDABAD, India: Hundreds of paramilitary forces have been deployed in coronavirus-hotspot Gujarat state as India on Friday faced a surge in the number of deaths and infections from the outbreak.Official data show the deadly disease is taking a growing toll in the country of 1.3 billion people...

GENEVA: The UN voiced alarm on Friday at reports that countries are failing to help migrants in distress on the Mediterranean Sea, blocking assistance by NGOs and coordinating pushbacks of their boats. UN rights office spokesman Rupert Colville warned during a virtual press briefing that such...

FRANKFURT AM MAIN: An Indian national will stand trial in Germany accused of spying on Sikh and Kashmiri communities for New Delhi’s secret service, a court said on Friday.Federal prosecutors allege the suspect, identified as 54-year-old Balvir, has been working with the Indian foreign...

CARACAS: Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro says there is evidence his American counterpart Donald Trump “personally ordered” the recent military raid on the Latin American country, arguing that Washington swiftly cut remaining ties with Caracas thereafter. Maduro made the comments in...

PARIS: Oceans are likely to rise as much as 1.3 metres by 2100 if Earth’s surface warms another 3.5 degrees Celsius, scientists warned on Friday.By 2300, when ice sheets covering West Antarctica and Greenland will have shed trillions of tonnes in mass, sea levels could go up by more than...

WASHINGTON: The US is pulling out four of its powerful Patriot missile systems from Saudi Arabia, after determining the threat from Iran that sparked an arms buildup in the region last year had waned, a Defence Department official said late on Thursday.Two of the anti-missile batteries deployed...

GENEVA: The UN on Friday accused the Islamic State group and others in Syria of exploiting the Covid-19 pandemic to step up violence on civilians, describing the situation as a “ticking time-bomb”.United Nations rights chief Michelle Bachelet lamented a surge in violence in the country...

ROME: Italy’s economic capital Milan is a virus time “bomb” at risk of erupting with residents now free to move around – some gathering for canal-side cocktails – after two months under a pandemic lockdown.The city in the northern Lombardy region is the epicentre of...

BEIJING: The coronavirus pandemic had cleared smog from China’s skies for months, but air pollution has returned with a vengeance as factories rush to ramp up output after going idle during the outbreak.Levels of toxic pollutants including nitrogen dioxide and tiny particles known as PM2.5...

VISAKHAPATNAM, India: Engineers battled on Friday to prevent more toxic gas escaping at a chemical plant on India’s east coast, a day after a pre-dawn leak killed 12 people and knocked locals unconscious in the street.Although the death toll was lower than feared, the accident which left...

MALE, Maldives: India’s navy on Friday began evacuating from the Maldives around 750 of the hundreds of thousands of Indian nationals stranded worldwide because of coronavirus.The operation by two warships in Male forms part of an initial operation to repatriate almost 15,000 Indians from 12...

LILONGWE, Malawi: Malawi’s top appeals court on Friday rejected President Peter Mutharika’s bid to scrap the annulment of controversial elections last May which he narrowly won, paving the way for a rerun in July.Mutharika had appealed a landmark decision by the Constitutional Court to...

HONG KONG: Rival Hong Kong lawmakers clashed on Friday inside the city’s legislature which has been paralysed for seven months as pro-democracy politicians attempt to scupper a controversial law that bans insulting China’s national anthem.The chaotic scenes come weeks after Beijing...

NEW DELHI: Under lockdown and far apart, Sushen Dang and Keerti Narang went online to say their marriage vows – and pulled off a spectacular Indian wedding complete with thousands of guests and raucous Bollywood dancing.In a country famous for lavish weddings that last for days, the young...

NEW YORK: A five-year-old boy in New York state has died from a rare inflammatory disease believed to be caused by the new coronavirus, Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Friday.“There have been 73 reported cases in NY of children getting severely ill with symptoms similar to Kawasaki disease...

MUMBAI: Fourteen migrant labourers walking back to their villages after being left destitute by India’s strict coronavirus lockdown were killed Friday after being hit by a train, officials said.The men were returning home when they were hit by the goods train in the western state of...

WASHINGTON: A large majority of Americans oppose reopening the country now, with Democrats and Republicans sharply divided on the question, according to a poll published on Friday.Sixty-four percent of those polled by ABC News/Ipsos said opening the country now is not worth it because it will mean...

TRIPOLI: Rocket and shell fire on Tripoli has killed at least 13 civilians and two policemen in the last two days, Libya’s UN-recognised government said on Friday.The Government of National Accord accused forces loyal to strongman Khalifa Haftar of carrying out the attacks, which it said...

HERAT, Afghanistan: Afghanistan has recovered 18 bodies of migrants who were allegedly beaten and tortured before being forced into a river by Iranian border guards last week, a senior Afghan official said on Friday.Afghan authorities are investigating claims the migrants drowned while illegally...

SEOUL: North Korea condemned the South on Friday for holding military drills, saying the situation was returning to before the diplomatic rapprochement of 2018, as leader Kim Jong Un – whose health was the subject of intense speculation in recent weeks – reached out to traditional ally...

CAIRO: President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has ratified a host of amendments to Egypt’s emergency law which an international rights groups says expands “repressive powers” as the country’s battles the coronavirus.Egypt has been under a state of emergency since April 2017 when...

MUMBAI: Fourteen migrant labourers walking back to their villages after being left destitute by India’s strict coronavirus lockdown were killed on Friday after being hit by a train, officials said.The men were returning home when they were hit by the goods train in the western state of...

PARIS: The coronavirus’ constant mutation is unlikely to have changed its potency or its contagiousness, disease experts say, despite recent research suggesting the emergence of a more virulent strain.A pre-paper—that is, not reviewed by a collection of the researchers’...

EDINBURGH: The number of cases of Covid-19 needs to come down “substantially” and consistently before there can be any return to normality, a disease expert has said.Professor Hugh Pennington said that while “we may be past the peak of the coronavirus pandemic, the number of...

LONDON: Nearly 700,000 payment holidays on credit cards have been granted as part of stop-gap measures to support borrowers whose finances have been affected by the coronavirus.Lenders have also provided almost 470,000 payment freezes on personal loans, according to the figures for the period up...

LONDON: Planning for future pandemics should be handed over to the NHS and be “free from political interference”, academics have suggested.Researchers from Glasgow Caledonian University, the Cass Business School in London, Nottingham University and Vlerick Business School, in Belgium...

French police have dismantled smuggling networks trying to take advantage of a rush to buy medical supplies including face masks to tackle the coronavirus epidemic, the interior minister said Friday.

The European Commission urged EU member states Friday to extend the temporary ban on non-essential travel into the bloc by one month until June 15, a statement said.

The United States prevented a vote Friday in the UN Security Council on a resolution on the coronavirus pandemic, apparently because it made implicit mention of the World Health Organization, diplomats said.

Venezuela has charged two former US soldiers with "terrorism" and "conspiracy" for allegedly taking part in a failed invasion bid to topple President Nicolas Maduro, the attorney general said Friday.

The death of a 5-year-old New York boy is challenging assumptions that children are less susceptible to COVID-19 complications, Gov.

Extreme heat and humidity are increasing across the globe, threatening millions of lives and economies in places where it could become fatal to work outdoors, scientists said Friday.

As India enters an extended coronavirus lockdown, the government is actively pursuing contact tracing to help control infections.

A second White House worker this week has tested positive for coronavirus, officials said Friday, even as President Donald Trump continued to go mask-free at a World War II commemoration with veterans in their 90s.

The United States recorded Friday its steepest job losses in history over the coronavirus pandemic as Europe moved to keep its borders shut for another month.

Britain plans to introduce a 14-day mandatory quarantine for most international arrivals, reports said Saturday, despite growing pressure on the government to relax virus lockdown measures.

The World Health Organization (WHO) plans to launch an app this month to enable people in under-resourced countries to assess whether they may have the novel coronavirus, and is considering a Bluetooth-based contact tracing feature too, an official told Reuters Friday.

President Donald Trump needled his Democratic rival Joe Biden Friday for limiting his campaign appearances to virtual events from the basement of his home in Delaware.

Madrid and Barcelona will not progress to the next phase of Spain's exit from one of Europe’s strictest lockdowns that will allow bars, restaurants and places of worship to reopen in some areas from Monday, the government announced.

Global leaders marked 75 years since the end of World War II in Europe Friday, urging citizens to draw inspiration from the historic victory as the world battles against the coronavirus pandemic.

The biggest threat to Brazil's ability to successfully combat the spread of the coronavirus and tackle the unfolding public health crisis is the country's president, Jair Bolsonaro, according to British medical journal The Lancet.

Fresh coronavirus outbreaks at slaughterhouses in Germany and new cases reported Saturday in South Korea linked to a man who had visited multiple nightclubs highlighted the challenges authorities face as they seek to open up their economies.

Two policemen and four other people were killed in Afghanistan Saturday after a deadly clash at a public food donation in central Ghor province, officials said.

Truth can be a casualty when President Donald Trump talks about deaths from the coronavirus in the United States.

Pakistanis crowded markets Saturday after a nationwide coronavirus lockdown was eased, despite the country declaring its second highest daily infection toll.