The US House has voted overwhelmingly to increase Covid-19 relief checks to $2,000, meeting President Donald Trump’s demand for bigger payments. The bill will be to the GOP-controlled Senate, where

US President-elect Joe Biden criticised President Donald Trump’s stewardship of the US’s foreign policy and national security apparatus, saying “many of those agencies that are critical to our security have

One of Saudi Arabia’s most prominent women’s rights activists has been sentenced to nearly six years in prison under a vague and broadly worded counterterrorism law. The ruling nearly brings

Finland has become the latest European country to report the presence of two new coronavirus variants – one stemming from the UK and the other from South Africa. Health officials said

Japan has barred entry of all non-resident foreign nationals as a precaution against a new and potentially more contagious coronavirus variant. “To save people’s lives, and to take precautionary measures,

Trials for ten people accused of attempting to flee Hong Kong by speedboat amid a government crackdown on dissent got underway in China on Monday amid tight security. The defendants

A Chinese court has sentenced a former lawyer who reported on the early stage of the coronavirus outbreak to four years in prison on charges of “picking fights and provoking

South Korean officials are vowing to speed up efforts to launch a public coronavirus vaccination programme as the country detected its first cases of the virus variant linked to the

China will overtake the US to become the world’s largest economy by 2028, five years earlier than previously forecast, a report says. The UK-based Centre for Economics and Business Research

Millions of Americans were expected to see their jobless benefits expire on Saturday as President Donald Trump refused to sign into law a $2.3 trillion pandemic aid and spending package,

Three people were injured in a shooting in the German capital Berlin in the early hours of Saturday, the fire service said. A police spokesman confirmed there had been a

Health authorities in France and Lebanon have confirmed their first cases of the coronavirus variant that prompted global travel restrictions and strict lockdown measures in the United Kingdom. The French

Britain deployed additional military personnel to the port of Dover on Friday to help clear the queues of lorries following the resumption of cross-channel travel for drivers who test negative

An Australian expeditioner has been medically evacuated from Antarctica following a five-day mission involving ships, helicopters and planes. Australia, China and the US collaborated in efforts to bring the patient

A Russian court sentenced a distinguished historian known for re-enacting Napoleonic battle scenes to 12.5 years in jail on Friday after convicting him of the murder of his young student

An explosion shook the largely deserted streets of downtown Nashville in Tennessee early Christmas morning, shattering windows, damaging buildings and wounding three people. Authorities said they believed the blast was

Hong Kong extended a compulsory quarantine by an extra seven days to 21 days for all visitors outside China, effective Friday, in stepped-up efforts to prevent a new variant of

The US government will require all airline passengers arriving from the United Kingdom to test negative for Covid-19 within 72 hours of departure starting Monday amid concerns about a new

Japan aims to eliminate gasoline-powered vehicles in the next 15 years, the government said on Friday in a plan to reach net zero carbon emissions and generate nearly $2 trillion