Azerbaijan and Armenia reject peace talks as Karabakh conflict zone widens

The global death toll from COVID-19 could double to 2 million before a successful vaccine is widely used and could be even higher without concerted action to curb the pandemic, an official at the World Health Organization said on Friday.

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a champion of gender equality, made history again on Friday as the first woman and first Jewish person to lie in state in the US Capitol, in a ceremony featuring tears, soaring music and even push-ups.

Japan will gradually start allowing entry to foreigners with newly issued long-term visas from October, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said on Friday, further relaxing tough restrictions introduced earlier this year to guard against imported cases of coronavirus.

Over 80% of people in Britain are not adhering to self-isolation guidelines when they have COVID-19 symptoms or had contact with someone who has tested positive, a study has found.

Israel was set to impose a tighter nationwide COVID-19 lockdown on Friday as critics accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of trying to curb protests against his handling of the health and economic crises.

The United States on Thursday blacklisted several Iranian officials and entities over alleged gross violations of human rights, including slapping sanctions on a judge it said was involved in the case of an Iranian wrestler sentenced to death.

The number of novel coronavirus cases in the United States topped 7 million on Thursday - more than 20% of the world’s total - as Midwest states reported spikes in COVID-19 infections in September, according to a Reuters tally.

Mexico surpassed 75 000 confirmed coronavirus deaths on Thursday, as the pandemic ravages Latin American nations with large informal economies where workers have grappled with the twin threats of hunger and contagion.

Novavax Inc on Thursday started a late-stage trial of its experimental COVID-19 vaccine in the United Kingdom in partnership with the government’s Vaccines Taskforce, sending the company’s shares up 6% after the bell.

France set a new record of daily COVID-19 infections on Thursday, the fourth in eight days, while the number of people hospitalised for the disease went above 6 000 for the first time in more than two months.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has told the Security Council that the coronavirus pandemic is a clear test of international cooperation that the world has essentially failed. 

Two US police officers were shot and wounded overnight during protests that erupted in Louisville, Kentucky in the aftermath of a decision not to charge police officers directly involved in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Three times as many people tested positive for COVID-19 in England in latest weekly figures compared to the end of August, NHS Test and Trace said on Thursday, with more people being referred to the system, though the proportion reached fell.

Australia’s Victoria state, the epicentre of the country’s COVID-19 outbreak, said on Thursday the number of new daily infections was close to a three-month low, buoying hopes that restrictions will be eased sooner than expected.

France’s Health Minister unveiled a map of coronavirus “danger zones” around the country on Wednesday and gave the hardest-hit local authorities, including that of Marseille, days to tighten restrictions or risk having a state of health emergency declared there. 

The United States began three days of tributes to Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Wednesday, as pallbearers carried her flag-draped coffin into the white marble court building and members of the public lined up to pay their respects.

With President Donald Trump poised to nominate a U.S. Supreme Court justice to fill the vacancy created by the death of liberal icon Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a new 6-3 conservative majority could be emboldened to roll back abortion rights.

President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus was sworn in for a new term on Wednesday in an inauguration denounced as illegitimate by the opposition, which called for more protests against his 26-year rule.

Australia's coronavirus hot spot of Victoria is considering easing more curbs from September 26 than previously flagged, the state's premier said on Wednesday, as the two-week average of new infections in the city of Melbourne fell below 30.

Japan is considering allowing more foreigners into the country for longer stays starting as early as next month, while keeping the COVID-19 entry curbs in place for tourists, the Asahi newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Mainland China reported 10 new COVID-19 cases as of September 22, up from 6 a day earlier, the country's national health authority said on Wednesday.

New York City’s Health Department has identified a new cluster of COVID-19 cases in Brooklyn, and said on Tuesday a marked uptick in infections there and in some other neighborhoods is “cause for significant concern.”

Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers on Tuesday declared a new public health emergency and extended a face mask mandate into November to fight a coronavirus flareup, as the number of people who have died across the United States since the pandemic began passed 200 000.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the British people on Tuesday to work from home where possible and ordered restaurants and bars to close early to tackle a fast-spreading second wave of COVID-19, with new restrictions lasting probably six months.

President Cyril Ramaphosa, who is also Chairperson of the African Union (AU), has used his address to the UN General Assembly, to call on world leaders to help African countries and their developing economies recover from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

US President Donald Trump has used his address to the United Nations General Assembly to call for harsh punishment to be meted out on China, who he blames for infecting the globe with the coronavirus.

Senior United Nations officials and world leaders have called for an inclusive multilateralism drawing on all sectors of society as the world body marked its 75th anniversary during a hybrid commemorative event at UN Headquarters in New York.

Senior United Nations officials and world leaders have called for an inclusive multilateralism drawing on all sectors of society as the world body marked its 75th anniversary during a hybrid commemorative event at UN Headquarters in New York.

Mexico closed in on a total of 700 000 confirmed coronavirus cases on Monday, though authorities acknowledge the true number of infections in the country ranked No. 6 in COVID-19 cases globally is higher.

Democrat Joe Biden slammed US President Donald Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic and Trump criticized Biden’s record on trade on Monday as the White House contenders battled for votes in key Midwestern battleground states.