Republican former US president George W Bush will attend the inauguration of Democrats Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in Washington on January 20, his chief of staff said Tuesday.

China’s crackdown in Hong Kong escalated dramatically yesterday with police arresting more than 50 opposition figures in their largest operation since a draconian security law was imposed on the financial hub.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was denied bail yesterday because a judge said there is a risk he may abscond while the United States tries to secure his extradition from Britain.

The EU’s drug regulator approved the Moderna coronavirus jab yesterday, the bloc’s second and a shot in the arm for Europe’s slow-moving vaccine roll-out.

Latvia’s prime minister on Tuesday fired his health minister in a row over coronavirus vaccination policy, straining ties within the governing coalition.

North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un admitted the country’s economic development plan had fallen short in “almost all areas” as he opened a rare congress of the ruling Workers’ Party, state media reported yesterday.

Germany, France and Britain yesterday said they were “deeply concerned” about Iran’s move to step up its uranium enrichment, warning of “very significant” risks.

India will hold a mass nationwide online “cow science” exam next month, in the latest push by the Hindu nationalist government to promote and protect the sacred animal, officials said yesterday.

A British judge on Wednesday denied bail to WikiLeaks’ founder Julian Assange, ordering him to remain in a high-security prison while US courts decide whether he will be sent to the United States to face espionage charges.

Democrats won one hotly contested US Senate race in Georgia on Wednesday and pulled ahead in a second, edging closer to control of the chamber and the power to advance Democratic President-elect Joe Biden’s policy goals when he takes office this month.

Delays to a long-planned mission by WHO experts to China to investigate the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic are "not just a visa issue", Beijing said Wednesday.

Hong Kong police arrested about 50 pro-democracy figures Wednesday for allegedly violating the new national security law by participating in an unofficial primary election last year held to increase their chances of controlling the legislature, according to political parties and local media.

Polls closed Tuesday evening in a pair of critical election runoffs in Georgia, whose outcome will decide who controls the US Senate and shape the early course of Joe Biden's presidency.

Embracing Qatar’s ruler, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince pushed a deal to end a bitter row with Doha at a Gulf Arab summit to try to shore up an anti-Iran front, although a final declaration contained only a general pledge of solidarity.

Julian Assange is “free to return home” to Australia once legal challenges against him are dealt with, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said yesterday, after a UK court denied a request to extradite the Wikileaks founder to the United States.

Schools and colleges across Britain closed yesterday ahead of a national lockdown as the country battled to control surging coronavirus cases that are threatening to overwhelm its healthcare system.

US President Donald Trump has had a “red notice” request for his arrest issued through Interpol by Iran.

A US judge on Monday blocked the Trump administration from sanctioning human rights lawyers for supporting the work of the world’s war crimes tribunal, the International Criminal Court.

The health scheme of the West Bengal government - one of the flashpoints of the coming state elections - had a VIP participant yesterday.

Israeli security forces committed “heinous killings” throughout 2020, shooting dead at least 27 Palestinians across occupied Palestinian territories and in Israel, according to Israeli rights group B’Tselem.