India is likely to approve Oxford/AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine for emergency use by next week after its local manufacturer submitted additional data sought by authorities, two sources with knowledge of the matter have told Reuters.

Toxic air killed more people in India in 2019 than in 2017, The Lancet said in a report shared by the government yesterday, with 1.67 million deaths accounting for 18% of all fatalities.

Russia yesterday said it was hitting EU officials with sanctions for their response to the poisoning of opposition figure Alexei Navalny, who the Kremlin said was suffering from “delusions of persecution”.

Hackers broke into systems used by top US Treasury officials during a massive cyberattack on government agencies and may have stolen essential encryption keys, a senior lawmaker said Monday.

Hundreds of foreigners in France whose jobs expose them to high Covid-19 risks will be naturalised quickly for their commitment during the health crisis, the interior ministry said yesterday.

President Donald Trump, with only a month left in office, issued an order Monday that future federal buildings must be “beautiful” and preferably built in the Greco-Roman classical style.

US President Donald Trump on Monday presented the prestigious Legion of Merit to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his leadership in elevating strategic partnership of the two countries and emergence of India as a global power.

The father of one of the 39 Vietnamese migrants who suffocated in a truck in Britain said Tuesday he felt sorry for the two men convicted of manslaughter over the deaths.

Britain and the European Union narrowed the gap on access to fish stocks from 2021 but the politically sensitive matter was still in the way of a new trade pact, Brussels sources said yesterday ahead of a Brexit update by their chief negotiator.

Hundreds of foreigners in France whose jobs expose them to high Covid-19 risks will be naturalised quickly for their commitment during the health crisis, the interior ministry said Tuesday.

Israel on Tuesday was on course for a fourth national election in two years after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his main governing partner, Benny Gantz, failed to resolve a dispute over the budget.

China will take countermeasures against those responsible for hurting the Chinese side, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday, in response to additional US visa bans on Chinese officials.

Singapore received its first batch of Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine on Monday, according to its flag carrier, ahead of a rollout in the city-state that health officials have said could be as soon as two-three weeks away.

BioNTech Chief Executive Ugur Sahin has said he is confident a Covid-19 vaccine co-developed by his company would be effective against a variant of the virus that has emerged in Britain.

A new variant of the coronavirus spreading rapidly in Britain carries mutations that could mean children are as susceptible to becoming infected with it as adults - unlike previous strains, scientists have said.

Biman Bangladesh Airlines has cancelled all of its flights to Oman for one week from Tuesday following a travel ban issued by the country.

The solar system’s two biggest planets, Jupiter and Saturn, were set to come within planetary kissing range in yesterday’s evening sky, an intimacy that will not occur again until 2080.

Tens of thousands of Indian farmers, protesting over agricultural laws that they say threaten their livelihoods, have vowed to carry on their around-the-clock sit-ins despite cold weather that has already led to some deaths among them.

European Union experts believe existing vaccines are effective against the new fast-spreading strain identified in Britain, Germany’s health minister said yesterday.

Japan’s cabinet yesterday approved a record budget proposal for the next fiscal year from April, including stimulus for the pandemic-hit economy and another hike in defence spending to counter China.