Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates on Thursday pushed back against some of the conspiracy theories spreading online accusing him of creating the coronavirus outbreak.

Two US jets flew dangerously close to an Iranian passenger plane over war-torn Syria, forcing the pilot to take emergency action and sparking panic on board, Iranian authorities said yesterday.

President Donald Trump told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Thursday that he hopes to avoid an “expensive” US arms race with Russia and China, the White House said.

The World Health Organization chief on Thursday rejected as false an allegation by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that he owed his position to a deal with China.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has called on “free nations” to triumph over the threat of what he said was a “new tyranny” from China, in a provocative speech likely to worsen fraught US-China relations.

Malaysian police have arrested Mohammad Rayhan Kabir, a young Bangladeshi who spoke in a documentary aired by Al Jazeera.

The European Union is not interested in buying potential Covid-19 vaccines through an initiative co-led by the World Health Organisation as it deems it slow and high-cost, two EU sources told Reuters, noting the bloc was in talks with drugmakers for shots cheaper than $40.

Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan joins huge crowds for the first prayers at Hagia Sophia in nine decades, sealing his ambition to restore Muslim worship at an ancient site long revered in both Christianity and Islam.

After spending four days under the open sky near the Bangladesh embassy in Hanoi, 17 Bangladeshis, who were defrauded by Bangladeshi agents, brokers and a Vietnamese company, have been provided accommodation at a hotel.

Human Rights Watch has called for Japan to immediately cancel plans to donate money to Myanmar police to purchase vehicles and communications equipment, saying the force has a well-documented record of serious human rights violations, including against the Rohingya population in the country.

China orders the United States to close its consulate in the city of Chengdu, in a tit-for-tat response to being told to shut its consulate in Houston earlier, as relations between the two world powers deteriorates further.

The head of the World Health Organization says that reported comments by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo questioning his independence were untrue and would not distract the organisation from its work in fighting the coronavirus.

Afghan government forces killed 45 people, including civilians, in airstrikes against Taliban fighters in a western province bordering Iran on Wednesday, drawing condemnation from the US envoy trying to start peace talks involving all sides.

US Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said on Wednesday that Donald Trump is the first racist to become president in remarks his opponent’s re-election campaign quickly rebuked.

A 93-year-old former Nazi concentration camp guard was handed a suspended sentence of two years yesterday for complicity in World War II

Kim Kardashian West on Wednesday opened up about her husband Kanye West’s bipolar disorder, calling on the media and public to show “compassion and empathy” in light of the rapper’s recent erratic behavior.

Tools excavated from a cave in central Mexico are strong evidence that humans were living in North America at least 30,000 years ago, some 15,000 years earlier than previously thought, scientists said Wednesday.

Researchers are making “good progress” in developing vaccines against COVID-19, with a handful in late-stage trials, but their first use cannot be expected until early 2021, a World Health Organization (WHO) expert said on Wednesday.

An Afghan girl who shot dead two Taliban fighters after they gunned down her parents said she was ready to confront any other insurgents who might try to attack her.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has called on India to tamp down its dependence on Chinese goods, amid growing tensions between Washington and Beijing, which has its own issues with New Delhi.