A fire apparently started by an overloaded ventilator killed five novel coronavirus patients in an intensive care unit in a Russian hospital on Tuesday, news agencies report.

Four roadside bombs detonated in less than 90 minutes yesterday in a northern district of Kabul, wounding four civilians including a child, police said.

Men’s blood has higher levels than women’s of a key enzyme used by the new coronavirus to infect cells, the results of a big European study showed on Monday -- a finding which may help explain why men are more vulnerable to infection with COVID-19.

Saudi Arabia will triple value added tax and suspend a cost of living allowance for state workers, it said yesterday, seeking to shore up finances hit by low oil prices as the coronavirus pandemic pummels global demand for its lifeline export.

The novel coronavirus has killed at least 282,447 people since the outbreak first emerged in China last December, according to a tally from official

Hong Kong police arrested hundreds of people during weekend democracy protests -- including a 12-year-old boy -- officials said yesterday, in the first major political unrest since the coronavirus outbreak began.

India yesterday recorded its biggest one-day spike in coronavirus cases and Pakistan is set to open markets despite a steep rise in numbers of infections amid warning that worst of the crisis is yet to come.

An Iranian missile fired during a training exercise in the Gulf of Oman struck a support vessel near its target, killing at least one sailor and wounding 15 others, Iranian media reports, amid heightened tensions between Tehran and the US.

Bandits riding motorbikes killed 20 villagers in a string of attacks in Niger's western region of Tillaberi, the governor there tells AFP.

New coronavirus infections are accelerating again in Germany just days after its leaders loosened social restrictions, raising concerns that the pandemic could once again slip out of control.

India yesterday rejected Nepal’s claim that a road recently opened for facilitating pilgrims’ travel to Kailash-Manasarovar in Tibet passes through Nepalese territory and asserted that the area lies completely within Indian borders.

Iran yesterday said it had expressed readiness for a full prisoner exchange with the United States “with no preconditions” but that Washington was yet

Three alleged mercenaries were arrested Saturday in connection with the attempted invasion of Venezuela, President Nicolas Maduro said, bringing the

Clashes in northwest Syria killed 22 regime fighters and jihadists yesterday in the highest such death toll since the start of a two-month-old ceasefire

China has issued a lengthy rebuttal of what it said were 24 “preposterous allegations” by some leading US politicians over its handling of the new coronavirus outbreak.

The novel coronavirus has killed at least 279,185 people do far, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP at 1100 GMT yesterday.

Former prime minister of India Manmohan Singh is admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi after he complained of uneasiness.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson urges people to “stay alert” to coronavirus risks, as he prepares to outline plans for gradually easing lockdown measures that have shuttered much of the economy for nearly seven weeks.

Three members of the White House coronavirus task force, including Dr Anthony Fauci, placed themselves in quarantine after contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19, another stark reminder that not even one of the nation’s most secure buildings is immune from the virus.

Roy Horn, half of Las Vegas illusionist duo Siegfried and Roy, dies of complications from the coronavirus at age 75.