Beijing on Friday kicked off a drive to test two million people in 48 hours as the city rushed to snuff out a new local cluster of cases believed to be linked to a more contagious virus variant. Long queues snaked through the Chinese capital -- whi...

Angelo Mathews scored a gritty half-century to steady Sri Lanka after early strikes by England paceman James Anderson on day one of the second Test on Friday. Sri Lanka, 0-1 down in the two-Test series, reached 155-3 at tea after electing to bat in...

Spanish fifth seed and former world number one Carolina Marin sailed through to the semi-finals of badminton's Thailand Open Friday, beating Turkey's Neslihan Yigit 21-6, 21-15. The 27-year-old Spaniard, ranked sixth in the world, is aiming for bac...

Off-spinner Mehidy Hasan claimed a career best four wickets for 25 as Bangladesh bowled out the West Indies for 148 in their second one-day international on Friday. The hosts, who won Wednesday's opening match by six wickets, took early wickets bef...

A Spanish tennis player has apologised after slamming quarantine rules at the Australian Open, days before testing positive for Covid-19. World number 67 Paula Badosa said she understood "the sad situation", adding: "Sorry guys." The 23-year-old w...

Germany has recorded more than 50,000 deaths from the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic, the Robert Koch Institute disease control centre said Friday. 

China on Friday hit back at an EU resolution condemning its crackdown on Hong Kong democracy activists, accusing European lawmakers of "gross interference" in its governance of the city. Members of the European Parliament on Thursday passed the res...

One of France's leading stuntmen, Remy Julienne, who worked on several James Bond films, has died from Covid-19 aged 90, friends and family said Friday. A veteran of more than 1,400 films and TV commercials, Julienne had been in intensive care in a...

Allies of jailed Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny were facing possible fines and prison time on Friday in court cases that ramp up pressure on Kremlin critics ahead of weekend protests. Navalny's allies are planning to hold demonstratio...

On January 20, Kamala Harris became the first female vice president in United States history. What does her arrival in the White House mean for gender equality in US politics? And will we be seeing a woman president in four years?

South Korean double Olympic champion skater Shim Suk-hee is seeking a heavier sentence for her former coach, her lawyer said Friday, after he was jailed for more than a decade for sexually assaulting her over several years. The short track skater -...

Glow-in-the-dark rabbit ears, pulsating beats, and a flexible attitude to masks: nightlife in China's Wuhan is back with a vengeance almost a year after a lockdown brought life to a standstill in the city of 11 million. As the rest of the world con...

Japan dismissed a report claiming officials see cancelling the Tokyo Olympics as inevitable on Friday, as Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said he was "determined" to hold the Games. Deputy government spokesman Manabu Sakai there was "no truth" to the...

LeBron James scored a season-high 34 points as the Los Angeles Lakers won their eighth straight road game with a 113-106 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday. The victory opened a seven game road trip for the NBA champion Lakers, who are ho...