Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates said the Tokyo Olympics are "still possible" this year depending on the roll-out of coronavirus vaccinations, Japan's Kyodo News reported on Wednesday. Gates, whose foundation has donated $1.75 billion towards ...

West Ham may have surprised many with their strong showing in the Premier League this season but manager David Moyes warned they have yet to realise their full potential. The Hammers' 3-2 win over Crystal Palace on Tuesday was their sixth successiv...

China has begun using anal swabs to test those it considers at high risk of contracting Covid-19, state TV reported, with social media users and travellers squirming over the invasive procedure which doctors say can be more effective in detecting th...

Relatives of Wuhan's coronavirus dead on Wednesday said Chinese authorities have deleted their social media group and are pressuring them to keep quiet while a World Health Organization team is in the city to investigate the pandemic's origins. Sco...

Overnight clashes in northern Lebanon between security forces and demonstrators angered by a coronavirus lockdown injured at least 45 people, the Lebanese Red Cross said on Wednesday. At least nine of the injured were treated in hospital following...

The UN human rights chief has called for an International Criminal Court investigation into Sri Lanka's Tamil separatist conflict and sanctions on military officials accused of war crimes, according to a report obtained by AFP. Michelle Bachelet ac...

US President Joe Biden was planning to announce new bans on oil and gas drilling on federal lands Wednesday as part of a raft of actions that take aim at climate change, according to reports and a White House memo. The administration has drafted an...

After months of refusing to wear a mask or abandon his cross-country tours, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's infection with the coronavirus was seen by many Mexicans as the price of tempting fate. "He took a big risk by not wearing a face ma...

Sixteen million Peruvians will enter a two-week coronavirus lockdown covering a third of the country at the end of January, Peru's interim president said Tuesday. The South American nation's healthcare system has been overwhelmed by the Covid-19 pa...

Nearly two-thirds of 1.2 million people polled worldwide say humanity faces a climate emergency, according to a UN survey, the largest of its kind ever undertaken. Young and old, rich and poor, respondents in 50 nations home to more than half the g...

A Cricket Australia probe Wednesday concluded Indian players were racially abused during the third Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground, but cleared six people who were kicked out of the stadium. Cricket chiefs and New South Wales police launched inve...

Concern is growing about the potential long-term impact of the coronavirus pandemic on prisoners in England and Wales, even though jails have avoided the worst predictions about infections. Covid-19 cases and deaths have been kept below the dire fo...

Indian police imposed heavy security and closed several main roads around New Delhi on Wednesday a day after farmers went on the rampage the capital, leaving one person dead and dozens injured. The violence marked a dramatic escalation in a stando...

The first Tokyo Olympics test event of 2021 will be postponed due to travel restrictions under Japan's coronavirus state of emergency, media reported Wednesday. The artistic swimming test event -- which will double as the sport's final qualifier fo...

As coronavirus lockdowns are extended across Europe, protests have flared in its hard-hit hospitality sector, along with warnings that many businesses are on the verge of extinction. Four voices from around the continent detail the impact of the cr...