World

The United States has delivered two million doses of the antimalarial medicine hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) to Brazil to fight COVID-19, the White House said Sunday, though the drug has not been proven effective against the coronavirus.

NASA astronauts entered the International Space Station on Sunday after a landmark 19-hour journey on the first crewed US spacecraft in nearly a decade, a triumph for SpaceX and private enterprise.

A claim by a leading Italian doctor that the new coronavirus "no longer exists" in the country sparked a furore Monday, with the government urging caution.

The multinational team on the biggest Arctic research mission ever undertaken were prepared for problems from polar bear attacks to major snowstorms or even issues with building a runway on ice.

Beijing (AFP) - Chinese state media took aim at the US government over the weekend as many American cities were gripped by raging protests and clashes, comparing the unrest with the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong.Beijing has long been infuriated by criticism from Western capitals, especially Washington, over its handling of the pro-democracy protests that shook Hong Kong last year.And as unrest erupted across the United States over racial inequality and police brutality after the death during arrest of an unarmed black man, Chinese government spokespeople and official media launched broad...

Agra (India) (AFP) - A deadly thunderstorm that rolled across parts of northern India damaged sections of the Taj Mahal complex, including the main gate and a railing running below its five lofty domes, officials said Sunday.One of the New Seven Wonders of the World, India's top tourist attraction has been shut since mid-March as part of measures to try and combat the coronavirus pandemic.AFP images showed workers assessing the railing of the main mausoleum, after the storm on Friday night battered Agra city in northern Uttar Pradesh state."One sandstone railing which was a part of the origina...

Moscow (AFP) - Russia has lost its long-held monopoly as the only country able to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station following the flawless manned launch by US company SpaceX.The Russian space agency congratulated the United States and Elon Musk's SpaceX on the first crewed flight ever by a private company, but experts said the launch should be a wakeup call for Roscosmos."The success of the mission will provide us with additional opportunities that will benefit the whole international programme," cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev, Roscosmos executive director for crewed space program...

Moscow (AFP) - Russian oil giant Rosneft, run by a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, is wielding growing influence over Russia's remaining independent media outlets, already squeezed by tightening press freedoms and pressure from the Kremlin.Now, reporters at the country's top liberal business daily Vedomosti -- shaken in March by an announcement from owner Demyan Kudryavtsev that he planned to sell the newspaper -- have denounced censorship under its new acting editor-in-chief.Andrei Shmarov was appointed in late March, ahead of the sale's completion. Journalists say they were barred fr...

Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf said any negotiations with the United States would be "futile" as he delivered his first major speech to the conservative-dominated chamber on Sunday.

President Donald Trump announced on Saturday that he intends to let Russia attend the next Group of Seven summit.