World

DUBAI (Reuters) – Prominent Saudi Arabian rights activist Abdullah al-Hamid, imprisoned since 2013, died on Thursday, activists and a source close to him told Reuters. Hamid, 69, died in the King Saud Medical City in Riyadh, having suffered a stroke on April 9 in prison, London-based Saudi rights group ALQST told Reuters. The news was

TOKYO (Reuters) – The mayor of the western Japanese city Osaka came under fire on social media on Friday after saying women take longer than men shopping for groceries as he tried to promote social distancing to curb the spread of the coronavirus in the city. FILE PHOTO: Mayor of Osaka and leader of the

KOBLENZ, Germany (Reuters) – Two suspected members of President Bashar al-Assad’s security services had charges of torture and sexual assault read out against them on Thursday in a German court, in what lawyers say is the first trial for war crimes by Syrian government agents. German presiding judge Anne Kerber stands in the courtroom prior

TAIPEI (Reuters) – Spooked by a sharp increase in coronavirus cases in the navy, Taiwan is debating whether to consider a broad lockdown, even with only some 200 active infections and weeks after far more seriously affected countries shuttered their cities. FILE PHOTO: Residents wear face masks to protect themselves from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19)

GENEVA (Reuters) – The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday that he hoped the Trump administration would reconsider its suspension of funding, but that his main focus was on ending the pandemic and saving lives. There were “worrying upward trends” in early epidemics in parts of Africa and central and South

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli security forces shot and killed a Palestinian man who stabbed a police officer at a checkpoint near Jerusalem on Wednesday, an Israeli police spokesman said. “The terrorist drove his vehicle into the border policeman … then stabbed (him) with scissors,” said spokesman Micky Rosenfeld. “Officers in the area responded to the

TAIPEI (Reuters) – A Hong Kong bookseller who fled to Taiwan amid fears of Chinese persecution was attacked on Tuesday by a man who threw red paint at him, just days before he was set to open a new bookshop in Taipei. Lam Wing-kee, who sought refuge in Taiwan last year after he was detained

A man, wearing a protective face mask, rides past people queuing outside a Biocoop grocery in Fontenay-sous-Bois as the spread of the coronavirus disease continues in France, April 20, 2020. REUTERS/Charles Platiau PARIS (Reuters) – France on Monday officially registered more than 20,000 deaths from the coronavirus, becoming the fourth country to pass that threshold

SEOUL (Reuters) – South Koreans are returning to work and crowding shopping malls, parks, golf courses and some restaurants as South Korea relaxes social distancing rules amid a continued downward trend in coronavirus cases. FILE PHOTO: A couple wearing masks to protect against contracting the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) ride on a bicycle at a Han

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Orthodox Christians celebrated Easter in Jerusalem on Sunday, bringing to a close a holiday season uniquely devoid of the colourful ceremonies that would normally have echoed around the Old City’s Christian Quarter. FILE PHOTO: An Orthodox Christian worshipper is silhouetted as he holds a palm frond outside the closed doors of the

FILE PHOTO: Passengers wearing protective masks arrive to collect their luggage inside an airport following an outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in New Delhi, India, March 14, 2020. REUTERS/Anushree Fadnavis (Reuters) – India has not yet taken a decision on when to lift or ease restrictions on domestic and international flights and urged airlines

People wearing protective face masks leave work after office hours in Central Business District, as the spread of the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, in Beijing, China, April 17, 2020. REUTERS/Thomas Peter SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China’s National Health Commission reported 27 new confirmed coronavirus cases on April 17, up from 26 the day earlier, according

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told his Russian counterpart on Friday that any future arms control talks must focus on an American proposal for a new arms control accord that includes Russia and China, the State Department said. FILE PHOTO: U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo addresses a news conference at

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australian public life could be constrained for another year because of the coronavirus pandemic, Prime Minister Scott Morrison warned on Friday, as the country’s most populous state mulled sending children to school in shifts. The mostly deserted city centre is seen following the implementation of stricter social-distancing and self-isolation rules to limit

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque compound will be closed to Muslim worshippers throughout the holy fasting month of Ramadan due to the coronavirus epidemic, Muslim clerics at Islam’s third-holiest site said on Thursday. FILE PHOTO: A man walks in front of the Dome of the Rock in the compound known to Muslims as Noble

ZURICH (Reuters) – Switzerland’s government is due to unveil on Thursday how it plans to relax the country’s shutdown put in place to halt the spread of the new coronavirus epidemic, Swiss media reported. FILE PHOTO: People line outside a supermarket during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Geneva, Switzerland, April 14, 2020. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse