With a new wave of Covid-19 infections fueled by the Delta variant striking countries worldwide, disease experts are scrambling to learn whether the latest version of coronavirus is making people - mainly the unvaccinated - sicker than before.

An earthquake of magnitude 5.8 struck Indonesia's Mentawai island region on Tuesday, according to the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC).

A preponderance of evidence proves the virus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic leaked from a Chinese research facility, said a report by US Republicans released on Monday, a conclusion that US intelligence agencies have not reached.

Restaurants, ride-hailing apps and food delivery services are backing Britain’s COVID-19 vaccination drive, offering discounts and even free slices of pizza to persuade young people to roll up their sleeves and get the shot.

New Zealand will open up one-way quarantine-free travel for seasonal workers from Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu to address labour shortages in the horticulture industry, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday.

Fifteen soldiers were killed as a result of an ambush in southwestern Niger on Saturday, the country's defence ministry said, blaming the attack on "armed terrorist groups."

Australia's Queensland state on Monday extended a COVID-19 lockdown in Brisbane, while soldiers began patrolling Sydney to enforce stay-at-home rules as Australia struggles to stop the highly contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus spreading.

 China and a number of Asian countries ramped up Covid-19 curbs yesterday as Delta variant cases surged and tens of thousands rallied in France against restrictions designed to stop the pandemic.

Foreign ministers from members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are under pressure to appoint a special envoy to Myanmar this week after months of negotiations have failed to find a consensus candidate.

Thousands of people protested in Paris and other French cities on Saturday against a mandatory coronavirus health pass for entry to a wide array of public venues, introduced by the government as it battles a fourth wave of infections.

India's Punjab state government has ordered schools -- all classes -- to reopen from August 2, as the state further relaxed Covid-19 restrictions.

Bharatiya Janata Party-led government will mark “Muslim Women Rights Day” across India tomorrow to celebrate the enactment of the law against instant triple talaq.

Hundreds of black-clad Malaysians staged an anti-government protest Saturday in defiance of a ban on public gatherings under coronavirus curbs, piling pressure on the embattled prime minister to resign.

Travel restrictions on inbound travelers from 10 countries, including Bangladesh, have been extended till August 15 amid threat of the feared Covid-19 Delta variant, Malacañang said Friday.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog received a third shot of coronavirus vaccine on Friday, kicking off a campaign to give booster doses to people aged over 60 as part of efforts to slow the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant.

Japan expanded a coronavirus state of emergency to four more areas in addition to Tokyo on Friday following record spikes in infections as the capital hosts the Olympics.

A sub-inspector of Border Security Force was arrested yesterday for allegedly raping a 30-year-old Bangladeshi woman inside a camp at Gaighata in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, Indian media reports said today.

Britain's UN ambassador warned on Thursday that half of Myanmar's 54 million people could be infected with Covid-19 in the next two weeks as Myanmar's envoy called for UN monitors to ensure an effective delivery of vaccines.

Israel’s prime minister on Thursday announced that the country would offer a coronavirus booster to people over 60 who have already been vaccinated.

Nearly a year after the huge explosion that ripped through the port of Beirut in last August, a spokesperson for families of more than 200 people who died in the disaster is still trying to call to account those he says are responsible for allowing the accident to happen.