While people of Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) on Monday applauded the arrival of a batch of 200,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine made by China's Sinopharm, a storm of criticism and mockery swept the US Embassy after its announcement of 80 vials of vaccine donated to the nation of 1.4 million people.

Pekingese dog “Wasabi” is seen with the trophy after winning Best in Show at the 145th Annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show on Sunday at the Lyndhurst Estate in Tarrytown, New York, the US. Spectators are not allowed in 2021, apart from dog owners and handlers, because of safety protocols due to COVID-19. Photo: AFP

Polynesian seafarers likely reached Antarctica hundreds of years before the Western explorers usually credited with discovering the frozen continent, a new study has concluded.

After surviving years of crippling drought, farmers in eastern Australia are locked in a months-long battle with hordes of mice that are pouring through fields and devouring hard-earned crops.

The light bulb moment for neurosurgeons came as they conducted patient rounds one morning in 2017.

India's COVID-19 tally rose to 29,510,410 on Monday, with as many as 70,421 new cases recorded in the past 24 hours, said the federal health ministry.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Monday that New Zealand's Muslim community should be the focus of any film about the Christchurch mosque attacks after some people raised objections to a movie focussing on her response to the bloodshed.

A bomb-laden drone launched by Yemen's Huthi rebels crashed into a Saudi school on Sunday, state media said, despite growing diplomatic efforts for a cease-fire between the warring parties.

An American father-son duo ­accused of orchestrating former Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn's audacious escape from Japan admitted their role on Monday as they made their first appearance before a Tokyo court.

Leaders of G7 countries have agreed in an agreement at their summit to share at least 870 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines directly, at least half of which are to be delivered by the end of 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Sunday.

Leftist Pedro Castillo has cast himself as the winner of Peru's presidential vote, even though election authorities on Wednesday have yet to declare a winner in his race against populist rival Keiko Fujimori, who claims half a million votes are still in play.

Argentina's president apologized Wednesday after going viral for stating that modern-day Mexicans originate from indigenous peoples, Brazilians “from the jungle” and his own country's inhabitants come from Europe.

India reported on Thursday the highest single-day death toll from COVID-19 in the world, at 6,148, after a big eastern state revised its figures to account for people who succumbed to the disease at home or in private hospitals.

French Prime Minister Jean Castex is placing himself under seven days' isolation after his wife tested positive for coronavirus, his office announced Wednesday.

The worst drought in nearly a century to hit two key regions in Brazil is wreaking havoc on hydroelectric dams and crops – and threatening the nascent pandemic recovery of Latin America's biggest economy.

The world has marked the first rise in child labor in two decades and the coronavirus crisis threatens to push millions more youngsters toward the same fate, the United Nations (UN) said Thursday.

Three Palestinians were killed early Thursday by Israeli special forces who were on an arrest mission in the northern West Bank, sources on both sides said.

Mongolia's new president Khurelsukh Ukhnaa is a macho character who has been photographed topless on horseback Putin-style, and became known as “Fist” after punching a parliamentarian.

Joe Biden and Boris Johnson are expected to hold their first face-to-face meeting Thursday, during which they are expected to lay the foundations for a new pact, despite Brexit and its consequences in Northern Ireland casting a shadow on the old “special relationship.”

French President Emmanuel Macron has vowed to continue greeting crowds during his travels despite being slapped in the face, sparking debate Wednesday about whether such walkabouts are wise in a fraught political climate and what the assault symbolized for the country.

Chile on Tuesday inaugurated Latin America's first-ever thermosolar energy plant, a vast complex dubbed Cerro Dominador in the Atacama desert that gives a boost to the country's quest for carbon-neutrality by 2050.

Some 250 people were arrested in Sweden and Finland in a global sting on organized crime using planted encrypted phones, authorities said Tuesday, with only Australia registering more arrests.

The world has no option other than to finance a huge, sevenfold surge in investment into clean energy in emerging and developing economies if climate goals are to be met, an IEA report said Wednesday.

About 5 million Melbourne residents will exit lockdown Thursday after Australian authorities said their adherence to strict rules had “changed the course” of a coronavirus outbreak in the city.

A man slapped President Emmanuel Macron in the face on Tuesday during a walkabout in southern France.

The United Nations Security Council backed Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday for a second term, recommending that the 193-member General Assembly appoint him for another five years starting January 1, 2022.

Dropping to his knees to weigh a spindly-legged newborn saiga antelope, conservationist Albert Salemgareyev finds himself in the midst of the Kazakh steppe's most important baby boom.

On a shiny afternoon in the quiet neighborhood of Bwiza area in the Rwandan capital city Kigali, finance student Johnson Runuya was busy mixing a wide range of ingredients to make a chocolate fruit belt cake, as the delicious aroma from kitchen made one gets hungry.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday called for efforts to protect the oceans.

Over the past two months, 60-year-old Nita Sharma has exercised extreme caution by keeping a social distance as far as possible to avoid being infected with COVID-19 whenever she went out of her house.

A Chinese expert from the World Health Organization (WHO) Ethics and COVID-19 Working Group warned on Tuesday that it is too early for Europe to issue vaccine passports to allow residents to move freely between countries given the still grave epidemic situation and suggested that WHO take the lead on the vaccine passport issue to set up standards and countries can issue the passports under the WHO guidance based on the scientific evidence.

Children accompanied by guardians walk to a kindergarten in Tokyo on Monday. Photo: AFP

An atmospheric research station in Hawaii recorded its highest concentrations of carbon dioxide since accurate measurements began 63 years ago, a government agency said Monday, adding that the coronavirus pandemic had barely impacted rising levels of the greenhouse gas.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos announced plans on Monday to fly into space in July on a rocket built by his company Blue Origin, fulfilling what he said was a lifelong dream.

The US on Monday approved a drug called Aduhelm to treat patients with Alzheimer's, the first new medicine against the disease in almost two decades.

The Czech government said Monday it would ask the European Union's top court to fine Poland for its failure to suspend mining at the Turow coal mine near the border.

New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Tuesday that she would get her first COVID-19 shot at the end of next week, as the country prepared to receive another 1 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government on Monday avoided a potentially embarrassing rebellion over cuts to the overseas aid budget, just days before the UK hosts the G7 summit.

When his father lost his job in 2020, Togi, then 16, wasted little time before looking for work to support his family, even though he knew it could put him at risk of contracting COVID-19.

A man driving a pick-up truck slammed into and killed four members of a Muslim family in Canada's Ontario province, in what police and officials said Monday was a premeditated attack motivated by “hatred.”

Mongolia goes to the polls on Wednesday to choose its sixth democratically-elected president, with the ruling Mongolian People's Party (MPP) on the cusp of consolidating its power following a low-key campaign hindered by COVID-19 curbs.

Andy Ridley, the energetic chief executive of Citizens of the Great Barrier Reef, believes he has the best workplace of this planet.

India's government will provide free COVID-19 vaccinations for all adults, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Monday, as the capital New Delhi and financial hub Mumbai eased lockdowns on falling infection levels.

An employee desinfects the speaker's desk during a session at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France on Tuesday. The European Parliament's headquarters opened for a plenary session after being closed for 15 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A woman hammers the toppled statue of Egerton Ryerson, one of the architects of the indigenous boarding school system, in Toronto on Sunday. The statue was taken down Sunday following a protest in honor of the 215 children whose remains were discovered at the site of a former indigenous boarding school in British Columbia, Canada. Photo: AFP

A black box from a container ship sinking off Sri Lanka was recovered but a dive Sunday to check for oil leaks had to be aborted, the navy said.

Former Volkswagen chief executive Martin Winterkorn will pay the auto giant a record multimillion sum to settle a negligence claim surrounding the "Dieselgate" emissions scandal, informed sources said Sunday.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced Sunday the birth of their daughter Lilibet Diana - named for Harry's grandmother Queen Elizabeth II and his late mother - in a moment of joy capping a year of increasingly strained ties between the couple and the British royal family.

Angela Merkel's conservatives were heaving a sigh of relief on Monday after a convincing win in the last regional vote before a general election that also exposed the weaknesses of the Green party, their main rival at the national level.

Britain called on the European Union (EU) to be more pragmatic and Brussels urged London to help rebuild trust on Sunday, as the sides prepared for talks this week on a part of the Brexit deal that governs trade with Northern Ireland.

Boko Haram's leader Abubakar Shekau killed himself in a fight against rival jihadist fighters from the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) according to audio AFP obtained from the group Sunday, two weeks after reports emerged that he had died.

Only goats seeking shade now use the long-abandoned lines of Soviet-era T-34 tanks, but the rusting relics point to the strategic value that Yemen's Socotra islands hold for foreign powers.

One hundred former presidents, prime ministers and foreign ministers have urged the Group of Seven (G7) rich nations to pay for global coronavirus vaccinations to help stop the virus mutating and returning as a worldwide threat.

At least 30 people were killed and dozens injured Monday when a packed Pakistani inter-city train plowed into another express that had derailed earlier, officials said.

People take pictures after being administered doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine inside the Central World shopping mall in Bangkok on Monday as mass vaccine rollouts begin in Thailand.

Half of Japan's public favors holding the Tokyo Olympics in summer 2021, a new survey showed Monday, suggesting support for the contentious Games is rising seven weeks before the opening ceremony.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday signed a bill on withdrawal from the Treaty on Open Skies following parliamentary approval, according to RIA news agency.

At least 30 people were killed and several others injured on Monday morning in a train accident in Pakistan's southern Sindh province, local media reported.

India reported 114,460 new coronavirus infections on Sunday, the lowest in two months, while the death toll increased by 2,677, as parts of the country prepared to ease movement restrictions.

A black box from a ship loaded with chemical and plastic that is sinking off Sri Lanka has been located, officials said Sunday, as investigators probe what caused the vessel to catch fire.

Former US president Donald Trump returned to the spotlight Saturday for his first speech in months, framing 2022's midterm elections as a battle for the “survival of America” – but keeping followers guessing on his own plans for 2024.

A couple wearing protective face masks walk at a park in Palermo neighborhood in Buenos Aires, Argentina on Saturday. People have been mobilizing in various cities around the country to protest against the isolation policies that the government has adopted to combat the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Photo: AFP

The US government said Saturday it would stop secretly obtaining reporters' phone and email records during investigations into political leaks, ending a practice that was often criticized as undermining press freedom.

Two Icelanders managed to climb Mount Qomolangma, commonly known as Mount Everest in the West, despite having contracted coronavirus and even though Nepalese authorities insisted there have been no virus cases on the world's highest peak.

The wealthy G7 countries on Saturday moved closer to mandatory disclosures of companies' climate impact despite a lack of global agreement and doubts from some NGOs.

May's Israeli-Palestinian violence triggered “uncomfortable conversations” between business partners in Israel and the UAE just months after the countries normalized ties, the deputy mayor of Jerusalem told AFP.

An Ipsos poll on Saturday showed Peru's runoff presidential election still locked in a statistical tie, but right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori is slightly ahead of leftist Pedro Castillo, by a 0.7 percentage point margin.

Pope Francis met with both Vatican-based Canadian cardinals on Saturday as their country reels from the discovery of the remains of 215 children at a former school for indigenous students run by the Catholic Church.

A memorial to almost 22,500 servicemen and women under British command killed during D-Day and subsequent battles was expected to be unveiled on Sunday in northern France, a tribute seen as a long overdue commemoration of their sacrifice.

Anticipation is building up among merchants and companies eyeing broader and deeper cooperation with Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs) in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang Province ahead of the second China-CEEC Expo & International Consumer Goods Fair.

The European Union (EU) and Britain on Wednesday reached an agreement on fishing rights for 2021, the European Commission said.

The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed more than 100 million more workers into poverty, the UN said Wednesday, after working hours plummeted and access to good-quality jobs evaporated.

Denmark already has one of Europe's harshest stances on immigration, but the wealthy Scandinavian country adopted legislation on Thursday enabling it to open asylum centers outside Europe where applicants could be sent to live.

The US military on Wednesday took responsibility for unintentionally killing 23 civilians in foreign war zones in 2020, a death toll far below figures compiled by NGOs.

The French government on Thursday summoned the head of the Orange telecom operator after a network outage that left people unable to reach emergency services, possibly causing three deaths.

Israel's opposition leader moved closer to unseating Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he officially told the country's president that he has reached agreements with political allies to form a new government.

Iran's largest navy ship the Kharg sank on Wednesday after catching fire in the Gulf of Oman, but the crew were safely rescued, Iranian media reported.

The Tokyo Olympics chief said the Games would only be cancelled in extreme circumstances on Thursday as organizers revealed 10,000 volunteers had quit over coronavirus fears, a sexism row and scheduling problems.

US President Joe Biden said Wednesday he is “looking” at possible retaliation after the White House linked Russia to a cyberattack against global meat processing giant JBS.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump has shut down his personal social media platform launched less than a month ago in lieu of Twitter.

Despite recent tensions after Lithuania quit the China and Central and Eastern Europe Countries (China-CEEC) cooperation mechanism, China and the CEEC agreed to join hands on development of the forestry bio-economy in a joint statement signed on Wednesday. Experts said the move reflects the common willingness and pragmatic need to deepen cooperation between both sides.

The US military will hand over its main Bagram Air Base to Afghan forces in about 20 days, an official said Tuesday, as Washington carries out its final withdrawal after nearly two decades of war.

Members of the vast trans-Pacific trade deal agreed on Wednesday to start the process for the UK to join the pact as the country pursues its post-Brexit commerce strategy.

World leaders must make a “new commitment” to a more equal distribution of coronavirus vaccines to bring the pandemic under control, the heads of four major global organizations said Tuesday.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Tuesday signed a law prohibiting transgender women and girls from competing in girls and women's sports at public schools in his southern US state.

A fire aboard a ship that triggered Sri Lanka's worst-ever marine ecological disaster was finally extinguished Tuesday after a 13-day international operation, the navy said.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday that only one strain of the COVID-19 Delta variant first detected in India was now considered “of concern,” while two other strains had been downgraded.

At 2 am on a day in early February, the deputy director of the main hospital in the southwestern French town of Dax took an urgent call from a normally unflappable colleague in the IT department.

Turkey hopes to maximize its cooperation with Egypt and Gulf nations “on a win-win basis,” President Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday, as Ankara works to repair its strained ties with Cairo and some Gulf Arab nations after years of tensions.

A fire broke out in an Iranian navy vessel near the mouth of the Gulf, but the entire crew was able to safely disembark, the semi-official news agency Fars quoted a navy statement as saying on Wednesday.

US President Joe Biden led emotional commemorations on Tuesday to honor victims of the 1921 race massacre in Tulsa, Oklahoma, saying the US must learn from one of the worst episodes of racist violence in the country's history.

In 2017, Turkey signed a deal with Russia to buy several S-400s, prompting the US to suspend shipments of fifth-generation F-35 fighter jets to Ankara. Washington says the Russian air defence system are "incompatible" with its F-35s.

Russian fighter Su-27 was scrambled to escort the B-52H bomber of the US Air Force over the Baltic Sea, the Russian Defense Ministry's National Defense Control Center (NDCC) said.

The European Union will first discuss extensively the legal side of disconnecting Russia from the SWIFT financial messaging system before making the decision, if such a measure were on the table, Portuguese Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva said on Monday.

U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced a series of measures aimed at narrowing the wealth gap among racial groups in a speech commemorating the 100th anniversary of Tulsa massacre, one of the most atrocious racial violence in U.S. history.

Police in southwest France on Monday detained a former soldier who fled into a forest after firing on security forces in an incident that sparked a massive manhunt, officials said.

Tokyo 2020 was supposed to be a marketing bonanza, but public opposition and a possible spectator ban over virus fears have left some Japanese Olympic sponsors with an Olympic headache.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern toured flood-hit areas of the country's South Island on Tuesday, expressing shock at the destruction left when three months' worth of rain fell in three days.

Iceland's glaciers have lost around 750 square kilometers, or 7 percent of their surface, since the turn of the millennium due to global warming, a study published on Monday showed.