Covid-19 has now claimed 2,004 lives in China, according to the latest Chinese data released on Wednesday. There have been 74,185 confirmed infections recorded in mainland China and around 700 cases in other countries around the globe. Hong Kong on Wednesday said a 70-year-old man

Jordan has condemned a decision by Israel to advance a plan to build a railway line and station underneath the heart of Jerusalem's Old City. The Israeli transport ministry said on Monday that a new route had been approved for an extension of the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem high-speed

HSBC has said it will axe around 35,000 jobs as it announced profits for 2019 fell by about a third. That has spurred the bank to target $4.5bn (£3.5bn) of cost cuts by 2022 as part of a major restructuring. The bank's interim chief executive, Noel Quinn, said HSBC would scale

Amazon boss Jeff Bezos has pledged $10bn (£7.7bn) to help fight climate change. The world's richest man said the money would finance work by scientists, activists and other groups. He said: "I want to work alongside others both to amplify known ways and to explore new ways of

The death toll from the coronavirus outbreak in mainland China reached at least 1,868 as of the end of Monday, with additional 93 deaths from Hubei and five more in other parts of the country, according to the country's health commission on Tuesday.  The government also reported

France has warned Britain to expect a bruising battle with the EU in post-Brexit trade negotiations. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian predicted the two sides would "rip each other apart" as they strove for advantage in the negotiations. He also said it would be tough for

Two planes carrying Americans from the quarantined cruise ship Diamond Princess have left Japan. The aircraft chartered by the US government departed Tokyo's Haneda Airport in the early hours of Monday, Kyodo news agency reported. There were some 400 Americans on board the ship,

China's National Health Commission has announced that the death toll from the coronavirus outbreak in mailand China reached 1,770 as of the end of Sunday, up by 105 from the previous day.  At least 100 of the new deaths were from the province of Hubei, the epicentre of the

Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday took oath as the chief minister of Delhi, for the third time, at the Ramlila Maidan. The Aam Aadmi Party registered a massive majority in the recently concluded Delhi Assembly election with 62 seats in its kitty. Arvind Kejriwal was

China has announced a drop in new cases from the coronavirus outbreak for a third consecutive day. On Sunday, authorities reported 2,009 new cases and 142 more deaths nationwide. New cases spiked earlier in the week after a change in the way they were counted but have been falling

A warplane belonging to the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen has crashed in the northern province of al-Jawf. A coalition spokesman confirmed that a Saudi Tornado fighter jet had "fallen" while carrying out a support mission near Yemeni army units, according to Saudi Arabia's

Hundreds of people gathered in Mexico City on Friday to protest against the murder of a young woman. Ingrid Escamilla, 25, was stabbed to death allegedly by a man she lived with, who then mutilated her body in an attempt to hide the evidence. Forensic workers leaked images of her

In the past two weeks, three influential Pakistani militants based in Afghanistan have been assassinated, whilst another Pakistani militant group has been targeted in a deadly raid by Afghan Special Forces. The apparent crackdown comes as negotiations between US and Afghan Taliban

A Chinese tourist has died in France after contracting the new coronavirus - the first fatality from the disease outside Asia. The victim was an 80-year-old man from China's Hubei province, according to French Health Minister Agnès Buzyn. He arrived in France on 16 January and

Beijing has ordered everyone returning to the city to go into quarantine for 14 days or risk punishment in the latest attempt to contain the deadly new coronavirus, state media report. Residents were told to "self-quarantine or go to designated venues to quarantine" after returning to

In 2019 global defence spending rose by some 4% over 2018 - the highest year-on-year increase in a decade. The figures are included in this year's Military Balance - the annual publication of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), which is to be launched later

US Attorney General William Barr has said that President Donald Trump "undercuts" him by tweeting, making it "impossible for me to do my job". His criticism of Mr Trump comes amid intense scrutiny of the Justice Department over the handling of a case involving Roger Stone - a convicted

Coronavirus cases are not rising dramatically outside China despite a spike in Hubei province, the World Health Organization (WHO) says. The only exception was on a cruise liner docked in Japan, where 44 new cases were reported, bringing the total there to 218. There was also no

Two Bangladeshis who have been confirmed to be infected with the coronavirus were working at a site to expand aerospace manufacturer Bombardier Aviation's facilities. The works at the site are to extend the company's service centre at 7 and 8 Seletar Aerospace Heights, a

Senior ministers are bracing themselves for Boris Johnson's first major cabinet reshuffle since the Conservatives' general election victory. The PM will make a number of changes over the next 24 hours although it is unclear how wide-ranging they will be. Attorney General