Sri Lanka's former president Mahinda Rajapaka was sworn in on Sunday as the country's new prime minister at a historic Buddhist temple, days after his party won a landslide victory in the General Election.

Beirut: Police fired tear gas and clashed with demonstrators in Lebanon's capital on Saturday at the start of a planned protest over this week's massive explosion that devastated large parts of the capital and killed more than 150 people.

Beijing: The incubation period of COVID-19, which is the time after which those infected with the novel coronavirus start showing the first symptoms, could be as much as eight days -- longer than previous estimates of four to five days says a new study which involved the largest amount of patient samples to date in such an analysis.

The Indian Ocean island of Mauritius declared a state of environmental emergency late Friday after a Japanese-owned ship that ran aground offshore days ago began spilling tons of fuel.

Moscow: Russia boasts that it's about to become the first country to approve a COVID-19 vaccine, with mass vaccinations planned as early as October using shots that are yet to complete clinical trials -- and scientists worldwide are sounding the alarm that the headlong rush could backfire.

Beirut: Lebanon's state-run news agency says 16 employees at Beirut's port have been detained over this week's explosion that killed more than 100 people and wounded thousands.

Washington: The US has lifted the highest level of its global health travel advisory for Americans due to the coronavirus pandemic and restored the previous country-specific system without changing the status of over 50 countries, including that of India and China.

US ambassador says Iran is world No. 1 sponsor of terrorism