The United Nations human rights chief voiced alarm on Tuesday at reports of a heavy buildup of tanks and artillery around the Tigrayan regional capital of Mekelle after the Ethiopian government’s ultimatum to surrender before a threatened attack.

China said the US is trying to “create chaos” in the Asia-Pacific, a day after US national security adviser Robert O’Brien, on a visit to the Philippines, backed countries in maritime disputes with China and accused Beijing of using military pressure to further its own interests.

US President-elect Joe Biden on Monday appointed John Kerry as his special presidential envoy for climate, underscoring his commitment to tackling the global crisis and offering a symbolic rebuke to President Donald Trump’s lack of leadership on the issue.

Iran expects foreign companies to return to the country if US sanctions are lifted under President-elect Joe Biden and some firms have made initial contacts already, government spokesman Ali Rabiei said on Tuesday.

The world’s poorest and most vulnerable must not be “trampled in the stampede” for COVID-19 vaccines, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) warned.

On August 25, Hannah Gittings watched in horror as her friend Anthony Huber was fatally shot during a demonstration in Kenosha, Wisconsin, the US, to protest the police killing of a black man at the hands of police.

Almost two-thirds of people in China believe corruption has decreased in their country in the past year, with more than 80 percent saying the government has done a good job in combatting it, a new report said.

When Kuwait emerged from a months-long coronavirus lockdown, hundreds of Kuwaitis flocked to reopened stores, the lines clogging malls, snaking through hallways and spilling onto sidewalks.

The coronavirus vaccine developed by the University of Oxford is highly effective at stopping people developing COVID-19 symptoms, a large trial showed.

Stocks gained on Tuesday as the formal go-ahead for US President-elect Joe Biden to begin his transition added to an already brighter mood from progress made on COVID-19 vaccines and the prospects for a speedy global economic revival.