Asian stocks rose Monday as investors looked ahead to quarterly US economic data amid unease about anti-coronavirus curbs on business and wrangling over the American presidential election.

By David Berreby

The dollar dropped to a two-and-a-half year low as fast-tracked plans to roll out a coronavirus vaccine in the US bolstered appetite for risk assets.

Forest officials in India’s southern Tamil Nadu state said they used a crane to pull an elephant from a well after working for more than 12 hours to rescue the animal.

Oil prices extended gains on Monday as traders eyed a recovery in crude demand thanks to successful coronavirus vaccine trials, although prices were contained by renewed lockdowns in several countries.

Arts & Culture Desk

Dozens of Arab authors and intellectuals called for a boycott of book awards funded by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in protest at a normalization deal between Abu Dhabi and the occupying Israeli regime.

American documentarian and Press TV anchor Marzieh Hashemi said the Resistance International Film Festival (RIFF) brings together the currents of resistance in the world.

Arts & Culture Desk

Dusting off an 8,000-year-old Irish elk skeleton is no simple task — especially when it’s three meters wide, two meters tall, has giant antlers and is suspended in the air.