South Africa will begin its coronavirus inoculation campaign with Johnson & Johnson vaccines, the health minister said on Wednesday, after withholding the Oxford/AstraZeneca formula over doubts about effectiveness. The country worst-hit by the pand...

North Korea has stolen more than $300 million worth of cryptocurrencies through cyberattacks in recent months to support its banned nuclear and ballistic missile programmes, a confidential UN report said.  

Japanese sensation Naomi Osaka thwarted Caroline Garcia on Wednesday with an effortless straight sets victory, as she stormed into the Australian Open third round. Osaka, the third seed, faced a tricky contest against the Frenchwoman, who was rank...

Unknown before the pandemic, Spain's former health minister Salvador Illa is hoping to unseat Catalonia's ruling separatists in Sunday's regional election, embodying Madrid's desire to turn the page on the independence crisis. Prime Minister Pedro...

Fighting between pro-government forces and rebel groups in the Central African Republic have forced thousands of families to flee their homes. Living in precarious conditions in a schoolyard on the outskirts of the capital, Bangui, displaced villag...

Populist Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr said Wednesday he backed early elections overseen by the UN, in a rare press conference outside his home in the Iraqi shrine city of Najaf. Iraq is meant to hold early parliamentary elections this year, a central...

A crashed Indonesian passenger jet's throttles showed an "anomaly" and had been repaired several times before the deadly accident, but the exact cause of last month's fatal dive was still unclear, investigators said Wednesday. A potential malfuncti...

The Dallas Mavericks have opted to stop playing the US national anthem before games this season, reports said Tuesday, breaking with a pre-game ritual that is widespread in American sport. The Athletic website said the Mavericks' policy against pla...

Pakistan are hoping to turn their Twenty20 fortunes around when they take on a depleted South Africa in a three-match series starting in Lahore on Thursday. The hosts have won just one of their last eight Twenty20 series, with victory coming agains...

Eight-time champion Novak Djokovic was made to sweat at the Australian Open on Wednesday as Serena Williams made serene progress in her bid for a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title. As major-winners Stan Wawrinka, Bianca Andreescu and Petra Kvi...

Japan will start coronavirus vaccinations next week, its prime minister said Wednesday, but it is scrambling to secure suitable syringes so doses won't go to waste. The country has reached deals with three major drug firms to buy enough vaccine dos...

Tokyo 2020 organisers said Wednesday they will meet this week to discuss sexist comments made by their embattled president, as a heavyweight sponsor said the remarks were contrary to the Olympic spirit. Tokyo's governor turned up the heat further, ...

Hungary's leading independent radio station Klubradio lost an appeal Tuesday to keep its broadcasting licence after the country's media regulator said it had infringed administrative rules, raising new press freedom concerns in the EU member state.

Pumped-up defending champion Novak Djokovic survived a serious scare Wednesday from dangerous American Frances Tiafoe, who pushed him to four gruelling sets before the world number one prevailed. The Serbian top seed looked in control after taking ...

At least two people, including a local police chief, were killed after multiple bomb blasts rocked the Afghan capital early Wednesday, officials said. The latest violence in Kabul follows a pattern of attacks during morning rush-hour traffic target...