The world economy has risen from the depths of the initial COVID-19 plunge. But the recovery has been tepid, uneven, and fragile – and is likely to remain so for the foreseeable future.Start with the good news.

China on Thursday lashed out at the United States (US) at a high-level United Nations (UN) meeting over its criticism on the coronavirus, with its envoy declaring, "Enough is enough!"Two days after President Donald Trump used his annual address to the General Assembly to attack China's record, the US ambassador to the UN also took an outraged tone – after which her Chinese counterpart showed palpable anger."I must say, enough is enough!

The United Nations (UN) turns 75 this autumn, and if this were a normal year, many of the world’s leaders would gather in New York City to celebrate this milestone and open the annual meeting of the General Assembly. But this year is anything but normal.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said Friday it did not expect widespread immunisation against the novel coronavirus until mid-2021, tempering hopes just as research revealed encouraging early results from a Russian vaccine.The virus which has killed nearly 870,000 people worldwide continues to spread, with Italy's flamboyant former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi now in hospital after becoming the latest high-profile figure to test positive for COVID-19.Across the world, governments

Following a crushing re-election victory for Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko in disputed polls which led to anti-government protests seeking to oust him; here is a recap of a week of drama in the ex-Soviet country.Vote Sparks ViolenceOn 9 August, 2020, Lukashenko, 65, who has ruled Belarus with an iron fist since 1994, runs for a sixth term in presidential elections.His main rival is the 37-year-old political novice Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who decided to run for president after her blo

Coronavirus cases worldwide are fast approaching the 22 million mark with over 700,000 fatalities related to the disease. As the pandemic threatens lives, ravages livelihoods, businesses and the economy in general, scientists across the world are racing to develop a vaccine for the illness.

The Philippines will begin large-scale human testing of Russia's coronavirus vaccine in October, but President Rodrigo Duterte will not receive the inoculation until regulators guarantee its safety, his spokesman said Thursday.Duterte had offered himself up as a guinea pig for the very first jab, expressing "huge trust" in the vaccine, despite growing scepticism about its effectiveness.But his spokesman Harry Roque said the president was scheduled to receive the vaccine no earl

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte will be a guinea pig for a controversial Russian coronavirus vaccine, his spokesman said on Wednesday, as the Southeast Asian nation emerged as a frontrunner for overseas clinical trials.Moscow says it has developed the world's first vaccine offering "sustainable immunity" against the virus and is in the final stage of tests involving 2,000 people.However, Western scientists have previously raised concerns about the speed of development of R

Last week, a warehouse stocked with nearly 3,000 tons of ammonium nitrate blew up, laying waste to the port of Beirut and ripping through much of the rest of the Lebanese capital. At least 137 people were killed, thousands were wounded, and hundreds of thousands were rendered homeless.

Anthony Fauci, the United States' (US) top infectious disease official, raised concerns Friday regarding the safety of COVID-19 vaccines under development by China and Russia.Several Chinese companies are at the forefront of the global vaccine race, while Russia has said it hopes to be the first in the world to produce a vaccine for the public, with a target date of September.But the medicines will likely face heightened scrutiny given that the regulatory systems in both countries are ve