The number of nations with more than 1 million confirmed COVID-19 cases has risen to seven.Spain and France are the latest nations to reach the unfortunate mark, according to data compiled by the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center. The United States tops the list with more than 8.3 million …

Having a cold might protect sufferers from a severe case of COVID-19, new research shows.COVID-19 patients who had recently been infected with a common cold virus were less likely to die or require intensive care compared with those who did not have a recent cold, according to the study published …

The U.S. Justice Department said Wednesday that Purdue Pharma, maker of the powerful opioid painkiller OxyContin, pleaded guilty to three federal criminal charges and agreed to pay more than $8 billion in fines.   OxyContin is a prescription drug that many experts said helped spark a nationwide opioid epidemic in …

British Prime Boris Johnson pushed back again Wednesday on opposition efforts to implement a two-week “circuit-breaker” nationwide lockdown to stem the spread of coronavirus cases in the country.In the House of Commons, Opposition Labor Party leader Keir Starmer said Johnson’s regional three-tiered alert system has not been working and that …

A Senegalese anti-cancer group is encouraging women to get mammograms after a drop in the number of women getting screened because of coronavirus concerns, as Estelle Ndjandjo reports from Dakar.Camera: Estelle NdjandjoProduced by: Barry Unger …

A spacecraft from the U.S. space agency NASA briefly touched an asteroid Tuesday on a mission to collect dust and pebbles to bring back to Earth.The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft — an acronym for Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer — carried out the operation on the asteroid Bennu located about …

Hispanics, Blacks and Asian Americans in the U.S. have been dying at disproportionately higher rates from the coronavirus compared to white Americans, government health experts reported Tuesday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a new report that from late January — when the pandemic first hit U.S. shores …

U.S. first lady Melania Trump will not join President Donald Trump on the campaign trail Tuesday because of a lingering cough from COVID-19, according to her chief of staff, Stephanie Grisham. Grisham said Tuesday that Mrs. Trump’s health continues to improve daily after she and the president announced in early October …

Britain’s finance minister Tuesday defended the government’s localized three-tiered approach to fighting the spread of COVID-19 in the country, saying another national lockdown would carry too heavy a cost.Finance Chief Rishi Sunak, also known as the Chancellor of the Exchequer, spoke to the House of Commons Tuesday about the government’s …

The World Food Program reports food insecurity is increasing worldwide because of the devastating socio-economic impact of COVID-19, with tens of millions of people on the verge of famine.Hunger is on the rise as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage across the world. Last year, the World Food Program, the …

Argentina is now the world’s fifth country with more than one million confirmed COVID-19 cases.  Data collected by Johns Hopkins University’s Coronavirus Resource Center shows the South American country has 1,002,662 total cases.  Argentina is in fifth place behind the United States (8.2 million), India (7.5 million), Brazil (5.2 million) …

Former Honduran President Manuel Zelaya is taking part in Phase 3 trials of a potential coronavirus vaccine.  Venezuelan state television showed Zelaya receiving a shot of Russia’s experimental Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine in Caracas on Monday.  Venezuela is the first Latin American country to participate in the testing process.FILE – A Russian medical worker administers a shot of Russia’s experimental Sputnik V coronavirus …

The world has now surpassed 40 million confirmed cases of coronavirus infections, as surges of cases in Europe and the United States have led to more restrictions on residents. According to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, 40.2 million people have been infected with the virus as of Monday evening, and …

The World Health Organization says 184 countries have now joined the COVID-19 global vaccine alliance, known as COVAX, designed to speed development and ensure distribution of viable vaccines and treatments for the ailment caused by the coronavirus.At the organization’s Monday briefing at its headquarters in Geneva, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom …

President Donald Trump’s predictions that a coronavirus vaccine would be ready before Election Day, Nov. 3, will not be met. On Friday, pharmaceutical giant Pfizer announced it would not seek emergency authorization to release its coronavirus vaccine until late November.  Two other vaccine frontrunners are on hold. A fourth is unlikely to …

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been urging Germany’s young people to observe tightening pandemic restrictions. “Do without a few parties,” she has told them.  Once seen as a model to follow in the fight against the coronavirus, Germany is now struggling to contain the pandemic and is seeing an alarming …

Officials in Wales announced Monday they will impose a two-week “firebreak” lockdown effective Friday, requiring all but essential workers to stay at home to combat an accelerating second wave of the COVID-19 outbreak. Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford announced the move at a news conference, saying the lockdown will be in …

Officials in Australia’s Victoria state, once the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in the country, began loosening lockdown restrictions Monday as new and active cases continued to decline.As of Monday, residents of the state — which includes Melbourne, Australia’s second-largest city — will no longer face limits on the time they can …

The world has now surpassed 40 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 infections. According to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, 40,050,902 people have been infected with the disease as of early Monday morning, and more than 1.1 million have died.  The most recent cases include Saeb Erekat, the veteran Palestinian negotiator and …

Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center reported early Sunday that there are nearly 39.7 million COVID-19 infections worldwide and 1.1 million deaths from the virus.  The U.S. continues to lead the world in COVID cases, with 8.1 million infections. India said Sunday it had recorded more than 61,000 COVID-19 cases in the previous …

After circling an ancient asteroid hundreds of millions of miles away for almost two years, a NASA spacecraft this week will attempt to descend to the treacherous, boulder-packed surface and snatch a handful of rubble.  The drama unfolds Tuesday as the U.S. takes its first crack at collecting asteroid samples …

Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center reported early Sunday that there are nearly 39.7 million COVID-19 infections worldwide and 1.1 million deaths from the virus.The U.S. continues to lead the world in COVID cases, with 8.1 million infections.India said Sunday it had recorded more than 61,000 COVID-19 cases in the previous …

Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center reported early Sunday that there are nearly 39.7 million COVID-19 infections worldwide and 1.1 million deaths from the virus.The U.S. continues to lead the world in COVID cases, with 8.1 million infections.India said Sunday it had recorded more than 61,000 COVID-19 cases in the previous …

Rural Jerauld County in South Dakota didn’t see a single case of the coronavirus for more than two months stretching from June to August. But over the last two weeks, its rate of new cases per person soared to one of the highest in the nation.”All of a sudden it …

Daily cases of COVID-19 have reached record highs around the world, particularly in Europe and the Americas, the World Health Organization said Friday.WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a briefing in Geneva that record-high numbers of cases were reported in each of the last four days.“We must remember that …