The Taliban militant group captures a key district in Afghanistan’s central province of Wardak, despite the announcement of a three-day ceasefire for the Eid al-Fitr holiday.

The French government is planning to deploy 100,000 police forces and gendarmes across the country on New Year’s Eve in an attempt to enforce a strict curfew.

Belarusian Interior Ministry confirms hundreds of arrests made during Sunday's unauthorized protests.

Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev says there are still no grounds to suspect criminality in the case of opposition figure Alexei Navalny, who has been hospitalized in Germany with alleged poisoning.

More than 60 people are still missing four days after a massive explosion in Beirut on Tuesday, a Lebanese health ministry official says.

Turkey says its first cases of the new coronavirus were detected among those returning from Saudi Arabia, accusing Riyadh of concealing the number of patients among pilgrims.

Unidentified gunmen have attacked a Sikh-Hindu temple in the Afghan capital, Kabul, taking up to 200 worshipers hostage.