
Russia kept fuel oil exports to the United States close to its record-highs in the first six months of this year, as Washington looks to replace the heavy Venezuelan barrels it stopped buying a year ago, traders said and data showed.

The new coronavirus pandemic raging around the globe will worsen if countries fail to adhere to strict healthcare precautions, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Monday.

Deaths from HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria could surge in poor and middle-income countries as already weak health systems grapple with severe disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a predictive study published on Monday.

China stepped up a travel warning to Australia on Monday, telling its citizens of a risk of being searched arbitrarily by law enforcement authorities, as tensions between both countries grow. The foreign ministry's latest notice comes a month after Beijing warned of discrimination against Chinese people in Australia, telling its citizens not to travel there.

Sweden said on Monday it supported Franco-German efforts for a robust response to China's new security law on Hong Kong, joining Denmark and the Netherlands in pushing the European Union to consider countermeasures on Beijing.

Australia's wool industry has urged caution as politicians seek to steer exporters away from an over-reliance on China. A parliamentary committee is holding hearings on Tuesday and Wednesday as it examines how to diversify Australia's trade and investment profile.

European Ombudsman Emily O'Reilly has opened an inquiry into why the European Commission did not finalize an updated Sustainability Impact Assessment (SIA) before the conclusion of the Mercosur-EU trade agreement in June 2019.

The interior ministers of France and Britain on Sunday signed an agreement creating a new joint police intelligence unit to combat migrant traffickers and reduce the unsustainable numbers crossing the Channel illegally.

Voters in northern Spain wore face masks and used hand sanitizer gel before entering polling stations on Sunday as Galicia and the Basque Country held regional elections while fighting localized outbreaks of COVID-19.

Pope Francis on Sunday joined an international chorus of condemnation of Turkey's decision to convert Istanbul's iconic Hagia Sophia landmark back into a mosque.