Globalsecurity.org

In Libya, the two power rivals have opened UN-led talks aimed at ending nearly a decade of political turmoil and warfare by arranging elections across the country.

Talks to draw up a blueprint for a new political era in Libya began in Tunisia on Monday, following a peace deal struck by Libya's warring sides last month.

The US Army has moved to adapt another missile from the US Navy's arsenal for use as a ground-launched weapon: the RIM-174 Standard Extended Range Active Missile (ERAM), better known as the Standard Missile 6 (SM-6).

The total number of COVID-19 cases in the United States reached a grim milestone of 10 million on Monday, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday warned against relaxing efforts to fight the coronavirus pandemic amid looming hopes of a vaccine.

The news that trials for a vaccine from two leading pharmaceutical companies show it to be 90 percent effective against the coronavirus helped send European markets surging and a wave of positive headlines on news sites.

The United States confirmed more than 10 million COVID-19 cases on Monday, just 10 days after hitting 9 million. Experts warned the country is entering the pandemic's worst phase as average daily new infections have exceeded 100,000.

Joe Biden issued a dire warning on Monday as the COVID-19 pandemic continues worsening in the United States.

Two regions in north China's Tianjin Municipality will be classified as medium-risk areas for COVID-19 starting from Tuesday, the municipal health commission said on Monday.

A COVID-19 vaccine candidate developed by Chinese conglomerate Fosun in collaboration with foreign partners Pfizer and BioNTech is "90 percent effective," Fosun chairman Guo Guangchang said Monday, raising hopes the company's coronavirus vaccine will soon be available in China.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky tested positive for COVID-19, the president's office confirmed Monday.

Israeli authorities on Monday announced people arriving from China will no longer be required to stay in self-quarantine.

Italy registered 25,271 new coronavirus cases over the last 24 hours, marking a moderate slowdown compared to the 32,616 new cases reported a day earlier, the Health Ministry said Monday.

French Director-General of Health Jerome Salomon on Monday warned that the most aggressive phase of the epidemic's second wave "is still ahead of us," even if a slowdown in the virus circulation in cities, where curfews were imposed, offered "signs of hope."

Western sanctions were imposed on the Syrian government after the break out of the civil war in the country that has continued up to the present, though Damascus has managed to take back control over most of the country's territory.

Over 6.5 million Syrian refugees are currently outside the country's borders, and their return home would serve the interests of the nations hosting them, including reducing the threat from those "influenced by radicals", Russian President Vladimir Putin told his Syrian counterpart, Bashar Assad, on Monday.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accepted the resignation of Finance Minister Berat Albayrak, the Turkish leader's office said in a statement.

The United States on Monday announced more than a dozen sanctions against Syrian entities and military officials to further pressure the Syrian government.

Myanmar's ruling party, led by de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi, says it has secured enough seats in the parliament to form the next government.

The Pakistani Supreme Court has granted bail to the owner and editor-in-chief of the country's largest independent media group, eight months after his arrest in a case dating back more than 30 years.