China on Wednesday dismissed the United States' declaration that Beijing was committing genocide against Uighurs and other minorities as "outrageous lies" and "poison".

US President-elect Joe Biden announced Friday he would surge federal resources into making "thousands" of vaccine sites, while also deploying mobile clinics and expanding the public health workforce to accelerate the rollout of Covid-19 shots.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo alleged Friday there were Covid-like illnesses among staff at a Chinese virology institute in autumn 2019, casting further blame on Beijing as health experts arrived in the country to probe the pandemic's origins.

President-elect Joe Biden will propose injecting $1.9 trillion into the US economy when he takes office next week, as evidence mounts that the recovery from the sharp downturn caused by Covid-19 is flagging.

Turkey's defence minister has called on the United States to reopen talks about Ankara's controversial purchase of a Russian air defence system, urging Washington to move past sanctions and threats.

US lawmakers who refuse to go through metal detectors installed at the House of Representatives after last week's Capitol riot will be fined, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said late Wednesday.

The US Supreme Court cleared the way Wednesday for the first execution of a woman in decades -- despite doubts about her mental state -- after the government of President Donald Trump pushed for the application of the death penalty. 

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said the United States is his nuclear-armed nation's "principal enemy", state media reported Saturday, as he threw down the diplomatic gauntlet to the incoming administration of Joe Biden.

Two members of Donald Trump's cabinet resigned Thursday with days left in the administration in protest over the storming of the Capitol by a mob of the president's supporters.

Russia said Tuesday it had dismantled an international drug smuggling network as part of a collaborative operation with the United States, in a rare show of cooperation between Washington and Moscow.

The Federal Security Service (FSB) said it had carried out a multi-stage mission with the US Department of Justice that ended with the seizure of 330 kilograms of cocaine with an estimated street value of $1 billion.