The worldwide death toll from the coronavirus has eclipsed 1 million, nine months into a crisis that has devastated the global economy, tested world leaders’ resolve, pitted science against politics and forced multitudes to change the way they live, learn and work.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited a US naval base at Souda Bay on the southern Greek island of Crete Tuesday, ahead of a meeting with Greece’s prime minister on the second day of his trip to the country.

The World Health Organization announced on Monday that it and leading partners have agreed to a plan to roll out 120m rapid-diagnostic tests for the coronavirus to help lower- and middle-income countries make up ground in a testing gap with richer countries, news wires reported.

Face masks with a plastic bit on one side, a valve that makes it easier to breathe out, might be more comfortable for the wearer, but experts say they miss the whole point of wearing masks, in that they don't filter out what you're breathing, dpa reported.

Nobel prize-winning author Svetlana Alexievich, the last member of a galvanized opposition movement's leadership to remain free in Belarus, has fled the country over concern for her safety, dpa learned on Monday. The 72-year-old, who won the 2015 Nobel Prize in Literature, is said to have left the country on a flight by Belarusian airline Belavia en route to Berlin.

Fighting in the biggest flare-up in years between Armenia and neighbouring Azerbaijan continued on Monday, with shelling reported in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. According to media, Armenian and Azeri forces exchanged fierce fire, with the sides accusing each other of using heavy artillery and reports of at least 21 deaths and hundreds of people being wounded.

Brussels and London start a conclusive week of talks on Monday on a new trade deal and implementing their divorce agreement before national leaders assess progress or the danger of a no-deal split on Thursday and Friday.

Saudi Arabia announced on Monday it will hold the G20 summit virtually in November, instead of having leaders of the world's richest nations converge on Riyadh as planned before the coronavirus crisis, news wires reported.

Fighting erupted along the Line of Contact in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict zone, regrettably causing military and civilian casualties, said High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell in a statement on the clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan that broke out earlier on Sunday over the disputed region.

At the referendum on Sunday, Swiss voters widely turned down a proposal of the Swiss People's Party for withdraw from the agreement with the EU allowing the free movement of people. According to the public broadcaster SRF citing preliminary data, 63% of voters had voted against this move. Its supporters are 37%.