The director-general of the World Health Organization has condemned a "lack of leadership" in fighting the coronavirus pandemic and made an emotional plea for global unity, as cases soar in multiple countries and the world struggles to contain the devastating virus more than six months after it was first identified.

Authorities in Kazakhstan have denied a report published by Chinese officials that the country is experiencing an outbreak of "unknown pneumonia" potentially deadlier than the novel coronavirus.

President Donald Trump commuted the prison sentence of his friend and former political adviser, Roger Stone, days before Stone was set to report to a federal prison in Georgia, according to the White House.