US President Donald Trump has cut funding to the World Health Organisation (WHO), claiming it had "failed" in its response to the coronavirus outbreak.
"I am directing my administration to halt funding while a review is conducted to assess the WHO's role in severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus," he told a White House news conference.
"The WHO failed in this basic duty and must be held accountable."
The US contributes roughly 15 per cent of its budget, making it the biggest overall donor to the WHO.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed disappointment at Trump's decision, saying it was not the time to reduce resources for the WHO.
"Now is the time for unity and for the international community to work together in solidarity to stop this virus and its shattering consequences," he said in a statement.
So far, the coronavirus has infected more than 1.9 million people around the world and killed over 126,000 people.
Thousands of Israelis have protested demanding Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accept a ceasefire agreement with Hamas that would see the remaining Israeli hostages brought home from Gaza.
Russia has opened a criminal case against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and put him on a wanted list, the state news agency TASS reported on Saturday, citing the Interior Ministry's database.
The death toll from rains in Brazil's southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul rose to 56, local authorities said on Saturday morning, while dozens still have not been accounted for.
Hamas has said it is sending a delegation to Cairo on Saturday to discuss a deal for a truce and the release of hostages in Gaza, hours after US CIA Director William Burns arrived in the Egyptian capital, according to Egyptian sources.