Australians may face longer lockdown after “reckless” mass protests

Australia’s New South Wales logged its second-highest daily increase of the year in locally acquired COVID-19 cases on Sunday amid fears of a wave of new infections after thousands of people joined an anti-lockdown protest.

More than 160,000 protest in France against stricter pandemic rules

Around 161,000 people protested in Paris and several other cities in France on Saturday, objecting to new regulations introduced to contain the coronavirus pandemic, even as case numbers rise. Some 11,000 people demonstrated in Paris, according to the Franceinfo television channel, citing the Interior Ministry.

As Taliban advances, Afghan military overhauls war strategy

Reeling from a surge in battlefield losses, Afghanistan’s military is overhauling its war strategy against the Taliban to concentrate forces around the most critical areas like Kabul and other cities, border crossings and vital infrastructure, Afghan and U.S. officials say.

Australian states squabble as NSW seeks COVID vaccine priority

Australia’s largest state of New South Wales on Friday urged the federal government to divert vaccine doses to Sydney, the epicentre of a flaring COVID-19 outbreak, raising objections from other states desperate for protection from the virus.

At least 112 dead in India as rains trigger floods, landslides

At least 112 people have died in the western Indian state of Maharashtra, authorities said on Friday, after torrential monsoon rains caused landslides and flooded low-lying areas, cutting off hundreds of villages.

At least 25 dead in severe flooding in China

The heaviest rains in decades have caused massive flooding in the central Chinese metropolis of Zhengzhou.

Former top aide admits plotting to oust Johnson from office

Describing Boris Johnson being PM as “terrible for the country,” Dominic Cummings has revealed that he and other Downing Street aides had plotted to oust him from office just weeks after their landslide December 2019 election win.

India reports 3,998 Covid deaths after state data correction

India reported its highest death toll in a month on Wednesday - at nearly 4,000 - after its richest state reconciled its death count with 3,509 previously unreported fatalities, the health ministry said.

Global quest underway to speed COVID-19 vaccine trials

Scientists are working on a benchmark for COVID-19 vaccine efficacy that would allow drugmakers to conduct smaller, speedier human trials to get them to market and address a huge global vaccine shortage.

UK PM resisted 2nd lockdown as ‘most dying over 80’: Ex-aide

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson sought to avoid a second lockdown last autumn, arguing that most of those dying were over 80, according to his former aide-turned bitter foe Dominic Cummings.

India’s deaths during pandemic 10 times official toll: Study

The number of excess deaths in India during the coronavirus pandemic could be 10 times higher than the official toll from the disease, research published on Tuesday said.

US, allies accuse China of global cyber hacking campaign

The United States and a coalition of allies accused China on Monday of a global cyber hacking campaign that employed contract hackers, specifically attributing a large Microsoft attack disclosed earlier this year to actors working on Beijing’s behalf.

Turkey condemns top EU court’s headscarf decision

The Turkish government has condemned a decision by the European Union’s top court that leaves the door open for employers in the bloc to enforce headscarf bans on their workforce.

‘It’s terrifying’: Merkel shaken as flood deaths rise to 188 in Europe

German Chancellor Angela Merkel described the flooding that has devastated parts of Europe as “terrifying” on Sunday after the death toll across the region rose to 188 and a district of Bavaria was battered by the extreme weather.

Indonesia reports record number of doctor deaths from COVID-19

Deaths of doctors from COVID-19 in Indonesia rose sharply in the first half of July, according to the profession’s association, as the Delta variant of the coronavirus fuelled a surge in infections across the country.

Delta variant cases among fully vaccinated people cause worry in Australia

The highly contagious Delta variant has caused the biggest threat to Australia’s coronavirus disease (Covid-19) response in months as the number of fully vaccinated people catching the infection is rising. A nurse at Westmead Hospital in New South Wales and a worker at the Brisbane international airport are reported to have Covid-19 despite being fully vaccinated against the disease, according to The Guardian.

Floodwaters still rising in western Europe, death toll over 110

More than 1,000 people were missing in flood-stricken regions of western Germany and Belgium on Friday, where waters were still rising with the death toll already well over 100 and communications in some areas cut.

WHO proposes fresh mission to China and lab audits

The World Health Organization has proposed a second phase of studies in China into the origins of the coronavirus, including audits of laboratories in Wuhan, but there is no sign yet that Beijing would accept a further international probe, diplomats said.

Sydney extends lockdown as COVID-19 outbreak nears 900 infections

Australian authorities extended a lockdown in Sydney on Wednesday by at least 14 days after three weeks of initial restrictions failed to stamp out the biggest outbreak of COVID-19 this year in the country’s largest city.

EU unveils sweeping climate change plan

European Union policymakers on Wednesday unveiled their most ambitious plan yet to tackle climate change, aiming to turn green goals into concrete action this decade, and in doing so lead the way for the world’s other big economies.

S.African crowds rampage, hospital operations disrupted

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Wednesday he might order more troops onto the streets as the army and police struggled to quell days of looting and violence, while some citizens armed themselves to protect their property and businesses from the rampage.

Afghanistan on brink of humanitarian crisis: UN refugee agency

More Afghans are likely to flee their homes due to escalating violence, the U.N. refugee agency warned on Tuesday, as the Taliban take control of more territory in response to the withdrawal of U.S.-led foreign forces.

Worst violence in years spreads in S.Africa as grievances boil over

Crowds clashed with police and ransacked or burned shopping malls in South Africa on Tuesday, with dozens reported killed as grievances unleashed by the jailing of former president Jacob Zuma boiled over into the worst violence in years.

Anger mounts after 92 killed in Iraq COVID hospital fire

The death toll from a fire that tore through a coronavirus hospital in southern Iraq rose to 92, health officials said on Tuesday, as authorities faced accusations of negligence from grieving relatives and a doctor who works there.

Cuba sees biggest protests in decades as pandemic adds to woes

Chanting “freedom” and calling for President Miguel Diaz-Canel to step down, thousands of Cubans joined street protests from Havana to Santiago on Sunday in the biggest anti-government demonstrations on the Communist-run island in decades.

North Korea dismisses US humanitarian aid as ‘sinister scheme’

US humanitarian aid is a “sinister political scheme” to put pressure on other countries, a North Korean researcher said, after suggestions from US allies such as South Korea that coronavirus vaccines or other help could promote cooperation.

How Bodh Gaya averted an Ayodhya

The dispute over Ram’s birthplace in Ayodhya between Hindu extremists and Muslims, led to the destruction of the Babri Masjid in December 1992. But a similar problem over ownership of the Mahabodhi Temple at Bodh Gaya was amicably resolved in Bihar’s Bodh Gaya without violence or turmoil

Violence spreads to S.Africa’s economic hub in wake of Zuma jailing

Shops were looted overnight, a section of the M2 highway was closed and stick-wielding protesters marched through the streets of Johannesburg on Sunday, as sporadic acts of violence following the jailing of former South African President Jacob Zuma spread to the country’s main economic hub.

Gang boss wades into Haiti turmoil, sees conspiracy behind president’s killing

One of Haiti’s most powerful gang leaders said on Saturday his men would take to the streets to protest the assassination of President Jovenel Moise, threatening to pitch the impoverished Caribbean country deeper into chaos.

Virgin Galactic’s Branson takes off for high-altitude launch into space

A twin-fuselage jet took off on Sunday carrying a Virgin Galactic rocket plane primed to soar more than 50 miles above the New Mexico desert with British billionaire Richard Branson aboard in the vehicle’s first fully crewed test flight to space.