After seizing power, Myanmar military promises new election in a year

Myanmar’s military on Monday pledged the country would hold fresh elections in one year, shortly after arresting de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and seizing power in a coup.

Israel extends nationwide coronavirus lockdown

Israel’s nationwide lockdown was extended Monday to contain the coronavirus which has continued to spread rapidly as the country presses ahead with an aggressive vaccination campaign.

Kremlin defends security forces after pro-Navalny protests

The Kremlin on Monday defended the behaviour of Russian security forces over the weekend during mass arrests of protesters attending rallies in support of jailed dissident Alexei Navalny.

Modi breaks silence on months long farm protests

India’s prime minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday protesters that stormed New Delhi’s Red Fort had caused “insult” to the country, his first public comments on a months-long farmers’ agitation that turned violent last week.

UK opens special visa route for HK to become citizens

Hong Kong residents can apply from Sunday for a new visa offering them an opportunity to become British citizens after Beijing’s imposition of a national security law in the Asian financial hub last year.

Fresh anti-government protests across Russia

A second weekend of unauthorized rallies across Russia to demand the release of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny were under way on Sunday, with dozens of people reported detained in Moscow and elsewhere.

J&J’s COVID-19 vaccine 66% effective in large global trial

Johnson & Johnson said on Friday that its single-dose vaccine was 66% effective in preventing COVID-19 in a large global trial against multiple variants which will give health officials another weapon to tackle the coronavirus.

Portugal parliament approves law to legalise euthanasia

Portugal’s parliament voted on Friday to legalise euthanasia, with the country set to become the seventh in the world to allow terminally ill patients to seek assistance from a doctor to end their life. People aged over 18 will be allowed to request assistance in dying if they are terminally ill and suffering from “lasting” and “unbearable” pain - unless they are deemed not to be mentally fit to make such a decision.

Pakistan Court upholds acquittal in Daniel Pearl murder case

Pakistan’s Supreme Court Thursday upheld the acquittal and ordered the release of a British-born militant convicted of masterminding the kidnap and brutal murder of US journalist Daniel Pearl, who was beheaded by jihadists in 2002.

India says it contains spread of COVID-19, no new cases in fifth of country

India said on Thursday it had curbed an increase in COVID-19 infections, with a fifth of its districts reporting no new cases for a week, even as its immunisation campaign has covered 2.4 million people.

White House denies ‘split’ strategy for COVID-19 relief legislation

The White House on Thursday denied a media report that it could split President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief proposal into two bills, as part of a strategy to get the divided Senate to quickly pass some aid for Americans.

EU tightens export oversight, UK demands its orders

Europe’s fight to secure COVID-19 vaccine supplies intensified on Thursday when the European Union said it would tighten oversight of exports after a row with AstraZeneca and Britain demanded that it receive all the shots it paid for.

Vaccine row with AstraZeneca escalates as EU grapples with delays

The European Union is asking AstraZeneca to publish the contract it signed with the bloc on COVID-19 vaccine supplies, an EU official said on Wednesday, as frustrations over delivery delays bubble to the surface.

Trump impeachment case ‘Dead on arrival’: Rand Paul

Only five Republican senators opposed a motion by colleague Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) to declare Donald Trump’s impeachment trial unconstitutional, signaling that Democrats won’t have enough votes to convict the former president.

Russia, U.S. extend arms pact: Kremlin

Russia and the United States have struck a deal to extend the New START nuclear arms control treaty, the Kremlin said on Tuesday, a move that preserves the last major pact of its kind between the world’s two biggest nuclear powers.

S. Arabia seeks to provide vaccines to Yemen

Saudi Arabia is holding talks with coronavirus vaccine makers to supply low-income countries, including war-torn Yemen, with vaccines, Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan said on Tuesday.

Indian farmers breach Delhi’s Red Fort, clash with police

Tens of thousands of farmers drove convoys of tractors into New Delhi, clashed with the police and stormed the historic Red Fort during a protest against agricultural laws, even as the country celebrated its Republic Day on Tuesday.

House sends Trump impeachment article to Senate, triggering trial

The US House of Representatives presented a single article of impeachment to the Senate on Monday accusing Donald Trump of inciting the storming of the Capitol, setting in motion the first-ever impeachment trial of a former president.

Anger and grief as UK’s COVID-19 death toll nears 100,000

As the United Kingdom’s COVID-19 death toll approaches 100,000, grief-stricken relatives of the dead expressed anger at Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s handling of the worst public health crisis in a century.

India says troops had ‘minor face-off’ with China

Indian and Chinese troops were involved in a “minor face-off” last week in a disputed stretch of their shared border in the eastern Himalayas, the Indian army said on Monday, underlining the fraught situation at the border.

EU states no longer recognise Guaido as Venezuela’s interim president

Venezuela’s Juan Guaido is a “privileged interlocutor” but no longer considered interim president, European Union states said in a statement on Monday, sticking by their decision to downgrade his status.

Eleven trapped miners rescued in China

Chinese rescuers pulled 11 gold miners to safety on Sunday with most of them in good condition after 14 days trapped underground after an explosion, but 10 colleagues were still unaccounted for, state media reported.

New Zealand probes first community COVID case in months

New Zealand health officials said on Sunday they were investigating what they said was probably the country’s first community coronavirus case, in months in a woman who recently returned from overseas.

Biden administration to unveil more climate policies

President Joe Biden’s administration next week will release more policies it believes are needed to tackle climate change and is urging China to toughen one of its targets on greenhouse gas emissions, his top climate advisers said on Saturday.

Republicans seek to delay Trump impeachment trial until February

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is reviewing a request from Republicans to put off the start of former President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial until mid-February, a Schumer spokesman said Thursday.

Unions reject government proposal to suspend laws for 18 months

Protesting farm unions have rejected the Centre’s proposal to suspend the three farm reform laws for one and a half years. They intend to continue their agitation until the three laws are repealed, and a legislation guaranteeing minimum support prices for all farmers is enacted.

Three dead in Russian mine blast

Three people were killed Friday in a gas explosion at a mine in the Russian region of Siberia, prosecutors said.

Biden introduces pandemic initiatives

President Joe Biden launched initiatives on Thursday to rein in the raging COVID-19 pandemic, tackling his top priority on his first full day in the White House as he tries to turn the page on Donald Trump’s tumultuous leadership.

Twin suicide bombings kill 32, injure over 110 in Iraq

At least 32 people were killed in a twin suicide attack that targeted a street market in central Baghdad, the Health Ministry said on Thursday. The updated death toll makes it the most serious attack to hit the Iraqi capital in around three years.

Bangladesh set to begin Covid-19 vaccinations in early February

Bangladesh is set to begin inoculating people against Covid-19 early next month as the South Asian country received a gift of 2 million vaccine doses from neighbouring India, officials said on Thursday.