Worldwide

New Zealand will lift its partial suspension of a “travel bubble” with Australia from midnight on Sunday as fears of a COVID-19 outbreak in Sydney eased. New Zealand had blocked travel to and from New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state, on Thursday after a couple in Sydney with no …

Officers fatally shot an armed suspect outside a burning home, police said. Three people are dead, including a suspected shooter, and two injured following reports of an active shooter and fire at a home in Baltimore County, Maryland, authorities said. Police officers responding to the Woodlawn neighborhood, west of Baltimore, …

The government has imposed the most severe restrictions since a one-month lockdown in April last year. Pakistan on Saturday began a nine-day shutdown affecting travel and tourist hotspots in a bid to prevent a surge in COVID-19 cases during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr. Already battling the third wave …

Scotland’s governing Scottish National Party was on course Saturday to win its fourth straight parliamentary election and very close to securing a majority that would enable it to make a push for another referendum on independence from the U.K. With 60 constituencies counted, the SNP had won 51 of the …

Amnesty International says the anti-drug trafficking operation in Jacarezinho favela ‘reprehensible and unjustifiable’. The death toll from a Brazilian police raid this week in a Rio de Janeiro favela has increased to 28, a police official said late on Friday, as international human rights groups condemned the violence. One police …

The EU has concluded a deal with Pfizer-BioNTech for up to 1.8 billion extra doses of its Covid-19 vaccine, according to European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen. “Happy to announce that the EU Commission has just approved a contract for guaranteed 900 million doses (+900 million options) with Pfizer-BioNTech …

Amnesty International has apologised to Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny and reversed a decision to stop calling him a “prisoner of conscience”. The human rights organisation took the decision earlier this year after concerns were raised about past comments he made. In a statement, Amnesty called for Navalny’s “immediate and …

A heavy explosion rattled the Dasht-e-Barchi area in Kabul city on Saturday afternoon, sources said. The Ministry of Interior (MoI) stated that a blast happened close to Sayeed-ul-Shuhada School in PD13 of Kabul city at around 4:27 pm Saturday. At least 25 people were killed and 50 others wounded in …

Military authorities had banned the protest called by a coalition of opposition political parties and civil society organizations. Police in Chad’s capital, N’Djamena, have fired tear gas to disperse crowds protesting against a military takeover that followed the death of longtime President Idriss Deby on the battlefield last month. The …

More than 200 wounded in Al-Aqsa amid growing anger over Israeli plans to evict Palestinian families from occupied East Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah. More than 200 people, mostly Palestinians, were wounded late on Friday outside the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem as Israeli police fired rubber-coated metal bullets and stun …

The European Union is sceptical about the usefulness of waiving patent rights to COVID-19 vaccines as a way to fight the pandemic but is ready to discuss a concrete proposal, the chairman of EU leaders Charles Michel said on Saturday. Speaking to reporters before the second day of an EU …

The operator of the system, Colonial Pipeline, said it had shut down its 5,500 miles of pipeline, which takes refined gasoline and jet fuel along the East Coast. A cyberattack forced the shutdown of one of the largest pipelines in the United States, in what appeared to be a significant …

Tens of thousands of Palestinian worshippers earlier packed the mosque on the final Friday of Ramadan and many stayed to protest. Israel braced for more protests on Saturday after the violence at East Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound wounded more than 200 people as the international community called for calm …

India recorded more than 4,000 coronavirus deaths in a day for the first time as more states imposed lockdowns in a desperate bid to halt the devastating new COVID-19 surge. The 4,187 new deaths took India’s overall toll to 238,270 since the pandemic started. It added another 401,078 new cases …

Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs commented on the storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque by the Israeli forces, confirming that the government stands in solidarity with the people of Al-Quds Al-Sharif. “Iraqi government condemns the Israeli forces storming the Al-Aqsa Mosque, practicing intimidation and spreading terror among the Palestinian worshipers”, in …

Four former Minneapolis police officers face federal civil rights charges for their role in the arrest and murder of George Floyd, according to court documents unsealed on Friday, showing the Justice Department’s tougher stance in such cases. A grand jury issued a three-count indictment charging Derek Chauvin – the white …

Australia will lift a ban on its citizens returning from COVID-ravaged India next week, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Friday, as state officials reported that an outbreak in Sydney appeared to be contained. Morrison stood by his decision to impose a biosecurity order last month barring all travel …

Armed groups displace some 17,500 people in Burkina Faso in recent days, UNHCR says, in an attempt to cause ‘mayhem’. More than 17,500 people in Burkina Faso have been forcefully displaced from their homes in the past 10 days due to a series of attacks by unidentified armed groups that …

French FM slams Lebanese politicians for failing to pull the country out of its economic meltdown or form a government. France’s top diplomat has threatened Lebanon with more sanctions to prevent what he described as a “collective suicide” organised by members of the country’s ruling political class. Lebanon’s leaders had …

Imran Khan’s visit to Riyadh is a significant move to rebuild relations between the historic allies following recent setbacks, say, analysts. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan has started a three-day visit to Saudi Arabia in an effort to reset relations after tensions between the longtime allies in recent years. Khan’s …