Covid origin: If labs are to be investigated, WHO experts should go to Fort Detrick in US, says China As the calls for a second round of investigation into the origins of the coronavirus in China gain momentum, Beijing sharpened its attack on the United States and demanded the World Health Organization (WHO) to inspect a military base in the US instead. Read More
Bhutan’s rapid Covid vaccine rollout hailed as international success story Bhutan has inoculated most of its eligible population with second doses of Covid-19 vaccinations in a week, in a speedy rollout hailed by Unicef as a “success story” for international donations. Read More
This Country Plans To Start Quarantine-Free Travel In September Singapore aims to relax more virus curbs, including starting to allow quarantine-free travel in September, marking the first time it’s set out a timeline to reopen borders that have been mostly shut for more than a year. Read More
Melbourne To Lift Lockdown As Delta Outbreak Contained Melbourne, Australia: Melbourne’s coronavirus lockdown will be lifted late Tuesday, as authorities signalled a Delta variant outbreak in Australia’s second-biggest city had been contained. Read More
World Bank To Finance Extra COVID-19 Vaccines For Poorer Nations Geneva: A new World Bank financing mechanism will allow developing countries to purchase Covid-19 vaccines collectively through the Covax facility, the scheme announced Monday. Read More
US will not lift travel restrictions, citing Delta variant, White House says The United States will not lift any existing travel restrictions “at this point” due to concerns over the highly transmissible Covid-19 Delta variant and the rising number of US coronavirus cases, the White House confirmed on Monday. Read More
Protests over Covid jolt Tunisia, Prez sacks PM Saied sacked Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi and ordered the parliament closed for 30 days, a move that the biggest political party Ennahdha decried as a “coup”, following a day of angry protests against the government’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. Read More
Thailand’s hospitals under pressure as Covid crisis deepens Thailand’s worsening Covid outbreak is placing intense pressure on hospitals, forcing doctors to treat patients in parking lots and turn away people who are severely ill. Read More
UN: Covid hitting poor and conflict nations worse this year The COVID-19 pandemic is hitting conflict-ridden and impoverished countries much worse this year than in 2020, with many facing higher caseloads and rising deaths, the U.N.’s deputy humanitarian chief warned Monday. Read More
At least 57 migrants die in shipwreck off Libyan coast -U.N GENEVA, – At least 57 people drowned on Monday after a boat capsized off the Libyan coast near Khums, the latest tragedy in the central Mediterranean, the U.N.’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) said. Read More