Navalny slams ‘illegal’ Russian case against him
Russian anti-Putin campaigner Alexei Navalny has denounced his detention as “demonstratively illegal” in an appeal hearing via video link. A judge heard, and then rejected, his appeal against detention for 30 days. He was arrested on 17 January for not complying with a suspended sentence....
Coronavirus: Germany facing ’10 tough weeks’ of vaccine shortages
Germany is likely to face a shortage of coronavirus vaccines until at least April, the country’s health minister has warned. “We will still have at least 10 tough weeks with a shortage,” Jens Spahn wrote on Twitter. The pace of Germany’s rollout has been criticised,...
Covid: WHO probe team in China exits Wuhan quarantine
A World Health Organization (WHO) team has come out of quarantine and will start on-the-ground investigations into the origins of the coronavirus in the Chinese city of Wuhan. The scientists will begin interviewing people from research institutes, hospitals and the seafood market linked to the...
Coronavirus: Man killed at protest against Lebanon’s total lockdown
A man has died after protesters angry with a total coronavirus lockdown and dire economic conditions clashed with riot police in the Lebanese city of Tripoli for a third consecutive night. Omar Tayba, 29, was among 220 people injured during the unrest. His brother said...
Carlos Holmes Trujillo: Colombian defence minister dies with Covid-19
Colombia’s defence minister has died in hospital after contracting coronavirus, the government has announced. Carlos Holmes Trujillo, 69, was taken to hospital with Covid-19 earlier this month and had developed viral pneumonia. “Colombia has lost one of its best men,” President Ivan Duque said on...
Coronavirus: EU to tighten vaccine exports amid row with AstraZeneca
The EU has warned it will tighten exports of Covid vaccines produced in the bloc, amid a row with AstraZeneca over a cut in planned supplies. Last week, AstraZeneca told the EU it was falling behind on its supply target because of production problems. Pfizer-BioNTech...
Italian PM Conte to resign following pandemic criticism
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte is set to hand in his resignation on Tuesday, following criticism of his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. More than 85,000 Italians have died with Covid-19. Mr Conte hopes to be given a mandate by the president to form a...
Japan’s daily coronavirus cases fall below 3,000 for first time since December
Japan confirmed 2,765 new coronavirus infections on Monday, falling below 3,000 new daily cases for the first time since December 28, according to the country’s Health Ministry. The country’s total number of cases now stands at 368,855, with the death toll rising by 74 Monday...
0.01% of people tested positive for coronavirus after two vaccine doses, Israeli data shows
About 0.01% of a large group of people who received two doses of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine tested positive for coronavirus after their second shot — and those patients had only a mild illness, according to preliminary data from an Israeli health care system. Maccabi Healthcare...
Biden to sign 10 executive orders to tackle Covid
President Joe Biden is set to sign 10 executive orders to boost the fight against Covid which has ravaged the US. Vaccination will be accelerated and testing increased. Emergency legislation will be used to increase production of essentials like masks. In a break with former...
Biden inauguration: Trump leaves White House vowing ‘we will be back’
Donald Trump has vowed he will be “back in some form” after departing the White House for the final time as president. He told supporters as he prepared to fly to Florida that it had been “a great honour to be your president”. He is...
Kamala Harris becomes first female, first black and first Asian-American VP
Kamala Harris has made history as the first female, first black and first Asian-American US vice-president. She was sworn in just before Joe Biden took the oath of office to become the 46th US president. Ms Harris, who is of Indian-Jamaican heritage, initially ran for...
UK and EU in row over bloc’s diplomatic status
A diplomatic row has broken out between the UK and EU over the status of the bloc’s ambassador in London. The UK is refusing to give Joao Vale de Almeida the full diplomatic status that is granted to other ambassadors. The Foreign Office is insisting...
Migrant caravan: Mexico presses US to reform immigration policies
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has urged the US to make major reforms to its immigration policy as thousands of migrants were blocked by police in neighbouring Guatemala. Mr Lopez Obrador said he was hopeful that President-elect Joe Biden would agree to work with...
Iraq attack: Twin suicide bombings in central Baghdad kill 20
At least 20 people have been killed and 40 others injured in a twin suicide bombing at a crowded commercial area in Iraq’s capital, Baghdad, officials say. The bombers blew themselves up at a clothing market in Tayaran Square as they were pursued by security...
Inauguration 2021: What happens on the day Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are sworn in?
President-elect Joe Biden will not officially make his move to the White House until inauguration day – a political parade of sorts, when the Democrat and his Vice-President Kamala Harris take the oath of office. From Covid-19 protocols, to security concerns, to an appearance from...
Coronavirus: EU anger over delayed Pfizer vaccine deliveries
Several EU countries are receiving significantly fewer doses of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine than expected, after the US firm slowed shipments. Six nations called the situation “unacceptable” and warned it “decreases the credibility of the vaccination process”. Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia urged...
Covid: UK variant could drive ‘rapid growth’ in US cases, CDC warns
A highly contagious coronavirus variant first detected in the UK could become the dominant strain in the US by March, health officials have said. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned of “rapid growth” of the variant in coming weeks. It said such...
Coronavirus vaccine: India begins world’s biggest drive
A sanitation worker became the first Indian to receive a Covid vaccine as the country began the world’s largest inoculation drive. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the programme, which aims to vaccinate more than 1.3 billion people against Covid. He paid tribute to front-line workers...
Pope Francis receives vaccine
The Vatican has confirmed that both Pope Francis and his predecessor, former Pope Benedict XVI, have received the coronavirus vaccine. Spokesman Matteo Bruni said that they were given the first dose “as part of the Vatican City State vaccination programme”. It had been reported that...
Italy political crisis erupts over EU Covid spending
The coalition government of centrist Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte is in chaos after ex-PM Matteo Renzi withdrew his tiny party from it. Mr Renzi objects to Mr Conte’s plans for spending €209bn (£186bn; $254bn) of EU recovery funds – part of a huge EU...
Covid-19: Almost half of all cases in Ireland reported in last two weeks
Almost half of all recorded cases of Covid-19 in the Irish Republic have been reported in the past fortnight. Chair of the Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group Prof Philip Nolan said that 44% of all cases were recorded in the last two weeks. He was...
Covid-19: Brazil hospitals ‘run out of oxygen’ for virus patients
Hospitals in the Brazilian city of Manaus have reached breaking point while treating Covid-19 patients, amid reports of severe oxygen shortages and desperate staff. The city, in Amazonas state, has seen a surge of deaths and infections. Health professionals, quoted by local media, warned “many...
Uganda elections 2021: Museveni takes lead as Bobi Wine cries foul
Uganda’s long-time President Yoweri Museveni has a clear lead in the presidential race following Thursday’s vote, preliminary results show. The country’s electoral commission has dismissed allegations of vote rigging, made by opposition candidate Bobi Wine, a former pop star. But election monitors say confidence in...
Iran’s daily death toll hits new record amid ‘third wave’
Iran has reported its highest daily death toll from Covid-19, as the country grapples with what officials have called a “third wave” of its outbreak. Health ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari said 337 people had died in the past 24 hours, exceeding the previous daily...
Coronavirus: Argentina’s confirmed cases surpass one million
Argentina has become the fifth country in the world to record one million confirmed coronavirus cases. In the past 24 hours, there were 12,982 new infections, pushing the overall number to 1,002,662, the country’s health ministry said. It reported 451 new deaths, bringing the nation’s...
Coronavirus: Belgium facing ‘tsunami’ of new infections
Belgium could soon be overwhelmed by new coronavirus infections, the health minister has warned, amid soaring case numbers across the country. Frank Vandenbroucke said new cases were close to a “tsunami” where authorities “no longer control what is happening”. New measures to try to halt...
Tokyo Olympics: Russian hackers targeted Games, UK says
Russian hackers targeted this year’s Olympic Games in Tokyo with the aim of disrupting them, UK officials said. The Foreign Office said Russia’s GRU military intelligence carried out “cyber reconnaissance” against officials and organisations involved. The alleged attacks took place before the Games were postponed...
Coronavirus: Republic of Ireland to move to highest restrictions
The Irish government is to move the country to the highest level of coronavirus restrictions, broadly similar to the spring lockdown. Cabinet ministers have agreed to level five restrictions from midnight on Wednesday in a bid to combat the rise in cases. The restrictions are...
Trump set to remove Sudan from state sponsors of terrorism list
US President Donald Trump has said Sudan will come off a list of state sponsors of terror if it pays compensation of $335m (£259m). Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok responded by saying the funds had been transferred but there was no immediate US confirmation. Sudan...