World

Symptomatic cases of COVID-19 are dropping by 94% after two doses of the Pfizer vaccine, according to the largest study of real-world data from Israel. Research by Clalit, the biggest healthcare provider in Israel, shows that the Pfizer vaccine is equally effective for all age groups, with preliminary data showing a 94% drop in symptomatic

Tensions have risen in Myanmar following mass protests and speculation of an impending internet blackout. Security forces opened fire on protesters at a power plant on Sunday and armoured vehicles rolled into major cities as the new army rulers faced a ninth day of anti-coup demonstrations. Soldiers were deployed to power plants in the northern

New Zealand’s largest city has announced a three-day lockdown following the discovery of three unexplained coronavirus cases in the community. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced the move for Auckland after an urgent meeting with her cabinet. She said they decided to take a cautious approach until they found out more about the outbreak, including whether

France’s top health authority has recommended that people who’ve had coronavirus only get one vaccine dose. Those who have recovered from the virus have built an immune response similar to that brought on by a vaccine, said the High Authority of Health (HAS). It said a single shot would “play the role of reminding” the

The theory that COVID-19 originated from a laboratory in Wuhan has not been dismissed by investigators, the head of the World Health Organisation has suggested. Earlier this week, a WHO-led mission in China said it was not looking further into the question of whether the virus escaped from a lab, which it considered highly unlikely.

The head of the Tokyo Olympics has announced his resignation over sexist comments. Yoshiro Mori had said women talk too much during an online meeting of the committee’s board of trustees earlier this month, where he also said women are driven by a “strong sense of rivalry”. The former Japanese prime minister, 83, had previously

In 2012, the Eurozone was facing an existential crisis, with the future of the euro itself in doubt. Investors were seeking an ever-greater premium to lend to countries like Spain and Italy and there was real concern in European capitals that at least one country might have to be ejected from the single currency zone.

A British man jailed for causing the death of an Indonesian policeman on a Bali beach has been released from prison after serving his sentence.  David Taylor, 38, was sentenced to six years in prison in 2017 over the killing of traffic officer Wayan Sudarsa. The head of Bali’s Kerobokan jail, Fikri Jaya Soebing, confirmed

A team of Mossad officers spent months learning the minute-by-minute routine of a top Iranian nuclear scientist – before killing him with a remote-controlled machine gun. Some of the 20-strong Israeli team smuggled the gun – which weighed a tonne – piece by piece into the country, while others watched every move Mohsen Fakhrizadeh made.

Prominent Saudi women’s rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul has been released from prison after spending more than 1,000 days behind bars. Her sister Lina posted the news on Twitter with a screenshot of a smiling Loujian speaking to her via video call but warned that while she was out of jail she was still not fully

A 100-year-old man in Germany has been charged with 3,518 counts of being an accessory to murder over claims he was a member of the SS at a Nazi concentration camp during the Second World War. It is claimed the man, who cannot be named due to German laws, worked at the Sachsenhausen camp between

There is a continuous sound of heavy machinery at the mouth of the main tunnel of the Tapovan power station in India’s Uttarakhand state. Rescuers are desperately trying to reach about 35 workers trapped inside a tunnel after a glacier collapse. It has now been more than 60 hours since a Himalayan glacier broke off

It is “extremely unlikely” coronavirus came from a laboratory incident in China, according to a joint mission investigating the origins of the pandemic. Investigators believe the most likely cause of the initial outbreak was the virus jumping from an “intermediary host species” to humans. It means future investigations will not focus on a laboratory incident

The impoverished country of Haiti – already an economic disaster zone with organised crime and kidnapping for ransom out of control – now finds itself in the midst of a constitutional crisis with violent confrontations between anti-government protesters and the police a daily occurrence. The country’s leading opposition parties, the judiciary and activist groups say

Police have fired a water cannon in Myanmar’s capital as tens of thousands of people across the country protest over last week’s military coup. Demonstrations are growing in the southeast Asian state in a bid to get elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her government reinstated. The peaceful protests swelled over the weekend and

South Africa is suspending its rollout of the Oxford/AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine after finding it offers limited protection against mild disease caused by the COVID-19 variant discovered there. It follows disappointing results in a trial conducted by the University of the Witwatersrand, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said. The government had been intending to give the AstraZeneca