International

The Government is pressing ahead with the extension of an already-existing health pass to cafes, restaurants and intercity travel, despite four weekends of angry protests. Here, protesters in the southern French city of Toulon rally…

CHINA: Chinese President Xi Jinping attaches great importance to the fair and reasonable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines across the globe as they are crucial to the fight against the pandemic still raging worldwide. Xi has been…

UN: The UN Special Envoy for Afghanistan questioned the Taliban's commitment to a political settlement, telling the UN Security Council the war has entered a "deadlier and more destructive phase" with more than 1,000 civilians killed…

AUSTRALIA: Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has ruled out COVID-19 vaccinations at a federal policy level, asking employers to make their own decisions in terms of enforcing jabs for high-risk workers. Morrison said on…

US: The seven-day average for new daily COVID-19 infections has surpassed 100,000 in the US, returning to levels not seen since the winter surge. Cases and hospitalisations have skyrocketed in the last month, driven by the highly…

UK: Moderna's booster shots against COVID-19 have shown robust antibody responses, according to results of Phase 2 clinical trials published on Thursday. In the trial, Moderna tested a 50-microgram dose of three vaccine booster…

US: New Chinese Ambassador to the United States Qin Gang has called on the two countries to join hands to combat the still-spreading COVID-19 pandemic. "How about our two countries working together on solutions, e.g. more…

SWITZERLAND: The world will see 5.3 million reported deaths and 12 million excess fatalities by December as the Delta variant drives a surge in COVID-19 cases, according to projections by the Institute for Health Metrics and…

CHINA: The latest resurgence of COVID-19 in China, caused mainly by the Delta variant, is more complicated but the epidemic is generally controllable, Chinese officials said Thursday. In the latest wave, 15 provincial-level…

UK: Most children with COVID-19 recover within a week, but a small percentage experience long-term symptoms, according to a new study of more than 1,700 British children. The researchers found that 4.4% of children had symptoms that…