The head of Pfizer has told Sky News his company is poised to send out doses of its COVID-19 vaccine “within hours” of it receiving official approval. Chief Executive Albert Bourla said his company would be applying for permission from regulatory authorities across the world “very, very soon – within a couple of days” and
World
Australian special forces unlawfully killed 39 people in Afghanistan between 2005 and 2016, a report has found. The revelation comes after a four year inquiry by the Australian Defence Force (ADF), which investigated 57 incidents, took testimony from hundreds of witnesses and reviewed more than 20,000 documents. Speaking in the Australian capital of Canberra, General
The state of South Australia is beginning a six-day lockdown in response to a cluster of 22 coronavirus cases. Schools, universities, bars and cafes have been ordered to close since midnight local time on Wednesday (1pm Tuesday UK time). Only one person from each household is allowed to leave home each day and and only
US President Donald Trump will cut his country’s military presence in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Pentagon has announced. Acting defence secretary Christopher Miller said the number of US soldiers in Afghanistan will fall from 4,500 to 2,500 by the time Mr Trump leaves office early next year. The number of troops in Iraq will be
Anti-government protests in Thailand reached a head on Tuesday, turning violent outside the country’s parliament in Bangkok. Inside, lawmakers are considering proposals to amend the constitution, one of the core demands of the nation’s student-led pro-democracy movement. The movement is calling for the removal of prime minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, a former army ruler, reforms to
Hurricane Iota has made landfall on the coast of Nicaragua with winds of up to 155mph, the National Hurricane Centre (NHT) has said. The category four hurricane hit the town of Haulover at around 10.40pm eastern time on Monday (3.40am GMT Tuesday). It is around 15 miles south from where the devastating Hurricane Eta struck
Iota has strengthened into a “dangerous” category 4 hurricane as it heads towards Central America. Forecasters expect it to make landfall in northeastern Nicaragua and eastern Honduras on Monday night. It comes just days after the countries were ransacked by category 4 Hurricane Eta which killed at least 200 people and left dozens more missing.
Peru’s interim president has resigned after just five days following the deaths of two people in protests over the sudden removal of his predecessor. Manuel Merino was sworn in on Tuesday after Peru‘s opposition-dominated Congress voted to remove popular centrist Martin Vizcarra as president over bribery allegations, which he denies. But in a televised speech
Tigray’s leader has admitted it fired missiles at the capital of neighbouring Eritrea, in another escalation of the fighting in Ethiopia. Earlier, at least three rockets appeared to have been aimed the airport in the Eritrean capital Asmara, hours after the Tigray regional government warned it might attack. The attacks on an international target represent
Ten people have died after a fire broke out on an intensive care ward treating coronavirus patients in Romania. Seven others are critically injured following the fire at a hospital in the city of Piatra Neamt on Saturday. Apart from one person, all those killed or injured are COVID-19 patients, according to emergency services spokesperson
Two rockets have hit Ethiopia’s Amhara state, amid fierce fighting in the neighbouring region of Tigray, the government says. The explosions occurred in Bahir Dar and Gondar late on Friday, according to Amhara’s communication office and state news. One of the rockets hit the airport in Gondar and left it partially damaged, according to a
Russian peacekeeping troops have moved into Nagorno-Karabakh after the country secured a peace deal with Armenia and Azerbaijan. The Moscow-brokered ceasefire secured territorial advances for Azerbaijan around the ethnic Armenian region within Azeri borders, where Azeri troops have been battling ethnic Armenian forces over the past six weeks. Moscow agreed the accord without consultation with
Measles infections surged to a global 23-year high in 2019, and millions more are at risk this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new report. The United States’ Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and World Health Organisation (WHO) said nearly 870,000 people contracted measles last year and more than 207,000
France’s R number has fallen below 1 but the number of people in hospital has hit a new high – with the prime minister saying someone is admitted every 30 seconds. Prime Minister Jean Castex said it would be “irresponsible” to ease the country’s strict second lockdown despite the fall in the R number. The
The government has summoned China’s ambassador to register “deep concern” after Beijing ordered the expulsion of four opposition MPs from Hong Kong’s parliament. Kwok Ka-ki, Alvin Yeung, Dennis Kwok and Kenneth Leung were banished from the territory’s assembly for allegedly endangering national security. Hong Kong authorities expelled the four politicians under a Chinese law banning
Countries around the world are working out ways to vaccinate their populations against COVID-19. But India, with its massive population of 1.3 billion, faces a bigger challenge than most. The country has set aside $7bn (£5.3bn) and the Union government has created a task force to plan for the distribution of the vaccine throughout the