Locked down Sydney becomes a ghost town again
Sydney's usually bustling harbourside restaurants are shuttered and the streets deserted as a lockdown has been extended across Australia's largest city over the Delta coronavirus variant.
UK
Delta variant to push third wave peak in South Africa: minister
Health experts in South Africa have formally identified the Delta Covid-19 variant, which has driven up infections in a third wave whose peak will surpass previous spikes, the acting health minister says in a hastily-called virtual news conference.
Student trip to Mallorca fuels Spanish COVID-19 outbreak
An end-of-year student trip to the Spanish island of Mallorca has resulted in a major COVID-19 outbreak involving eight of the country's 17 regions. More than 600 cases have been registered and thousands of young people are in quarantine across Spain.
Real Madrid have had great Frenchmen in their ranks over the years
Karim Benzema, Raphaël Varane and Ferland Mendy, currently with the team, have all lifted trophies as madridistas. Zinedine Zidane, Claude Makélélé, Lassana Diarra and Raymond Kopa played over 100 matches with the club.
WHO warns of more infectiousness of Delta variant, vaccine shortage
The Delta variant of the coronavirus is "the most transmissible" of known variants quickly spreading in unvaccinated countries, sparking concerns of vaccine distribution and supply shortage, said the World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday.
COVID-19: Parts of Sydney to go into lockdown again after outbreak of the Delta variant
Parts of Sydney will go into lockdown late Friday as a coronavirus outbreak in Australia's largest city continued to grow. Health authorities reported an additional 22 locally transmitted cases and imposed a weeklong lockdown in four areas, saying people could leave their homes only for essential purposes.
Bale is ready for Denmark and the ‘Eriksen’ factor
Gareth Bale and his Wales team are prepared for their last 16 game against everyone’s second favourite team in the tournament, saying ‘we won't underestimate Denmark’.
The Danes have rallied since the horrific collapse of Christian Eriksen in their opening game and Bale is aware how important the ‘Eriksen’ factor is in their approach to the match.
“Obviously we understand the situation that happened with them and we’ve sent all our best wishes to Christian,” Bale said.
“What a great job the Denmark team did with that. But come game day it will be just us and them on the pitch, and hopefully we can put a great performance in and get the job done.
“So they won’t be underestimated by us. We’ll be ready to go come kick-off and put in a big performance.”
Derek Chauvin sentenced to 22.5 years for murder of George Floyd
Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was sentenced to 22 and a half years on Friday for the murder of George Floyd. The sentencing closes a chapter in a case that sparked global outrage and a reckoning on racial disparities in America, and across the world.
Japan sees slow vaccination progress due to limited waiting space, low willingness among locals
Though the vaccination campaign of Japan started as early as in February this year, the country still sees a low vaccination rate as the speed of the progress is limited by the space of waiting area of vaccination sites and low inoculation willingness among locals.
Kulning – Melodious cow calling in Sweden
In Scandinavia, a unique singing technique has evolved over the ages to summon cows back home from the fields in the evening: kulning. The centuries-old tradition is also kept alive in concerts.
USA: Dozens rally outside White House against withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan
Dozens of people rallied against the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, in front of the White House, in Washington DC on Friday. The protesters, many of whom were members of the Hazara ethnic group, could be seen holding signs that denounced the Taliban killings of Hazara people in Afghanistan, with one sign reading 'Death to Taliban'.
Thirteen EU countries denounce Hungary's new anti-LGBT law
Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg led the charge against Hungary's anti-LGBT law on Tuesday as European affairs ministers from the 27 EU countries met to discuss the rule of law. In total, 13 member states out of 27 voiced their disapproval of the Hungarian law.
