Russia: Putin critic Navalny on hunger strike over prison treatment

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has announced a hunger strike at the penal colony where he is held, to demand proper medical treatment. He has complained on Instagram of not…

China: Huawei’s business damaged by US sanctions despite success at home

Chinese telecoms giant Huawei has admitted that sanctions imposed on it by the US in 2019 have had a major impact on its mobile phone business. The US took action…

France: Schools to close under third lockdown

French schools will close for at least three weeks as part of new national restrictions to fight rising Covid cases, President Emmanuel Macron says. Mr Macron said that schools would…

UK: China absent from key Climate change meeting

A critical meeting on climate change, organised by the UK, appears to be the latest victim of an ongoing row with China. Ministers from around 35 countries are due to…

USA: Child tweets gibberish from US nuclear-agency account

A young child inadvertently sparked confusion over the weekend by posting an unintelligible tweet to the official account of US Strategic Command. The agency is responsible for safeguarding America’s nuclear…

Women’s underwear to be provided to female recruits in Swiss army

Switzerland is to allow female members of the army to wear women’s underwear for the first time in an effort to boost recruitment, local media report. Under the current system,…

Germany: Berlin limits use of AstraZeneca Covid jab for under-60s

Germany is suspending routine use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine for people aged below 60 because of a risk of rare blood clots. The German medicines regulator found 31 cases…

USA: Biden’s dog Major bites someone again at White House

The Bidens’ dog Major has nipped again, just days after returning from training in Delaware for a biting incident at the White House earlier this month. A spokesman for First…

Australia: Brisbane city to shut down over seven cases

The Australian city of Brisbane will enter another snap three-day lockdown to contain a coronavirus outbreak which has grown to seven cases. The Queensland state capital – home to over…

Indonesia: Massive blaze erupts at oil refinery

Firefighters in Indonesia are working to put out a massive fire that has broken out at one of the largest oil refineries in the country. The fire broke out at…