Month: January 2021

The Dutch government led by Prime Minister Mark Rutte has resigned over a childcare subsidies scandal. Mr Rutte, who leads the conservative People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy as part of a four-party ruling coalition, stepped down following a cabinet meeting. In a statement, Mr Rutte said: “We are of one mind that if the

With shaking hands, broadcast live to the nation, a doctor administered Indonesia’s first COVID-19 vaccination. The recipient was President Joko Widodo, a man who hopes to get 181.5 million Indonesians vaccinated this year. It’s a huge challenge, almost three times the population of the UK and so far one of the largest rollouts in the

France is introducing strict new controls from Monday for anyone entering the country from outside the EU, including hauliers travelling from the UK. Prime Minister Jean Castex has said a PCR test with a negative result must be produced before entering France. The insistence on the PCR test, rather than the much quicker, but potentially

World Health Organisation experts have arrived in Wuhan to investigate the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, Chinese state media has confirmed. The team of 10 virologists and other scientists will spend around a month in the Chinese city where COVID-19 first emerged over a year ago. After spending the first two weeks in quarantine, the

Everyone in Uganda knows the country is going to the polls on Thursday. Election signs and slogans have been plastered on just about every billboard and lamp post in the nation. And everyone knows who is likely to win the presidency. Image: Uganda’s police and military have made life extremely difficult for opposition parties President

Alexei Navalny – a long-time critic of Vladimir Putin – has said he will return home to Russia after recovering from being poisoned, despite the risk of arrest when he arrives. The opposition politician announced on Wednesday that he will fly back on Sunday from Germany where he has been recovering after coming into contact

More than 170 individuals are being investigated over their involvement in last week’s riot at the US Capitol – and 70 have been charged. Washington DC’s top federal prosecutor says investigators are working towards charging people with assault and seditious conspiracy. The number of people who are charged over the deadly unrest is expected to

Donald Trump has warned that efforts to impeach him are causing “tremendous anger” – but stressed he wants “no violence” in the run-up to Joe Biden’s inauguration. Speaking to reporters for the first time since last week’s deadly riots at the US Capitol, Mr Trump declined to answer questions on whether he would resign. His

The Trump administration has re-designated Cuba as a “state sponsor of terrorism” – hitting the country with new sanctions just days before Joe Biden takes office. Barack Obama had removed the communist island from the list in 2015, in what was regarded as one of his biggest foreign policy achievements – helping to restore diplomatic

Pakistan has started a five-day vaccination campaign to try to protect tens of millions of children against polio. The coronavirus threat will make things more challenging than previous efforts, with workers having to wear masks and gloves as they go door to door around the country. It’s hoped 40 million children can be vaccinated and

Israel’s health minister has urged countries simply to “get out there” if they want to replicate his country’s vaccination success. Speaking to Sky News, Yuli Edelstein said that expert logistics, early procurement, close co-operation with the manufacturer and Israeli innovation had all been combined to make the country a clear leader in the global vaccination

A desperate relative hoping survivors will be found following a plane crash in Indonesia has urged people to pray for his family as he awaits news. Irfansyah Riyanto’s mother and father, as well as his sister and her two children, were all on the Sriwijaya Air flight SJ 182 which disappeared on Saturday. The Boeing

Pakistan’s national power grid has experienced a major breakdown, leaving millions of people in darkness, government officials have said. “A countrywide blackout has been caused by a sudden plunge in the frequency in the power transmission system,” Power Minister Omar Ayub Khan said on Twitter. According to Mr Khan, the power breakdown was caused after

A search and rescue operation is under way in Indonesia after contact was lost with a Boeing 737-500 plane on a local flight. An Indonesian Transport Ministry spokesman said the Sriwijaya Air flight SJ 182 was flying from from the capital Jakarta to Pontianak City in West Kalimantan province on the island of Borneo. The

Kim Jong Un has threatened to expand North Korea’s arsenal of nuclear weapons and develop more sophisticated atomic weapons systems unless the US ends what he calls its “hostility” to his regime. The North Korean leader ordered officials to develop missiles with multiple warheads, underwater-launched nuclear missiles, spy satellites and nuclear-powered submarines, the Korean Central

Brisbane has entered a three-day lockdown after a cleaner at a quarantine hotel was diagnosed with the COVID-19 variant first identified in the UK. Australia’s third largest city – and its surrounding areas – will also see the introduction of compulsory face masks for the first time, the Queensland state government said. Queensland chief health