Joe Biden has criticised the military coup in Myanmar, calling it a “direct assault on the country’s transition to democracy and the rule of law”. The US president said: “The international community should come together in one voice to press the military to immediately relinquish the power they have seized, release the activists and officials
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Myanmar’s military says it has taken control of the country for one year, after detaining a number of leading politicians. A state of emergency has been declared, according to military-owned TV, and power has been handed to the commander in chief of the armed forces, Min Aung Hlaing. Myanmar’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi was
AstraZeneca is set to supply nine million more doses of its COVID vaccine to the EU after a high-profile row over shortages. European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen announced the extra jabs will come in the first three months of the year, making a total of 40 million doses for that period. She said
Hundreds of people have been arrested in Russia as rallies have broken out across the country in demand of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s release. Thousands of people have taken to the streets in nationwide protests that have rattled the Kremlin, with more than 500 people detained so far. The rallies, taking place in Moscow
The UK will formally apply to join a huge free trade pact including Australia, Canada, Japan and Singapore, under the government’s post-Brexit plans. International Trade Secretary Liz Truss will use a conversation with ministers in Japan and New Zealand on Monday to request membership of the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). Announcing the move
Austria has found 96 foreigners – including British people – at a top ski resort in breach of travel and lockdown rules. The people from across Europe were found in St Anton am Arlberg. The local mayor has said dozens of young tourists had come to the town, circumventing lockdown rules under which ski lifts
France is to close its borders to all countries outside the European Union from Sunday, according to prime minister Jean Castex. All people looking to enter from the EU will need a negative PCR test, except for commuters. UK transport secretary Grant Shapps later clarified the ban would not apply to hauliers, adding “trade will
The United Nations has today demanded more answers about a Yemen airstrike on a family home which a Sky News investigation highlighted last September. The Sky team travelled to the remote village of Washah near the Yemeni-Saudi border where 12 members of the Mujali family lived, to examine the area and talk to multiple eyewitnesses
The EU should consider legal means to secure vaccine doses promised by drug companies including AstraZeneca, the president of the European Council has said. Charles Michel made the comments in a letter as Brussels and AstraZeneca are embroiled in an escalating row over the EU’s slow start to its inoculation programme. AstraZeneca announced it would
The discord between the EU and drug manufacturer AstraZeneca remains despite a meeting between senior figures on Wednesday, with politicians demanding a plan from the company on how they will provide the promised number of coronavirus vaccine doses. European Commissioner for Health Stella Kyriakides said after the meeting that the bloc “regret the continued lack
Six Britons have been arrested after Thai police raided a party at a bar – in an operation targeting suspected COVID rule-breakers. The incident happened on Tuesday night local time, with 89 foreigners detained along with 22 Thais. Police raided the Three Sixty Bar on Koh Phangan island in the south of Thailand, according to
AstraZeneca’s chief executive has hit back at the EU by saying that “glitches” in the supply of coronavirus vaccines to the bloc are due to it signing its contract three months after the UK. In an interview with Italian newspaper La Repubblica, Pascal Soriot admitted there had been “teething problems” in various regions, including Europe
The UK is to offer its genomics expertise to help other countries identify new COVID variants, Health Secretary Matt Hancock will announce. The launch of the New Variant Assessment Platform will see other countries offered UK laboratory capacity and advice to analyse new strains of coronavirus. It will be led by Public Health England working
A Ugandan court has ordered the military and police to stop surrounding the home of opposition leader Bobi Wine, who says he has been held under house arrest since the country’s presidential elections. Mr Wine’s lawyer George Musisi told the Reuters news agency: “The judge ordered that the state and its agenciesshould immediately vacate his
Conditions in the city of Manaus, deep in the Amazon rainforest where the Brazilian variant of COVID-19 is believed to have originated, are now so bad that people are suffocating in hospital beds without oxygen. It’s being described as like a “medieval plague” and the fear is that it’s going to continue to spread. With
US President Joe Biden is set to reimpose a number of travel bans that were repealed by his predecessor, according to the Reuters news agency. Mr Biden is also set to put a travel ban in place to arrivals from South Africa, apparently over fears of the new coronavirus variant discovered in the country. Donald