China pledges to supply an extra one billion vaccine doses to Africa as Omicron takes hold. India repeals farming laws that led to year-long protests. Barbados removes Queen as head of state and becomes a republic.
Human rights groups want proof of Chinese tennis player’s wellbeing. Venezuela’s opposition performs dismally in polls for governors and mayors. Austria locks down as Covid-19 cases grow again in Europe.
Kiribati wants commercial fishing to return in World Heritage-listed marine reserve. Gangs are stopping fuel supplies in Haiti to pressure caretaker PM to resign. Portugal enacts laws to support staff working from home.
New Zealand eases its Covid-19 restrictions and changes strategy. European Union accuses Belarus’s Alexander Lucashenko of using asylum seekers for political purposes. Police raid cybercrime group REvil to shut down ransomware attacks.
Tonga goes into lockdown after repatriation flight brings first case of Covid-19. Egypt lifts state of emergency but new laws give more powers to the president and military. Japan’s new leader Fumio Kishida secures election win.
Santosh Krl / SOPA Images / Lightrocket via Getty Images
China denies testing a hypersonic missile at low orbit. International tourists are set to return to Fiji. Sebastian Kurz out again as Austria’s leader over embezzlement allegations.
Jacinda Ardern abandons Covid-zero strategy. Singapore’s foreign interference law labelled Kafkaesque. Pandora Papers reveal Czech PM’s chateau and the property portfolios of wealthy world leaders.
Social Democratic Party leader Olaf Scholz appears most likely to be next chancellor. Vanuatu pushes for urgent action on climate change. US–China hostage diplomacy sends two Michaels and Meng Wanzhou home.
Jacinda Ardern opts to go hard and early in New Zealand against the Delta variant. Malaysia’s prime minister resigns as country struggles with Covid-19. Woman tells of her imprisonment by Chinese officials in Dubai.
Japanese defence white paper links the country’s security to Taiwan for the first time. Jacinda Ardern apologises for dawn raids on Pacific migrants in the 1970s. France to press ahead with vaccination passes despite protests.
