A mass transfer of COVID-19 patients in the Amazon’s biggest city is taking place amid a shortage of oxygen tanks, as the UK’s transport secretary says Britain was only aware of a new variant originating from Brazil since Sunday. Doctors in Manaus, a city of around two million people, chose which patients would breathe amid
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Polls have closed in Uganda after a presidential election marred by violence – with internet access cut off amid fears that the unrest could escalate. Long lines of voters were seen in the capital Kampala on Thursday, and results are expected to emerge by Saturday evening. President Yoweri Museveni, who is 76, is seeking a
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
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
In Uganda, running for the presidency can be a dangerous business – especially for pop star turned politician Bobi Wine. The 38-year-old, who is the leading opposition in the country’s upcoming presidential election, has told Sky News he has been targeted with bullets and tear gas and “miraculously” survived several attacks in the run-up to
Authorities believe they have located the missing Boeing 737-500 jet that crashed in Indonesia with 62 people on board. They said they were hopeful they were homing in on the wreckage of Sriwijaya Air Flight 182, after picking up a signal that could have come from the jet’s flight recorder. It comes as rescuers said
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
A radical cleric linked to the Bali bombings has been released from an Indonesian prison. Abu Bakar Bashir, 82, is the former head of Jemaah Islamiyah – an al Qaeda-linked group responsible for the 2002 attack on the popular holiday island. Two bomb blasts killed 202 people – many of them foreign tourists – with
Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong has been arrested in jail on a new charge, while a detained American lawyer has been granted bail. Mr Wong, 24, was arrested on Thursday morning on suspicion of violating the controversial national security law imposed on Hong Kong last June, his friends and family said. The leading activist,