Cambodia to mix vaccines as booster shots to fight COVID

American billionaire businessman Jeff Bezos said on Monday he is excited and curious but not very nervous on the eve of taking part in his company Blue Origin's inaugural suborbital flight alongside the oldest and youngest people ever bound for space.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison's approval ratings fell to the lowest level in more than a year, according to a poll published on Monday, as a sluggish COVID-19 vaccine rollout dented voters' confidence in his conservative government.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson ends more than a year of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions in England on Monday, urging the public to remain cautious but putting his faith in vaccines to protect the country even as infections are surging.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel described the flooding that has devastated parts of Europe as "terrifying" on Sunday after the death toll across the region rose to 184 as a district of Bavaria was battered by the extreme weather.

The death toll in devastating flooding in western Germany and Belgium rose to at least 170 on Saturday after burst rivers and flash floods this week collapsed houses and ripped up roads and power lines.

Thailand on Sunday announced an expansion of coronavirus restrictions that include travel curbs, mall closures and a night-time curfew to three more provinces after the country reported a third consecutive day of record case numbers.

Four people were shot outside of Nationals Park, a professional baseball stadium in the District of Columbia, on Saturday night, police said.

Martine Moise, the widow of Haiti's assassinated president Jovenel Moise, returned to the Caribbean nation on Saturday for his funeral after she was treated in a Miami hospital for injuries sustained during the July 7 attack at their private residence.

Fed by bone dry timbers, a massive wildfire dubbed the Bootleg blaze raged across an Oregon forest, advancing 8 km a day against an army of firefighters as it scorched another 39 000 acres (15 783 hectares) on Saturday.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, undergoing hospital treatment for complications following a near-fatal 2018 stabbing, said on Saturday that he feels fine and cannot wait to get back to work.

Britain is backing 15 new studies into the treatment and diagnosis of "long COVID", a condition that can include dozens of symptoms and last for months after an initial bout of infection with COVID-19.

A former United States (US) ambassador to South Africa is now calling for the US to step up and make the unfolding unrest more of a foreign policy priority.

Emergency services in the Netherlands remained on high alert on Saturday as overflowing rivers threatened towns and villages throughout the southern province of Limburg.

Thailand imposed a nation-wide ban on public gatherings and is considering more restrictions on movement as authorities reported record numbers of new cases and deaths on Saturday, despite partial lockdowns in Bangkok and nine other provinces this week.

Britain said on Friday that it was scrapping a planned easing of coronavirus rules for travellers from France, which had been due to take effect on Monday, because of the continued presence of the Beta variant of COVID first identified in South Africa.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, undergoing hospital treatment for an obstructed intestine after a near-fatal 2018 stabbing, said on Friday he hoped to be "back in action soon," while doctors gave no date for him to be discharged.

Italy is struggling to reach agreement on a joint statement over climate commitments among G20 countries days before a summit it will chair next week, the Italian energy transition minister said on Friday.

Firefighters dropped retardant from the air on Tuesday (July 13) to suppress a wildfire in Oregon, one of the dozens of blazes raging across the drought-stricken U.S. West. The Grandview fire in Deschutes and Jefferson counties burned in an evergreen forest, sending smoke billowing into the sky.

South Korea's Prime Minister on Friday said more limits on private gatherings may be needed around the country as authorities reported 1 536 new coronavirus cases.

President Joe Biden said on Thursday the United States is reviewing when it can lift restrictions that ban most-non US citizens from traveling to the United States from much of Europe after German Chancellor Angela Merkel raised the issue.

Los Angeles County will reimpose its mask mandate this weekend in the latest sign that public health officials are struggling with an alarming rise in coronavirus cases tied to the highly contagious Delta variant.

As South Africa gets ready to deploy additional troops to try and quell days of looting, arson and violence, India has expressed concern about the safety of its nationals in the country.

There were conflicting reports on Thursday about the fate of a major Afghan trading town on the border with Pakistan with the government saying its forces had retaken it from the Taliban but the insurgents insisting they remained firmly in control.

The head of the World Trade Organization (WTO) told trade ministers on Thursday she was optimistic about concluding multilateral talks on the fishing industry soon but called for a "shift of mindset" to bridge final gaps.

Scattered protests broke out in Haiti's capital on Wednesday as gasoline shortages added to concerns over insecurity and police announced new arrests a week after the assassination of President Jovenel Moise pitched the already-troubled Caribbean nation into political chaos.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is being transferred to Sao Paulo to undergo tests for an obstructed intestine and could receive emergency surgery, the president's office said on Wednesday, in his latest health complication from a 2018 stabbing.

Two thirds of people in Britain think at least some coronavirus restrictions should stay in place after July 19 when Prime Minister Boris Johnson plans to do away with them in England, according to an opinion poll published on Thursday.

The head of the US Agency for International Development said on Wednesday she was looking at aid to Haiti in the hope of better results than billions of dollars in previous assistance that did little to ease the country's deep problems.

Taliban fighters in Afghanistan said on Wednesday they had taken control of one of the main border crossings with Pakistan, perhaps the most strategic objective they have captured so far in a rapid advance across the country as US forces pull out.

About 100 opponents of military rule in Myanmar marched through the centre of its biggest city of Yangon on Wednesday, as the United States called on Southeast Asian nations to take action to restore democracy and end violence in their neighbour.