Ivory Coast army says 12 soldiers killed in attack near Burkina border
Twelve Ivorian soldiers were killed and seven wounded in an attack at a northern border post near Burkina Faso early on Thursday, a senior officer at the army chief of staff’s office said.
Malaysia bars citizens from haj pilgrimage on coronavirus fears
Malaysia said on Thursday its citizens would be barred from making the haj pilgrimage this year due to concerns over the new coronavirus, following in the steps of neighbouring Indonesia, which is also a Muslim-majority nation.
Israeli minister says still no consensus with U.S. on West Bank annexations
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has yet to bridge gaps with the United States and his main coalition partner over his pledged annexation of parts of the West Bank, a cabinet minister said on Thursday.
Finland lifts travel restrictions on neighbours except Sweden
Finland’s government said on Thursday it will lift coronavirus-related restrictions on leisure travelling to and from neighbouring Baltic and Nordic countries, excluding Sweden.
Attacker and one adult die in Slovak school assault
Slovak police said they killed a 22-year-old man who attacked staff and pupils with a knife at a school on Thursday in an assault that left a vice-principal dead and four injured.
UK’s Queen Elizabeth joins first public video conference call to mark carers week
Queen Elizabeth has taken part in her first public video conference call to mark Carers Week, adding another first for the British monarch during her long reign.
Denmark agrees to send more troops to Iraq’s NATO training mission
Denmark will send up to 285 military personnel to NATO’s non-combat training operation in Iraq as it takes over leadership of the mission training Iraqi security forces from Canada by the end of 2020, it said on Thursday.
Only Hong Kong can solve unrest, British foreign minister says
The British government has said any solution to the unrest in Hong Kong must come from the former colony itself and not from Beijing, and it urged China to reconsider a new security law that has sparked renewed protests.
Statue of scout founder Baden-Powell to be taken down in Britain
A local authority in southern England said it would remove a statue of Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the worldwide scouting movement, the latest memorial to be taken down in the wake of anti-racism protests sparked by the death of George Floyd.
Kremlin defends Russia’s coronavirus death data after WHO query
The Kremlin denied on Thursday there was anything untoward with Russia’s official coronavirus death data after the World Health Organisation said this week that Russia’s low death rate was “difficult to understand”.
