53 organisations ask G7 to protect Afghan journos

53 Civil society and journalists' organisations, including ARTICLE 19, have called on the member states of G7 to protect Afghan journalists, media workers and their families. They have asked that G7 members to make an explicit commitment to evacuate all journalists at risk, ease visa restrictions for them and create an emergency fund for them. The Taliban have shut down over 50 print, broadcast, and digital news media in the areas where they have seized control. The number of targeted killings of journalists carried out by the Taliban has been rising rapidly since May.

Sydney hospitals erect emergency tents

Australia's new daily cases of Covid-19 topped 1,000 yesterday for the first time since the global pandemic began, as two major hospitals in Sydney set up emergency outdoor tents to help deal with a rise in patients. Sydney, the country's largest city and the epicentre of the current outbreak, is struggling to stamp out a surge in the fast-spreading Delta variant, with daily infections hitting record levels even after two months under lockdown. New South Wales (NSW) state reported 1,029 new locally acquired cases, exceeding the previous record of 919 a day earlier. Of the new cases, 969 were detected in greater Sydney, up from 838. The rapid rise in Covid-19 patients has forced Sydney's Westmead and Blacktown hospitals to erect tents to screen and swab patients to help manage capacity.

US will 'speak up' on South China Sea: VP Harris

The United States welcomes competition and does not seek conflict with Beijing, but will speak up on issues like maritime disputes in the South China Sea, Vice President Kamala Harris said yesterday as she concluded a trip to Southeast Asia. In visits to Singapore and Vietnam, Harris charged China with bullying its neighbors in the region, triggering sharp rebukes from Beijing, which accused the US of meddling in regional affairs and disrupting peace. "We welcome stiff competition, we do not seek conflict, but on issues such as the South China Sea, we are going to speak up," Harris told a news conference in Vietnam's capital, Hanoi.

Russia to deliver missile systems to Myanmar on time

Russia will deliver Pantsir missile defence systems to Myanmar on schedule as outlined in the relevant sales contract, the RIA news agency cited the head of Russia's Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation as saying on Wednesday. The truck-mounted systems are used to shoot down aircraft, drones and cruise missiles.