Portugal reports 646 new cases and three new deaths. It is the biggest daily increase in new cases since the national lockdown was lifted in May, bringing the cumulative totals to 61,541 confirmed cases and 1,849 deaths in 191 days since the first infections were identified. (RTP)
The latest publication of the Living Planet Index reports that the world's wildlife populations have decreased by an average of 68 percent between 1970 and 2016. The World Wide Fund for Nature cites the increasing deforestation and agricultural expansion for the population decline. (AFP via Manila Bulletin)
The number of new cases registered in the Netherlands surges to 1,140 in the last 24 hours, the highest daily total since April. (Reuters)
The United Kingdom reports 2,659 cases, up from 2,460 a day earlier. (Reuters)
AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot says that the vaccine results could be ready by the end of the year if trials resume. Clinical trials were temporarily suspended after a participant in the trials began to develop symptoms associated with transverse myelitis. (Reuters)
Rio Tinto CEO Jean-Sébastien Jacques and two other senior executives resign amid an enquiry into the destruction of the 46,000 year old Juukan Gorge caves in Western Australia, which is considered an Aboriginal sacred site. Rio Tinto destroyed the ancient rock shelters while expanding the Brockman 4 mine. (The Guardian)
Sinopharm began Phase III trials in Peru starting with two dozen people, with the goal to vaccinate 6,000 people between the ages of 18 and 75. So far, Sinopharm has given 30,000 doses to volunteers and another 10,000 participants have received double doses in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, with additional trials planned for Morocco and Argentina. (VOA)
The town of Berry Creek in Butte County is reported as being "mostly destroyed". (CBS News)
Three people are killed and seven others injured after an al-Shabaab suicide bomber blew himself up at a restaurant in Mogadishu, Somalia. (Al Jazeera)
A cave-in at a gold mine near Kamituga in South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, kills at least 50 miners. (The Guardian)
Bahrain–Israel normalization agreement Israel and Bahrain agree to establish relations. (Jerusalem Post)
For the second time in the same week, Portugal reports the biggest daily increase in new cases since the national lockdown was lifted in May, with 687 new cases and three deaths, bringing the cumulative totals to 62,813 confirmed cases and 1,855 deaths in 193 days since the first infections were detected in the country. (DGS)
Israel and Bahrain agree to establish relations. (Jerusalem Post)
Michigan records 1,313 new cases, its highest single-day total since April 24. (MLive.com)
Slovenia reports 108 new cases, an all-time high. (RTVSLO)
The Brazilian state of Bahia is expected to conduct phase III trails of Russia's Gam-COVID-Vac vaccine and buy 50 million doses. (Reuters)
The Hosea Kutako International Airport in Windhoek, the country's main international airport, reopens to international flights after a six-month closure. (Xinhua)
The number of recoveries in Kyrgyzstan reaches past 40,000. (Xinhua)
The United Kingdom reports 3,539 cases of COVID-19, up from 2,919 a day earlier. Six deaths are also reported. (Reuters)
Vatican-based Filipino cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, the Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, tests positive for COVID-19. (Reuters via WTVB)
A fire kills at least four people and injures another eight in Karachi, Pakistan. (Dawn)
India's total COVID-19 cases surged to 4,65 million after the country reports world's record daily jump of 97,570 new cases and 1,201 deaths in the last 24 hours. (Hindustan Times)
Two bombs are detonated, killing a civilian, in Mosul. (National Iraqi News Agency)
2020 republication of Muhammad caricatures Around 200 people in Istanbul, Turkey demonstrate against French magazine Charlie Hebdo's decision to republish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed (France24)
A Boko Haram suicide bomber detonated herself at a village in Zeleved, Far North, Cameroon, killing five civilians. Another female suicide bomber made a failed attempt, resulting only in injuries to herself. (RFI)
Around 200 people in Istanbul, Turkey demonstrate against French magazine Charlie Hebdo's decision to republish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed (France24)
Boko Haram insurgency A Boko Haram suicide bomber detonated herself at a village in Zeleved, Far North, Cameroon, killing five civilians. Another female suicide bomber made a failed attempt, resulting only in injuries to herself. (RFI)
It is announced that Saudi Arabia will lift all travel restrictions for citizens on January 1, the state news agency SPA said. The kingdom will also partially lift its suspension of international flights on September 15 to allow "exceptional categories" of citizens and residents to travel. (Arab News)
Torrential rains cause landslides in Bahrabise and Baglung, in Nepal, killing a total of 12 people and leaving 21 others missing. (Reuters)
COVID-19 vaccine The United Arab Emirates approves Sinopharm's vaccine for frontline workers following successful Phase III clinical trials in Abu Dhabi. The WHO-recognized trial began on July 16 and involved 31,000 volunteers. (The National)
Life on Venus The Jane Greaves-led international scientific team announce that they have detected a gas called phosphine in the atmosphere of Venus that indicates microorganisms may inhabit Earth's inhospitable neighbor. If confirmed, it would be the first known extraterrestrial life. (Reuters)
The discovery of the perfectly preserved remains of a cave bear, believed to be 22,000 to 39,500 years old (Late Pleistocene), is made in Lyakhovsky Islands, Siberia in the thawing permafrost. (AP)
The Jane Greaves-led international scientific team announce that they have detected a gas called phosphine in the atmosphere of Venus that indicates microorganisms may inhabit Earth's inhospitable neighbor. If confirmed, it would be the first known extraterrestrial life. (Reuters)
The United Arab Emirates approves Sinopharm's vaccine for frontline workers following successful Phase III clinical trials in Abu Dhabi. The WHO-recognized trial began on July 16 and involved 31,000 volunteers. (The National)
Brazil reports 1,113 deaths, the country's highest in two weeks, thus bringing the death toll to 133,119. (Reuters)
Poisoning of Alexei Navalny Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny issues his first public statement since his poisoning via Instagram, having been taken off the ventilator the previous day. (AFP via RTL Today)
Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny issues his first public statement since his poisoning via Instagram, having been taken off the ventilator the previous day. (AFP via RTL Today)
A bomb kills two people and injures 12 others in Kalafgan District, Takhar Province. (TOLOnews)
Georgia reports 196 new cases, its highest single-day increase. (Xinhua)
In Popayán, Colombia, members of the Misak indigenous community topple and decapitate a monument dedicated to Spanish conquistador Sebastián de Belalcázar. (BBC News)
India's cases top five million to become the second country in the world after the United States to record that many cases. (Al Jazeera)
Madrid announces plans to introduce targeted lockdowns and other restrictions on movement on September 18, in areas with high cases, local authorities said as the region accounts for around one-third of active cases in Spain. (El Pais in English)
Nintendo officially ends support for the 3ds family
Pope Francis appoints Bishop Mario Grech, the former Bishop of Gozo, Malta, as secretary-general of the Synod of Bishops. Bishop Grech replaces Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, just prior to his 80th birthday. (Vatican Press Office)
Slovenia reports 123 new cases, an all-time high. (RTVSLO)
The United Kingdom returns three antique bronze sculptures to India more than 40 years after they were stolen from a Hindu temple in Tamil Nadu. They were found in London after one was offered for sale in 2019. A total of four bronzes from the Vijayanagara period, which lasted from the 14th to the 17th century, were stolen in 1978 from a temple dedicated to the god Vishnu in Nagapattinam. (Reuters)
A bomb hits a convoy, killing four members of the Popular Mobilization Forces in Kirkuk. (National Iraqi News Agency)
A firefighter dies in the El Dorado Fire while battling blazes in the San Bernardino National Forest. (The Guardian)
A two-month-old baby dies of COVID-19 in Michigan, the youngest known fatality in the state thus far. (MLive.com)
Armand Duplantis sets the outdoor pole vault world record at 6.15 metres at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, eclipsing the previous record held for 26 years by Sergey Bubka. (ABC)
Israel enters a three-week second nationwide lockdown in an attempt to curb surging cases as people begin to mark the start of Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year). Under these rules, Israelis must stay within one kilometer of their homes, with exceptions, and the number of people allowed in synagogues has been greatly reduced. (BBC News)
Myanmar reports 424 new infections in the last 24 hours, the biggest daily rise so far amid a recent resurgence of the virus after weeks without confirmed domestic transmission. (CNA)
Portugal reports 780 new daily cases, bringing the cumulative totals to 67,176 confirmed cases and 1,894 deaths. Ever since the end of national lockdown in May, this has been the fourth time that the country has registered some record increases in new cases, with all four records occurring during a ten-day window. (DGS)
The United Kingdom reports 4,322 new cases in the last 24 hours which taking the nationwide total at 385,936, the highest daily total since May 8. (ITV)
A 1634 edition of The Two Noble Kinsmen, the last play written by English playwright William Shakespeare, is discovered at the Royal Scots College's library in Salamanca, Spain. It is believed to be the oldest copy of any of his works in the country. (BBC News)
Former UK spy Fraser Cameron is reportedly placed under investigation by Belgian authorities for allegedly selling sensitive information to Chinese spies posing as journalists. (BBC News)
Portugal reports 847 new daily cases, bringing the cumulative totals to 68,025 confirmed cases and 1,899 deaths. Ever since the end of national lockdown in May, this has been the fifth time that the country has registered some record increases in new cases, with all five records occurring during an 11-day window. (DGS)
Robert Koch Institute reports 2,297 new cases in Germany in the last 24 hours, the highest single daily increase since April, taking the nationwide total to more than 270,000. (Daily Sabah)
Uganda reports 423 new cases, its highest daily increase, thus bringing the country's total cases to 6,017. (Xinhua)
2020 24 Hours of Le Mans Toyota Gazoo Racing wins the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the third straight year. (Autoblog)
2020 Democratic Republic of the Congo massacres Allied Democratic Forces militants kill 10 civilians in the town of Mbau, Democratic Republic of the Congo. (Anadolu)
Allied Democratic Forces militants kill 10 civilians in the town of Mbau, Democratic Republic of the Congo. (Anadolu)
BuzzFeed News and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists release the FinCEN files, a collection of 2,657 documents relating to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. (BuzzFeed News) (BBC News)
FinCEN Files BuzzFeed News and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists release the FinCEN files, a collection of 2,657 documents relating to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. (BuzzFeed News) (BBC News)
Toyota Gazoo Racing wins the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the third straight year. (Autoblog)
Microsoft agrees to buy video game holding company ZeniMax Media, including Bethesda Softworks and their following subsidiaries for $7.5 billion, in what is the biggest and most expensive takeover in the history of the video game industry. (Bloomberg)
The number of cases in Iran rises by 3,341 in the past 24 hours, the highest daily tally since early June. The number of total cases in the country reaches to 425,481. (Reuters)
An arms depot belonging to Hezbollah explodes in Ain Qana, Nabatieh, Lebanon, injuring several people. (Reuters)
Astronomers find glowing auroras around 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. This is the first comet discovered to have them. (CBS News)
The Netherlands posts a record weekly number of new confirmed cases. In the week ending today, cases hit 13,471, an increase of 60% on the 8,265 cases reported the week prior. (Reuters)
Archaeologists discover some chromium crucible steel (stainless steel) that was first made in Persia as early as the 11th century. (Sci News)
Astronomers announce the crescent shadow of Messier 87's supermassive black hole is wobbling. Back in April 2019, the Event Horizon Telescope captured the crescent shadow of the black hole, making it the first image ever taken of a black hole. (Sci News)
Eastern-based forces of Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA) say they have killed Abu Moaz al-Iraqi, leader of ISIL in Libya, in the desert city of Sebha. (Reuters)
Israel reports a record jump of 6,923 new cases in the past 24 hours, as the country imposes a second nationwide lockdown to prevent the spread of the virus. Further restrictions are being considered. (Al Jazeera)
The number of cases in the Netherlands surpasses 100,000, after a record of 2,357 new cases is reported in the last 24 hours. (Dutch News)
