By Maayan Lubell JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett received a third shot of Pfizer/BioNtech s COVID-19 vaccine on Friday, after Israel extended its booster campaign for people over 40 to try to curb the Delta coronavirus variant. New cases in Israel have surged since Delta s emergence and Bennett, 49, has sought to avoid an economically painful national lockdown by ramping up third doses. People over 60 began receiving third doses in July, before the minimum age of eligibility was dropped to 50. Health Ministry officials cited waning immunity and Delta s high infectiousness. The Health Ministry said on Friday boosters would now be administered to people over 40 whose second shot was at least five months ago. It recommended teachers, health workers, carers of the elderly, and pregnant women of all ages have the shot. The United States has announced plans to offer booster shots to all Americans, citing data showing diminishing protection. Canada, France and Ger
By Hyonhee Shin SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean police mobilised hundreds of buses and set up dozens of checkpoints on Sunday to fend off political rallies in the capital Seoul, as some groups pushed ahead with annual protests in defiance of warnings over the novel coronavirus. South Korea has largely been held up as a coronavirus success story, but is grappling with a fourth wave of infection that brought more than 2,200 new daily cases last week for the first time, partly fuelled by the more transmissible Delta variant. The government has banned protests and vowed punishment for any legal violation ahead of Sunday s Liberation Day, warning of a revival of an outbreak from an anti-government rally and a church last August which resulted in more than 1,800 cases. Police parked busses along main avenues and around a large square in downtown Seoul to seal them off, while setting up more than 80 checkpoints to block vehicles carrying demonstrators and equipment. The subway and public buses
يستعدّ رئيس الوزراء الكندي جاستن ترودو، الموجود في السلطة منذ عام 2015، لخوض انتخابات مبكرة في 20 أيلول/سبتمبر، على رغم من التهديدات التي تطرحها موجة رابعة محتملة من فيروس كورونا. ويفترض أن يزور ترودو المرشح لولاية ثالثة الأحد مكتب الحاكمة العامة ماري سيمون ليطلب منها حلّ مجلس العموم ومجلس النواب، وفق ما أفادت وسائل إعلام محلية بينها سي بي سي و سي تي في . ويمثّل هذا الإجراء البداية الرسمية لحملة انتخابية أُعلن عنها قبل أسابيع عدّة. وبحسب وسائل الإعلام المحلية، من المتوقع أن تستمر 36 يوماً وبالتالي سيتوجه الكنديون إلى صناديق الاقتراع في 20 أيلول/سبتم