Iraq
A terrible story out of Iraq. A fire at a COVID-19 isolation ward in the southern city of Nasiriya has killed at least 36 people. Officials said the death toll was likely to rise and angry demonstrators gathered outside the hospital chanting anti-government slogans. It is the second such fire in Iraq this year - a blaze at a COVID-19 hospital in the capital Baghdad killed 82 people and injured more than 100 others in April.
More from Al Jazeera here.
South Africa
At least 10 people have been killed and more than 200 arrested as riots in South Africa over the jailing of former president Jacob Zuma continue to escalate. The government has now deployed the military as disturbances spread to economic hub Johannesburg.
More from Reuters via Yahoo News here.
COVID-19
“We will look back in anger and I think we will look back in shame.”
The World Health Organization today said there’s not enough evidence to show third shots of COVID-19 vaccines are effective and that rich countries should share extra doses with poorer ones rather than use them as boosters. WHO’s Dr. Michael Ryan said that if rich countries go ahead with booster plans rather than donating doses to countries in need, “we will look back in anger and I think we will look back in shame.”
More from the Associated Press here.