Israel
Two people have been killed and ten wounded after a gunman fired into a crowded bar in Tel Aviv - the fourth such attack in just three weeks. Israeli police later said they had killed the attacker, who they said was a Palestinian from the occupied West Bank. Tensions tend to run high during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Last year, Israel bombarded the occupied Gaza Strip for 11 days after protests erupted over Palestinians being illegally evicted from their homes in East Jerusalem.
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Yemen
An intriguing development in Yemen’s grinding war. The country’s exiled president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, has stepped aside in favor of a newly-formed presidential council. A Saudi Arabia-led coalition intervened on Hadi’s behalf when his government was toppled by rebels known as the Houthis in 2014. The development comes as there appears to be a fresh diplomatic push to bring the war to an end.
More from AP here.
African continent
Several experts have puzzled over the last three years as to why Covid-19 doesn’t seem to have made inroads in African countries. But new UN research today indicated that about 65 percent of people may have been infected - a staggering 97 times more than official figures. “This undercounting is occurring worldwide and it’s no surprise that the numbers are particularly large in Africa where there are so many cases with no symptoms,” WHO’s Africa director Matshidiso Moeti said in a statement. It is thought one reason cases tend to be mild in African countries is due to fewer people having underlying conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease. A youthful population across the continent is also considered a possible factor.
More from Al Jazeera here.