Briefly

BRAZIL

COVID-19 deaths surpass half million

Brazil on Saturday became the second country after the United States to surpass 500,000 COVID-19 deaths as the country grapples with a third wave of the pandemic. The Health Ministry reported 500,800 deaths, including 2,301 in the previous 24 hours, a figure that many experts say underestimates the real toll from the health crisis. Last week the average number of daily deaths surpassed 2,000 for the first time since May 10. "The third wave is arriving, there's already been a change in the case and death curves," said Ethel Maciel, an epidemiologist from Espirito Santo University.

FRANCE

Police, party-goers hurt as rave raided

Eleven police officers were injured in western France as they broke up a 1,500-strong illegal rave, authorities said on Saturday, with one party-goer losing a hand in the clashes. Police fired tear gas to disperse the crowd, who defied an 11 pm coronavirus curfew on Friday and stayed on into Saturday afternoon in the area around a race course near Redon in Brittany. According to the authorities, 11 police officers were injured, two of whom were taken to hospital. Two of the ravers were also hurt, including the man who lost a hand. Event organizers said police had chosen violence instead of dialogue by firing tear gas grenades.

UNITED STATES

Biden to host outgoing Israeli president

US President Joe Biden will host Israeli President Reuven Rivlin at the White House on June 28, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said on Saturday. Rivlin is due to retire next month after the end of his seven-year term. Israel's former Labor Party chairman and opposition leader Isaac Herzog was chosen by the parliament earlier this month to be the next Israeli president. He will be sworn in next month.

WEST AFRICA

2,000 killed in terror attacks since 2020

West Africa has suffered a total of 700 terrorist attacks resulting in 2,000 civilian and military deaths between the start of 2020 and May 2021, an Economic Community of West African States official said on Saturday. Jean-Claude Kassi Brou, the president of the ECOWAS Commission, said insecurity was still a major concern for the region as violent extremism threatened the stability of the region. "Terrorist attacks doubled between the first five months of 2020 and 2021," Brou said in his opening speech during the 59th Ordinary Session of the Heads of State of ECOWAS. "These attacks occur largely in Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, and Nigeria, spreading to coastal countries, and increasing the number of displaced persons in the West African subregion."

GUINEA

WHO declares end to second Ebola outbreak

The World Health Organization on Saturday officially announced the end of Guinea's second Ebola outbreak, which was declared in February and claimed 12 lives. At 16 confirmed cases and seven probable infections according to WHO figures, the limited size of the latest flare-up has been credited to experience from the 2013-16 epidemic, which killed more than 11,300 people mostly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Just 12 people died this time around. The WHO said it had delivered about 24,000 vaccine doses to Guinea and that 11,000 people at high risk had received shots, including more than 2,800 frontline workers.

Agencies - Xinhua