Briefly

INDIA

landslides kill 36, dozens more trapped

Landslides triggered by heavy monsoon rains hit parts of western India, killing at least 36 people and leading to the overnight rescue of more than 1,000 other people trapped by floodwaters, officials said on Friday. The dead were killed in three landslides in Raigad district in western Maharashtra state, said District Collector Nidhi Chaudhary. Many of those rescued were stranded on rooftops and even on top of buses on highways, she said. An Indian navy statement said it has deployed helicopters for evacuating stranded people and sent rescue teams with boats to the region.

ISRAEL

Delta drags down Pfizer effectiveness

The effectiveness of the Pfizer vaccine against COVID-19 has dropped to 39 percent in Israel, the country's Ministry of Health said on Thursday. The new figure refers to the period between June 20 and July 17, the ministry said, adding that the ongoing decline was observed along with the spread of the Delta COVID-19 variant in Israel.

NEW ZEALAND

Govt suspends travel bubble with Australia

New Zealand decided on Friday to suspend its quarantine-free travel bubble with Australia for at least eight weeks due to a growing COVID-19 cluster in Sydney. New Zealand recently imposed quarantine restrictions on travelers from New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia states, where lockdowns have been introduced to contain Delta variant clusters. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said quarantine-free travel would be suspended from anywhere in Australia from 11:59 pm local time. Ardern said she hoped to have all New Zealanders who wanted to return flown home from Australia with managed flights within a week. The travel bubble has existed since April and has provided both countries with their only quarantine-free international flights.

Agencies - Xinhua