* A 6.9-magnitude earthquake rocked East Nusa Tenggara province in central Indonesia on Friday, with no damage or casualties reported so far, the meteorological agency said. The agency did not issue a warning for a tsunami. The quake struck at 11:09 a.m. local time (0409 GMT), and the epicenter, with a depth of 670 km, was located 171 km northeast off the coast of Larantuka, a sub-district of Flores Timur district in the province, according to the agency.
* Thailand's Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) on Friday extended emergency rule against the pandemic until Sept. 30. CCSA spokesman Taweesin Visanuyothin confirmed that the emergency decree has been extended for a fifth consecutive month until September 30. It was earlier scheduled to last until Aug. 31. Emergency rule has been officially considered necessary to cope with the pandemic, the CCSA spokesman said.
* The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Philippines soared to 182,365 after the Department of Health (DOH) reported 4,786 new daily cases on Friday. The DOH said that the number of recoveries surged to 114,519 after it reported 616 more patients have survived the disease. The death toll also climbed to 2,940 after 59 more patients have succumbed to the viral disease, the DOH added.
* No new locally-transmitted COVID-19 cases were reported Thursday (August 20) across the Chinese mainland, the National Health Commission said Friday. A total of 22 confirmed cases arriving from outside the mainland were reported Thursday, the commission said in its daily report. As of Thursday, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases on the mainland had reached 84,917, including 491 patients who were still being treated, with 20 in severe condition. Altogether 79,792 people had been discharged after recovery, and 4,634 had died of the disease on the mainland, the commission said.
* Russia registered 4,870 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, taking its total to 946,976, the country's COVID-19 response center said in a statement Friday. Meanwhile, 90 new deaths were reported, taking the nationwide count to 16,189. Moscow, the country's worst-hit region, reported 690 new cases, taking its tally of infections to 255,826, the response center said. According to the statement, 761,330 people have recovered so far, including 5,817 over the past day.
* Sweden will be able to offer vaccines to between 3 to 6 million citizens following a deal between the European Union (EU) and pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca, in which the coronavirus vaccine will be distributed to member states according to their population size, a Swedish official said on Thursday. The Swedish government decided on Thursday to take part in the EU program, which was announced earlier this month when the bloc secured a deal with AstraZeneca to buy at least 300 million doses of potential coronavirus vaccine, if it wins approval from regulators.
* All Belgian students at all levels of education will return to school on Sept. 1 on the basis of Code Yellow determined by the communities, Prime Minister Sophie Wilmes said Thursday at the end of the National Security Council meeting. For the prime minister, the measures taken by the Belgian authorities to fight the rebound of COVID-19 have helped control the health situation by reducing the impact of the virus on the population. To date, a total of 79,479 confirmed cases have been reported by Sciensano, with 9,969 deaths since the beginning of the epidemic.
* New Zealand confirmed 11 new cases of COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of active cases in the country to 105, according to the Ministry of Health on Friday. New Zealand's largest city Auckland will remain in COVID-19 Alert Level 3 till Aug. 26 before further lockdown decisions are made, with the rest of the country staying in Alert Level 2 with relaxed restrictions. Under level 3, businesses are required to implement COVID-19 safety measures, but most people are encouraged stay at home.
* The number of flights between China and the United States will double this month, according to the US Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Civil Aviation Authority of China (CAAC). An order from the DOT announced on Tuesday said that it will allow "the four Chinese airlines currently performing scheduled passenger services to the United States to increase their services to eight weekly round-trip flights."
* US President Donald Trump on Thursday reiterated his intention to withdraw US troops from Iraq but gave no detailed timeline. Speaking to reporters in the White House with visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, Trump said that "we have been taking our troops out of Iraq fairly rapidly, and we look forward to the day when we don't have to be there." Currently, there are over 5,000 US troops deployed in Iraq to support Iraqi forces in battles against remnants of the Islamic State, mainly for training and advisory purposes.
* The Canadian government has announced a new financial assistance plan for Canadians to recover the economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic. At a news conference in Ottawa on Thursday, Canadian Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, along with Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough, announced the new plan for the next phase of economic recovery when Canada continues to face the worst economic downturn in history.
* France, Germany and the United Kingdom issued a joint statement on Thursday saying that they cannot support the United States in seeking to reimpose sanctions on Iran. The US sent a letter to the UN Security Council on Thursday requesting to initiate the "snapback" mechanism, which allows a participant to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA) to seek the reimposition against Iran of the multilateral sanctions lifted in 2015 in accordance with resolution 2231, adopted by the UN Security Council.
* Former US Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday formally accepted the Democratic presidential nomination, laying out his vision for building the nation back better in a speech that capped off the four-day virtual Democratic National Convention.
* Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin has ordered the holding of large-scale tactical military drills in the western Grodno region, the ministry's press service said on Thursday. The exercise will focus on defense and special actions involving mechanized infantry units, special operations forces, air defense units, reconnaissance units, electronic warfare units, missile and artillery units, according to the ministry.
* The Armed Forces of Malta rescued a group of 118 migrants, including 10 women, five children and a baby, after their boat was sinking and the migrants were drowning, Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri said on Thursday. Camilleri said the migrants were in Malta's search and rescue area when they were seen to be in distress, with many of them at risk of drowning, forcing the Maltese navy officers to intervene to save lives.
* Egypt reported on Thursday 111 new COVID-19 infections, the lowest daily cases since April 10, raising the total number registered in the country since the outbreak of the pandemic to 97,025, said the Health Ministry. It is also the 19th day in a row for Egypt's COVID-19 daily infections to fall below 200, after they started to surpass 200 on April 23 until hitting a record of 1,774 on June 19. Meanwhile, 15 deaths from the novel coronavirus were confirmed on Thursday, bringing the death toll to 5,212, while 909 were cured and discharged from hospitals, increasing the total recoveries to 63,462, Health Ministry spokesman Khaled Megahed said in a statement.
* Iran on Thursday denounced US attempt to activate the "snapback" mechanism to restore the United Nations (UN) sanctions on the Islamic republic as "unlawful." "All parties to the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action), the Security Council member states and international jurists all share the view that the United States is no longer a party to the JCPOA, and Washington's move has no basis as per the Security Council Resolution 2231 and the JCPOA," Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in a phone conversation with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
* The Syrian health ministry on Thursday reported 81 new COVID-19 cases in government-controlled areas, raising the total number to 2,008, state news agency SANA reported. A total of 460 have recovered from the virus and 82 died since the first coronavirus case was reported in Syria in March, SANA said.
* Lebanon's total COVID-19 cases increased on Thursday by 605 cases to 10,952, while the death toll went up by four to 113, Lebanese Health Ministry reported. Caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hassan urged public and private hospitals to receive all COVID-19 patients or people who have symptoms of coronavirus infection. He also asked the hospitals to free beds from those who are about to be cured and do not need hospitalization, to prevent further spread of the virus.
* The Libyan Interior Ministry said Thursday that 67 illegal immigrants have been rescued off Abu Kammash, a town some 120 km west of the capital Tripoli, after their boat capsized. The rescuees include 17 women and 10 children, the ministry said in a statement.
* The National Center for Disease Control of Libya on Thursday reported 395 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total confirmed cases in the country to 9,463. The center said in a statement that 15 patients recovered and five died on Thursday, bringing the total recoveries to 1,018 and the death toll 169.
