Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon surged again over the past year, hitting a 12-year high, according to official figures released Monday that drew a chorus of condemnation of President Jair Bolsonaro’s government.

Saudi Arabia has agreed to let Israeli airliners cross its airspace en route to the United Arab Emirates after talks between Saudi officials and White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, a senior Trump administration official said.

The UN yesterday said that $35 billion would be needed for aid in 2021, as the pandemic leaves tens of millions more people in crisis, and with the risk of multiple famines looming.

Dhaka has urged Doha to take urgent measures so that the stranded Bangladeshi expatriates can return to work in Qatar.

India today termed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s remark about the protest by farmers in New Delhi as “unwarranted”.

Iran’s parliament Tuesday advanced a bill that would end UN inspections of its nuclear facilities and require the government to boost its uranium enrichment if European signatories to the 2015 nuclear deal do not provide relief from oil and banking sanctions.

Pfizer Inc and BioNTech have applied to the European drugs regulator for conditional authorization of their COVID-19 vaccine, following similar steps in the United States and Britain, the companies said on Tuesday.

Canada's federal government will spend C$100bn ($77bn, £58bn) to kick-start the country's post-pandemic economy.

Saudi Arabia agreed on Monday to let Israeli airliners cross its airspace en route to the United Arab Emirates after talks between Saudi officials and White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, a senior Trump administration official said.

One of US President Donald Trump's favored coronavirus advisors who sparked controversy over his comments against mask-wearing and other issues has resigned, US media reported Monday.

Progress in eliminating malaria has stalled in recent years, the World Health Organization said yesterday, with more than 400,000 people once again estimated to have died from the disease last year.

Australia’s prime minister angrily denounced a “repugnant”, “outrageous” and “appalling” tweet from a top Chinese government spokesman yesterday and demanded Beijing formally apologise.

China will build a major hydropower project on Brahmaputra river in Tibet and a proposal for this has been clearly put forward in the 14th Five-Year Plan to be implemented from next year, the official media yesterday quoted the head of a Chinese company tasked to build the dam as saying.

Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed lauded his troops yesterday for their victory over a rebellious northern movement, but the leader of Tigrayan forces said they were still resisting amid fears of a protracted guerrilla conflict.

Thai police charged five key leaders of the country’s pro-democracy protest movement yesterday under the kingdom’s tough royal defamation laws, the first such use of the controversial legislation in two years.

Japan’s Crown Prince Akishino, the younger brother of Emperor Naruhito, has said he “approves” of his daughter Princess Mako marrying her university boyfriend, Kei Komuro, but reiterated that Komuro’s mother must first solve an ongoing financial dispute. 0

New Zealand’s workplace safety watchdog yesterday handed down criminal charges over last year’s White Island volcanic eruption that claimed 22 lives and left dozens more with horrific burns.

President-elect Joe Biden unveiled his picks for several top economic positions yesterday, including former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen as his nominee for Treasury Secretary, setting the stage for a more diverse White House.

China is planning to build a hydropower project on the Yarlung Zangbo River, on the upper stream of the Brahmaputra river in the Tibet Autonomous Region.

A senior Iranian official said on Monday an opposition group was suspected alongside Israel in the killing of a prominent Iranian nuclear scientist, an attack that has raised the prospect of a new standoff between Tehran and its longtime enemy.