Couples in New Zealand who have a miscarriage or stillbirth will be eligible for paid bereavement leave under a new law approved by parliament. MP Ginny Andersen, who put forward the bill, said it would allow mothers and their partners to “come to terms with their loss” without taking sick leave. The bill also applies to those having a child though adoption or surrogacy. New Zealand is reportedly only the second country in the world to introduce the measure, after India.The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.  The legislation, which was unanimously passed in parliament, provides three days of bereavement leave. Ms Anderson said one in four women in New Zealand have had a miscarriage and she hoped the new provision would give them “time to come to terms with their loss without having to tap into sick leave”. “Their grief is not a sickness, it is a loss. And loss takes time,” she said, adding that New Zealand was “leading the way for progressive and compassionate legislation”.

AstraZeneca has updated the efficacy result of its coronavirus vaccine trial in the US, after health officials insisted they wanted to include the latest information. The Anglo-Swedish firm has now adjusted the efficacy rate of its vaccine from 79% to 76%. Further data from the US trial showed efficacy among the over 65s rose from 80% to 85%. AstraZeneca said it now looked forward to getting US regulatory approval. The company said the trial results confirm the vaccine “is highly effective in adults” and it remains 100% effective at preventing severe cases of the disease. The US trials of the AstraZeneca jab had involved more than 32,000 volunteers, mostly in America, but also in Chile and Peru. In the results announced on Monday, the company said the vaccine was found to be 79% effective. But the next day, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said it had been informed by data and safety officials monitoring the trial that information may have been used that provided an “incomplete view of the efficacy data”. Dr Anthony Fauci, the White House’s Chief Medical Advisor, then warned reporters the firm would “likely come out with a modified statement”.(BBC)…[+]

The Japanese owner of the giant cargo ship that has been blocking Egypt’s Suez Canal since Tuesday has apologised for the disruption to global trade. Shoei Kisen Kaisha said it was trying to resolve the situation as soon as possible, but that dislodging the Ever Given was proving extremely difficult. The 400m-long (1,300ft), 200,000-tonne vessel became wedged across the canal amid high winds and a dust storm.

At least 150 ships are now waiting to pass through the vital maritime route. About 12% of global trade passes through the Suez canal, which connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea and provides the shortest sea link between Asia and Europe. An alternative route, around the Cape of Good Hope on the southern tip of Africa, can take two weeks longer. The vessel, which is operated by Taiwanese transport company Evergreen Marine but called the Ever Given, is currently wedged diagonally across the waterway.(BBC)…[+]

President Joe Biden has vowed to take “common-sense steps” to crack down on firearms following two mass shootings in the US in less than a week. He renewed his call to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines and urged Congress to pass bills that would end loopholes in background checks.

Mr Biden was speaking a day after 10 people were shot dead in a Colorado grocery store. Eight people were killed inside spas in Georgia last week. But the president has an uphill task. The right to bear arms is protected by the Second Amendment to the US Constitution. While Democrats have called for stricter gun control measures in the aftermath of mass shootings, many conservatives, including former President Donald Trump, see any restrictions as infringing on this constitutional right. “I don’t need to wait another minute, let alone an hour, to take common-sense steps that will save the lives in the future, and to urge my colleagues in the House and Senate to act,” Mr Biden said at the White House on Tuesday. He pointed to the fact that, as a senator, he helped bring in a ban on assault weapons in 1994, which expired a decade later. “It brought down these mass killings. We should do it again,” he said.

A seven-year-old girl has been shot dead in Myanmar, becoming the youngest known victim in the crackdown following last month’s military coup. Khin Myo Chit’s family told the BBC she was killed by police while she ran towards her father, during a raid on their home in the city of Mandalay. Myanmar’s military has been increasing its use of force as protests continue.  Rights group Save the Children says more than 20 children are among dozens of people who have been killed. In total, the military says 164 people have been killed in protests, while the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) activist group puts the death toll at at least 261.

The military on Tuesday expressed sadness at the death of protesters, while blaming them for bringing anarchy and violence to the country. But security forces have used live rounds against protesters, and there have been multiple eyewitness reports of people being beaten and sometimes shot as the military conducts house raids to arrest activists and protesters.(BBC)…[+]

A giant container ship the length of four football pitches has become wedged across Egypt’s Suez Canal, blocking traffic in one of the world’s busiest trade routes. Dozens of vessels are stuck, waiting for rescue boats to free the 400m-long (1,312ft) ship, which was knocked off course by strong winds. Egypt has reopened the canal’s older channel to divert some traffic until the grounded ship can move again. The mishap has created long tailbacks. About 12% of global trade passes through the Suez Canal, which connects the Mediterranean to the Red Sea and provides the shortest sea link between Asia and Europe. The Ever Given, registered in Panama, was bound for the port city of Rotterdam in the Netherlands from China and was passing northwards through the canal on its way to the Mediterranean. The 200,000 tonne ship, built in 2018 and operated by Taiwanese transport company Evergreen Marine, ran aground and became lodged sideways across the waterway at about 07:40 local time (05:40 GMT) on Tuesday. At 400m long and 59m wide, the ship has blocked the path of other vessels which are now trapped in lines in both directions.(BBC)…[+]

The crisis engulfing Australia’s politics has continued to grow following the emergence of videos showing staff members performing sex acts in parliament, leading to one senior aide being fired.

One video showed the aide performing a sex act on a female MP’s desk. Prime Minister Scott Morrison described the videos as “disgraceful”. It comes after a former staff member revealed how she feared losing her job following an alleged sexual assault. Brittany Higgins alleges she was raped by senior colleague in an office in March 2019, but says she felt pressured not to report the incident to police.It sparked a wave of allegations, and last week, thousands took part in marches to protest against the sexual abuse and harassment of women in Australia.

The Biden administration has said it will open additional facilities for migrants after images from a detention centre in Texas showed children huddled together in crowded makeshift rooms. The Texas site, a government-run tent city in Donna at the US-Mexico border, is reportedly housing 1,000 people. The photos are the first to show conditions at such facilities since President Joe Biden took office. Critics have blamed Mr Biden for a surge in illegal migration to the US. Since taking office in January, Mr Biden has removed some of the restrictions for those entering the US introduced by his predecessor, Donald Trump. His administration has reversed a policy of turning away unaccompanied children at the border, instead opting to process them and place them with sponsoring families in the US.(BBC)…[+]

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has described as “tyrants” state governors and mayors who have imposed lockdowns to contain the coronavirus outbreak. Addressing supporters at his birthday celebrations in Brasilia, he said his government had done all it could and it was now time to reopen the economy.

Last week, the country’s leading health institute Fiocruz warned of a historic collapse of Brazil’s health service. It said intensive care units in hospitals were running out of capacity. Brazil Covid surge reaches critical new peak. Covid vaccines: How fast is worldwide progress?. Mr Bolsonaro, who was 66 on Sunday, has consistently opposed quarantine measures, arguing that the collateral damage to the economy would be worse than the effects of the virus itself. Earlier this month, the president told Brazilians to “stop whining” about the pandemic. Mr Bolsonaro’s handling of the outbreak has triggered widespread criticism both home and abroad.(BBC)…[+]

The leading opposition presidential candidate in Congo-Brazzaville, who was seriously ill with Covid-19, has died hours after polls closed. Guy-Brice Parfait Kolélas died on a plane taking him to France for treatment, his campaign director said. Hours earlier the 61-year-old had appeared in a video shared on social media, where he removed his oxygen mask and told his supporters that he was “fighting death”. He urged them to vote in Sunday’s poll. The electoral law doesn’t annul the election if one of the candidates dies. Mr Kolélas, who was diabetic, was one of six candidates running against President Denis Sassou Nguesso, 77, who has been in power since 1979, except for a five-year period after losing elections in 1992. Congo-Brazzavile has officially recorded more than 9,000 cases of Covid-19 and 130 deaths. The country has imposed a night-time curfew in the two main cities of Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire and closed its borders due to the pandemic.(BBC)…[+]