Japan has put a batch of Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine on hold after a foreign substance was found in a vial. A pharmacist saw several black particles in one vial of the vaccine in Kanagawa Prefecture, according to authorities. Some 3,790 people had already received shots from the batch. The rest of the batch has now been put on hold. It comes less than a week after Japan suspended the use of about 1.63 million Moderna doses due to contamination. The pharmacist found the black particles while checking for foreign substances before the vaccine’s use. The jab’s domestic distributor has collected the vial suspected to be contaminated.(BBC)…[+]

A law banning abortion from as early as six weeks into pregnancy has come into effect in the US state of Texas. It bans abortions after the detection of what anti-abortion campaigners call a foetal heartbeat, something medical authorities say is misleading. The law, one of the most restrictive in the country, took effect after the Supreme Court did not respond to an emergency appeal by abortion providers. Doctors and women’s rights groups have heavily criticised the law. It gives any individual the right to sue doctors who perform an abortion past the six-week point. The so-called “Heartbeat Act” was signed into law by Texas Governor Greg Abbott in May. But rights groups, including Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), then requested that the Supreme Court block the legislation.(BBC)…[+]

There is now no country in the world that uses leaded petrol for cars and lorries, the UN Environment Programme has announced. The toxic fuel has contaminated air, soil and water for almost a century. It can cause heart disease, cancer and stroke, and has been linked to problems with brain development in children. Most high-income countries had banned the fuel by the 1980s, but it was only in July that Algeria – the last country still to use leaded petrol – ran out. UN Secretary-General António Guterres called the eradication of leaded petrol an “international success story”. “Ending the use of leaded petrol will prevent more than one million premature deaths each year from heart disease, strokes and cancer, and it will protect children whose IQs are damaged by exposure to lead,” he said.(BBC)…[+]

Canteens at Berlin’s universities will offer mainly vegan and vegetarian meals from next term as part of a push to make menus more climate-friendly. German reports say meat and fish dishes will only make up about 4% of menus from the start of October. On Mondays, there will be no meat dishes available at all, as canteens swap currywurst for salads. The canteens are currently closed, but food can be picked up on request. The new menus are designed to reduce the carbon footprint of universities in the German capital. Meat is very common in many traditional German dishes, such as schnitzels, bratwurst and pork knuckles. However scientists say carbon emissions produced by the meat industry are contributing to climate change.(BBC)…[+]

The last US military flight has left Kabul airport, marking the end of a 20-year presence in Afghanistan and America’s longest war. Officials said the last C17 aircraft took off with the US ambassador onboard after midnight local time on Tuesday. They added that the diplomatic mission to assist those unable to leave before the deadline would continue. Celebratory gunfire by the Taliban was heard after the last plane departed.

The aircraft’s departure was the final chapter in a contentious military effort, which eventually saw the US handing Afghanistan back to the very Islamist militants it sought to root out when American troops entered the country in 2001.(BBC)…[+]

Bank robbers strapped hostages to the top of their getaway vehicles after a raid in the southern Brazilian city of Araçatuba.  Police said that at least three people were killed, among them one suspect. Officials said more than 20 people took part in the heist, blocking off roads with burning vehicles and placing explosive devices across the city. Large-scale bank robberies have become more frequent in recent years, with hostages used as human shields. Initial reports had put the number of assailants at more than 50 but that number has since been revised down to between 15 and 20. Lieutenant Alexandre Guedes of the Military Police told GloboNews that one man was killed by the gang when they found him filming them. A woman and a suspect were killed in a stand-off with police outside the city as gang members tried to make their escape, officials said. (BBC)…[+]

A spike in coronavirus infections and a slump in vaccination uptake is holding back Europe’s effort to curb the pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned. The WHO’s Europe director, Hans Kluge, said a recent increase in Covid-19 cases and deaths was “deeply worrying”. He blamed the more infectious Delta variant, the easing of restrictions and summer travel. Mr Kluge predicted Europe could record another 236,000 deaths by December. The WHO says the region has recorded more than 65 million confirmed cases and 1.3 million deaths since the start of the pandemic. Covid infections across Europe declined in April but started to creep back up again at the end of June.(BBC)…[+]

A million people are without power in Louisiana as Hurricane Ida is downgraded to a tropical storm. The storm brought 150mph (240km/h) winds when it made landfall and those people who did not flee have been advised to shelter in place. One person was killed when a tree fell on their home in Ascension Parish, in the Baton Rouge area. Ida will test New Orleans’ flood defences, strengthened after Hurricane Katrina killed 1,800 people in 2005. President Joe Biden said Ida would be “life-threatening”, with immense devastation likely beyond the coasts. Over one million homes in Louisiana are without power, and Mr Biden said it could take weeks to restore supplies. The president has declared a major disaster in the state, releasing extra funds for rescue and recovery efforts. Ida gathered strength over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico during the weekend. It made landfall on Sunday south of New Orleans as a category four hurricane – meaning it would cause severe damage to buildings, trees and power lines. As it moves inland, Ida’s winds have dropped to 95mph (153km/h), meaning it is now a category one storm. In some places the storm surge could be as high as 16ft (4.8m), potentially submerging parts of the low-lying coastline.(BBC)…[+]

The downfall of Heinz-Christian Strache, who was head of Austria’s far-right Freedom Party, began with a video sting on the holiday island of Ibiza. Two years on, a court in Vienna has found him guilty of corruption, giving him a 15-month suspended jail sentence. He was vice-chancellor when the scandal brought down Sebastian Kurz’s coalition government. The video that emerged hinted at potentially illegal donations to his far-right FPÖ. Strache, now 52, was seen promising public contracts to a woman posing as a Russian oligarch’s niece in exchange for electoral support. Although he denied wrongdoing, the revelations paved the way for a series of corruption investigations. He was accused of helping to change a law so a friend and donor to his party could secure public funding for his private health clinic.(BBC)…[+]

Gunmen in Nigeria have freed a number of pupils who were kidnapped from an Islamic school in May, according to their head teacher. Some 136 students from the school in Tegina, Niger state, were seized by gunmen demanding a ransom. The head teacher said a small number escaped in June. There were unconfirmed reports that six died in captivity. Mass abductions for ransom have become increasingly common across Nigeria in recent months. Head teacher Abubakar Alhassan said he could not give an exact number of how many students had been freed, but “none of the pupils are in captivity”. He told the BBC that the freed students were looking unhealthy, frail and exhausted. They are now being treated in hospital in the state capital, Minna.(BBC)…[+]