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Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, have spoken in their first phone call for seven months, amid continuing tensions between the world’s two largest economies. During the 90-minute call, which was initiated by the US president, the two leaders discussed their shared responsibility to ensure competition does not “veer into conflict”, according to a readout from the White House.
Cuba became the first country in the world to begin vaccinating children from the age of two against the coronavirus on Monday. The island nation is using Abdala and Soberana, its indigenous vaccines, to inoculate children between the age of two and 18. The country’s inoculation campaign for children over 12 kicked off on Friday, while the drive for those between two and 11 began on Monday, reported AFP.
US President Joe Biden has announced sweeping new Covid-19 measures that require workers at large companies to be vaccinated or face weekly testing. The measures also include a vaccine mandate for millions of federal government workers and come as cases in the country are surging. Hospitals in several states have reached capacity amid the spread of the more transmissible Delta variant.
Lebanese leaders agreed a new government led by Sunni Muslim tycoon Najib Mikati on Friday after a year of feuding over cabinet seats that has exacerbated a devastating economic collapse, opening the way to a resumption of talks with the IMF. The breakthrough followed a flurry of contacts from France which has led efforts to get Lebanon’s fractious leaders to agree a cabinet and begin reforms since last year’s catastrophic Beirut port explosion.
The US Open women’s final will be a battle of the teens as Britain’s Emma Raducanu advances to her first major final by defeating No. 17 seed Maria Sakkari of Greece 6-1, 6-4 in the semifinals on Thursday night. Raducanu, 18, will face 19-year-old Canadian Leylah Fernandez in the final at the Arthur Ashe Stadium on Saturday, making it the first major final between teenagers since the 1999 US Open when Serena Williams defeated Martina Hingis.