South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday said a controversial ban on the sale of alcohol would be lifted for home consumption when the country moves into level three of a five-tier coronavirus lockdown next month. South Africans were prohibited from buying alcohol and cigarettes when the country went into one of the world’s strictest […]

Austria’s President, Alexander Van der Bellen, apologised on Sunday after staying at a restaurant past the 11 pm closing time mandated by the government as part of its anti-coronavirus measures. “I went out for the first time since the lockdown with two friends and my wife,” Van der Bellen tweeted on Sunday, adding: “We then […]

Two months after it was closed as part of anti-coronavirus precautions, Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre remained closed to the public on Sunday, despite an earlier official announcement of its reopening. Located in the walled Old City of Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, most Christians believe the site is where Jesus was crucified and entombed. Millions […]

Shiite Iranians in a rare event will mark the end of the holy month of Ramadan this year on separate days — Sunday or Monday — depending on different religious authorities’ edicts. Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei announced Saturday evening on his official website that the Eid al-Fitr festival will fall on Sunday this year. […]

China is “open” to international cooperation to identify the source of the novel coronavirus, but any investigation must be led by the World Health Organization and “free of political interference”, China’s foreign minister said Sunday. Wang Yi blasted what he called efforts by US politicians to “fabricate rumours” about the origins of the virus and […]