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photo : BBC

NATO said that claims by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko that foreign powers are organising a build-up of troops on the country's border are baseless. The President said he had placed his armed forces on high alert. Protests continued in the streets of Minsk on Saturday following a disputed election two weeks ago. Demonstrators are demanding that President Lukashenko stand down. The leader, who has ruled Belarus for 26 years, claimed the NATO bloc was trying to split up Belarus and install a new president in Minsk. He said troops in Poland and Lithuania were readying themselves, and that he was moving his armed forces to the country's western border.  NATO rejected the claim, saying it posed no threat to Belarus or any other country and has no military build-up in the region. NATO urged Belarus to respect the fundamental human rights of its citizens//BBC

PHOTO : STRAITTIMES

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced a 12-day extension of the country’s Covid-19 restrictions, after a cluster of cases grew to 29. As stated by BBC.com (14/8) there are four “alert levels” in New Zealand, and Auckland has been on Level 3 since Wednesday. PM Ardern said the rest of the country is on Level 2 and both would be extended. New Zealand has had success containing coronavirus and went 102 days without a community transmission. The origin of the cluster in Auckland - New Zealand's largest city with a population of 1.5 million - is still being investigated. The PM said the decision to extend the restrictions was in keeping with the cautionary approach and New Zealand's philosophy of going hard and going early//BBC

PHOTO : PRI.ORG

Canada’s public safety minister Bill Blair on Friday said the Canada-U.S. border will remain closed to non-essential travel for at least another month. As stated by APNews.com (14/8) the statement by the Public Safety Minister came a day after Mexico announced a similar measure for its border with the United States. The land border restrictions aimed at controlling the coronavirus pandemic were first announced in March and have been renewed monthly. Many Canadians fear a reopening. Canada has flattened the epidemic curve while the U.S. has more confirmed cases and deaths from COVID-19 than any other country. Essential cross-border workers like health care professionals, airline crews and truck drivers are still permitted to cross. Much of Canada’s food supply comes from or via the U.S. Americans who are returning to America and Canadians who are returning to Canada are also exempted from the border closure//APNews

PHOTO : ABC

New flare ups of COVID-19 are disrupting the peak summer vacation season across much of Europe, where authorities in some countries are re-imposing restrictions on travellers, closing nightclubs again, banning fireworks displays and expanding mask orders even in chic resort areas. As quoted by APNews.com (15/8) the surges have spread alarm across Europe, which suffered mightily during the spring but appeared in recent months to have largely tamed the coronavirus in ways that the U.S., with its vaunted scientific prowess and the extra time to prepare, cannot seem to manage. The continent’s hardest-hit countries, Britain, Italy, France and Spain, have recorded about 140,000 deaths in all//APNews