Thursday, June 3

*) Israeli opposition forms new coalition government Israel's opposition leader, Yair Lapid, has moved closer to unseating Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud party. Lapid and nationalist Naftali Bennett made a deal with the United Arab List party. This coalition could secure them enough votes in the Knesset to assume power. *) 10,000 volunteers quit Tokyo Olympics of Covid-19 fears Around 10,000 Tokyo Olympics volunteers have quit as Japan battles a fourth wave of Covid-19. Organisers are battling persistent doubts over the Games with just 50 days to go until the opening ceremony. Tokyo 2020 chief Seiko Hashimoto ruled out a further postponement and said a cancellation will only happen if most foreign athletes do not attend. *) Brazilians bang pots in protest as another 2,500 die of virus Pot-banging protests erupted across several cities in Brazil as the president addressed the nation. This comes just days after protestors took to the streets across the country over Jair Bolsonaro's failure to handle the pandemic. On Wednesday alone, almost 100,000 Brazilians tested positive for Covid-19 and over 2,500 died. *) WHO gives Sinovac greenlight The World Health Organization has approved China's Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use listing. A WHO emergency listing is a signal to national regulators of a product’s safety and efficacy and will allow the Sinovac shot to be included in COVAX, the global programme providing vaccines for poor countries. The WHO's independent panel of experts recommended Sinovac's vaccine for adults over the age of 18 only. And finally ... *) NASA announces two new robotic missions to Venus NASA has announced plans to launch two new scientific missions to Venus between 2028 and 2030. It aims to study the atmosphere and map the Earth's closest planetary neighbour. The project could provide answers on whether Venus is capable of hosting microbial life.