White House defends detaining five year old boy

Asked about US involvement in a move by the Australian government to scrap a state's deal to join China's Belt and Road Initiative, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki says, "how we can work together as a global community and in a coordinated fashion as it relates to China is part of nearly every discussion the President has with a European partner or country in the region."

The United States will release up to 60 million doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki says at her daily briefing. The Food and Drug Administration will perform quality checks over the next few months on US-produced doses before they are sent abroad, she adds. But, she explains, "Just to be clear, right now we have zero doses available of AstraZeneca."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warns Hamas and Islamic Jihad, that they pay a "heavy price" for firing rockets from Gaza into Israel. Hamas Islamists said they had fired 130 rockets towards Tel Aviv on Tuesday, unleashing a massive barrage on Israel's economic hub, in retaliation for an Israeli strike on a 12-storey tower near Gaza's coast.

The outgoing German chancellor is set to travel to Washington for talks with the US president on COVID, climate change and bilateral ties.

"Pride is back at the White House," US President Joe Biden tells a group of gay rights activists, transgender military service members and youth, and officials during a commemoration of the month that celebrates LGBTQ life in America. Biden and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg - the first-ever openly gay cabinet member - warn against the rise in anti-LGBTQ legislation in statehouses across the US.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki says the United States holds China's Ministry of State Security responsible for "malicious cyber activities" and reserves the option "to take additional actions" in response.

Hundreds of Cuban Americans, political refugees and activists marched on the US capital Monday to protest against the Cuban government and its crackdown on anti-communist demonstrations earlier this month.

Thousands protest in the Philippines capital Manila as they mark one year left in power for President Rodrigo Duterte. The groups -- from several different sectors -- are calling for Duterte to step down. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte hailed his signature drug war policy, but lamented there was a "long way" to go in the controversial crackdown that has killed thousands of people.

Democracy and human rights were the focus of talks between the US president and Belarus opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya in Washington, DC.

"We're not going back to the shutdowns of March of 2020," says White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, as the US national average of daily coronavirus cases tops 60,000 and is rising rapidly.

Austria said it will allow an Afghan man, who was denied asylum, to stay in the country until the end of the month. NGOs have asked European countries to stop deporting people to Afghanistan.

In a video posted on Tik Tok and Instagram, French President Emmanuel Macron answers a question about the health pass and says it allows businesses and places of culture to remain "open" in the face of the Delta variant, which he says is "even more formidable".