Arab Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank held labour strikes on Tuesday to protest Israel's air strikes on Gaza. The UN humanitarian agency is describing an increasingly dire situation inside the Gaza Strip as the war between Israel and the territory’s Hamas rulers rages with no end in sight.

Kosovo police seized a record 400 kilograms (880 pounds) of cocaine that originated in Brazil, and arrested seven people suspected of drug trafficking offenses, authorities said Tuesday.

Egypt is prioritising the vaccination of tourism workers to support the sector's recovery and is on track to announce full inoculation of two resort areas this month, its tourism minister told AFP.

A Japanese doctors' group urged the cancellation of the Olympics, even as Games organisers reported a surplus of applications from medics to volunteer at the virus-postponed event, AFP reported. An association of around 6,000 doctors working in Tokyo said they were "struggling with the fourth wave" of virus cases, calling it the largest so far.

The World Economic Forum announced that is officially calling off its Singapore meeting in August due to COVID concerns. In its statement, the WEF added that its next meeting will take place in the first half of 2022, with the location and date of the event to be determined this summer. 

Switzerland is the most likely venue for a potential summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Joe Biden in June, according to the Russia's Kommersant newspaper, which cites government sources on Monday.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday hosts African leaders and chiefs of global financial institutions for a summit that will seek to provide Africa with critical financing swept away by the Covid-19 pandemic, AFP reported. Africa has so far been less badly hit by the pandemic than other global regions with a total of 130,000 dead across the continent.But the economic cost is only too apparent, with the International Monetary Fund warning in late 2020 that Africa faces a shortfall in the funds needed for future development, a financial gap of $290bn up to 2023. 

Drinks were raised in toasts and reunited friends hugged each other as thousands of UK pubs and restaurants opened Monday for indoor service for the first time since early January. Yet the prime minister sounded a cautious tone, warning about a more contagious COVID-19 variant that threatens reopening plans.

UN Security Council diplomats and Muslim foreign ministers convened emergency meetings Sunday to demand a stop to civilian bloodshed as Israeli warplanes carried out the deadliest single attacks in nearly a week of Hamas rocket barrages and Israeli airstrikes.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Denmark on Monday for talks on climate change, Arctic policy and Russia as calls grew for the Biden administration to take a tougher, more active stance on spiraling Israeli-Palestinian violence.