"Angry mobs are trying to tear down statues of our Founders, deface our most sacred memorials, and unleash a wave of violent crime in our cities", US President Donald Trump said at a pre-July 4 event on Friday night at South Dakota’s Mount Rushmore Memorial. His speech, often interrupted by applause, was devoted to the protest movements across the US, whose participants are destroying monuments to historical figures.

In the month of June alone, almost 2,250 separate fires were recorded in the Amazon rainforest – up from around 1,900 fires detected in the same period last year.

The US headed into the Fourth of July weekend with many parades and fireworks displays canceled, beaches and bars closed, and health authorities warning that this will be a crucial test of Americans’ self-control that could determine the trajectory of the surging coronavirus outbreak.

Boris Johnson wants a haircut and a beer. Like millions of other Britons, the prime minister will be able to have a trim and a tipple on Saturday, when the country takes its biggest step yet out of coronavirus lockdown with the reopening in England of restaurants, pubs and hairdressers, along with secular and sacred venues including cinemas and churches.

The World Health Organisation expects initial results within two weeks from clinical trials it is conducting of drugs that might be effective in treating Covid-19 patients, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news briefing on Friday.

Serbia's authorities declared on Friday a state of emergency in Belgrade, and reimposed some restrictions to slow the spread of Covid-19 after a surge of infections in the capital, news wires reported. People will be required to wear masks in indoor public spaces or on public transport, opening hours of clubs and cafes will be shortened, and gatherings will be limited to 100 people indoors or 500 outdoors. The state of emergency comes into effect immediately.

Trial over the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi opened on Friday in Istanbul, with 20 Saudi nationals to be tried in absentia, news wires reported. Among the defendants are two former top aides to Saudi Arabia's powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Khashoggi, a vocal critic of the prince, was killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018.

The United States reported more than 55,000 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, the largest daily increase any country has ever reported, according to a Reuters tally.

Turkey's highest administrative body, The Council of State, delayed a decision on whether the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul can be converted into a mosque, news wires reported. After a hearing lasting just 17 minutes, the court said it would make a ruling within 15 days.

The British government will effectively ditch its air bridge plans and simply end the coronavirus quarantine rules for those arriving from 75 countries so that people can go on holiday, The Daily Telegraph reported. According to the outlet, the ban on non-essential travel will be lifted for nearly all EU destinations, the British territories including Bermuda and Gibraltar, as well as Turkey, Thailand, Australia and New Zealand.