Croatian citizens may soon be able to travel visa-free to the United States after the Secretary of State Antony Blinken formally nominated Croatia to join the US Visa Waiver Program, schengenvisainfo.com reported. The VWP enables nationals of several world countries to enter the US territory for tourism or business purposes without the need to obtain a visa first. Blinken announced the official nomination of Croatia to become the newest country to join the VWP after Poland was added in 2019 through a Twitter statement.

US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham on Monday announced he has tested positive for Covid-19 despite being fully vaccinated, news wires reported. The South Carolina Senator said he started having "flu-like symptoms" on Saturday night and went to the doctor on Monday, adding he would be quarantining for 10 days.

A German diplomat on Monday took office as the top international envoy to Bosnia, facing opposition from the country's Serbs, who have rejected both his appointment and a ban on genocide denial brought by his predecessor, AP reported. Christian Schmidt took over from Valentin Inzko, an Austrian diplomat, at a ceremony in the capital, Sarajevo. The Office of High Representative (OHR) that Schmidt will run was established after Bosnia's 1992-95 war to oversee peace implementation and promote reconciliation and development.

Authorities in Wuhan on Tuesday said they would test its entire population for Covid-19 after the central Chinese city where the coronavirus emerged reported its first local infections in more than a year, AFP reported. The city of 11 million is "swiftly launching comprehensive nucleic acid testing of all residents", senior Wuhan official Li Tao said at a press conference on Tuesday.

UK introduced new rules related to arrivals from different countries. As of 1 August all vaccinated arrivals from US and EU excluding France may enter UK without quarantine which was mandatory until now, BBC elaborated. The UK government confirmed that the change will help to reunite family and friends whose loved ones live abroad. Airline bosses welcomed the move but are calling for more countries to be added to the UK's green travel list.

A preponderance of evidence proves the virus that caused the Covid-19 pandemic leaked from a Chinese research facility, said a report by US Republicans released on Monday, Reuters reported, noting that the US intelligence agencies have not reached such a conclusion. The report cited "ample evidence" that Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) scientists - aided by US experts and Chinese and US government funds - were working to modify coronaviruses to infect humans and such manipulation could be hidden.

A Belarusian Olympic athlete who claimed her team was forcing her to return home spent the night under protection and may be seeking asylum, AFP reported, citing officials from the Japan's government and from the IOC on Monday. Sprinter Kristina Timanovskaya, 24, missed her chance of competing in Tokyo when the 200 metres heats went ahead without her in the Olympic Stadium. Japan's government spokesman Katsunobu Kato said authorities understood Timanovskaya had "expressed a will to seek asylum", but offered no further details.

The death toll from wildfires raging in Turkey’s Mediterranean towns rose to есжгш Saturday after two forest workers were killed, the country’s health minister said. Fires across Turkey since Wednesday have burned down forests, encroaching on villages and tourist destinations and forcing people to evacuate.

Prime Minister of North Macedonia Zoran Zaev launched a €2m development fund in partnership with the Roma Entrepreneurship Development Initiative (REDI) to support Roma businesses and address the issue of unemployment in the community. 

Hunger is expected to rise in 23 global hotspots in the next three months with the highest alerts for “catastrophic" situations in Ethiopia’s embattled Tigray region, southern Madagascar, Yemen, South Sudan, and northern Nigeria, two UN agencies warned this weekend, as quoted by AP.