Firefighters conduct search and rescue operations at a mudslide site in Atami. Some 1,500 people are combing the mud for survivors Photo: Shizuoka City Fire Department - Fire and Disaster Management Agency via ReutersSome 1,500 rescuers combed through crumbled houses and buried roads in Japan on Monday in an enormous effort to find some 80 people believed still missing two days after a series of landslides tore through the seaside city of Atami, not far from Tokyo.

UNICEF is distributing critical supplies to families in Côte d’Ivoire during the COVID-19 pandemic. Photo: UNICEF / Frank Dejongh)The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has urged world leaders to push back against daunting new COVID surges through increased vaccination efforts and public health measures, warning that with Delta quickly becoming the dominant strain in many countries "we are in a very dangerous period of the pandemic."

U.S. President Biden The US$2 trillion investment plan in infrastructure for coming years in the United States and wide-ranging electoral law reform are two of President Joe Biden's key legislative priorities.