MALARIA: A new report from the World Health Organisation claims that the coronavirus pandemic interrupted efforts to control malaria, resulting in 63,000 additional deaths and 13 million more infections globally over two years.

The report, published on Thursday, adds that cases of the disease went up in 2020 and continued to climb in 2021, though at a slower pace.

CHINA: Chinese President Xi Jinping met with King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia at Riyadh’s al-Yamamah Palace on Thursday.

The two leaders signed an agreement on the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries, agreeing to hold a meeting between the two heads of state every two years.

HOLLAND: The Dutch government is reportedly poised to issue an official apology for colonial-era slavery, according to media reports in the Netherlands. 

The apology is planned December 19 and will be issued by several ministers at different locations in former colonies of the Netherlands. 

ASSANGE: Twenty-one groups wrote a joint letter to United States Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday to express their “grave concern about the Biden administration's relentless pursuit” of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

The groups, which include the American Civil Liberties Union, Amnesty International, and the Center for Constitutional Rights, said: “It is time for the Biden administration to break from the Trump administration’s decision to indict Assange — a move that was hostile to the media and democracy itself.”

Mr Assange is jailed in London while he fights against extradition to the US.