![Afghan security forces patrol after they took back control of parts of Herat city following intense battle with Taliban fighters [Jalil Rezayee/EPA]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/h_57093756.jpg?resize=570%2C380)
![President Joe Biden asked the CDC to issue a renewed ban on evictions of renters as COVID-19 cases spike in the United States [Jonathan Ernst/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/2021-08-03DG_RTRMADP_3_USA-BIDEN.jpg?resize=120%2C80)
![Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam, left, and Chinese President Xi Jinping walk after Lam took her oath, during the 20th anniversary of the city's handover from British to Chinese rule, in Hong Kong, China, July 1, 2017 [File: Bobby Yip/ Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/2017-07-01T032608Z_1433727875_RC12BA7B2490_RTRMADP_3_HONGKONG-ANNIVERSARY.jpg?resize=120%2C80)
![The area of the incident in the Arabian Sea leads to the Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of the world's seaborne oil exports flow [File: Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/2020-11-18T213132Z_2123061939_RC2X5K9ZQZE8_RTRMADP_3_GLOBAL-OIL-CHINA-IMPORTS.jpg?resize=120%2C80)
![A police officer stands guard outside the National Palace in Kuala Lumpur [File: Lim Huey Teng/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/2021-06-10T073117Z_188195831_RC2JXN9EEA3Z_RTRMADP_3_MALAYSIA-POLITICS.jpg?resize=120%2C80)
![Volunteer firefighters try to extinguish a wildfire at Varympompi suburb north of Athens, Greece [Giorgos Moutafis/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/2021-08-03T153117Z_787914639_RC2QXO9JLXNR_RTRMADP_3_EUROPE-WEATHER-GREECE-WILDFIRES.jpg?resize=120%2C80)
![Marius Ardu Jelamu (centre) and with members of the East Nusa Tenggara COVID-19 Task Force. He says the province is facing serious vaccine supply problems [Courtesy of Marius Ardu Jelamu]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/IMG-20210724-WA0008.jpg?resize=120%2C80)
![The new cases and fatalities reported in Thailand on Wednesday brought total infections to 672,385 and deaths to 5,503, data from the health ministry's website showed [ Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/000_9HK8EF.jpg?resize=120%2C80)
Tokyo 2020 Olympics
Al Jazeera’s special coverage of the delayed 2020 Olympic Games in Japan.
Amnesty blasts Saudi ‘illusion of reform’ as executions soar
The kingdom executed at least 40 people between January and July 2021, more than in whole of 2020, UK-based group says.
![Amnesty says executions resumed immediately after Saudi Arabia handed over the G20 presidency [File: Cliff Owen/AP]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/AP21166519199443-1.jpg?resize=570%2C380)