Donald Trump remains the party’s most popular politician, though he has not yet said if he will run for president again in the 2024 election.

More than 9300 patients are hospitalised, up from 1845 a month ago and nearing the record 10,179 set on July of last year.

The United States is intensifying efforts to combat the strain which officials believe is more contagious than chickenpox.

Canberra’s call for the first inquiry prompted a fierce reaction from Beijing which imposed billions of dollars worth of trade tariffs on Australian goods.

A US official said it appeared the attack on the oil tanker in the Arabian Sea was carried out by a suicide drone - an unmanned aircraft loaded with explosives that detonates on impact with a target.

From the record heatwave in southeast Europe to wildfires in California and floods in central China, these are the best photos from around the world in the past week, as chosen by The Age's photo editors.

Hospitals are now filling up in Tokyo with half of all beds already occupied and three more prefectures hosting events are going into a state of emergency.

The best photos from the international wire agencies as chosen by our picture editors

The region has become the site of several ship attacks suspected to have been carried out by Iran since Trump withdrew America from the nuclear deal in 2018.

The sentence sets a precedent as to how similar cases will be dealt with by the city’s traditionally independent courts, as dozens arrested under the legislation await their fate.

Dame Sarah Gilbert made the intervention amid a heated debate over whether the wider use of the vaccine could have prevented lockdowns in Sydney and Melbourne.

Malaysia’s rowing politicians have joined forces to flood Selangor and Kuala Lumpur with extra vaccines, aiming to vaccinate all adults there by mid August.

Fiame Naomi Mataafa has confirmed she will cancel the Beijing-backed project but hasn’t closed the door to China as regional competition between Beijing and Washington intensifies.

An internal report from the Centres for Disease Control found the Delta variant is more transmissible than SARS, Ebola, the cold, the flu and smallpox.

The best photos from the international wire agencies as chosen by our picture editors. Follow us on SMH Twitter and AGE Twitter

As a senior US official admitted: “If you don’t have fuel, the Afghan army doesn’t fight. And if they’re not being paid, they don’t fight.”

The ruling challenges a core practice of Facebook’s moderation system, which often removes users’ comments without giving a clear reason why.

But if the skies were to darken, seas swell and economies crumble, the best place to ride out global collapse of civilisation, would be New Zealand.

One study showed that losing the ability to smell, which has been commonly reported among COVID-19 patients, is correlated with cognitive troubles.

The hackers left a ransom note on Transnet’s computers, claiming they encrypted the company’s files, including a terabyte of personal data and financial reports.

US President Joe Biden is calling for state, local and US territorial governments to provide $US100 ($135) payments for every newly vaccinated American.

The announcement makes Israel the first country to offer a third dose of the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine to its citizens on a wide scale.

Rare but rising cases of “breakthrough” COVID-19 infections are complicating America’s return to normality and offer a preview for Australia as it reopens.

The first-time ambassador and frequent critic of the West will instantly become Beijing’s most important overseas envoy.

The Australian economist is being held at a Myanmar prison reportedly rife with COVID-19 as the strife-torn nation faces an alarming outbreak.

“This is what happens when you tell the truth in Trump’s America,” Fanone, a 20-year veteran cop, told CNN. “I’m in good company.” 

The tablet, which bears fragments of one of the world’s oldest works of literature, has passed through dealers in Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Britain and most recently the US.

Russian opposition supporters, independent journalists and human rights activists have faced increased government pressure from the regime of Vladimir Putin.

The British government said it was able to reopen international travel safely due to the country’s successful vaccination program.

In the extraordinary vaccination effort, health workers even trekked for days through landslides and pouring rain to reach extremely remote villages atop steep mountains to administer doses.

The public approves but Boris Johnson faces political and business opposition to his plans for vaccine passports.

The woman secretly swapped seven pebbles for $7.94 million worth of diamonds during the heist at a luxury jewellery store in London’s Mayfair district.

The vaccine had a sky-high efficacy rate of about 96 per cent against symptomatic COVID-19 for the first two months, but then declined about 6 per cent every two months after that, a study showed.

The Australian government is working with the airline to organise expat flights from Indonesia, which has become the global epicentre of the COVID-19 virus.

The best photos from the international wire agencies as chosen by our picture editors

The killing of 27-year-old Noor Mukadam on the grounds of an Islamabad mansion has roused anger over Pakistan’s record of protecting women from violence.

The vast site, spread over nearly 500 square km in the Xinjiang region, is thought to house 110 silos for launching weapons.

The notorious entrepreneur, due for release from jail in October 2022, said he was “pleased with the sale price and RIP ODB”.

The US President plans to announce “next steps” in the effort to get more Americans to get the vaccination, as the country copes with outbreaks of the Delta variant.

The change by the CDC was warranted but “I think we will get blowback because I think people might view it as backtracking,” said a Cornell University public health official.

YouTube is used for news by 33 per cent of 12- to 15-year-olds, up from 30 per cent last year and 27 per cent in 2018.

Often tearful, sometimes profane, the officers called the rioters “terrorists” engaged in an “attempted coup” during a 3-1/2 hour congressional hearing.

As prime minister, Abbott struck the China-Australia free trade deal in 2014 and lauded it as one of his government’s biggest achievements in office.

The Court of Appeal made a U-turn by agreeing to reopen the lawsuit against the mining giant, reviving a case over a dam rupture behind Brazil’s worst environmental disaster.

In his first public comments since the massacre, Robert Aaron Long calmly described how he purchased a firearm and went to the spas earlier this year.

The explosion has been classified as “an extreme threat” and residents have been told to stay inside and keep windows and doors closed.

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said the Western superpower was committed to a constructive relationship with China, but took aim at Beijing’s conduct.

Tong Lim, who has been held without bail for almost a year, pleaded not guilty after he drove a motorcycle into a group of police officers at a protest in 2020.

The best photos from the international wire agencies as chosen by our picture editors

Hidilyn Diaz, daughter of a tricycle driver, is a national heroine for winning the Philippines’ first gold medal. Two years ago, she feared for her life.