Eid al-Adha, a major Muslim festival, was observed by thousands over the weekend — although the coronavirus pandemic has thwarted traditional celebrations.
The big picture: The United Arab Emirates closed mosques for Eid prayers, the hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia was scaled down, Oman reinstated a nighttime curfew, and Lebanon and Iraq recently entered two-week lockdowns, the Wall Street Journal reports.
India's Home Minister Amit Shah was admitted to the hospital on Sunday after testing positive for the coronavirus, he said in a tweet.
Why it matters: Shah "is widely viewed as the second most powerful person in India" behind Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Arbitrary and sometimes harsh quarantine rules and a lack of information about the coronavirus have contributed to a culture of stigma around the virus in parts of Africa, which is approaching 1 million cases, AP reports.
Why it matters: Coronavirus patients were being treated “just like the way, early on in the HIV epidemic, patients were being treated,” Salim Abdool Karim, chair of South Africa’s COVID-19 ministerial advisory committee, told the World Health Organization last month. That's hampering nations' abilities to control the coronavirus pandemic.
Berlin police said Saturday night at least 18 officers were injured while trying to disperse a large crowd protesting Germany's coronavirus lockdown measures, according to a DW.com translation.
The big picture: Many in the estimated crowd of 17,000, made up of conspiracy theorists, right-wing populists and others, were not wearing masks, reports AP, which notes: "Unlike the U.S., Brazil and Britain, Germany’s government has been praised worldwide for its management of the pandemic." The country has confirmed more than 211,000 cases and just over 9,100 deaths from COVID-19, per Johns Hopkins data.
Editor's note: The top photo in this post has been replaced. The earlier photo depicted a demonstration against evictions.
Mexico on Saturday surpassed the United Kingdom to become the nation with the third-most coronavirus deaths, per Johns Hopkins University.
By the numbers: The U.S. and Brazil lead COVID-19-related death counts, with over 153,600 and 92,400, respectively as of Saturday. But Mexico's 46,688 deaths inched past the U.K.'s 46,278, with Mexican officials reporting 688 new deaths on Friday alone.
Mexico is only sixth in total number of coronavirus cases. Countries with higher case counts include U.S., Brazil, India, Russia and South Africa.
President Trump "has a deal on his desk," whereby Microsoft would lead an acquisition of 100% of the U.S. operations of TikTok, according to a source familiar with the negotiations.
Why it matters: Trump Friday night said he plans to ban TikTok, as India has done, over concerns that the app could be sharing U.S. user data with the Chinese government.
A nuclear power plant in the United Arab Emirates successfully activated its first reactor on Saturday, the AP reports.
Why it matters: The $20 billion Barakah nuclear power plant, located near the country's western border with Saudi Arabia, was built with the help of South Korea and is the first nuclear power plant on the Arabian Peninsula.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture identified more than a dozen of the unsolicited seeds sent to Americans mostly from China that have sparked warnings in all 50 states, per USA Today.
Catch up quick: Small packets of seeds have been shipped to seemingly random American households nationwide. While most species identified seem to be innocuous herbs, officials have advised recipients not to plant the seeds for fear they could be invasive or harmful to humans.
President Trump said Friday that he plans to ban Chinese video app TikTok as soon as Saturday, via either executive order or emergency economic powers, according to White House press pool comments.
Why it matters: TikTok has been caught in the crossfires of the United States' escalating tensions with China.
