Tuesday, July 28, 2020 - a podcast by TRT World

*) Former Malaysian PM Najib covicted of all 7 charges over 1MDB

Former Prime Minister Najib Razak has been found guilty in his first corruption trial over the multibillion-dollar looting of the 1MDB investment fund.

The court’s ruling came five months after a new government took power with Najib's Malay party, the biggest bloc in the alliance.

His party's shocking election ouster in 2018 was driven by public anger over the 1MDB scandal.

* ) Hezbollah: Israel's claims of border clashes 'completely false'

Lebanon's Hezbollah group has denied involvement in combat at the Lebanon-Israel border.

The denial follows Israel’s claim that it had repelled an attempt by the group to penetrate its territory.

Hezbollah said Israeli claims "are not true at all, and an attempt to invent illusive victories."

*) New Zealand suspends extradition treaty with Hong Kong

New Zealand has suspended its extradition treaty with Hong Kong over China's passing of a sweeping new national security law for the semi-autonomous territory.

Foreign Minister Winston Peters said the new law went against commitments China had made to the international community.

New Zealand is the final member of the “Five Eyes” intelligence-sharing alliance to take such action after the US, Australia, Canada and the UK.

*) Pfizer, BioNTech begin late-stage study of vaccine candidate

German biotech BioNTech and US drugmaker Pfizer have said they would begin a pivotal global study to evaluate their lead Covid-19 vaccine candidate.

If the study is successful, the companies could submit the vaccine for regulatory approval as early as October.

This would put the companies on track to supply up to 100 million doses by the end of 2020 and 1.3 billion by the end of 2021.

And finally

*) Action-thriller 'Tenet' to debut internationally from August 26

Hollywood director Christopher Nolan's thriller 'Tenet' will debut in cinemas in over 70 countries starting August 26.

The movie was earlier delayed several times by the coronavirus pandemic.

According to Warner Bros. the film will open in select US cities on Labour Day on September 7.

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