Australia’s largest city, Sydney, has emerged from Covid lockdown after almost four months, with locals celebrating a range of new freedoms. People queued for pubs and shops that opened at midnight on Monday. Many others have been enjoying anticipated reunions with relatives and friends. Household visits and travel had been banned beyond a 5km (3.1 mile) zone. Sydney exited lockdown after New South Wales state reached a 70% double-dose vaccination target for over-16s. Most restrictions have now been eased for fully vaccinated people. People can now share meals together at reopened cafes and restaurants, and visit gyms, libraries and pools. There were long queues for barbers and nail salons on Monday. The Lord Gladstone Hotel, an inner city pub, was doing a roaring lunch trade after months of limited trading and takeaway-only options.  “We’re stoked to be back, we’re having the best Monday in months, even before Covid,” Pat Blake, the pub’s licensee, told the BBC. “People are just ready to come back and sit down for a schooie [beer], see their friends, be somewhere there’s always music playing,” he said.(BBC)…[+]

The head of a Nigerian Quranic school has been suspended after a video was widely shared showing students getting brutally punished. One clip shows four young men severely beating a young woman with stick-like objects as onlookers watch.  The father of the student told BBC Pidgin he approved the whippings. Male and female students had been accused of drinking alcohol, but they deny it, saying they consumed yoghurt at a birthday party. The video has been widely circulated online and sparked public outrage with many Nigerians condemning the beatings. The father of the female pupil said he saw footage of the alleged rule-breaking and vouched for the school in Kwara state, saying eight of his children had already graduated from the educational establishment. He said he was upset when he saw a clip of his daughter allegedly drinking alcohol. “I informed the school about the incident and I personally requested them to give her the appropriate punishment, and I insisted I should be present when they carried it out,” he said.(BBC)…[+]

The Ethiopian army has launched coordinated attacks on all fronts against forces from the northern Tigray region, the rebels say. They said the government was using artillery, tanks, jets and drones in an attempt to “reinvade” the region. A senior rebel source said Tigray forces were holding their ground. The Ethiopian government has not confirmed any fighting and a communications blackout makes independent verification impossible. A senior member of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), Getachew Reda, said the government offensive launched last week was now in “full swing”.

Asked if a ground offensive had been launched, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s spokeswoman Billene Seyoum said the government had a responsibility to protect its citizens across the country from acts of terrorism, the Reuters news agency reports. The TPLF was the governing party in Tigray until federal forces ousted them in November 2020 after they seized a military base.(BBC)…[+]