*) Is Brazil becoming the world’s next Covid-19 hotspot?

Brazil is becoming a new epicentre for novel coronavirus infections, as its number of cases pass 241,000 and deaths top 16,000.

The Latin American nation is now among the world’s top five countries with the highest number of Covid-19 cases.

The pandemic has so far infected more than 4.8 million people worldwide and killed over 316,000.

*) Car bomb kills at least five in east Afghanistan

In Afghanistan, a car bomb targeting an intelligence service base has killed at least five people and wounded 40 others.

The Taliban-claimed attack in Ghazni province comes hours after President Ashraf Ghani and his rival Abdullah Abdullah signed a power-sharing deal.

The agreement ends a bitter months-long feud that plunged the country into a political crisis.

*) Deaths from coronavirus-like symptoms surge in Yemen's Aden

Yemen’s medics have reported a surge in the number of deaths at least five times higher than normal in the port city of Aden.

This has ignited fears that Covid-19 is spreading unhindered in the port city of the war-torn country.

Six years of war against the Houthi rebels have left Yemen’s authorities ill-equipped to control the spread of Covid-19.

*) Iran complains to UN over US threat on Venezuela shipment

Iran has complained to the United Nations over possible measures the United States could take against an Iranian fuel shipment to Venezuela.

Iran also summoned the Swiss ambassador in Tehran, who represents US interests in the Islamic Republic.

Tehran’s reaction follows reports that the US was considering steps in response to Iran's shipment of fuel to crisis-stricken Venezuela.

And finally…

*) Jordan's first Air Jordan sneakers sold for record $560,000

NBA legend Michael Jordan's autographed sneakers from his rookie season have fetched a record $560,000 in an online auction.

Like most of Jordan's basketball shoes, they are a mismatched pair, size 13 on the left and size 13.5 on the right.

The shoes were sold by collector Jordan Geller, the founder of the sneaker museum Shoezeum in Las Vegas.