International

Thailand reimposes quarantine for travellers to halt Omicron spread

Thailand reimposed mandatory coronavirus quarantine measures for foreign tourists on Tuesday, nixing a quarantine-free travel scheme as the kingdom seeks to stifle the spread of the Omicron variant. The pandemic has clobbered the country’s tourism-dominated economy, which last year experienced its worst performance since the 1997 Asian financial crisis. In early November Thailand reopened to fully vaccinated travellers — who had to isolate for a night until they received a negative PCR test — from […]

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EU watchdog says ‘no answer’ if Omicron-specific jab needed

by Jan HENNOP There is “no answer yet” on whether vaccine makers will have to adapt their Covid shots to counter the rapidly-spreading Omicron variant, Europe’s medicines watchdog chief said on Tuesday. The highly-mutated variant, now present in dozens of countries, appears to be more contagious than previous strains and is driving new waves of infections globally. Scientists are also examining whether it is more resistant to vaccines than previous strains. But the head of […]

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Germany targets New Year’s parties, sports in new Covid curbs

by Michelle FITZPATRICK Germany’s leaders on Tuesday limited private New Year’s parties to 10 people and banned spectators from football games to stem Omicron’s spread, stopping short of imposing new coronavirus curbs before Dec. 25. Speaking after talks with Germany’s 16 regional leaders, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the country was facing “a fifth wave” as the new, highly contagious Omicron variant sweeps the globe. “We are all tired of the pandemic, but that doesn’t help […]

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NHL players will not compete at Beijing Olympics: reports

National Hockey League players will not compete in February’s Beijing Winter Olympics in the wake of 50 NHL games being postponed over Covid-19 issues, according to multiple reports Tuesday. ESPN, the New York Times, the Washington Post, USA Today and other newspapers cited unnamed sources in saying the league and the NHL Players Association had reached agreement not to send talent to China. Without the NHL’s elite millionaire stars, national teams at the Olympics will likely resemble […]

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Biden says US ‘prepared’ for Omicron as Israel calls for 4th shots

by Issam Ahmed with AFP bureaus President Joe Biden on Tuesday told Americans worried about the rapidly spreading Omicron coronavirus variant that the country was “prepared” to fight it, as Israel — which pioneered the use of Covid vaccine boosters — announced fourth shots for those over 60 and health workers. Omicron, now present in dozens of countries, appears to be more infectious than earlier coronavirus strains, despite early indications that it does not cause […]

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China’s Xi’an tests millions as Covid cases rise

BEIJING, China (AFP) — The Chinese city of Xi’an began testing millions of residents for the coronavirus on Tuesday after the detection of more than 40 new cases raised concerns of wider transmission ahead of a busy travel season. China, where the virus was first detected, has slowed new cases to a trickle since the middle of last year through border restrictions, targeted lockdowns and lengthy quarantines as it pursues a zero-Covid strategy. But the […]

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California sues Walmart over toxic waste dumping

The US state of California announced Monday it is suing Walmart, alleging the retail giant unlawfully disposes of millions of toxic waste items. The state said it had conducted 58 inspections of trash compactors at Walmart stores between 2015 and 2021 and found items that require special handling when they are thrown out, such as batteries, insect killers, cleaning supplies, electronic waste and confidential customer information. “When one person throws out a battery or half-empty […]

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Japan executes three on death row, first since 2019: media

  by Kyoko HASEGAWA Agence France Presse Japan on Tuesday executed three prisoners on death row, the first since December 2019, local media reported citing unnamed sources including from the justice ministry. The executions were the first under Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who took office in October and won a general election the same month. When contacted by AFP, the ministry did not immediately confirm the reports by multiple major media outlets, which did not […]

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Omicron now dominant Covid-19 strain in US: health authorities

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The fast-spreading Omicron variant is now the main coronavirus strain in the United States, accounting for 73.2 percent of new cases over the past week for which data is available, health authorities reported Monday. The spike, which was tallied by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is based on data for the week ending on Saturday. During the prior week period, Omicron accounted for only 12.6 percent of US […]

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Moderna confident that booster works against Omicron

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US vaccine maker Moderna expressed confidence Monday that its booster shot was effective against the Omicron variant, after the announcement of laboratory results it described as “reassuring.” “We’ll be able to rely on this vaccine to address the near term surge of Omicron cases,” Stephen Hoge, president of Moderna, said on a conference call. However he said tests showed that after only two doses, protection against Omicron was “substantially lower” […]

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Morocco bans New Year’s parties over virus fears

RABAT, Morocco (AFP) — Morocco on Monday announced a ban on New Year’s Eve celebrations as part of stepped-up measures against rising coronavirus cases. The government ordered a ban on all forms of celebration on the evening of New Year’s eve, including parties in hotels and tourist sites. It ordered restaurants and cafes to close at 11.30 pm and said a curfew would be in place from midnight until 6:00 AM on January 1. Morocco […]

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WHO chief says 2022 must be year ‘we end the pandemic’

by Nina LARSON GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The world must pull together and make the difficult choices needed to end the Covid-19 pandemic within the next year, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday. “2022 must be the year we end the pandemic,” the World Health Organization’s director general told reporters in Geneva. As end-of-year festivities approach, the UN health agency chief said countries should rein in national events linked to the holidays because […]

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