NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — The state of New York has confirmed five cases of the coronavirus Omicron variant, Governor Kathy Hochul said Thursday, bringing the total number of US detections of the new strain to eight. “New York State has confirmed five cases of the omicron variant,” Hochul said in a Twitter post aimed at reassuring residents of the nation’s fourth most populous state that the detections were not unexpected. “Let me be […]
International
India announces first two cases of Omicron variant
NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — India announced its first two cases of the Omicron Covid variant on Thursday, months after a devastating wave of the virus killed more than 200,000 people around the country. Top health ministry official Luv Agarwal said two men in southern Karnataka state, aged 66 and 46, had tested positive for the variant. “As per the protocols all their primary and secondary contacts have been traced and are being tested,” he […]
US announces another case of Covid Omicron variant
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Health authorities in the midwestern US state of Minnesota announced Thursday they had found another case of the Omicron coronavirus variant on American soil, this time in a man with no known recent international travel history. Like the first identified US case in California, the patient was vaccinated, and had mild symptoms from which he has now recovered. Minnesota officials said he had also received a booster. He returned to […]
Vietnam’s spectacular terraced ricefields wait for tourists
YEN BAI, Vietnam (AFP) — As the morning sun finds its way through the mist over Vietnam’s terraced rice fields, local farmers lead buffalo into the paddies and pass another day without tourists in their hilly homeland. Located 300 km (around 190 miles) northwest of Hanoi, Mu Cang Chai district in northern Yen Bai province had become a hit with foreign and local tourists alike before the coronavirus pandemic. The spectacular terraces — which lie […]
Japan eases blanket ban on new incoming flight bookings
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan has softened its suspension of all new incoming flight bookings to make it easier for citizens to return, the government said Thursday, a day after it announced the move prompted by worries about the Omicron coronavirus variant. The transport ministry abruptly said Wednesday it was asking airlines to stop taking all new incoming flight reservations for a month, in a surprise move affecting citizens and foreign residents. But on Thursday, […]
Omicron now in 24 countries; WHO asks nations to fully vaccinate 40% of population by year-end to end pandemic
Fully vaccinate 70 percent of population by middle of next year, says WHO as Tedros airs appeal to beat COVID through cooperation, vaccine donations, info sharing (Eagle News) — The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) asked member states and countries to beat and end the COVID-19 pandemic by fully vaccinating at least 40 percent of their population by year-end and 70 percent by the middle of next year. WHO Director General Dr. Tedros […]
UK orders 114 million additional Covid-19 vaccine doses
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — The UK government said late Wednesday it has ordered 114 million additional Covid-19 vaccine doses, from pharmaceutical giants Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, to bolster its jabs drive over the next two years. The orders — 60 million extra doses of the Moderna vaccine and 54 million more Pfizer-BioNTech shots — come as Britain expands its booster program following the emergence of the Omicron variant. The country has set a two-month target […]
Baldwin denies pulling trigger in ‘Rust’ shooting
Alec Baldwin has said he did not pull the trigger of the gun he was holding that killed a cinematographer on the movie set of “Rust.” In his first major interview since the tragedy in October, the US actor also said he has “no idea” how a live round had gotten onto the set of the low-budget Western in New Mexico. “The trigger wasn’t pulled — I didn’t pull the trigger,” he said in an […]
US announces first Omicron case in traveler returning from S.Africa
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReozzQiGDn0 WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States on Wednesday announced its first confirmed case of the Covid-19 Omicron variant had been detected in California, in a fully vaccinated traveler who had recently returned from South Africa and was recovering from mild symptoms. Top health official Anthony Fauci said authorities “knew it was just a matter of time” before the strain was found in the country, reminding Americans that vaccination, boosters and masking in […]
Japan halts new incoming flight bookings over Omicron strain: ministry
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan has asked airlines to stop taking new incoming flight bookings over concerns about the Omicron virus variant, the transport ministry said Wednesday. The announcement came as authorities announced they had detected a second infection with the new strain in an arriving traveler, a day after confirming a first case. “We have asked airlines to halt accepting all new incoming flight reservations for one month starting December 1,” a transport ministry […]
US police officer shoots dead wheelchair-bound shoplifter
A US policeman shot and killed a wheelchair-bound shoplifter, hitting him nine times in the back and side as he rolled away from the officer, media reported Wednesday. The shooting is the latest in a country where law enforcement readily resorts to deadly force when confronting criminal suspects. Police in Tucson, Arizona said off-duty officer Ryan Remington was working as a security guard in a retail area when 61-year-old Richard Lee Richards was believed to […]
South Korea detects first Omicron cases, tightens travel curbs
South Korea on Wednesday reported its first cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant and tightened travel restrictions as fears grew about the strain’s impact on the country’s ongoing Covid surge. Health authorities said Omicron was detected in five people, including a fully vaccinated couple who had visited Nigeria from November 14 to 23, returning two days before the variant was officially reported by South Africa. They tested positive for the coronavirus on Thursday, and subsequent […]





