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World News in Brief: December 9

 
World News in Brief: December 9

The World Health Organization warned wealthy countries on Thursday against hoarding COVID-19 vaccines for booster shots as they try to fight off the new Omicron variant, threatening supplies to poorer countries where inoculation rates are low.   

Britain on Thursday said it had agreed a digital trade deal with Singapore, the first digitally-focussed trade pact signed by a European nation. Britain said the agreement in principle would overhaul outdated trade rules and open up opportunities in Singapore, viewed as a global leader in digital.


* Russia and the United States will hold a new round of talks to resolve a row over diplomatic staffing at their embassies by the end of the year, the Interfax news agency cited Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying on Thursday.

* China's medical products regulator said on Wednesday it had approved the use of Brii Biosciences' antibody cocktail, the first treatment of this type given the go-ahead in the country.

* South Africa has seen a 255% increase in infections in the past seven days, but only 6% of intensive care beds are occupied by COVID-19 patients, a WHO official said.

* Global vaccine-sharing network COVAX is still seeing strong demand for India-made doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 shot, one of its backers GAVI said.

* BioNTech and Pfizer said a three-shot course of their vaccine was able to neutralise the new Omicron variant in a laboratory test.

* Africa accounts for 46% of reported cases of the Omicron variant globally, the coordinator of the WHO's Immunisation and Vaccine Development Programme for Africa, said.

* Cuba detected on Wednesday its first Omicron case in a person who had travelled from Mozambique, Cuban state media agency ACN reported.

* Japan's COVID-19 infections are falling in contrast with rebounds in other parts of Asia, baffling experts.

* Fighting the pandemic is the biggest challenge for Germany's new government and Berlin must create fiscal reserves now to be prepared for the next crisis, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said.

* The US rushed millions of COVID-19 vaccine doses for children ages 5-11 across the nation, but demand for inoculations for younger kids has been low.

* Austria's government is due to announce details of a plan to make coronavirus vaccines compulsory.

* Pakistan is investigating its first possible case of the Omicron variant.

* African governments will have no choice but to start imposing vaccine mandates if citizens refuse to get vaccinated, the head of the African Centres for Disease Control said.

* President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday France would use its rotating presidency of the European Council to strengthen Europe's ability to control its external borders.

* The Biden administration is moving to tighten enforcement of sanctions against Iran with the despatch of a senior delegation to the United Arab Emirates next week, the US State Department said on Thursday.

* Iran's top negotiator said on Thursday he was sticking to positions Tehran set out when nuclear talks broke off last week, while European Union and Russian envoys called for more urgency as world powers resumed negotiations in Vienna.

* Syrian capital Damascus will host the Arab energy conference in 2024 after all members of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) agreed, a statement by the Oil and Mineral Resources ministry said on Thursday.

* A day ahead of a European deadline, France said it was still waiting for Britain to approve nearly 100 licences for its fishermen to operate in UK territorial waters and off Jersey and that last-gasp negotiations were ongoing.

* World stocks stalled at two-week highs as increased restrictions in parts of the world to contain the Omicron variant tempered optimism following encouraging news on the vaccine front.

* Oil prices eased after measures by some governments to slow the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant, though losses were capped by positive comments from vaccine makers about the efficacy of their jabs.

* The International Monetary Fund has approved a three-year loan deal for Niger worth around 276 million USD.

* Ukraine's central bank raised its main interest rate to 9% from 8.5% and said it was ready to tighten policy again next year if inflationary risks persist.

* Ireland will not begin to taper its COVID-19 wage subsidy until the end of January.


Reuters

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