WORLD

Brussels, Belgium | Xinhua |  Thousands of demonstrators marched in the streets of Brussels on Sunday to protest against the government’s latest strict measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Twenty people were reported to have been arrested, according to the police, and four demonstrators and two police officers …

Washington, U.S. | Xinhua | The emergence of Omicron has somehow vindicated what China has been doing to prevent and control the COVID-19 pandemic, a Bloomberg report said recently. In an article published on Wednesday, Bloomberg said as countries across the world scrambled this week to impose border and travel curbs …

Washington, U.S. | Xinhua | U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday signed a short-term funding bill that will keep the federal government running through Feb. 18, 2022, avoiding a looming partial shutdown. “Funding the government isn’t a great achievement. It’s a bare minimum of what we need to get done,” Biden …

Jerusalem, Israel | Xinhua | Israel on Thursday called on the United States to halt the nuclear talks with Iran immediately, accusing Iran of having begun to enrich uranium with advanced centrifuges. The call was made during a phone talk between Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and U.S. Secretary of …

Genea, Switzerland | Xinhua | Despite the current uncertainty over the new Omicron COVID-19 variant, people should still get vaccinated because it will save lives, a World Health Organization (WHO) expert said on Wednesday. Maria Van Kerkhove, technical lead for the WHO’s Health Emergencies Program, said at a WHO press briefing …

Washington, U.S. | Xinhua | A U.S. federal judge issued a preliminary injunction on Tuesday to temporarily block President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate. The mandate requires certain health workers across the country to be vaccinated against COVID-19. The injunction was issued by Judge Terry Doughty of the U.S. District Court for …

New York, U.S. | Xinhua | United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres argued on Tuesday that “the only way out of a global pandemic and out of this unjust and immoral situation is through a global vaccination campaign.” The secretary-general was speaking at a meeting at the UN headquarters in New York …

Geneva, Switzerland | Xinhua | The World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Tuesday that blanket travel bans will not prevent the international spread of the COVID-19 Omicron variant, even as dozens of countries have already introduced such restrictions. Although labeling Omicron as a “variant of concern”, the WHO said blanket travel …

Omicron (B.1.1.529): SARS-CoV-2 Variant of Concern The Hague, Netherlands | Xinhua | The Omicron coronavirus variant has been detected in test samples taken in the Netherlands from Nov. 19 to 23 this year, the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) announced on Tuesday. “In a special PCR test, the …

Berlin, Germany | Xinhua | The message of Julian Nagelsmann, Hasan Salihamidzic, and Oliver Kahn didn’t fail to make an impact. The Bayern coach, the managing director, and the club’s chairman appeared like security protection for their goal-scoring star Robert Lewandowski while walking down the red carpet at this year’s Ballon …