Let’s talk about China, supply chains, and not being done – Beau of the Fifth Column

‘Code red’: Melbourne businesses say Omicron wave more damaging than lockdown

Staff shortages and drop in consumer confidence leave Australian businesses asking for urgent government support Hash Tayeh has been back behind the counter at the burger chain he founded, Burgertory, for the first time in three years as he struggles to keep the business going in the face of the Omicron wave. He has been

Ireland Will Soon Pay Arts and Culture Workers a Basic Income to Help the Sector Bounce Back From the Pandemic

Details are still being hammered out ahead of a January 27 deadline. Artists and culture workers in Ireland will soon be eligible for some much-needed financial support as the government readies a new basic income program. Ireland will commit roughly €25 million ($28.3 million) to the program, which it expects to implement early this year. It

German leaders agree to new omicron measures – DW News

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and leaders of the country’s 16 states agreed on a new raft of rules and restrictions on Friday to curb the spread of COVID-19. Scholz outlined new rules for restaurants and bars, while also shortening quarantine and self-isolation periods.

Gravitas: Omicron: Why India is preparing for a big surge – WION

India has reported its biggest surge since June 2021. The Omicron fuelled surge added 10 million new cases worldwide last week. The UK is restricting testing. Lockdown in China’s Xi’an has led to chaos. Palki Sharma brings you the 10 big developments.

Police seize rifle, 500 ammunition rounds from controversial Christchurch pastor in New Year’s Eve raid

Police raided the home of a controversial anti-government, pro-gun pastor on New Year’s Eve to seize a gun and ammunition after receiving concerns about a person’s wellbeing. Carl Bromley, founder of the Life Connection Missionary Baptist Fellowship in Christchurch, received a voicemail and a letter in his mailbox explaining police had taken his rifle on

Canada: COVID-19 hospitalizations up 67 per cent in week as Omicron takes hold

The number of COVID-19 patients in Canadian hospitals climbed by 67 per cent over the past week, including a 9-per-cent increase in infected people in intensive care units, according to data compiled by The Globe and Mail. The highly transmissible Omicron variant of COVID-19 has swept across Canada in little over a month. Now, as

Omicron update: Soaring COVID-19 infections around the world – DW News

The Omicron variant is causing skyrocketing rates of COVID-19 infections in countries around the world. The Director-General of the World Health Organization says he is extremely worried about the massive spike in cases driven by the simultaneous spread of Delta and Omicron.

Omicron drives record cases in Europe, France reports 180,000 cases – WION

As covid-19 cases are now wreaking havoc across the European continent in particular France, Britain, Greece and Portugal have all reported record daily case numbers. France for one has reported a record high of almost 180,000 confirmed covert cases in the last 24-hour period.

China: Highest number of daily COVID cases since Wuhan outbreak – DW News

China has recorded its fourth rise in new coronavirus cases in a row. That’s despite some 13 million people already under lockdown in the country’s Shaanxi province. The spike in cases there has produced China’s highest infection rates since the pandemic’s very first outbreak in Wuhan.