Covid-19: US vaccinations could start by Monday – health secretary

WASHINGTON, Dec 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) –– The United States could start injecting the first Americans with the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine by Monday, the country’s health secretary said. Alex Azar told news channels that final details were being ironed out, after an expert committee convened by regulators voted to grant the two-dose…

Suicide bomber injures six police in Russia’s North Caucasus

MOSCOW, Dec 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A suicide bomber blew himself up in Russia’s North Caucasus region of Karachay-Cherkessia Friday, injuring six police officers, the country’s National Anti-Terrorism Committee said. An unidentified person tried to break into an area where police were conducting searches and triggered the bomb when they tried…

Covid-19: Latest global developments

PARIS, Dec 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Here are some of the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis: GLOBAL: The novel coronavirus has killed at least 1,582,721 people since the outbreak emerged in China last December. The US is the worst-affected country with 292,190 deaths, followed by Brazil with 179,765, India with…

Brexit: UK-EU deal ‘still possible’, says German, Irish ministers

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas BERLIN, Dec 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Foreign ministers from Germany and Ireland said they believe a Brexit deal is still possible, after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned that a no-deal scenario was very likely. “We believe that an agreement is difficult but still possible,” German…

Covid-19: US deaths smash daily record, spurring pleas to trim back Christmas

Katie Ramirez, left, watches as her mother, Claudia Campos, swabs the mouth of her daughter, Hailey, for a COVID-19 test at a testing site in Los Angeles WASHINGTON, Dec 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The daily US COVID-19 death toll has surpassed 3,000 for the first time, prompting pleas for Americans to scale…

Prime Minister Johnson tells UK to ‘get ready’ for no-deal Brexit collapse

LONDON, Dec 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Prime Minister Boris Johnson vowed to go the “extra mile” for a Brexit trade deal but instructed his government to prepare for Britain to crash out of the European Union’s single market at the end of this year. The gloom deepened over the drawn-out Brexit saga…

Singapore to unilaterally lift border restrictions to travellers from Taiwan from Dec 18

Visitors from Taiwan will now be able to apply for an air travel pass for entry into Singapore from Dec 18 SINGAPORE, Dec 11 (NNN-CNA) — Singapore will lift border restrictions for visitors from Taiwan from Dec 18, said the Civil Aviation Authority (CAAS). With immediate effect, travellers can apply…

Libya, UK discuss cooperation, support for peace path

TRIPOLI, Dec 11 (NNN-Xinhua) — Libya’s UN-backed Prime Minister Fayez Serraj on Thursday met with British Ambassador to Libya Nicholas Hopton here on strengthening cooperation and support for Libya’s peace path. The meeting addressed multiple issues, “particularly the contribution of British companies and institutions in fields of health, education, human…

Afghanistan, Iran inaugurate cross-border railway

HERAT (Afghanistan), Dec 11 (NNN-Xinhua) — Afghanistan and Iran jointly inaugurated a main railway after two freight trains officially traveled along Herat-Khaf railway project, linking Afghanistan’s western Herat province with Khaf city of Iran, general director of Afghanistan railway authority said. “The Herat-Khaf railway project is inaugurated Thursday with a…

South Sudan’s presidency okays completion of unity government

South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and Riek Machar after their peace talk at the State House in Juba JUBA, Dec 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Representatives of South Sudan’s parties to the 2018 revitalized peace agreement have agreed to end the prolonged stalemate on formation of states governments and reconstitution of the…