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World News in Brief: December 16

 
World News in Brief: December 16

A structural model of how the Omicron variant attaches to cells and antibodies sheds light on its behaviour and will help in designing neutralizing antibodies, according to researchers.   

Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from coastal areas of the central and southern Philippines ahead of a strong typhoon that is expected to make landfall on Thursday afternoon.


* On Wednesday, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy met on the sidelines of an EU summit in Brussels to find ways to restart negotiations in the "Normandy format" that also includes Russia, Macron's office said.

* EU lawmakers voted on Wednesday to beef up draft rules to rein in US tech giants, including extending the scope to their retailing activities and to their business users outside Europe, as part of their common position in forthcoming talks with EU countries.

* French President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday Australia's government behaved badly when it pulled out of a contract to buy submarines from France.

* The US Senate voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday for a version of the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, that authorizes 770 billion USD in defense spending - 25 billion USD more than requested by President Joe Biden - sending the measure to the White House for the president's signature.

* Asian stocks followed Wall Street higher on Thursday after the US Federal Reserve said it would end bond-buying stimulus in March to set up three interest rate increases next year to tackle heated inflation.

* Malaysia on Thursday announced new COVID-19 restrictions, including banning mass gatherings and requiring booster doses for high-risk groups, as it reported its second case of the Omicron coronavirus variant.

* The Republic of Korea said on Thursday it will reinstate stricter social distancing rules a month-and-a-half after easing them under a 'living with COVID-19' policy, as the number of new infections and serious cases spirals.

* Japan officially approved Moderna's vaccine for its booster shot programme that began this month, while Takeda Pharmaceutical has submitted an approval request for Novavax's vaccine to the country's health ministry.

* New Zealand's health regulator has granted provisional approval for the Pfizer vaccine for children aged 5 to 11 years old.
* England's chief medical officer warned people not to mix with others unless they have to in the run-up to Christmas after Britain recorded its most daily cases since the start of the pandemic.

* Sweden will require visitors from other Nordic nations to have a vaccine pass to cross the border as it gradually tightens restrictions amid rising cases of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, the government said on Thursday.

* France will beef up controls on travellers arriving from Britain, government spokesman Gabriel Attal said on Thursday, after infections linked to the Omicron coronavirus variant rose in the United Kingdom.

* Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and National Bank of Canada have asked employees to work remotely as Omicron worries grow.

* Apple is delaying its return to office plans indefinitely, Bloomberg News reported, while the company said it has temporarily closed three stores in the United States and Canada.

* Australian employment blew past all expectations in November as lockdowns were lifted, driving the unemployment rate sharply lower in a major boost to the economic outlook.


Reuters

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