Six In The Morning Monday 13 December 2021

 

Britain battles Omicron 'tidal wave,' as infections double every two to three days and first death from variant is recorded

By Rob Picheta, CNN

Updated 1608 GMT (0008 HKT) December 13, 2021

Britain is facing a "tidal wave" of infections from the new Omicron coronavirus variant, ministers have warned, as they sound the alarm on rapid transmission rates in London and across the country.

On Monday, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed the country's first death of a person with the variant. He told reporters at a vaccination clinic: "I think the idea that this is somehow a milder version of the virus, I think that's something we need to set on one side and just recognize the sheer pace at which it accelerates through the population."

The United Kingdom increased its Covid-19 alert level on Sunday and is once again accelerating its rollout of booster jabs in an effort to respond to the new wave of cases.

Afghan health system ‘close to collapse due to sanctions on Taliban’

Health experts issue dire warning as staff go unpaid and medical facilities lack basic items to treat patients

Peter Beaumont

Mon 13 Dec 2021 13.52 GMT

Large parts of Afghanistan’s health system are on the brink of collapse because of western sanctions against the Taliban, international experts have warned, as the country faces outbreaks of disease and an escalating malnutrition crisis.

With the country experiencing a deepening humanitarian crisis since the Taliban’s seizure of power in August amid mounting levels of famine and economic collapse, many medical staff have not been paid for months and health facilities lack even the most basic items to treat patients.

Dr Paul Spiegel, director of the Center for Humanitarian health at Johns Hopkins University, said that on a recent five-week trip to the country he had seen public hospitals – which cater for the most vulnerable – lacking fuel, drugs, hygiene products and even basic items such as colostomy bags.

Golden jackal spreading across Europe as climate warms

Lack of snow as temperatures rise across Europe could be encouraging spread

Tim Wyatt

Golden jackals are spreading out across western Europe for the first time in centuries, with the reclusive mammal spotted in places such as Italy, the Netherlands and Norway.

The dog-sized creatures are commonplace in southern Asia, north Africa and the Middle East but in recent years environmentalists have spotted them in regions hundreds of miles from their normal ranges.

Last week, one was snapped by a photo trap in Tuscany, in the heart of Italy close to the city of Florence.

Suu Kyi imprisonment: Will the EU impose sanctions on Myanmar?

Critics are urging the EU to impose fresh sanctions on the military junta after the sentencing of Aung San Suu Kyi. They fear a lack of action will send the wrong message to Myanmar.

After the United States, Britain and Canada last Friday announced additional sanctions on Myanmar's military junta, pressure is growing on the European Union to follow suit.

The vice president of the European Parliament called earlier for additional measures against the junta and its associated businesses, which took power illegally in a coup on February 1. However, EU spokespersons contacted by DW declined to comment on the matter.

North Korea's Kim at critical crossroads decade into rule

By KIM TONG-HYUNG

Too young. Too weak. Too inexperienced.

Since taking power following his father’s sudden death 10 years ago, Kim Jong Un has erased the widespread doubts that greeted his early attempts to extend his family’s brutal dynastic grip over North Korea.

Early predictions about a regency, a collective leadership or a military coup were crushed by an estimated hundreds of executions and purges targeting family members and the old guard. That ruthless consolidation of power, together with a larger-than-life personality seemingly made for carefully packaged TV propaganda, has allowed Kim to make clear that his authority is absolute.

Sudan police fire tear gas at Khartoum protesters

Pro-democracy groups say the military should not be part of the government as they cannot be trusted to lead the transition to democracy.

Sudanese police have fired tear gas at protesters, who rallied near the presidential palace in the capital Khartoum to voice their anger against a military deal that re-instated Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok.

Thousands of people took to the streets in Khartoum and other Sudanese cities on Monday as part of relentless demonstrations against the October military coup and subsequent deal that has allowed the military to remain part of the transitional council formed in 2019 following the overthrow of longtime President Omar al-Bashir.