Six In The Morning Saturday 1 January 2022

 

The Covid-19 case surge is altering daily life across the US. Things will likely get worse, experts warn

By Christina Maxouris, CNN

Updated 1527 GMT (2327 HKT) January 1, 2022

The US is ringing in the new year amid a Covid-19 surge that experts warn is exploding at unprecedented speed and could alter daily life for many Americans during the first month of 2022.

"Omicron is truly everywhere," Dr. Megan Ranney, a professor of emergency medicine at Brown University's School of Public Health, told CNN on Friday night. "What I am so worried about over the next month or so is that our economy is going to shut down, not because of policies from the federal government or from the state governments, but rather because so many of us are ill."

The nation broke records at least four times this week for its seven-day average of new daily Covid-19 cases, reporting an all-time high of more than 386,000 new daily infections Friday, according to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University. The high case count is already causing disruptions in the country.

North Korea’s Kim Jong-un warns of ‘life-and-death struggle’ in 10th anniversary speech

Kim’s focus on food and factories rather than nuclear weapons or US underscores country’s economic crisis

Reuters

Sat 1 Jan 2022 01.41 GMT

The North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, has capped off his 10th year in power with a speech that made more mention of tractor factories and school uniforms than nuclear weapons or the United States.

North Korea’s main goals for 2022 will be jump-starting economic development and improving people’s lives as it faces a “great life-and-death struggle”, Kim told a meeting of the ruling party’s central committee on Friday.

The meeting coincided with the 10th anniversary of Kim effectively assuming leadership of the country after the death of his father in 2011.

Ban on plastic packaging covering fruit and vegetables comes into force in France

Cucumbers, lemons and oranges among items covered by new laws

Matt Mathers

A ban on plastic packaging on most fruit and vegetables being sold in France came into force today as the country moves a step closer to phasing out single-use plastic items by 2040.

President Emmanuel Macron said the move was a "real revolution" as cucumbers, lemons and oranges are among 30 items that will no longer be wrapped in plastic.

Peppers, courgettes, aubergines and leeks are some of the vegetables covered by the new law, passed by French politicians last year and which comes into force from New Year's Day.

5 threats to the global economy in 2022

The global economic recovery is being held back by the ongoing COVID pandemic. However, the mutating coronavirus is just one of the main risks which could dampen investor spirits in the coming year.

The global economy recovered strongly in 2021 from its pandemic lows, only to lose some of its steam in the second half thanks to fresh pandemic outbreaks, supply chain bottlenecks, labor shortages and a slow rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, especially in low-income developing countries.

The slowing recovery prompted economists at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the 38-member Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to slightly trim their global growth forecasts for the year in October and December respectively.

Qandi’s father sold her for $1300 to feed the family. Her mother is fighting to buy her back

By Elena Becatoros JANUARY 1, 2022

In a sprawling settlement of mud brick huts in western Afghanistan housing people displaced by drought and war, a woman is fighting to save her daughter.

Aziz Gul’s husband sold the 10-year-old girl into marriage without telling his wife, taking a down-payment so he could feed his family of five children. Without that money, he told her, they would all starve. He had to sacrifice one to save the rest.

Many of Afghanistan’s growing number of destitute people are making desperate decisions such as these as their nation spirals into a vortex of poverty.

 

Thousands rally in Baghdad to mark 2020 killing of Iran general

Marchers call for expulsion of remaining US forces in Iraq as they commemorate General Qassem Soleimani’s assassination.

Thousands of people have rallied in the Iraqi capital to mark the second anniversary of the killing of a revered Iranian commander and his Iraqi lieutenant in a drone attack by the United States.

Chanting “Death to America”, the marchers filled a Baghdad square to honour Iran’s General Qassem Soleimani, who headed the Quds Force, the foreign operations arm of the elite Revolutionary Guard, until his death on January 3, 2020.

“US terrorism has to end”, read one sign at the rally by backers of the pro-Iranian Hashed, also known as the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), a former paramilitary alliance that has been integrated into Iraq’s state security apparatus.