Covid-19 pandemic 'nowhere near over': WHO chief
The Covid-19 pandemic is far from over, the World Health Organisation (WHO) chief said on Tuesday, cautioning against a narrative that the fast-spreading Omicron variant is risk-free.
“This pandemic is nowhere near over,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters from the WHO’s headquarters in Geneva.
The UN health agency chief warned against dismissing as mild the coronavirus variant Omicron, which has spread like wildfire around the globe since it was first detected in southern Africa in November.
The Omicron variant of Covid-19 is much more contagious than previous strains but seems to cause less serious disease. That has triggered a debate on whether the virus is on the verge of passing from the pandemic phase to becoming an endemic disease that humanity can live with – with the implication that the danger will have passed.
One person killed, eight hurt in New York house blast and fire
An explosion and fire, apparently triggered by a gas leak, demolished several row house apartment units in New York City’s Bronx borough on Tuesday, killing one resident and injuring at least eight other people, authorities said.
Five of those injured were police officers who rushed into the burning structure to rescue residents trapped inside, officials said.
“We saved lives today,” Mayor Eric Adams, a former police officer himself, told a news conference in lauding the actions of emergency first-responders.
No bidders for Rome villa with world's only Caravaggio mural
An online auction for a villa in central Rome, which has the only known ceiling mural by Italian baroque artist Caravaggio, failed to draw any bidders on Tuesday, meaning it will now be offered at a discount.
The property was put on the market following a drawn-out inheritance dispute and was initially valued by court-appointed experts at €471 million (S$720 million), making it potentially one of the most expensive homes in the world.
The minimum bidding price was set at €353.25 million, but there were no takers and the sale was called void by a judicial auction website.
US rabbi credits security training for life-saving acts
When a Texas rabbi flung a chair at his armed kidnapper, allowing himself and two others to escape, it was not only fast thinking - it was the result of an aggressive campaign in the United States to train synagogues and other Jewish institutions to protect themselves.
Charlie Cytron-Walker, the rabbi at the Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, credited training by Secure Communities Network with helping him escape the British man who invaded the synagogue on Saturday and held three men hostage for 10 hours before being killed by security forces.
"It was terrifying," he told CBS. "When I saw an opportunity where he wasn't in a good position, I made sure that the two gentlemen who were still with me, that they were ready to go" out a nearby exit, he said.
Football: Chelsea slump goes on as Brighton earn draw
Chelsea surrendered a lead against Brighton for the second time in a month as both sides had to again settle for a 1-1 draw on Tuesday.
The European champions went ahead against the run of play when Hakim Ziyech's snap shot caught Robert Sanchez in the Brighton goal by surprise.
But the Blues have now just one of their last seven league games as Adam Webster's towering header earned Brighton a fully deserved point.
