While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Dec 22
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Britain has reported record levels of Covid-19 cases over the past week as the highly transmissible Omicron variant spreads.
PHOTO: AFP
UK's Johnson rules out new Covid-19 curbs before Christmas
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Tuesday (Dec 21) that he would not be introducing new Covid-19 restrictions in England before Christmas, but the situation remained extremely difficult and the government might need to act afterwards.
Britain has reported record levels of Covid-19 cases over the past week as the highly transmissible Omicron variant spreads, and hospitalisations are also rising.
Johnson held a more than two-hour meeting with his cabinet to discuss the latest Covid-19 data on Monday. Media reported several ministers had pushed back against the prospect of new curbs before Christmas, despite warnings from some scientists.
More tests, vaccinations and help for hospitals but not lockdowns: Biden
The United States will step up efforts to get more people vaccinated against the coronavirus, opting for more testing and boosting hospital capacity instead of lockdowns, as the Omicron variant fuels a rise in cases across the country.
President Joe Biden on Tuesday (Dec 21) laid out his administration's steps to fight the Omicron variant, which he said had spread more rapidly than anticipated.
The rise of the Omicron variant, which now accounts for three-quarters of new infections in the US, comes as Americans head home for the holidays and has highlighted one weakness in America's strategy to fight Covid - the widespread availability of affordable testing.
Jury in Ghislaine Maxwell's sex abuse trial asks to review accusers' testimony
The jury in Ghislaine Maxwell's sex abuse trial on Tuesday (Dec 21) asked to review transcripts of the testimony of three of her accusers, as deliberations over the British socialite's fate entered their second day.
In a note to US District Judge Alison Nathan, jurors asked to re-read the accounts of Jane, Carolyn and Annie Farmer, who each testified that Maxwell set them up for sexual abuse by the late financier Jeffrey Epstein when they were teenagers.
Maxwell, 59, is accused of recruiting and grooming four girls for Epstein to abuse between 1994 and 2004. She has pleaded not guilty to six counts of sex trafficking and other crimes.
Malaysian shelter rescues 120 cats and dogs from floods
Volunteers at a animal shelter in one of areas worst-hit by floods in Malaysia staged an eleventh-hour rescue of 120 cats and dogs in lorries as waters rose around its premises.
More than 60,000 people have been displaced and at least 17 killed in floods across eight states in Malaysia, following torrential rainfall that began last Friday (Dec 17).
Rising waters around the Arusza Animal Shelter in Selangor showed up on CCTV cameras installed after animals died in two previous flooding incidents when the shelter was unmanned, volunteer Juanita Izzudin said.
Tennis: Bencic tests positive for Covid-19 after Abu Dhabi event, has 'severe symptoms'
Olympic tennis champion Belinda Bencic has tested positive for Covid-19 after her trip to Abu Dhabi and has "severe symptoms", she said on Tuesday (Dec 21), a day after Rafa Nadal announced he had also tested positive.
Both players had travelled to Abu Dhabi to play in the Mubadala World Tennis Championship exhibition event last week.
Nadal also said he was having some "unpleasant moments "after testing positive upon his return to Spain.
