Top 10 world news: UK reports two Omicron cases, Modi chairs meeting amid new variant concerns and more
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The British government on Saturday confirmed the existence of two cases of the Omicron variant in the country. UK had banned flights to South Africa after authorities revealed they had discovered the B.1.1.529 variant which reportedly has several mutations.
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The UK government said the two cases were linked to southern Africa as it moved to expand the travel ban to four more African countries namely Angola, Zambia, Mozambique and Malawi who were placed on the "red list". The World Health Organisation (WHO) had moved to designate B.1.1.529 as a "variant of concern" late on Friday.
The authorities are conducting tests to find out if the passengers have been affected by the new Omicron variant. The passengers had arrived at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport on two flights on Friday.The Dutch health authorities confirmed 61 positive and 531 negative results on Saturday.
Prime Minister on Saturday asked officials to reconsider plans on easing international travel restrictions in the light of the new coronavirus variant, Omircron, which has been classified as a variant of concern by the WHO.
Naming can get tricky sometimes even when someone is following a sequence of letters. Although it shouldn’t happen usually, it can at times. The same holds true for the naming of new Covid variant Omicron, where two letters in the Greek alphabet, Nu and Xi, were skipped for various reasons by the World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday.
After Belgium, Germany on Saturday said it has discovered a new positive case resembling Omicron variant. Germany’s social affairs minister said that a traveller from South Africa was detected with similar mutations.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has said he will consider ''all options'' to counter China. The country will add $6.75 billion to its already record annual military spending in a rush to bolster air and maritime defences.
Iranian authorities arrested 67 protesters after clashes with security forces in the city of Isfahan over water shortages on Friday, reports said. Iranian officials had used tear gas shells and batons to control the crowd as reports said nearly 3,000 people had taken part in the protests.
Solomon Islands police have found three bodies in a burned-out building, Australian media said on Saturday, as police made more than a hundred arrests following rioting in the South Pacific capital in the past several days. Charred bodies were discovered in a store in the Chinatown district late on Friday, Australia's national broadcaster ABC said, citing a report from a security guard.
Former Nepal PM Oli says ‘will take back’ Kalapani, Limpiyadhura and Lipulekh territories from India
Former Nepal prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has vowed to “take back” Kalapani, Limpiyadhura and Lipulekh territories from India if his party comes to power. Lipulekh is a Himalayan pass located at a western point near Kalapani, a disputed border area between Nepal and India.
In a stern advisory, Indian government has told public on Friday that don’t subscribe to the satellite-based internet services of Starlink till it gets a licence in the country. Starlink, which is a satellite broadband arm of Elon Musk-led SpaceX, is advertising about its services.