The World Health Organisation (WHO) is set to deploy a surge team to South Africa to help deal with the new Omicron COVID variant outbreak. The team will be sent to Gauteng province to help with surveillance and contact tracing as experts warned the new variant could be causing an increase in COVID reinfections across
World
All WTA tournaments have been suspended in China over concerns for the safety of player Peng Shuai. The head of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) said it was taking the step after Shuai, a Grand Slam doubles champion, accused a former high-ranking government official in China of sexual assault. Peng dropped out of public view
The world’s rich nations must help vaccinate the poorest nations or else they will face a continual cycle of economic shocks and restrictions in the face of new variants, the OECD’s chief economist has said. Laurence Boone told Sky News that the Omicron variant could cause the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development to downgrade
China has for the first time become the single greatest focus for MI6, with its chief warning the risk “is real” of a miscalculation by Beijing through underestimating western resolve to push back. Pointing to Taiwan, Richard Moore said a desire by the ruling Chinese Communist Party – backed by an increasingly powerful military –
The Prince of Wales has formally acknowledged “the appalling atrocity of slavery” in the Caribbean, saying “it forever stains our history” at an event to mark Barbados becoming a republic. Prince Charles was invited to speak at the transition ceremony formalising the Caribbean island’s decision to remove the Queen as its head of state. Speaking
The Queen has sent the people of Barbados her “good wishes for your happiness, peace and prosperity in the future” and emphasised the importance of the “continuation of the friendship” with the UK as they remove her as their monarch. At midnight in Barbados the country will become a republic, ending almost 400 years of
A married couple who tested positive for COVID-19 have been arrested after fleeing a quarantine hotel in the Netherlands before attempting to leave the country. The pair were arrested on an aeroplane that was about to take off at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport on Sunday evening, according to Dutch police. Officers did not release the names
Authorities in the Netherlands have detected 13 cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant among passengers from South Africa. Health officials said the infected people were on flights from the southern African nation earlier this week. A total of 61 people on the planes tested positive for the virus – and 21% of those had Omicron.
Global concern about the coronavirus pandemic is growing, with a number of countries detecting confirmed cases of the Omicron variant for the first time. Travel restrictions are also being imposed once again as governments suspend flights from southern Africa, the region where this strain was first detected. Here is a look at the latest COVID-19
The head of the group that runs women’s tennis worldwide has said he “remains deeply concerned” about Chinese player Peng Shuai, after she accused a powerful politician of sexual assault. A spokesperson for the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) told the AFP news agency its chairman Steve Simon believes Peng’s responses to his emails to her
Vaccine manufacturers have expressed confidence that they will be able to rapidly adapt their jabs if the Omicron variant spreads. The new strain – previously known as B.1.1.529 – features some “concerning” mutations, and early evidence suggests it brings an increased risk of reinfection. There are also fears that the variant could be more resistant
The first victim of Wednesday’s tragedy in the Channel has been named as Mariam Nouri Hamadameen, a 21-year-old Kurdish woman from northern Iraq. She had travelled to Germany and on to France, hoping to join her fiance who already lives in Britain. Mariam was a student and recently engaged – she left her studies early
South Africa is racing to learn more about a new coronavirus variant that could be more transmissible and more resistant to vaccines. Just 53 cases related to the B.1.1.529 strain have been confirmed in the country so far, but there are fears the true number could be much higher. COVID-19 has been rapidly spreading among
A mayday call by French coastguard requesting urgent help from “all ships” during yesterday’s Channel boat emergency has been obtained by Sky News. Twenty-seven people – 17 men, seven women and two teenage boys and a girl – died while trying to cross to the UK in a flimsy boat, which capsized near Calais. Two
The French interior minister said migrants are “often attracted” to the UK’s job market after 27 people died while attempting to cross the Channel. Gerard Darmanin said that Britain, Belgium and Germany could do more to help France tackle illegal migrants and human trafficking issues. In an interview with French radio station RTL he also
At least 24 migrants have drowned while trying to get to the UK across the Channel in an inflatable dinghy, a French official has said. Several others are thought to be injured after their boat capsized off Calais this afternoon, as they tried to cross the world’s busiest shipping lane. “Strong emotion in the face
The World Health Organisation has said it is “alarmed” about the surge in COVID-19 infections across Europe as the continent battles a fresh wave of the virus. Cases are rising again in much of Europe – sharply in the case of countries like Germany, the Netherlands and Austria, with the latter going back into a
A man convicted of the murder of British student Meredith Kercher in Italy in 2007 has been freed early from jail. Rudy Guede served about 13 years of a 16-year sentence, said his lawyer, Fabrizio Ballarini. He was convicted in 2008 and had been due to be freed on 4 January next year, but a
At least six people, including four children, have died after a ferry capsized off the coast of eastern Sri Lanka. A total of 12 people have been rescued so far, a spokesperson for the country’s navy, Captain Indika de Silva, confirmed. He added that a search operation was continuing to take place. The ferry was
Germany’s health minister has warned that by the end of this winter “pretty much everyone” in Germany “will have been vaccinated, recovered or died”. Jens Spahn urged Germans to get vaccinated amid a rapid rise in COVID cases. Official figures showed more than 30,000 new coronavirus cases in Germany in the last 24-hour period, an