▪️A small study of seven Covid-19 cases in South Africa shows that Omicron can break through booster vaccine vaccinations, one of the scientists involved in the study said on Thursday – Reuters
▪️The parent company of Facebook Meta said that the Israeli firm Black Cube used fake names posing as students, human rights activists and TV producers to arrange calls to its targets and obtain personal email addresses.
▪️The U.S. Department of Justice has asked the Supreme Court to reinstate the federal mandate to vaccinate some healthcare workers across the country.
▪️Authorities investigating the fatal shooting of Alec Baldwin on set have requested a search warrant to obtain the actor’s mobile phone.
▪️Fauci says that not all Covid-19 tests detect omicron, adding even more confusion to the holiday season.
▪️The US accuses Chinese technology firms, research institutes of using biotechnologies, creating “weapons to control the brain” – ABC News
▪️North Korea prohibits laughing for 11 days in connection with the 10th anniversary of the death of the father of Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un, Kim Jong-il.
▪️Several vaccinated BuzzFeed employees were found to have Covid-19 after a holiday party in New York, despite the requirements regarding masks and the use of vaccination passports for entry.
▪️The US has blacklisted eight Chinese companies, including DJI, the world’s largest manufacturer of commercial drones, for helping to monitor Uighurs in Xinjiang, China.
▪️Biden administration health officials are privately warning test manufacturers and laboratories that demand for Covid-19 tests could double or even triple over the next two months due to a sharp increase in Omicron cases nationwide.
▪️The Covid-19 vaccine may become mandatory in France, President Macron said.
▪️Omicron-the coronavirus strain is spreading at an extremely high rate. The number of cases of infection doubles every two to three days. This was stated by the special envoy of the World Health Organization for Covid-19, David Nabarro, on the Sky News channel.
▪️NATO calls on Russia to urgently de-escalate the conflict on the border with Ukraine.
▪️The US FDA has allowed to receive abortion pills by mail on a permanent basis, canceling the requirements for issuance at the clinic.
▪️British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is accused of attending another party in violation of the blocking rules, just days after he warned Britons about increasing fines for violating social distancing rules in May.
▪️Europe is facing a difficult winter, as disruptions in the operation of a nuclear power plant in France have put the continent’s energy market at a turning point – Bloomberg
▪️The State Duma of Russia approves the use of vaccine passports (QR codes) with a result of 329-87 votes in the first reading.