China has increased military and political pressure on Taiwan to accept its sovereignty claims, drawing anger from the democratically ruled island, which has repeatedly said it would not be bullied and has the right to international participation.

Biden, who took office in January amid the biggest US political crisis in decades, said trends are "largely pointing in the wrong direction" and that "more than ever, democracy needs champions."

The event, held by video link because of the coronavirus pandemic, is billed by the White House as US leadership in an existential struggle between democracies and powerful autocracies or dictatorships.

Speaking to AFP, President Joe Biden's chief medical advisor broke down the knowns and unknowns about Omicron into three major areas: transmissibility, how well it evades immunity from prior infection and vaccines, and severity of illness.

This sum would be in addition to $293 million that Digital World Acquisition Corp raised in an initial public offering in September, the companies said in a statement.

California, Colorado and Minnesota have found cases of the coronavirus variant among patients who were fully vaccinated and developed mild symptoms, while Hawaii reported a case with an unvaccinated person, who had moderate symptoms.

The first known US was a fully vaccinated person in California who returned to the United States from South Africa on Nov. 22 and tested positive seven days later.

Overall, the US contributed around 42 million metric tons (MMT) in plastic waste in 2016 -- more than twice as much as China and more than the countries of the European Union combined, according to the analysis. 

"Prior in vitro analyses and structural modeling regarding the individual mutations present in the Omicron variant indicate that there may be reduced neutralization activity of both vaccine-induced and monoclonal antibody-conveyed immunity, including the current REGEN-COV antibodies," the company said in a statement.

Currently, vaccinated international air travelers can present a negative test result obtained within three days from their point of departure. Nearly all foreign nationals must be vaccinated to enter the United States. Unvaccinated travelers currently must get a negative COVID-19 test within one day of arrival.

Eight others, including one teacher, were wounded in the attack, which took place shortly after noon while classes were in session at Oxford High School, the Oakland County Sheriff's Office said.

Barbados had already conferred the title of ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary on the billionaire multiple Grammy-winning singer and businesswoman in 2018 and tasked her with encouraging education and tourism.

Calling the US plan "an evident product of its Cold-War mentality," ambassadors Anatoly Antonov of Russia and Qin Gang of China said the December 9-10 event would "stoke up ideological confrontation and a rift in the world, creating new 'dividing lines.'"

Australia and Japan led the growing list of countries imposing fresh travel restrictions or slamming shut their borders as the new strain identified last week spreads rapidly to Europe, Asia and North America.

The towering atrium features a huge skylight that dapples the lobby bar in winter sun as the nation's power brokers savor $140 glasses of wine served in Hungarian crystal, or $10,000 tumblers of vintage Macallan scotch. 

Famed for its beaches and love of cricket, Barbados will this week replace its head of state, Queen Elizabeth II, with her current representative, Governor General Sandra Mason.

Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks, working with the US director of national intelligence, ordered the new investigatory body to be established in the US Defense Department's intelligence and security office, the Pentagon said late Tuesday.

Brian Laundrie's body was found on October 20 in a nature reserve in northern Florida. The 23-year-old had disappeared in September, shortly after police described him as a "person of interest" in the investigation into Petito's death.

The companies said that the new data, which involved 2,228 trial participants, will help support their applications for full approval in the United States and worldwide.

China, the United States' principal rival, is not invited, while Taiwan is -- a move that risks angering Beijing. Turkey, which like America is a member of NATO, is also missing from the list of participants.

El Salvador, which has used the US dollar for two decades, became the first country in the world in September to legalize bitcoin as legal tender.

Waukesha Police Chief Dan Thompson earlier told reporters that a person of interest was in custody and a vehicle had been recovered after the incident in the town, about 20 miles (32 km) west of Milwaukee.

Globally, more than one in four people live in a backsliding democracy, a proportion that rises to more than two in three with the addition of authoritarian or "hybrid" regimes, according to the Stockholm-based International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance.

Bukele said the city planned in the east of the Central American country would get its energy supply from a volcano and would not levy any taxes except for value added tax (VAT).

Kevin McCarthy was supposed to talk for one minute ahead of a Thursday evening vote in the lower chamber of Congress to advance the $1.8 trillion Build Back Better Act as he took the floor just after 8.30 pm (0130 GMT).

The veteran Democrat, who turns 79 on Saturday, has said publicly he intends to run for reelection but there has been persistent speculation that he could change his mind given his advanced years.

The order by Justice Charles Wood of the Westchester County Supreme Court covers memos written by a Project Veritas lawyer and obtained by the Times.

Downpours in British Columbia this week trapped motorists in mudslides that left at least one dead and three missing, forced thousands to flee their homes, and cut off Vancouver and its port.

Far right congressman Paul Gosar was forced to endure a public shaming by the House of Representatives as he was called to present himself in the "well" of the lower chamber for the "pronouncement of the censure."

The move comes a few weeks after Merck also approached the Food and Drug Administration seeking a green light for its antiviral capsule against the coronavirus.