Moderna hopes to start clinical trials early next year on a vaccine to protect against the fast-spreading Omicron variant but for now is focussing on a booster dose of its current mRNA-1273 vaccine.

In response, his office said there were staff meetings in the garden that day.

Omicron is spreading rapidly in countries with high levels of population immunity, but it is unclear if this is due to the virus' ability to evade immunity, its inherent increased transmissibility or a combination of both, the WHO said in an update.

All non-essential shops and services, including restaurants, hairdressers, museums and gyms will be closed from Sunday until Jan. 14. All schools will be shut until at least Jan. 9.

His party won the seat in North Shropshire, central England, by a massive majority in 2019, but that was wiped out by the Liberal Democrats in Thursday's vote in a result that will intensify the mutinous mood among Conservative MPs.

"Deeply concerned by the rise in cases, ministers agreed that these developments should be seen as the biggest current threat to global public health," Britain, which is currently chair of the group, said in a statement.

Dutch primary schools will close early as Europe battles a fresh wave of infections and hospital admissions, while British Prime Minister Boris Johnson faced a major parliamentary test seeking to impose fresh COVID curbs.

The sweltering heat -- equivalent to 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit -- was seen on June 20, 2020 in the Russian town of Verkhoyansk, marking the highest temperature ever recorded above the Arctic Circle, the World Meteorological Organization said.  

Considerable uncertainties surround Omicron, first detected last month in South Africa and Hong Kong, whose mutations may lead to higher transmissibility and more cases of COVID-19 disease, the WHO said in a technical brief issued on Sunday.

Since the first cases of the Omicron variant were detected on Nov. 27 in the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has imposed tougher restrictions and told the nation on Sunday that a "tidal wave" of Omicron was about to hit.

The Jakarta Post sits down with Germany’s new Ambassador to Indonesia, Ina Lepel, to discuss the prospects of a multilateral partnership between the two countries.

"As is publicly known, Bishop Xavier Novell Goma, Bishop Emeritus of Solsona, has contracted a civil marriage with Ms Silvia Caballol, on November 22, 2021 in the town of Suria, in the province of Barcelona," the conference (CEE) wrote in the statement.

Moris, the mother of Assange's two young children, said it happened in late October on the first day of a US government appeal against a ruling blocking his removal. 

Ressa, the co-founder of news website Rappler, accepted this year's prize at a ceremony at Oslo's City Hall together with her co-laureate Dmitry Muratov, the editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta, one of the rare independent newspapers in a Russian media landscape largely under state control.

Asked about a boycott announced by the United States, Australia, Britain and Canada, Blanquer told RMC radio and BFM television that France "won't do it". 

"There will be effectively a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics in Beijing," Johnson told MPs when asked about the issue in parliament.

Ahead of his first direct talks with Putin since July, Biden consulted with European allies on Monday to discuss plans for sanctions against Russia and seek a strong allied stance in support of Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty.

Dmitry Rogozin, who heads Roscosmos, said the station's orbit dropped by 310 metres (339 yards) for less than three minutes to avoid a close encounter with a fragment from a US launch vehicle sent into space in 1994.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov are to hold talks near Stockholm on the sidelines of a ministerial meeting of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

In the week since the new virus strain was reported to the World Health Organization by South Africa, dozens of countries around the world have responded with travel restrictions -- most targeting southern African nations.

The UN agency, in technical advice to its 194 member states, urged them to accelerate vaccination of high-priority groups and to "ensure mitigation plans are in place" to maintain essential health services.

"With the Omicron variant now detected in several regions of the world, putting in place travel bans that target Africa attacks global solidarity," said WHO regional director general Matshidiso Moeti. 

The cases -- more than one tenth of the 600 people on the two planes -- were quarantined in a hotel near Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, one of Europe's biggest international air travel hubs.

In recent weeks the continent has been in the throes of surging cases and violent riots, wrestling with booster programmes and dramatic lockdowns to stem the tide as its death toll surpassed 1.5 million and it once again became the global epicentre of an unceasing pandemic.

The 40-year-old mother-of-two is expected to take on the role in early December once the new government -- made up of the Social Democrats (SPD), the liberal FDP and the Greens -- is formally installed.

Europe's largest economy is battling a fresh surge in coronavirus cases, and recorded 351 fatalities in the past 24 hours, bringing the total death toll to 100,119, according to figures from the Robert Koch Institute.

The 54-year-old, with straight blond hair and no-nonsense attitude, describes herself as a "nice, hard-working woman" who likes to be in charge.

President Emmanuel Macron vowed France would not allow the Channel to become a "cemetery" and also spoke to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to agree on stepping up efforts to thwart the traffickers blamed for the surge in crossings.

Phase-three clinical trials conducted by AstraZeneca suggest that a single dose of the antibody combination AZD7442 (commercially called Evusheld) is 83 percent effective at preventing severe COVID-19 in people over the age of 18 and could offer protection more than six months after administration.

The department issued Level 4 travel advisories -- the highest level -- for both countries, "indicating a very high level of COVID-19 in the country."