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Britain on Tuesday launched a £1.0 billion support package for Covid-hit businesses, as staff absences from rising cases began to bite in the run-up to Christmas. Finance minister Rishi Sunak said some 200,000 firms would be eligible for one-off grants to offset losses from what is normally the busiest time …

The Omicron variant of the coronavirus is spreading faster than the Delta variant and is causing infections in people already vaccinated or who have recovered from the COVID-19 disease, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday. “There is now consistent evidence that Omicron is spreading significantly …

The World Economic Forum (WEF) will defer its 2022 annual meeting from January to early summer, it said on Monday. The meeting, scheduled for Jan. 17-21 in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, was postponed due to the “continued uncertainty over the Omicron outbreak.” “Current pandemic conditions make it extremely difficult to deliver a …

The new Pfizer COVID-19 pill may not see Emergency Use Authorization for another month as health officials continue to highlight the promising effects it may bring. Dr. Anthony Fauci praised the data presented by Pfizer regarding the COVID pill, which someone would take within 48 hours of showing symptoms and …

President Tayyip Erdogan said he had lowered Turkey’s inflation to around 4% before and that he will achieve that again soon as annual price rises exceeded 21% due to his push for aggressive monetary easing that has sent the lira crashing. Erdogan has said the new policy based on low-interest …

Never underestimate your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, even with a mutating virus afoot. Despite rising concerns over the omicron variant, “Spider-Man: No Way Home” not only shattered pandemic-era box office records; it became the third-best opening of all time behind “Avengers: Endgame” ($357.1 million) and “Avengers: Infinity War” ($257.7 million). The …

The Netherlands went into lockdown on Sunday and the possibility of more COVID-19 restrictions being imposed ahead of the Christmas and New Year holidays loomed over several European countries as the Omicron variant spreads rapidly. In the United States, White House medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci urged people traveling to …

Football violence has broken out for the second time this season in France. Crowd trouble forced the French Cup last-64 tie between Lyon and host Paris FC to be called off after half-time on Friday. During the break, flares were thrown back and forth between home and visiting fans in …

Russian President Vladimir Putin held extensive talks with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, earlier this week, with the two world leaders agreeing on plans to establish a new shared international financial framework. China and Russia have been gradually moving towards such an arrangement since the Global Financial Crisis of 2008 …

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has announced a ‘major incident’ in the UK capital over the quickly deteriorating epidemiological situation prompted by the fast-spreading Omicron variant. “Today I have declared a major incident in London because of the serious threat of Covid-19 to our city. This will help us avoid …

Global stock benchmarks and oil prices fell on Friday while safe havens such as the dollar and Treasury bonds rose as investors wrestled with a hawkish turn from major central banks in the fight against inflation and rising numbers of Omicron cases. Asian shares closed near lows for the year …

The risk of reinfection with the Omicron coronavirus variant is more than five times higher and it has shown no sign of being milder than Delta, a study showed, as cases soar across Europe and threaten year-end festivities. The results of the study by Imperial College London were based on …

France has threatened to fine the facial recognition company Clearview AI for unlawfully collecting citizens’ data. The French data protection watchdog (CNIL) said the American company had collected thousands of photos of French citizens without their consent. The authority has formally ordered Clearview to delete its database of images within …

Scientists have discovered the first-ever “true” millipede with more than 1,000 legs 60 meters underground in a mining area in Western Australia, setting the record for the creature with the most legs known to humans. Announcing the discovery in the peer-reviewed Scientific Reports journal, the team of researchers revealed that …

Artificial intelligence can now predict whether someone will develop dementia within two years, a new study claims. Researchers hope the technology will cut down on false diagnoses and help doctors catch the condition earlier. Researchers from the University of Exeter in the UK took data from more than 15,000 memory …

The Turkish stock exchange suspended trading after the national currency fell below 17 lira per US dollar on Friday. The lira has lost more than half of its value against the US dollar since the beginning of 2021.

European countries prepared to impose further restrictions on travel and more on Friday in an effort to stem surging cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 that are threatening to stall a global economic recovery. Germany, Ireland, and Denmark were all considering further restrictions in the days before Christmas festivities …

A NASA spacecraft became the first to “touch the sun,” scientists announced Tuesday — a long-awaited milestone and a potential giant leap in understanding the sun’s influence on the solar system. The Parker Solar Probe successfully flew through the sun’s corona, or upper atmosphere, in April to sample particles and …

The Argentina striker Sergio Aguero, who starred at Manchester City for a decade, on Wednesday announced his retirement from football at an emotional press conference, just over a month after he was diagnosed with a heart problem. “I have decided to stop playing professional football. It is a very hard …

There is a “very high” risk the Omicron variant of COVID-19 will become dominant in Europe by early next year and lead to a growing number of hospital admissions and deaths, the European Union’s public health body said on Wednesday. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said …