Day: December 8, 2021

Storm Barra: Weather warnings for most of UK as gales and snow hit

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Storm Barra: Weather warnings for most of UK as gales and snow hit

Strong winds, heavy rain and snow have hit parts of the UK, as Storm Barra sweeps across the country. Most of the UK was covered by severe yellow weather warnings on Tuesday – with only the far north of Scotland escaping the worst weather. Gales and blizzards have been reported, with wind gusts reaching 86mph at Aberdaron in Gwynedd. About 3,200 homes in north-east Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales have lost power. But Storm Barra is not expected to be as bad as its predecessor, Arwen, which hit the UK…

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PM Boris Tells Ministers: “Early Indications Suggest Omicron More Transmissible Than Delta”

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PM Boris Tells Ministers: “Early Indications Suggest Omicron More Transmissible Than Delta”

Early signs indicate that the Omicron variant of COVID-19 is more transmissible than the Delta variant currently dominant in the United Kingdom, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told his Cabinet ministers on December 7. Johnson’s official Number 10 Downing Street spokesperson told reporters in an account of the Cabinet meeting that Johnson reiterated it was still too early to draw conclusions on the wider impact of the new variant, which would depend on whether it causes severe illness. Johnson’s comments come as the UK recorded 101 more Omicron cases on…

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TOP AMERICAN SCIENTIST: OMICRON NOT MORE SEVERE THAN DELTA VARIANT OF COVID-19

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TOP AMERICAN SCIENTIST: OMICRON NOT MORE SEVERE THAN DELTA VARIANT OF COVID-19

Top US scientist Anthony Fauci said Tuesday early indications suggested the Covid-19 Omicron variant was not worse than prior strains, and was possibly milder, while cautioning it would take weeks to judge its severity. 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. The new variant is “clearly highly transmissible,” very likely more so than Delta, the current dominant global strain, Fauci said….

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US ANNOUNCES DIPLOMATIC BOYCOTT OF CHINA’S 2022 BEIJING WINTER OLYMPICS

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US ANNOUNCES DIPLOMATIC BOYCOTT OF CHINA’S 2022 BEIJING WINTER OLYMPICS

The United States Monday announced a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, a calibrated rebuke of China’s human rights record that stops short of preventing US athletes from competing.The decision comes after Washington spent months wrangling with what position to take on the Games, hosted in February next year by a country it accuses of perpetrating “genocide” against Uyghur Muslims in the northwestern Xinjiang region. There was no immediate reaction from Beijing, but the Chinese foreign ministry had earlier threatened “resolute countermeasures” to any such boycott. The decision…

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U.S. TO BOOST TROOPS PRESENCE IN EUROPE IF RUSSIA ATTACKS UKRAINE

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U.S. TO BOOST TROOPS PRESENCE IN EUROPE IF RUSSIA ATTACKS UKRAINE

The United States will impose “severe economic harm” on Russia and boost its military presence in Eastern Europe should Moscow invade Ukraine, the White House warned on Monday, laying out the high stakes on the eve of talks between Presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin. The U.S. President will also quickly inform his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky of the details of his discussion with Mr. Putin, taking place by videoconference on Tuesday, as tens of thousands of Russian troops were positioned near the Ukraine border, a senior U.S. official told…

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