US Attorney General William Barr is stepping down before Christmas, President Donald Trump has announced.
Mr Trump tweeted Mr Barr's resignation letter saying: "Our relationship has been a very good one, he has done an outstanding job!"
Mr Barr's term had been due to end on 20 January, when Mr Trump leaves office.
But an early departure had been predicted after he disputed Mr Trump's unsubstantiated election fraud claims.
Deputy Attorney General Jeff Rosen will serve as acting attorney general, Mr Trump said.
Just had a very nice meeting with Attorney General Bill Barr at the White House. Our relationship has been a very good one, he has done an outstanding job! As per letter, Bill will be leaving just before Christmas to spend the holidays with his family...
Mr Barr's letter to the president began by saying he "appreciated the opportunity to update" the president on the Department of Justice's (DOJ) review of voter fraud allegations in the recent elections and "how these allegations will continue to be pursued".
He did not give more details about the review, and praised Mr Trump's achievements in office before ending the letter by saying he will depart from his position on 23 December.
Rumours turned out to be true
Rumours that Attorney General Barr was eying an early exit from the Trump administration turned out to be true. Although he received a traditional Trump send-off - his departure announced via Twitter - the president was cordial, thanking him and posting his effusive resignation letter.
If there were any discord over the attorney general's recent handling of election investigations - his assertion that he had seen no evidence of widespread fraud - it did not spill into public view.
Mr Barr probably will best be remembered for his management of Robert Mueller's Russia probe. He defused what could have been a political bomb for the president by giving an advanced summary of the independent counsel's full report in a four-page memo that downplayed many of its more serious allegations.
Perhaps the president's gratitude for that service outweighed any of their more recent disagreements and allowed them to part on amicable terms. Or perhaps in the waning days of the Trump presidency, there was no sense fighting on the way out the door.
With William Barr gone, however, there may be less institutional resistance if President Trump decides to bypass traditional Justice Department procedures and issue a spate of controversial pardons for his closest allies. By exiting now, Mr Barr is affording himself the ability to stay silent on such matters.
Mr Barr, 70, had previously served as attorney general under President George Bush in the early 1990s.
He came out of semi-retirement in 2019 to replace Jeff Sessions, who was forced out by President Trump over the justice department's appointment of Special Counsel Robert Mueller to investigate alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
Democratic critics of Mr Barr accused him of shielding his ex-boss from justice. Trump supporters recently turned on him due to his unwillingness to support Mr Trump's election lawsuits.
Since 3 November's election, Mr Trump has repeatedly made unsubstantiated claims of widespread voter fraud, and members of his legal defence team have spoken of an alleged international plot to hand President-elect Joe Biden the win.
US Attorney General William Barr is stepping down before Christmas, President Donald Trump has announced.
Mr Trump tweeted Mr Barr's resignation letter saying: "Our relationship has been a very good one, he has done an outstanding job!"
Mr Barr's term had been due to end on 20 January, when Mr Trump leaves office.
But an early departure had been predicted after he disputed Mr Trump's unsubstantiated election fraud claims.
Deputy Attorney General Jeff Rosen will serve as acting attorney general, Mr Trump said.
Just had a very nice meeting with Attorney General Bill Barr at the White House. Our relationship has been a very good one, he has done an outstanding job! As per letter, Bill will be leaving just before Christmas to spend the holidays with his family...
Mr Barr's letter to the president began by saying he "appreciated the opportunity to update" the president on the Department of Justice's review of voter fraud allegations in the recent elections and "how these allegations will continue to be pursued".
He did not give more details about the review, and praised Mr Trump's achievements in office before ending the letter by saying he will depart from his position on 23 December.
Rumours turned out to be true
Rumours that Attorney General Barr was eying an early exit from the Trump administration turned out to be true. Although he received a traditional Trump send-off - his departure announced via Twitter - the president was cordial, thanking him and posting his effusive resignation letter.
If there were any discord over the attorney general's recent handling of election investigations - his assertion that he had seen no evidence of widespread fraud - it did not spill into public view.
Mr Barr probably will best be remembered for his management of Robert Mueller's Russia probe. He defused what could have been a political bomb for the president by giving an advanced summary of the independent counsel's full report in a four-page memo that downplayed many of its more serious allegations.
Perhaps the president's gratitude for that service outweighed any of their more recent disagreements and allowed them to part on amicable terms. Or perhaps in the waning days of the Trump presidency, there was no sense fighting on the way out the door.
With William Barr gone, however, there may be less institutional resistance if President Trump decides to bypass traditional Justice Department procedures and issue a spate of controversial pardons for his closest allies. By exiting now, Mr Barr is affording himself the ability to stay silent on such matters.
The US government has put out an emergency warning about what appears to be one of the most sophisticated cyber espionage campaigns in recent years.
Hackers working for a nation-state managed to infiltrate software used by key government agencies and the world’s largest companies just as the west went into lockdown earlier this year.
Here is everything we know so far.
What happened?
Hundreds of thousands of organisations around the world rely on a piece of software called Orion to manage their IT networks.
The software, from the IT company SolarWinds, is described as a “single pane of glass” that can monitor everything in a system.
The hackers managed to insert malicious code into the software updates provided by SolarWinds to its customers, which then allowed them to open a back door that let them spy on their targets at will.
The updates were released between March and June this year, SolarWinds said, raising the possibility that the hackers have been inside some systems for as long as nine months.
The scope of the attack is potentially huge. SolarWinds said on its website that it had 275,000 customers worldwide.
But the company said on Monday it believed that “fewer than 18,000” of its customers had downloaded the compromised updates.
FireEye, a cyber security company that revealed last week it had been a victim of the hacking campaign, said it had found other victims in “government, consulting, technology, telecom and extractive entities” across the world.
No major companies have disclosed that they have been hacked.
In the US, the commerce department said one of its bureaus had been breached. There were also reports that the Treasury department had been targeted, but it declined to comment.
UK and EU cyber security agencies have yet to comment on the extent of their exposure.
What is SolarWinds and what does it do?
SolarWinds is a 20-year-old technology company based in Austin, Texas, with revenues projected to exceed $1bn this year.
According to its website, SolarWinds’ clients include Microsoft, McDonald’s, Lockheed Martin and Yahoo, as well as many government and military departments in the US and abroad.
Some of America’s most sensitive intelligence targets are among its customers: all five branches of the US military; the Pentagon, the state department; the NSA; the Department of Justice; and the Office of the President of the United States, according to the company’s website.
Shares in SolarWinds fell 15 per cent in early trading on Monday after news of the hack emerged.
Who were the hackers and what were they looking for?
Western security experts quickly pointed the finger at Russia, though there has been no official confirmation.
FireEye said: “The campaign is the work of a highly skilled actor and the operation was conducted with significant operational security.”
One person familiar with the investigation said that American security sources believe the SVR, Russia’s foreign intelligence service, was behind the hack.
Robert Hannigan, former director-general of the UK signals intelligence agency GCHQ, said while it was still too early to tell who was responsible, Russian agencies have a history of using software updates to deliver attacks, as these attackers did via Orion. This was how a cyber unit operated by Russia’s GRU military intelligence service implanted the NotPetya virus into Ukrainian accountancy software in 2017.
Officials suggested the attack has all the hallmarks of an espionage operation, designed to target central government, defence, military and intelligence institutions.
Russia has denied any involvement, with Dmitry Peskov, president Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, labelling the accusations “groundless”.
What do we still not know?
One of the key questions, according to western security officials, is how the hackers managed to penetrate SolarWinds.
Possibilities include an insider at the company who helped the hackers gain access to its clients, or weaknesses in cyber security which meant its systems could be targeted remotely.
The other question is how many governments and companies may have been compromised.
Those who use Orion risk having been accessed directly, but cyber security experts point out that organisations who shared data with the targets could also have been compromised. This means that the potential repercussions could go far beyond the original Orion customer base.
A tree trunk, some quick thinking and crawling several miles through the forest helped a Nigerian schoolboy escape from kidnappers.
The 17-year-old student (whose name we can't reveal) was abducted alongside more than 500 others from Government Science Secondary School in the north-western Katsina state on Friday night.
"We were being pushed and beaten, we spent the night marching, sometimes walking on thorns. Thirty minutes before dawn we were told to sleep," he told BBC Hausa.
He said that while the group was resting, he found a tree under which he sat down.
"After we sat down, I leaned back a little. I found the side of a tree which I hid behind. I lay down and stretched out my legs."
When the gunmen ordered the rest of the group to move on, they didn't notice him behind the tree.
"After everyone left, I started crawling and looking round, until I entered a nearby village, and it is by the special grace of God that I was able to escape," he said.
Katsina State governor Aminu Bello Masari said 333 students were still missing but it is not clear how many of them are with their abductors, as many may have run away and not yet been found. He also said that the kidnappers had made contact and that negotiations were under way.
However, Garba Shehu, a spokesman for the Nigerian president, had told the BBC that students who had fled said only 10 of their colleagues remained with the gunmen.
'They said they were security men'
The student who escaped said the armed men came to the school around 21:30 local time (20:30 GMT) on Friday and that many students jumped the school fence and fled when they heard gunshots.
However they were tracked by the gunmen who had flashlights and who told tricked them into believing that they were security personnel and asked them to return.
The students would later realise that the men were not who they said they were.
Gail Kankara
At this point it is believed that the students were rounded up and forced to walk into the forest by the armed men.
"After we were taken into the forest, one of them ordered us to stop and count our belongings before continuing our journey," he said.
He said that 520 students were counted and that he did not see anyone else while he was escaping.
The government has blamed the attack on bandits, a loose term for gangs operating in the area, often kidnapping people for ransom.
Who are the bandits?
Nduka Orjinmo, BBC News, Lagos
In Nigeria's north-west, "bandits" is a catch-all phrase covering Fulani herdsmen, armed vigilante groups and even Islamist insurgents fleeing the insurgency in the north-east.
Some of the leaders of these bandit groups, who engage in kidnapping and attacking farming communities, have openly met governors and other state authorities during failed negotiations for truce.
But this is the first time bandits have abducted hundreds of students from a school - a tactic that has been used in the past by groups like Boko Haram and Iswap, raising fears that these criminal groups in Nigeria's north-west are copying the Islamist militants.
Most of the kidnappings by "bandits" are done for ransom so many are hoping that this will be resolved soon - if security operatives fail to rescue the students, with money changing hands, unlike the case of the Chibok girls where some are still being held in captivity.
Many Nigerians have criticised President Muhammadu Buhari, who was in his home town of Daura less than 200km (125 miles) away, for not going to the scene of the incident. That the bandits could dare to stage, and successfully carry out, such an operation with the president and his vast security paraphernalia in the area has shocked many.
Members of the US electoral college have begun casting their votes in a process that will see Joe Biden formally designated president-elect.
The Democrat won November's contest with 306 electoral college votes to Republican Donald Trump's 232.
Under the US system, voters actually cast their ballots for "electors", who in turn, formally vote for candidates weeks after the election.
Despite this process, President Trump is not expected to accept the result.
Normally the electors do not get that much attention, but this year, due to Mr Trump's persistent efforts to question and overturn the results - involving legal challenges which have been rejected by courts across the country - the state-by-state vote is in the spotlight.
Vermont, New Hampshire, Indiana and Tennessee were among the first states where electors gathered in capitals (or in Washington DC) on Monday to formally cast their votes.
The number of electors per state is roughly in line with the size of the population. California has the most electors and they will vote at 17:00 Eastern time (22:00 GMT).
That vote is expected to push Mr Biden over the 270-vote tally required to win the presidency.
When the voting process is complete, the results will be sent to Washington. They will be formally counted in a joint session of Congress on 6 January presided over by Vice-President Mike Pence.
Joe Biden plans to address the nation on Monday evening after the electors have voted, his transition team has announced.
In Michigan, legislative offices in the state capital Lansing were closed on Monday due to "credible threats of violence" ahead of the electoral college vote, taking place in the state Senate.
Members of the electoral college - who cast one vote for president and one for vice-president - almost always vote in line with whoever won the popular vote in their state. Some rogue electors are known to diverge but analysts say there is next to no chance that Mr Biden's victory could be overturned.
Last month, President Trump said he would leave office in January if Mr Biden were certified the election winner. But in the lead-up to Monday's vote he has continued to make unsubstantiated claims of election fraud.
The quadrennial meeting of the US electoral college is usually a formality along the way to a presidential inauguration - a vestigial political event that long ago lost its power and relevance.
Donald Trump's scorched-earth strategy of contesting the results of the 2020 election, however, has given the proceedings new attention.
Although his legal team has had little success in challenging the results of the vote in multiple battleground states, the official recording of the electoral college ballots across the US will effectively lower the curtain on these long-shot judicial manoeuvres.
That doesn't mean the Trump team is giving up, of course. It's holding alternative electoral college proceedings with an alternate set of votes that will declare the president the real winner. They'll continue with futile court challenges and, eventually, ask Congress to overturn the election results.
It's an alternative reality that Donald Trump's supporters may find more comforting than the one where Joe Biden is president-elect.
Given that the House of Representatives is controlled by Democrats, the official electoral college tally will have been duly certified by the states on Monday and federal law is on Mr Biden's side. Mr Trump's chances of success in the real world, however, sit squarely at zero.
The largest vaccination campaign in US history got underway as health workers in select hospitals rolled up their sleeves for shots to protect them from COVID-19 and start beating back the pandemic.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte was expected to announce a tough month-long lockdown, including the closing of schools and shops, according to broadcasters NOS and RTL, as his government tries to slow soaring COVID-19 infections.
Meanwhile, London is likely to be placed into the toughest tier of COVID-19 restrictions following a sharp rise in coronavirus rates, the BBC reported.
In Asia, South Korea ordered schools to close from Tuesday in the capital Seoul and surrounding areas as it battles its worst outbreak of novel coronavirus since the pandemic began, surpassing the previous peak in February.
Here are the latest updates:
Czech government orders tightening of coronavirus restrictions from Friday
The Czech government will tighten restrictions on businesses and public gatherings from Friday in response to a rise in COVID-19 infections, Prime Minister Andrej Babis announced.
Italy reports 491 COVID-19 deaths, 12,030 new cases
Italy has reported 491 coronavirus-related deaths over the past 24 hours, against 484 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections declined to 12,030 from 17,938.
There were 103,584 swabs carried out in the past day, down sharply from a previous 152,697, the ministry said.
The first Western country hit by the virus, Italy has seen 65,011 COVID-19 fatalities since its outbreak emerged in February, the highest toll in Europe and the fifth highest in the world.
It has also registered 1.856 million cases to date. Patients in hospital with COVID-19 stood at 27,765 on Monday, up by 30 from the day before.
US Chamber of Commerce tells Congress: Partial COVID relief package better than nothing
The US Chamber of Commerce has urged Congress to pass a limited COVID-19 relief package if there is not enough support for liability protection and state aid, warning tens of thousands of small businesses faced permanent closure without quick help.
“Partial agreement is better than no agreement,” Neil Bradley, executive vice president and chief policy officer for the Chamber, said in a statement.
He said it was imperative that Congress advance aid for small businesses and nonprofits, extend unemployment programs, approve funding for schools and day care centers, and set aside resources to support vaccinations before the end of the year.
Over 1,000 cases of a new coronavirus variant found in England: Minister
Over 1,000 cases of a new coronavirus variant have been identified in the past few days in England, predominantly in the south of the country where it could be connected to a surge in cases, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said.
“We have identified a new variant of coronavirus, which may be associated with the faster spread in the southeast of England,” Hancock said in a statement to parliament.
“Initial analysis suggests that this variant is growing faster than the existing variants,” he said.
“I must stress at this point that there is currently nothing to suggest that the variant is more likely to cause serious disease, and the latest clinical advice is that it’s highly unlikely that this mutation would fail to respond to a vaccine,” he added.
New York hospital administers nation’s first Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine
The largest vaccination campaign in US history got underway as health workers in select hospitals rolled up their sleeves for shots to protect them from COVID-19 and start beating back the pandemic – a day of optimism even as the nation’s death toll neared 300,000.
“I feel hopeful today. Relieved,” said critical case nurse Sandra Lindsay after became the first person a shot in the arm at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New York.
Shipments of precious frozen vials of vaccine made by Pfizer Inc. and its German partner BioNTech began arriving at hospitals around the country Monday.
“This is the light at the end of the tunnel. But it’s a long tunnel,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said as he watched Lindsay’s vaccination via video.
Israel’s Netanyahu in self-isolation for third time
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has gone into self-isolation after coming into contact with someone who later tested positive for the coronavirus.
He would remain in quarantine until Friday, his office said.
Netanyahu had already taken two coronavirus tests on Sunday and Monday and was negative both times. He said on Twitter that we was feeling fine.
The 71-year-old went into isolation twice in the early part of the year.
#BREAKING: After meeting with a person who tested positive for Covid 19, Israel PM Netanyahu will enter for 5 days self-isolation
London to be placed in England’s top tier of COVID restrictions: Report
London is to be moved up into “Very High alert”, the most restrictive level of England’s tiered COVID-19 restrictions system, the Daily Mirror’s political editor reported, citing lawmakers she said had heard the news from the health minister.
“MPs on call with Health Secretary Matt Hancock say he has confirmed London and parts of Hertfordshire and Essex to move into Tier 3,” Pippa Crerar said on Twitter.
Hancock was due to address the House of Commons later on Monday.
Toronto hospital to begin COVID-19 vaccinations on Monday: Official
Toronto’s University Health Network hospital will begin COVID-19 vaccinations with the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine on Monday, the official in charge of the vaccine rollout in the province of Ontario said.
“The number of vaccinations that will take place today are probably pretty small,” retired general Rick Hillier, who is in charge of Ontario’s vaccine rollout, told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.
Vaccines have arrived at the Toronto’s University Health Network hospital and a “small number” will receive the shots, he added.
Moderna expects European approval for COVID-19 vaccine on January 12
Moderna expects the European Union to approve its COVID-19 vaccine candidate in mid-January and is ready to start distribution immediately afterwards, the head of its European division told German daily Stuttgarter Zeitung.
“We expect approval for the EU and thus for Germany on January 12,” Dan Staner was quoted as saying. “As soon as we have received the approval, we can deliver.”
Russia repeats 91.4 percent efficacy rate in new COVID-19 vaccine data
Russian coronavirus vaccine developers published fresh results from their trial of the Sputnik V vaccine on Monday based on new data, and said the shot had again been found to be 91.4 percent effective in providing protection from COVID-19.
The new results are based on data from 22,714 participants in the trial, and were published after 78 confirmed coronavirus cases were reported among the group, researchers at the Gamaleya Institute said in a statement made on Monday with the Russian Direct Investment Fund, which is marketing the shot.
Of the 78 cases, 62 occurred among participants who had received a placebo, the researchers said.
China plans set up of new disease control agency in COVID-19 aftermath
China is considering setting up a new disease control agency as part of its public health reforms following the deadly COVID-19 pandemic, Caixin reported on Monday.
The government body will oversee work aimed at preventing future outbreaks and managing emerging ones, Caixin said, citing two government insiders and three public health experts.
Poland faces real threat of pandemic third wave
Poland faces a real threat of a third wave of the coronavirus pandemic, Health Minister Adam Niedzielski said, adding he would recommend that current restrictions continue until at least January 17.
Poland’s government is expected to adopt a national coronavirus vaccine plan on Tuesday.
Tough Christmas lockdown looming in Netherlands
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte was expected to announce a tough month-long lockdown, including the closing of schools and shops, according to broadcasters NOS and RTL, as his government tries to slow soaring COVID-19 infections.
Rutte held emergency meetings on Monday about the rapid rise of infections and took the unusual step of inviting the heads of all political parties in parliament to join the talks.
NOS and RTL cited government sources as saying that all schools and non-essential shops would be closed until January 19.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte was expected to announce the tighter lockdown measures in a rare television address to the country at 1900 local time [File: Tatyana Zenkovich/Reuters]
London likely to move into toughest tier of COVID-19 restrictions
London is likely to be placed into the toughest tier of COVID-19 restrictions following a sharp rise in coronavirus rates, the BBC reported.
The British capital is currently in the second highest tier of restrictions, with a review currently scheduled to take place on December 16.
Since 02 December the UK government replaced national lockdown restrictions against coronavirus with a regional tier system of lockdown restrictions [File: Andy Rain/EPA]
Germany will get 11 million doses of BioNTech vaccine by March
Germany expects to receive 11 million doses of BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine by March, the health ministry announced.
In January alone, three million to four million doses of the vaccine will be provided for inoculations in Germany, a ministry spokesman said.
Swiss report 10,726 new coronavirus cases over three days
Coronavirus infections rose by 10,726 since Friday, data from Swiss health authorities showed .
The total number of confirmed cases in Switzerland and neighbouring principality Liechtenstein increased to 384,557, including from mass testing in the Swiss canton of Grisons conducted Friday through Sunday.
The death toll rose by 193 to 5,589, while 445 new hospitalisations kept pressure on the healthcare system, as hospital directors write to Health Minister Alain Berset expressing their concerns.
Study adds to debate over Gilead’s remdesivir for COVID-19
A single-patient study conducted by British scientists has found that Gilead’s antiviral drug remdesivir could be highly effective against COVID-19, raising questions about previous studies that found it had no impact on death rates from the disease.
Published in the journal Nature Communications, the study describes how doctors who gave the drug to a patient with both COVID-19 and a rare immune disorder saw a marked improvement in his symptoms and the disappearance of the virus.
“Our patient’s unusual condition gave us a rare insight into the effectiveness of remdesivir as a treatment for coronavirus infection,” said Nicholas Matheson, who co-led the study at Cambridge University’s Institute of Therapeutic Immunology and Infectious Disease.
Hospitals in S Korea struggle with bed shortages amid COVID19 spike
Civic and labor groups have urged the government to mobilise more beds and medical personnel from private hospitals to cope with hospital bed shortage amid a recent surge in coronavirus cases.
Public hospitals have received most local COVID-19 patients but have now reached the saturation point, according to media reports.
The number of newly confirmed cases hovers around 1,000 per day.
Singapore approves Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine
Singapore has approved Pfizer-BioNTech’s novel coronavirus vaccine and expects to receive shots by year-end, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said, adding that he planned to be among the early vaccine recipients.
The city-state of 5.7 million people expects to have enough vaccines for everyone by the third quarter of 2021 and will make it free for citizens and long-term residents, Lee, 68, said.
Vaccination will be voluntary.
PM Lee Hsien Loong said he and other government officials would be among the early recipients after healthcare workers, other front-line personnel, the elderly and the vulnerable [File: Edgar Su/Reuters]
Japan to suspend ‘Go To’ subsidised travel programme
The Japanese government has decided to suspend a travel subsidy programme dubbed “Go To Travel” from Dec. 28 to Jan. 11 nationwide, local media reported, responding to concerns about its impact on the spread of the coronavirus.
Media had widely reported earlier that the suspension would cover only the hardest-hit cities and regions such as the capital, Tokyo, and Nagoya, in central Japan.
Medical experts in Nigeria warn of second wave of COVID-19
Medical experts have warned that Nigeria will likely record a large increase in COVID-19 figures.
A principle reason for a potential second wave is because many people have abandoned safety precautions in recent weeks, according to professor of virology Oyewale Tomori.
Chief executive officer and director general of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Chikwe Ihekweazu, told The Guardian: “There is the risk of a ‘second wave’ and many countries have begun to experience a spike in cases.”
There has been an increase in the number of cases across 23 states in Nigeria, with majority of the cases detected in Lagos, Kaduna and the Federal Capital Territory [File: Temilade Ade/Reuters]
South Korea orders schools to shut as COVID-19 cases spike
South Korea ordered schools to close from Tuesday in the capital Seoul and surrounding areas as it battles its worst outbreak of novel coronavirus since the pandemic began, surpassing the previous peak in February.
Schools in the capital region would move classes online until the end of the month, in the latest ratcheting up of social distancing measures which so far have failed to reverse the spike in infections.
The school closure is a step towards the imposition of Phase 3 social distancing rules, a move that would essentially lock down Asia’s fourth-largest economy.
Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said such a step required careful review, as the government comes under mounting pressure to do more to step the rise of infections [Al Jazeera/Screengrab]
Ireland may need to reimpose COVID-19 curbs in January
Ireland may need to reimpose some COVID-19 restrictions in January, Prime Minister Micheal Martin said, after health chiefs warned that cases may be rising again following the reopening of most of the economy in the last two weeks.
“You could very well be looking at some further restrictions in January,” Martin told national broadcaster RTE, noting that the curbs lifted this month were not as strict as the initial lockdown.
He said the government would consult widely before making any decisions.
Ireland currently has the lowest incidence rate of COVID-19 in the European Union after it moved early to temporarily shut shops, bars and restaurants in October [File: Clodagh Kilcoyne/Reuters]
French central bank sees recovery taking longer
The French central bank said that it expects the country’s economy to recover more slowly than previously and return to its pre-pandemic level only in mid-2022.
The forecast is based on the COVID-19 pandemic not dying down immediately and widespread vaccination not being achieved before the end of 2021.
The Banque de France now sees economic output falling by nine percent this year, with a rebound of five percent in 2021.
France expects unemployment to jump to 11 percent during the first quarter of 2021, and fall to nine percent by the end of 2022 [File: Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters]
Russia reports 27,328 new coronavirus cases
Russia confirmed 27,328 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, including 5,874 in Moscow, pushing the national tally to 2,681,256.
Authorities said 450 people had died overnight, taking the official death toll to 47,391.
Japan picks the kanji character to define coronavirus year
Japan selected a kanji character used to encourage social distancing as its defining symbol for 2020, highlighting a catchphrase used extensively during the coronavirus pandemic that even inspired its own computer game.
The character “mitsu”, meaning “congested” or “dense”, was derived from a buzzword “San-mitsu”, which was central to Japan’s approach to the containing the pandemic.
Translated as “Three Cs” in English, it refers to avoiding closed spaces, crowds and close contacts.
Japanese TV networks broadcast the annual announcement live, with the master of the ancient Kiyomizu temple in Kyoto writing the character on a huge white panel with an ink-soaked calligraphy brush [File: Issei Kato/Reuters]
Mexico registers more than 8,600 new coronavirus cases
Mexico’s health ministry reported 8,608 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infection and 249 additional fatalities, bringing the total in the country to 1,250,044 cases and 113,953 deaths.
The government says the real number of infected people is likely significantly higher than the confirmed cases.
Germany likely to avert second recession despite new lockdown
Germany will likely be able to avoid another recession despite a second national lockdown in the coronavirus pandemic, due to start on Wednesday, Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said.
“I hope we can prevent a complete economic standstill in the second wave of the pandemic,” he told public radio Deutschlandfunk.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany has reached 1,337,078, according to data from the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases [File: Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters]
CureVac enrols first participant in pivotal study of COVID vaccine
Germany’s CureVac announced that it has enrolled the first participant in the Phase 2b/3 study of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate.
The trial will assess the safety and efficacy in adults and is expected to include more than 35,000 participants in Europe and Latin America, it added in a statement
World’s top glove maker says Malaysia worker died from COVID-19
Malaysia’s Top Glove Corp has reported that a worker died on Saturday due to COVID-19, the first death since the outbreak at its dormitories and factories in October.
The world’s largest glove maker told Reuters in an email that the 29-year-old worker from Nepal had worked at its manufacturing facility in Klang, 40 km west of the capital Kuala Lumpur, for more than two years.
The outbreak at Top Glove’s facilities in which more than 5,000 workers tested positive was Malaysia’s largest cluster.
Top Glove, located at Setia Alam, outside Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, is the world’s largest rubber glove manufacturer [File: Fazry Ismail/EPA]
South Korea reports 718 new coronavirus cases
South Korea reported 718 new coronavirus cases, a drop from the record daily increase of the day earlier, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.
Of the new cases, 682 were locally transmitted. The total tally is now 43,484 infections, with 587 deaths.
Trump says he’s nixing plan for early vaccine at White House
President Donald Trump says he is reversing an administration directive to vaccinate top government officials against COVID-19, while public distribution of the shot is limited to front-line health workers and people in nursing homes and long-term care facilities.
Trump made the announcement hours after his administration confirmed that senior US officials, including some White House aides who work in close proximity to Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, would be offered coronavirus vaccines as soon as this week under federal continuity of government plans.
“People working in the White House should receive the vaccine somewhat later in the program, unless specifically necessary,” Trump said in a tweet. “I have asked that this adjustment be made. I am not scheduled to take the vaccine, but look forward to doing so at the appropriate time.”
People working in the White House should receive the vaccine somewhat later in the program, unless specifically necessary. I have asked that this adjustment be made. I am not scheduled to take the vaccine, but look forward to doing so at the appropriate time. Thank you!
Germany’s confirmed coronavirus cases rise by 16,362
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 16,362 to 1,337,078, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed.
The reported death toll rose by 188 to 21,975, the tally showed.
The numbers are usually lower on Mondays, because there is less testing and less data being transmitted to Germany’s RKI on weekends [File: Tobias Schwarz/AFP]
Eswatini PM who tested positive for COVID-19 dies
Eswatini Prime Minister Ambrose Dlamini, who tested positive for COVID-19 four weeks ago, has died at age 52 after being hospitalised in neighbouring South Africa, the tiny absolute monarchy’s government said.
“Their Majesties have commanded that I inform the Nation of the sad and untimely passing away of His Excellency the Prime Minister Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini. His Excellency passed on this afternoon while under medical care in a hospital in South Africa”, Deputy Prime Minister Themba Masuku said in a statement.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte was expected to announce the tighter lockdown measures in a rare television address to the country at 1900 local time [File: Tatyana Zenkovich/Reuters]
Since 02 December the UK government replaced national lockdown restrictions against coronavirus with a regional tier system of lockdown restrictions [File: Andy Rain/EPA]
There has been an increase in the number of cases across 23 states in Nigeria, with majority of the cases detected in Lagos, Kaduna and the Federal Capital Territory [File: Temilade Ade/Reuters]
Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said such a step required careful review, as the government comes under mounting pressure to do more to step the rise of infections [Al Jazeera/Screengrab]
Ireland currently has the lowest incidence rate of COVID-19 in the European Union after it moved early to temporarily shut shops, bars and restaurants in October [File: Clodagh Kilcoyne/Reuters]
France expects unemployment to jump to 11 percent during the first quarter of 2021, and fall to nine percent by the end of 2022 [File: Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters]
Japanese TV networks broadcast the annual announcement live, with the master of the ancient Kiyomizu temple in Kyoto writing the character on a huge white panel with an ink-soaked calligraphy brush [File: Issei Kato/Reuters]
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany has reached 1,337,078, according to data from the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases [File: Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters]
Top Glove, located at Setia Alam, outside Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, is the world’s largest rubber glove manufacturer [File: Fazry Ismail/EPA]
The numbers are usually lower on Mondays, because there is less testing and less data being transmitted to Germany’s RKI on weekends [File: Tobias Schwarz/AFP]