World
Israeli jets hit militant targets in Gaza after rocket fire
Israel’s military said early Sunday it launched strikes against militant targets in the Gaza Strip, a day after rockets were fired from the Hamas-ruled territory.
Video filmed in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, showed three huge explosions and fighter jets could be heard flying overhead. There was no immediate confirmation on possible casualties.
The Israeli military said the attacks targeted a rocket manufacturing facility and a military post for Hamas. It also blamed the militant Islamic group for any violence emanating from the territory it controls.
The airstrikes come as retaliation for two rockets fired from Gaza on Saturday which landed in the Mediterranean Sea off central Israel.
Read: Israel set to OK 3,000 West Bank settler homes this week
It was not clear whether the rockets were meant to hit Israel, but Gaza-based militant groups often test-fire missiles toward the sea. There were no reports of casualties from Saturday’s rocket launches.
Apart from a single incident in September, there has been no cross-border rocket fire since a cease-fire ended an 11-day war between Israel and Hamas in May.
The cease-fire, brokered by Egypt and other mediators, has been fragile. The militant Hamas group says Israel did not take serious steps to ease the blockade it imposed on Gaza with Egypt’s help when the Islamic movement seized control of the coastal enclave in 2007.
Tension are also high as other groups like the smaller but more hardline Islamic Jihad threaten military escalation if Israel doesn’t end the administrative detention of a Palestinian prisoner who has been on a hunger strike for over 130 days.
Read: Israel, Palestinian militants use bodies as bargaining chips
On Wednesday, Palestinian militants in Gaza shot and lightly wounded an Israeli civilian near the security fence and Israel responded with tank fire targeting multiple Hamas sites in the first exchange of fire in months.
12 dead in stampede at popular Hindu shrine in Kashmir
A stampede at a popular Hindu shrine in Indian-controlled Kashmir killed at least 12 people and injured 13 others on New Year’s Day, officials said.
An investigation has been ordered into what caused the stampede early Saturday at the Mata Vaishnav Devi shrine, where thousands of Hindu devotees were gathered to pay their respect in the hilly town of Katra near southern Jammu city.
Mahesh, a devotee who gave only one name, said the stampede occurred near one of the gates where pilgrims entered and exited the route to the shrine.
READ: Pakistan army helicopter crashes in Kashmir; 2 pilots killed
“Something happened near one of the gates and I found myself under a crush of people. I suffocated and fell but somehow managed to stand up,” he said. “I saw people moving over the bodies. It was a horrifying sight, but I managed to help in rescuing some injured people.”
Another devotee named Priyansh said he and 10 friends from New Delhi arrived Friday night to visit the shrine and that two of his friends died in the incident.
“I have never seen anything like this,” he said.
Indian Prime Minster Narendra Modi expressed his condolences in a message on Twitter.
“Extremely saddened by the loss of lives due to a stampede,” Modi wrote.
Pilgrims often trek on foot to reach the hilltop temple, which is one of the most visited shrines in northern India.
Deadly stampedes are fairly common during Indian religious festivals, as large crowds, sometimes in the millions, gather in small areas with few safety or crowd control measures.
READ: Wave of killings triggers memories of dark past in Kashmir
In 2013, pilgrims visiting a temple for a popular Hindu festival in India’s central Madhya Pradesh state stampeded amid fears that a bridge would collapse, and at least 115 people were crushed to death or died in the river below.
More than 100 Hindu devotees died in 2011 in a stampede at a religious festival in the southern Indian state of Kerala.
'So many memories': Over 500 homes feared destroyed by fire
One couple returned home Friday to find the mailbox about the only thing left standing. Charred cars and a burned trampoline lay outside smoldering houses. On some blocks, homes reduced to smoking ruins stood next to ones practically unscathed by the flames.
Colorado residents driven from their neighborhoods by a terrifying, wind-whipped wildfire got their first, heartbreaking look at the damage the morning after, while others could only wait and wonder whether their homes were among the more than 500 feared destroyed.
At least seven people were injured, but remarkably there were no immediate reports of any deaths or anyone missing in the aftermath of the blaze outside Denver.
Cathy Glaab found that her home in the town of Superior where she lives with her husband had been turned into a pile of charred and twisted debris. It was one of seven houses in a row that burned to the ground.
“The mailbox is standing,” Glaab said, trying to crack a smile through tears. She added sadly, “So many memories.”
Despite the devastation, she said they intend to rebuild the house they had since 1998. They love that the land backs up to a natural space, and they have a view of the mountains from the back.
READ: Colorado wildfires burn hundreds of homes, force evacuations
Rick Dixon feared there would be nothing to return to after he saw firefighters try to save his burning home on the news. On Friday, Dixon, his wife and 21-year-old son found it mostly gutted with a gaping hole in the roof but still standing. Only smoldering rubble remained where several neighboring homes once stood in a row immediately next to theirs.
“We thought we lost everything,” he said, as he held his mother-in-law’s china in padded containers. They also retrieved sculptures that belonged to Dixon’s father and piles of clothes still on hangers.
The wildfire erupted Thursday in and around Louisville and Superior, neighboring towns about 20 miles (32 kilometers) northwest of Denver with a combined population of 34,000.
Tens of thousands were ordered to flee as the flames swept over drought-stricken neighborhoods with alarming speed, propelled by guests up to 105 mph (169 kph).
At a Costco in Superior, two store employees came running toward the checkout lines, one of them shouting, “Everyone evacuate, evacuate, evacuate!” said Katrina Peterson, who was inside.
A video she made showed dark skies and whirling debris outside. The falling ash filled her ears, and she had to squint to keep it from getting in her eyes. The store was left standing.
The cause of the blaze was under investigation. Emergency authorities said utility officials found no downed power lines around where the fire broke out.
With some roads still closed Friday, people walked back to their homes to get clothes or medicine, turn the water off to prevent the pipes from freezing, or see if they still had a house. They left carrying backpacks and pulling suitcases or wagons down the sidewalk.
David Marks stood on a hillside overlooking Superior with others, using a pair of binoculars and a long-range camera lens to see if his house, and those of his neighbors, were still there, but he couldn't tell for sure whether his place was OK. He said at least three friends lost their homes.
He had watched from the hillside as the neighborhood burned.
“By the time I got up here, the houses were completely engulfed,” he said. “I mean, it happened so quickly. I’ve never seen anything like that. … Just house after house, fences, just stuff flying through the air, just caught on fire.”
By first light Friday, the towering flames that had lit up the night sky had subsided and the winds had died down. Light snow soon began to fall, and the blaze, which burned at least 9.4 square miles (24 square kilometers), was no longer considered an immediate threat.
“We might have our very own New Year’s miracle on our hands if it holds up that there was no loss of life,” Gov. Jared Polis said, noting that many people had just minutes to evacuate.
READ: Father, son arrested in wildfire that threatened Lake Tahoe
The wildfire broke out unusually late in the year, following an extremely dry fall and amid a winter nearly devoid of snow so far.
Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle said more than 500 homes were probably destroyed. He and the governor said as many as 1,000 homes might have been lost, though that won’t be known until crews can assess the damage.
“It’s unbelievable when you look at the devastation that we don’t have a list of 100 missing persons,” the sheriff said.
The sheriff said some communities were reduced to just "smoking holes in the ground.” He urged residents to wait for the all-clear to go back because of the danger of fire and fallen power lines.
Sarah Owens, her husband, adult son and their dog got out of their Superior home within 10 minutes of learning about the evacuation from a Facebook post. But as everyone tried leaving by way of the winding streets of the well-to-do Rock Creek neighborhood, it took them 1 ½ hours to go 2 miles (3.2 kilometers).
“The good news is I think our house may be OK,” Owens said.
But from now on, she said, she plans to have a bag packed in case of another fire.
“I never thought a brush fire could cause this kind of destruction,” Owens said. “I want to stay here. No matter where you live, there are always going to be natural disasters."
Superior and Louisville are filled with middle- and upper-middle-class subdivisions with shopping centers, parks and schools. The area is between Denver and Boulder, home to the University of Colorado.
Scientists say climate change is making weather more extreme and wildfires more frequent and destructive.
Ninety percent of Boulder County is in severe or extreme drought, and it hasn’t seen substantial rainfall since mid-summer. Denver set a record for consecutive days without snow before it got a small storm on Dec. 10, its last snowfall before the wildfires broke out.
Bruce and Mary Janda faced the loss of their Louisville home of 25 years in person Friday after learning it had been destroyed through a neighbor’s photos.
“We knew that the house was totaled, but I felt the need to see it, see what the rest of the neighborhood looked like,” Bruce Janda said. “We’re a very close knit community on this street. We all know each other and we all love each other. It’s hard to see this happen to all of us.”
Should kids be vaccinated? Brazil turns to online survey
As world leaders rely on public health specialists to inform their decisions about whether and how to vaccinate children against the coronavirus, Brazil’s government is asking the online public for guidance.
In recent weeks, President Jair Bolsonaro has staked out a position against immunizing kids aged between 5 and 11, and his administration took the unusual step of creating a platform that could validate a stance that is widely opposed by experts. Since his government on Dec. 23 unveiled its online questionnaire on the issue, the president’s supporters have been highly engaged on messaging apps trying to pressure parents to swing the results.
One widely shared post Wednesday on the Telegram group ‘Bolsonaro Army,’ which has about 37,000 members, said the vaccine is experimental and suggested that receiving shots could be more harmful than getting infected, although several studies have shown the opposite is true. It also included a link to the government’s survey, which other people were posting along with instructions to relay to friends and family.
The rally for resistance resembles online behavior observed earlier this month, which catapulted Bolsonaro to the top of the heap in TIME magazine’s readers poll for Person of the Year, David Nemer, an expert on Brazil’s far-right groups on messaging apps, told The Associated Press. Bolsonaro garnered about one-quarter of the more than 9 million votes — nearly triple that of the runner-up, former U.S. President Donald Trump. The magazine’s editors instead chose Elon Musk as 2021 Person of the Year.
This time, however, online efforts are aimed at something far more significant than bestowing an honorific on the president. The survey, which concludes Jan. 2, stands to shape vaccination policy in Latin America’s most populous nation, home to 20 million kids aged 5 to 11. Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga has said they will soon be eligible for vaccination, but survey results will help determine guidelines including whether shots could only be administered with parental consent and a doctor’s prescription.
READ: French kids line up to get vaccine shots as omicron spreads
“This is a tool of democracy, it widens the discussion on the topic and it will bring more ease for parents so they can take their children to immunize against COVID-19,” Queiroga said Wednesday.
Health experts, for their part, are aghast. Some Brazilian states’ health secretariats have already pledged to ignore any health ministry guidelines on childhood vaccination if based on the public consultation. Gonzalo Vecina, founder and director of Brazil’s health regulator between 1999 and 2003, says public consultation on vaccines is “unprecedented”.
“Bolsonaro is against the vaccine and his employee, the health minister, believes that health is a matter of public opinion. It is a spurious and nonsensical approach,” Vecina told the AP. “If only deniers send their opinion in the public consultation, is the government going to say that the vaccine doesn’t have to be used?”
Denialism from the top in Brazil is a bit of deja vu. Even as COVID-19 exploded, driving the nation’s death toll to the second highest in the world, Bolsonaro spent months sowing doubts about vaccines and was obstinate in his refusal to get a shot. He has cited the fact he contracted the coronavirus in 2020 to claim, incorrectly, that he is already immune, and routinely characterizes vaccination as an issue of personal choice rather than a means for ensuring the common good.
So when Brazil’s health regulator authorized use of Pfizer’s shot for children on Dec. 16, Bolsonaro was stunned.
“Kids are something very serious,” he said the same night in his weekly live broadcast on social media. “We don’t know about possible adverse future effects. It’s unbelievable — I’m sorry — what the agency did. Unbelievable.”
A study released Thursday by U.S. health authorities confirmed that serious side effects from the Pfizer vaccine in children ages 5 to 11 are rare. The findings were based on approximately 8 million doses dispensed to youngsters in that age group.
Bolsonaro added that he would name and expose the public servants who issued the approval, prompting a union representing health agency workers to express concern about online abuse or even physical attacks.
Despite fervent support among his base, Bolsonaro’s anti-vaccine stance hasn’t gained as much traction in Brazil — which has a proud history of inoculation campaigns — as in the U.S. More than two-thirds of Brazilians are fully vaccinated, as compared to 63% in the U.S., according to Johns Hopkins University’s vaccination tracker, though American children have been eligible for shots since early November.
In neighboring Argentina, the government has allowed kids 12 years and older to be vaccinated since August, and more recently began giving shots to children as young as 3. In the face of subsequent criticism, the nation’s health ministry cited the recommendation of the nation’s association of pediatricians. In Chile, two-thirds of kids aged between 3 and 17 have already received both their shots, after the nation’s health regulator analyzed an immunization study of 100 million children.
For the time being, Mexico isn’t vaccinating children except those 12 years or older with illnesses that put them at greater risk. Mexico’s point man for the pandemic, Hugo López-Gatell, said Tuesday the World Health Organization hasn’t recommended vaccinating children aged 5 to 11, and that countries with ample vaccine coverage, like Mexico, shouldn’t vaccinate kids until developing nations with limited coverage can raise their adult vaccination rates.
READ: Pfizer tests extra COVID shot for kids under 5 in setback
In Brazil, Mauro Paulino, general director of prominent pollster Datafolha, said one problem with the Bolsonaro government’s survey is the way questions are framed, repeatedly asking interviewees, “Do you agree that...?” Such failure to present questions neutrally can induce responses.
“Datafolha always gives the two possible alternatives: whether the interviewee agrees or disagrees with the statement,” he said. “Both sides of the question are necessary.”
Bolsonaro told supporters on Tuesday that pressure to inoculate kids stems from the “vaccine lobby” — a veiled reference to pharmaceutical companies. Many Bolsonaro supporters the next day were sharing a post from the Telegram group “Doctors for life,” which has more than 60,000 followers and frequently echoes the president’s unscientific COVID-19 advice.
One Telegram post with more than 200,000 shares said no child should be a guinea pig for the pharmaceutical industry. Tens of millions of doses have been administered to children around the world, with rare serious side effects. While few children die from COVID-19, vaccinating them can minimize the virus’ spread in society.
Bolsonaro also said this week he won’t allow the vaccination of his 11-year-old daughter. Meantime, his wife and politician sons received their shots, along with at least 16 of his 22 ministers — including Health Minister Queiroga.
Politicians from the party Bolsonaro joined to run for re-election in 2022 have advocated not only for vaccination, but also requiring proof of vaccination to enter certain places — another supposed infringement on personal liberties Bolsonaro opposes.
His chaotic management of the pandemic since its onset has been roundly criticized, and a Senate investigative committee recommended he face criminal charges.
But the president and his die-hard supporters on Telegram and WhatsApp aren’t backing down. Many interpreted his comments regarding his daughter in particular as a directive to reject the immunization of kids.
“There are a lot of messages about the dangers of vaccines, studies that aren’t true,” said Nemer, the expert on far-right groups, and an assistant professor of media studies at the University of Virginia. “They’re bringing a lot of disinformation about vaccinating kids to motivate the base.”
Pro-Bolsonaro messaging app groups brought the topic back hours before the New Year arrived after the president once more attacked child vaccination in a six-minute national address on television.
“We defend that vaccines for kids between ages 5 and 11 are only given with the consent of parents and a medical prescription. Liberty must be respected,” Bolsonaro said.
Many Brazilians went to their balconies to bang on their pots in protest against the president.
Omicron’s New Year’s cocktail: Sorrow, fear, hope for 2022
Sorrow for the dead and dying, fear of more infections to come and hopes for an end to the coronavirus pandemic were — again — the bittersweet cocktail with which the world said good riddance to 2021 and ushered in 2022.
New Year’s Eve, which used to be celebrated globally with a free-spirited wildness, felt instead like a case of deja vu, with the fast-spreading omicron variant again filing hospitals.
At the La Timone hospital in the southern French city of Marseille, Dr. Fouad Bouzana could only sigh when asked what 2022 might bring.
“It’s starting to become exhausting,” he said, “because the waves come one after another.”
The mostly muted New Year’s Eve celebrations around the world ushered in the fourth calendar year framed by the global pandemic. More than 285 million people have been infected by the coronavirus worldwide since late 2019 and more than 5 million have died.
In Paris, officials canceled the fireworks amid surging infections and reintroduced mandatory mask-wearing outdoors, an obligation followed by the majority of people who milled about on the Champs-Elysées as the final hours of 2021 ticked away.
READ: Minimal, yet festive: Nation welcomes New Year 2022
In Berlin, police urged people not to gather near the Brandenburg Gate, where a concert was staged without a live audience. In Madrid, authorities allowed only 7,000 people into the city’s Puerta del Sol downtown square, a venue traditionally hosting some 20,000 revelers.
In the United States, officials took a mixed approach to the year-end revelry: nixing the audience at a countdown concert in Los Angeles, scaling it back in New York yet going full speed ahead in Las Vegas, where 300,000 people were expected for a fireworks show on the strip.
President Joe Biden noted the losses and uncertainty caused by the pandemic but said: “We’re persevering. We’re recovering.”
“Back to work. Back to school. Back to joy,” Biden said in a video posted on Twitter. “That’s how we made it through this year. And how we’ll embrace the next. Together.”
In New York, officials planned to allow just 15,000 people — vaccinated and masked — inside the perimeter around Times Square, a sliver of the 1 million that typically squeeze in to watch the famed ball drop. Outgoing Mayor Bill de Blasio, defending the event, said people need to see that New York is open for business.
Yet by Thursday, rapper LL Cool J had dropped out of the New York telecast after a positive COVID-19 test and restaurant owners battered by staffing shortages and omicron cancelations throughout the holiday season struggled to stay open.
“I’m really scared for our industry,” said New York restaurateur David Rabin, who watched reservations and party bookings disappear this month. “No one made any money in December. The fact they may have a good night tonight, it has no impact.”
Airlines also struggled as the year came to a close, canceling thousands of flights after the virus struck flight crews and other personnel and amid bad weather.
The pandemic game-changer of 2021 — vaccinations — continued apace. Pakistan said it had fully vaccinated 70 million of its 220 million people this year and Britain said it met its goal of offering a vaccine booster shot to all adults by Friday.
In Russia, President Vladimir Putin mourned the dead, praised Russians for their strength in difficult times and soberly warned that the pandemic “isn’t retreating yet.” Russia’s virus task force has reported 308,860 COVID-19 deaths but its state statistics agency says the death toll has been more than double that.
“I would like to express words of sincere support to all those who lost their dear ones,” Putin said in a televised address broadcast just before midnight in each of Russia’s 11 time zones.
Elsewhere, the venue that many chose for New Year’s celebrations was the same place they became overly familiarly with during lockdowns: their homes.
Pope Francis also canceled his New Year’s Eve tradition of visiting the life-sized manger set up in St. Peter’s Square, again to avoid a crowd. In an unusual move for Francis, the 85-year-old pontiff donned a surgical mask for a Vespers service of prayer and hymns Friday evening as he sat in an armchair. But he also delivered a homily standing and unmasked.
READ: New Year’s Eve muted by omicron; many hoping for better 2022
“A sense of being lost has grown in the world during the pandemic,” Francis told the faithful in St. Peter’s Basilica.
France, Britain, Portugal and Australia were among countries that set new records for COVID-19 infections as 2021 gave way to 2022. Still, French President Emmanuel Macron expressed hope as he gave the last New Year’s address of his current term.
“Perhaps 2022 will be the year we come out of the epidemic — I want to believe that with you — the year where we will be able to see the exit from this day without end,” Macron said as he urged the unvaccinated to get the jab.
France’s unprecedented 232,200 new cases Friday marked its third day running above the 200,000 mark. The U.K. was close behind, with 189,846 new cases, also a record. In London, officials said as many as 1 in 15 people were infected with the virus in the week before Christmas. Hospitalizations of COVID-19 patients in the U.K. rose 68% in the last week, to the highest levels since February.
Yet boisterous New Year’s Eve celebrations kicked off in the Serbian capital of Belgrade where, unlike elsewhere in Europe, mass gatherings were allowed despite fears of the omicron variant. One medical expert predicted that Serbia will see thousands of new COVID-19 infections after the holidays.
At Expo 2020, the sprawling world’s fair outside Dubai, 26-year-old tourist Lujain Orfi prepared to throw caution to the wind on New Year’s Eve — her first time ever outside Saudi Arabia, where she lives in the holy city of Medina.
“If you don’t celebrate, life will pass you by,” she said. “I’m healthy and took two (vaccine) doses. We just have to enjoy.”
Australia went ahead with its celebrations despite reporting a record 32,000 new cases. Thousands of fireworks lit up the sky over Sydney’s Harbor Bridge and Opera House at midnight. Yet the crowds were far smaller than in pre-pandemic years.
In Japan, writer Naoki Matsuzawa said he would spend the next few days cooking and delivering food to the elderly because some stores would be closed. He said vaccinations had made people less anxious about the pandemic, despite the new variant.
“A numbness has set in, and we are no longer overly afraid,” said Matsuzawa, who lives in Yokohama, southwest of Tokyo. “Some of us are starting to take for granted that it won’t happen to me.”
South Korean authorities closed many beaches and other tourist attractions along the east coast, which usually swarm with people hoping to catch the year’s first sunrise.
In India, millions of people rang in the new year from their homes, with nighttime curfews and other restrictions taking the fizz out of celebrations in New Delhi, Mumbai and other large cities.
In mainland China, the Shanghai government canceled an annual light show along the Huangpu River that usually draws hundreds of thousands of spectators. There were no plans for public festivities in Beijing, where popular temples have been closed or had limited access since mid-December.
In the Philippines, a powerful typhoon two weeks ago wiped out basic necessities for tens of thousands of people ahead of New Year’s Eve. More than 400 were killed by Typhoon Rai and at least 82 remain missing.
Leahmer Singson, a 17-year-old mother, lost her home to a fire last month, and then the typhoon blew away her temporary wooden shack in Cebu city. She will welcome the new year with her husband, who works in a glass and aluminum factory, and her 1-year-old baby in a ramshackle tent in a clearing where hundreds of other families erected small tents from debris, rice sacks and tarpaulins.
Asked what she wants for the new year, Singson had a simple wish: “I hope we won’t get sick.”
New Year’s Eve muted by omicron; many hoping for better 2022
Good riddance to 2021. Let 2022 bring fresh hope.
That was a common sentiment as people around the world began welcoming in the new year.
In many places, New Year’s Eve celebrations were muted or canceled for the second straight year due to a surge of coronavirus infections, this time driven by the highly contagious omicron variant.
Even before omicron hit, many people were happy to say goodbye to a second grinding year of the pandemic.
But so far, at least, the omicron surge hasn’t resulted in the same levels of hospitalizations and deaths as previous outbreaks — especially among vaccinated people — offering a glimmer of hope for 2022.
Read:US children hospitalized with COVID in record numbers
Australia went ahead with its celebrations despite an explosion in virus cases. Thousands of fireworks lit up the sky over Sydney’s Harbor Bridge and Opera House at midnight in a spectacular display.
Hours before the celebrations began, Australian health authorities reported a record 32,000 new virus cases, many of them in Sydney. Because of the surge, crowds were far smaller than in pre-pandemic years, when as many as 1 million revelers would crowd inner Sydney.
Neighboring New Zealand had earlier opted for a more low-key approach, replacing its fireworks show in Auckland with a lights display projected onto landmarks including the Sky Tower and Harbor Bridge.
While there hasn’t yet been any community spread of omicron in New Zealand, authorities still wanted to discourage crowds gathering.
Because of where the international date line sits, countries in Asia and the Pacific region are among the first to usher in each new year.
In Japan, writer Naoki Matsuzawa said he would spend the next few days cooking and delivering food to the elderly because some stores would be closed. He said vaccinations had made people less anxious about the pandemic, despite the new variant.
“A numbness has set in, and we are no longer overly afraid,” said Matsuzawa, who lives in Yokohama, southwest of Tokyo. “Some of us are starting to take for granted that it won’t happen to me.”
Like many other people, Matsuzawa hopes that life will improve in 2022.
“I hope the restrictions can disappear,” he said.
Across Japan, many people planned to take new year trips to spend time with their families. On New Year’s Eve, people thronged temples and shrines, most of them wearing masks.
Some appeared to be shrugging off virus fears, however, by dining and drinking raucously in downtown Tokyo and flocking to shops, celebrating not only the holidays but a sense of exhilaration over being freed from recent virus restrictions.
In South Korea’s capital, Seoul, the annual New Year’s Eve bell-ringing ceremony was canceled for the second straight year due to a surge in cases.
Officials said a pre-recorded video of this year’s bell-ringing ceremony would instead be broadcast online and on television. The ceremony had previously drawn tens of thousands of people. Last year’s cancellation was the first since the ceremony began in 1953.
South Korean authorities also planned to close many beaches and other tourist attractions along the east coast, which usually swarm with people hoping to catch the year’s first sunrise. On Friday, South Korea said it will extend tough distancing rules for another two weeks.
In India, millions of people were planning to ring in the new year from their homes, with nighttime curfews and other restrictions taking the fizz out of celebrations in large cities including New Delhi and Mumbai.
Authorities have imposed restrictions to keep revelers away from restaurants, hotels, beaches and bars amid a surge in cases fueled by omicron.
But some places, including Goa, a tourist paradise, and Hyderabad, an information technology hub, have been spared from night curfews thanks to smaller numbers of infections, although other restrictions still apply.
Many Indonesians were also forgoing their usual festivities for a quieter evening at home, after the government banned many New Year’s Eve celebrations. In Jakarta, fireworks displays, parades and other large gatherings were prohibited, while restaurants and malls were allowed to remain open but with curfews imposed.
Vietnam also canceled fireworks shows and celebrations. In Hanoi, authorities closed off central streets, while in Ho Chi Minh City, audiences were banned from watching live countdown performances, which instead were to be shown on social media.
In Hong Kong, about 3,000 people planned to attend a New Year’s Eve concert featuring local celebrities including boy band Mirror. The concert will be the first big New Year’s Eve event held since 2018, after events were canceled in 2019 due to political strife and last year because of the pandemic.
Read:6 provinces in Canada report new daily highs for coronavirus
In mainland China, the Shanghai government canceled events including an annual light show along the Huangpu River in the city center that usually draws hundreds of thousands of spectators.
There were no plans for public festivities in Beijing, where popular temples have been closed or had limited access since mid-December. The government has called on people to avoid leaving the Chinese capital if possible and requires tests for travelers arriving from areas where there are infections.
Popular temples in the eastern Chinese cities of Nanjing, Hangzhou and other major cities canceled traditional New Year’s Eve “lucky bell-ringing” ceremonies and asked the public to stay away.
But in Thailand, authorities were allowing New Year’s Eve parties and fireworks displays to continue, albeit with strict safety measures. They were hoping to slow the spread of the omicron variant while also softening the blow to the country’s battered tourism sector. New Year’s Eve prayers, which are usually held in Buddhist temples around Thailand, will be held online instead.
In the Philippines, a powerful typhoon two weeks ago wiped out basic necessities for tens of thousands of people ahead of New Year’s Eve. More than 400 were killed by Typhoon Rai and at least 82 remain missing. Half a million homes were damaged or destroyed.
Leahmer Singson, a 17-year-old mother, lost her home to a fire last month, and then the typhoon blew away her temporary wooden shack in Cebu city. She will welcome the new year with her husband, who works in a glass and aluminum factory, and her 1-year-old baby in a ramshackle tent in a coastal clearing where hundreds of other families erected small tents from debris, rice sacks and tarpaulins to shield themselves from the rain and sun.
Asked what she wants for the new year, Singson had a simple wish: “I hope we won’t get sick.”
World needs New Delhi at the table permanently: India
India's performance as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council indicates that the world needs India to be at the horseshoe table permanently, the country's envoy to the United Nations TS Tirumurti has said.
"India took its place in the Security Council for the eighth time as an elected member - The highlight of our presence in the Security Council so far has been our presidency in August," Mr Tirumurti, who is India's Permanent Representative to the UN, said in a video, reports NDTV.
India's Permanent Mission to the UN posted the special video highlighting the several achievements by India as its first year in the UN Security Council draws to a close.
Read: 90 pc of adult population in India vaccinated against COVID-19 with first dose: Union Health Ministry
The video chronicles India's journey as a non-permanent UNSC member in 2021 including its Presidency of the 15-nation Council in August, on combatting terrorism, UN peacekeeping, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Africa, Middle East and Climate action.
"Our performance again indicates that the world needs India to be at the horseshoe table permanently," Mr Tirumurti said, as he underscored the need for New Delhi to have a seat at the UN Security Council as a permanent veto-welding member.
Narendra Modi also became the first Indian Prime Minister to preside over a UN Security Council Open Debate as he chaired the high-level session on 'Enhancing Maritime Security - A Case for International Cooperation' on August 9.
For the first time, the Security Council adopted a presidential statement on maritime security. The visit of the Indian Prime Minister to the United Nations and to address the UN General Assembly was "certainly a high point this year", he said.
It was during India's August presidency of the Council that the situation in Afghanistan rapidly deteriorated, requiring the Security Council to act without any delay, Mr Tirumurti said, adding that Resolution 2593 on Afghanistan was adopted under India's presidency, which demands assurances that Afghan soil will not be used for terrorism against other countries and that the authorities in Kabul will act against all terrorists, including those designated by the 1267 Sanctions Committee.
Significantly, India firmly opposed the attempt by countries to bring the issue of climate change into the Security Council. Mr Tirumurti had said at the Council meeting earlier this month that "India is second to none when it comes to climate action and climate justice. But the Security Council is not the place to discuss either issue. In fact, the attempt to do so appears to be motivated by a desire to evade responsibility in the appropriate forum."
At the flag installation ceremony in the beginning of the year for the incoming UNSC members, Mr Tirumurti had highlighted that India comes into the Security Council "as a largest democracy, representing 1/6 of humanity and a very strong commitment to reformed multilateralism, rule of law, a fair and equitable international system and to peace, security and development."
Mr Tirumurti said in the video that India has been consistent in its support for transition to democracy, whether in Myanmar or in Africa and on issues affecting the developing world, India has been a strong voice to protect their interests.
"Our steadfast commitment to safeguarding the interests of the developing world is reflected in our performance," he said.
Further, given its predominant role in UN peacekeeping, India gave UN peacekeeping a strong focus in the last one year, including during its August Presidency.
During a meeting in August, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had said that peacekeeping continues to play a crucial role in India's vision of ensuring international peace and security and providing greater clarity, direction and professionalism in UN peacekeeping operations is at the heart of the vision.
Read: Indian Centre Allows Export Of 7 Crore Covovax Doses To Three Foreign Countries
After nearly five decades, India piloted a resolution on 'Protecting the Protectors', calling for accountability for crimes against peacekeepers. India also gifted 200,000 COVID vaccines to cover every peacekeeper in every peacekeeping mission throughout the world.
Jaishankar had also chaired a briefing on ISIL Daesh during India's presidency and New Delhi helped shape the Global Counterterrorism Strategy in the UN General Assembly.
During the year, India also sought to bring the necessary balance to the debates relating to Africa, Mr Tirumurti said adding that India made its views clear on the issue of burdening African countries with unrealistic benchmarks on their sanctions regime and called for greater commitment from the international community to assist Africa fight terrorism.
India chaired the Taliban Sanctions Committee and the Libya Sanctions Committee this year and will chair the Counter-terrorism Committee next year. In a historic decision, the UN General Assembly granted observer status to the International Solar Alliance.
90 pc of adult population in India vaccinated against COVID-19 with first dose: Union Health Ministry
Approximately 90 per cent of the adult population in India has been vaccinated against COVID-19 with the first dose, said The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Thursday, reports ANI.
Briefing media persons, Luv Aggarwal, Joint Secretary, Union Health Ministry said, "Approximately 90 per cent of the adult population in India has been vaccinated against COVID-19 with the first dose. On average, India reported more than 8,000 cases per day last week. Overall case positivity rate stands at 0.92 per cent. From December 26 onwards, the country has been reporting 10,000 daily cases."
Read: US should consider vaccine mandate for US air travel: Fauci
"The weekly positivity rate of more than 10 per cent is being noted in eight districts including six districts of Mizoram, one from Arunachal Pradesh and Kolkata in West Bengal. The weekly case positivity rate is between 5-10 per cent in 14 districts of the country. There are 961 cases of Omicron variant of coronavirus in India, out of which 320 patients have recovered," he added.
India has reported 13,154 new COVID-19 cases and 268 deaths in the last 24 hours, the Union Health Ministry said on Thursday.
The tally of Omicron COVID-19 variant cases in the country has gone up to 961 with maximum cases were reported from Delhi (263) and Maharashtra (252).
With this, the country's COVID-19 tally has risen to 34,822,040 while the death toll has mounted to 4,80,860.
The ministry informed that the active caseload in the country stands at 82,402 constituting 0.24 per cent of the total cases.
As many as 7,486 patients recovered in the last 24 hours taking the total number of recoveries to 3,42,58,778.
The recovery rate in the country currently stands at 98.38 per cent.
Read:French kids line up to get vaccine shots as omicron spreads
The weekly positivity rate in the country is 0.76 per cent which remains lesser than 1 per cent for the last 46 days.
The daily positivity rate is 1.10 per cent which remains lesser than 2 per cent for the last 87 days.
The country has conducted as many as 67.64 crore COVID-19 tests so far.
Asia looks to China-focused trade bloc for virus recovery
Members of a China-centered Asian trade bloc that takes effect Jan. 1 are hoping the initiative, encompassing about a third of world trade and business activity, will help power their recoveries from the pandemic.
The 15-member Regional and Comprehensive Economic Partnership, or RCEP, includes China, Japan, South Korea and many other Asian countries. It does not include the U.S. or India.
The deal slashes tariffs on thousands of products, streamlining trade procedures and providing mutual advantages for member nations. It also takes into account issues such as e-commerce, intellectual property and government procurement. But it has less stringent labor and environmental requirements than those expected of countries in the European Union or the smaller Trans-Pacific Partnership, which includes many of the same countries but not China.
RCEP is expected to boost trade within the region by 2%, or $42 billion, both through increased trade and also through diversion of trade as tariff rules change, experts say.
Extra help will be needed: Two years of lockdowns, border closures, mandatory quarantines and other restrictions have cost millions of people their jobs while also contributing to disruptions in manufacturing and shipping that are snarling supply chains worldwide.
Countries confronted with outbreaks of the fast-spreading omicron coronavirus variant have reined in recent moves to reopen to international travel.
Regional economies contracted by 1.5% in 2020. They’ve bounced back, with the Asian Development Bank forecasting growth at 7.0% this year — boosted by low year-before figures. But next year growth is expected to slow to 5.3%.
The pandemic slowed progress in ratifying the trade deal for some countries.
China was the first to ratify RCEP, in April, after it was signed in November 2020 at a virtual meeting of leaders from its 15 member countries. Indonesia, Malaysia and the Phlippines have yet to do so, though they are expected to ratify it soon. Myanmar, whose government was ousted by the military on Feb. 1, ratified it but that is pending acceptance by other members.
Beijing is fully prepared for the new trading bloc, having already fulfilled 701 “binding obligations” for RCEP, Chinese vice minister for commerce Ren Hongbin said Thursday.
“RCEP is of great significance building new development patterns and a milestone in opening up our economy,” Ren said according to a transcript of a news conference on the ministry’s website. He said the block would draw member economies closer and “greatly boost confidence in economic recovery from the pandemic.”
Like any trade deal, RCEP has its detractors.
In a recent legislative hearing shown on YouTube, government officials urged Indonesian lawmakers to pass RCEP, one of three backlogged trade arrangements.
READ: China releases shortened negative lists for foreign investment
Elly Rachmat Yasin, a member of a commission responsible for agriculture, the environment, forestry and marine affairs, questioned Indonesia’s trade minister, Muhammad Lutfi, about the wisdom of Indonesia's involvement, noting that India opted out largely due to fears that Chinese imports would swamp its markets.
Lutfi responded that RCEP would help boost exports and attract extra inflows of up to $1.7 billion in foreign investment by 2040.
Philippine Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez says he expects lawmakers there to ratify the pact in January, after running out of time to get it done in December, when the government was busy dealing with the aftermath of a typhoon that struck on Dec. 16, leaving 375 people dead and hundreds of thousands without adequate housing.
The trade bloc is expected to open many service sector jobs to workers in member countries — a big draw for countries like the Philippines that rely heavily on remittances from migrant workers.
“RCEP will uplift GDP and lower poverty incidence. It will open up more market access for our exports and widen sourcing of needed inputs that will improve competitiveness of our manufacturing sector and exporters," Lopez said.
READ: China orders lockdown of up to 13 million people in Xi’an
“There is no reason nor logic not to ratify RCEP," he said, adding that failing to do so would be “catastrophic" since investors would likely favor countries within the trading bloc.
Iran launches rocket into space amid Vienna nuclear talks
Iran launched a rocket with a satellite carrier bearing three devices into space, authorities announced Thursday, without saying whether any of the objects had entered Earth's orbit.
It was not clear when the launch happened or what devices the carrier brought with it. Iran aired footage of the blastoff against the backdrop of negotiations in Vienna to restore Tehran’s tattered nuclear deal with world powers. An eighth round had been underway this week and is to resume after New Year’s holidays.
Previous launches have drawn rebukes from the United States. The U.S. military did not respond to requests for comment on Thursday's announcement from Iran. The State Department, however, said it remains concerned by Iran's space launches, which it asserts “pose a significant proliferation concern" in regards to Tehran's ballistic missile program.
READ: Iran nuclear talks adjourn, seen resuming before year's end
Ahmad Hosseini, a Defense Ministry spokesman, identified the rocket as a Simorgh, or “Phoenix,” rocket that sent up the three devices 470 kilometers (290 miles).
“The performance of the space center and the performance of the satellite carrier was done properly,” Hosseini was quoted as saying.
But hours later, Hosseini and other officials remained silent on the the status of the objects, suggesting the rocket had fallen short of placing its payload into the correct orbit. Hosseini offered a speed for the satellite carrier that state-associated journalists reporting on the event indicated wouldn't be enough to reach orbit.
Iran's civilian space program has suffered a series of setbacks in recent years, including fatal fires and a launchpad rocket explosion that drew the attention of former President Donald Trump.
Iranian state media recently offered a list of upcoming planned satellite launches for the Islamic Republic’s civilian space program. Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard runs its own parallel program that successfully put a satellite into orbit last year. Hosseini described the launch announced Thursday as “initial,” indicating more are on the way.
Television aired footage of the white rocket emblazoned with the words, “Simorgh satellite carrier” and the slogan “We can” shooting into the morning sky from Iran’s Imam Khomeini Spaceport. A state TV reporter at a nearby desert site hailed the launch as “another achievement by Iranian scientists.”
READ: Satellite images, expert suggest Iranian space launch coming
The blast-offs have raised concerns in Washington about whether the technology used to launch satellites could advance Iran's ballistic missile development. The United States says that such satellite launches defy a United Nations Security Council resolution calling on Iran to steer clear of any activity related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons.
Space launch vehicles “incorporate technologies that are virtually identical to, and interchangeable with, those used in ballistic missiles, including longer-range systems,” the State Department said late Thursday. “The United States continues to use all its nonproliferation tools to prevent the further advancement of Iran’s missile programs and urges other countries to take steps to address Iran’s missile development activity.”
Iran, which long has said it does not seek nuclear weapons, maintains its satellite launches and rocket tests do not have a military component.
Announcing a rocket launch as diplomats struggle to restore Tehran's atomic accord keeps with Tehran's hard-line posture under President Ebrahim Raisi, a recently elected conservative cleric.
New Iranian demands in the nuclear talks have exasperated Western nations and heightened regional tensions as Tehran presses ahead with atomic advancements. Diplomats have repeatedly raised the alarm that time is running out to restore the accord, which collapsed three years ago when Trump unilaterally withdrew the U.S. from the deal.
From Vienna, Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani told Iranian state TV that he hopes diplomats pursue “more serious work to lift sanctions” when nuclear talks resume next week. He described negotiations over the past week as “positive.”
Washington, however, has thrown cold water on Tehran’s upbeat assessments. State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters earlier this week that “it’s really too soon to tell whether Iran has returned with a more constructive approach to this round.”
Iran has now abandoned all limitations under the agreement, and has ramped up uranium enrichment from under 4% purity to 60% — a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels. International inspectors face challenges in monitoring Tehran's advances.
Satellite images seen by The Associated Press suggested a launch was imminent earlier this month. The images showed preparations at the spaceport in the desert plains of Iran’s rural Semnan province, some 240 kilometers (150 miles) southeast of Tehran.
Over the past decade, Iran has sent several short-lived satellites into orbit and in 2013 launched a monkey into space. But under Raisi, the government appears to have sharpened its focus on space. Iran’s Supreme Council of Space has met for the first time in 11 years.