Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis:COVID Deaths Hit Four-Month High In Peru Peru, the country with the highest COVID-19 death rate in the world, records more than 100 deaths on Friday, a figure not seen for four months.The country begins requiring vaccine certificates in stores, banks and airports due to the increase in cases and deaths.

President Joe Biden said Friday that democracy "knows no borders" as he closed a two-day summit on democratic freedoms while fending off a storm of criticism from China and domestic critics alike.Biden's presidency has focused on restoring America to what Ronald Reagan liked to call a "shining city on the hill," or a beacon for freedom that other nations look up to.But the Washington summit, held by video link because of COVID-19, underlined difficulties facing the Un

The United States (US) has been through waves, spikes and surges of COVID-19 throughout the pandemic, and now there is concern that the nation may be entering a new winter surge.Sometimes scientists know which factors drive a new rise in cases, but some surges have been inconsistent and hard to predict.Eventually, scientists suspect the rise and fall of coronavirus infections could shift into a more typical seasonal pattern.Early next year, health officials plan to begin serious talks about w

Cambodian leader Hun Sen ordered the country's military to destroy any United States (US) weaponry or dump it in warehouses on Friday, after Washington imposed an arms embargo over human rights concerns and Phnom Penh's close ties with China.The US on Wednesday imposed an arms embargo on Cambodia, citing concerns about human rights and corruption in the Southeast Asian nation as well as China's activities there.The actions taken by the US State and Commerce departments aimed to

Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis:German Vaccination Law Passes German MPs pass a draft law requiring health workers and soldiers to get vaccinated, a first step toward possible mandatory jabs for all adults.Czechs Make Jabs Compulsory For Over 60s The Czech Republic is making vaccines mandatory for people aged 60 and over from 1 March.Slovakia Opens Despite Peak Neighbouring Slovakia – which has the world's highest infection rate – all

The European Union medicines watchdog said Thursday the Omicron variant of COVID-19 may cause milder disease, as the World Health Organization (WHO) warned against a re-run of vaccine hoarding by rich nations as the new strain spreads.The tentative judgement from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) comes after the WHO said this week there was some evidence that Omicron causes less severe disease than Delta, the currently dominant variant.The EMA echoed the finding but said more investigation

Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis:Omicron 'Mostly Mild'The European Medicines Agency (EMA) says that cases of Omicron so far appear to be "mostly mild", but cautions it is still investigating whether the variant could cause severe disease.And the World Health Organization's (WHO) Africa branch says that in South Africa, which discovered the new variant last month, "severe cases remain low".No To Jab Hoarding: WHOThe WHO says it remai

First, there was Alpha, then Beta, Gamma and Delta. Now, thanks to the tremendous efforts of scientists in sub-Saharan Africa, the world is getting to grips with the Omicron variant.

Two doses of the BioNTech and Pfizer coronavirus vaccine may not be enough to protect against the Omicron strain, the companies warned Wednesday, but they stressed it was "still effective" after a third jab.The companies' news was called reassuring by experts and came as the first independent data from labs around the world emerged, suggesting that the new variant is better at evading vaccine-trained immunity than those before it.In preliminary results published on Wednesday, P

Philippine journalist Maria Ressa, this year's co-winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, on Wednesday urged fellow reporters to defend their rights in order not to lose them to "authoritarian-style leaders and budding dictators.""It has become incredibly hard and far more dangerous for every one of us," Ressa told reporters awaiting her arrival at Oslo's airport ahead of Friday's Nobel Peace Prize ceremony, where she will be honoured alongside Dmitry Muratov of Ru