World

France should consider closing its borders with Britain and other countries that have a strong presence of the new variant of the coronavirus first found in the UK, a French epidemiologist and government adviser said on Monday.

As time runs down on the Trump administration, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and top aides are rushing to complete actions they believe will cement the legacy of the president and themselves, according to U.S. officials.

Foreign ministers from the United States, Canada, Britain and Australia condemned last week's arrest of over 50 democracy activists in Hong Kong in a joint statement on Sunday, calling on China to respect the freedom of the people on the island.

Vatican City, the smallest independent county in the world, home to about 450 people including Pope Francis, has said it will shortly launch its own vaccination campaign against the coronavirus.

Foreign companies will not be allowed to test COVID19 vaccines on the Iranian people, President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday, a day after Iran's Supreme Leader banned vaccine imports from the United States and Britain.

Presidentelect Joe Biden may speed up distribution of COVID19 vaccines to U.S. states, a spokesman said on Friday, in an effort to jumpstart the slow rollout of inoculations that have made little impact on the pandemic one week into the new year.

Chinese authorities halted public transport in a provincial capital near Beijing on Saturday in an effort to stamp out a new cluster of coronavirus infections.

Denmark will restrict travel from all countries from Jan. 9, and has advised against going abroad, to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus, in particular the more transmissible mutations first found in Britain and South Africa.

U.S. Senator Ben Sasse on Friday said he would be open to considering articles of impeachment against fellow Republican Donald Trump after the president encouraged supporters to march to the U.S. Capitol, where a riot ensued and five people died.

The CDC has said healthcare workers and nursing home residents should have priority for vaccines, to be followed by people over 75 and essential workers.

The Latest on the fallout of the storming of the Capitol by a mob of proTrump loyalists (all times local):

Greece has extended restrictions on international flights by two weeks to help rein in the spread of COVID19, its civil aviation authority said on Friday.

South Korean researchers say they have designed an inflatable "negative pressure" ward for isolating and treating patients with infectious diseases like COVID19, after the pandemic exposed shortages of such beds around the world.

U.S. Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick died of injuries suffered when supporters of President Donald Trump assaulted the legislative building, the force said on Thursday, bringing to five the number dead from the riot.

The United States' ambassador to the United Nations, Kelly Craft, will visit Taiwan from Jan. 13 to 15 for meetings with senior Taiwanese officials, the U.S. mission to the U.N. said on Thursday, prompting China to warn they were playing with fire.

COVID19 vaccine deliveries under the COVAX facility coordinated by the World Health Organization to support lowerincome countries could start this month, WHO immunization director Kate O'Brien said on Thursday.