Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Tuesday recommended Israelis should not travel abroad because, he said, the Indian variant of the COVID-19 virus “is spreading rapidly around the world,” Israel News reports. The PM made his remarks three days after a fresh outbreak of COVID-19 was reported in two schools in the northern Israeli town of Binyamina, with 45 people infected.
Filipino president Rodrigo Duterte has threatened to jail people if they refuse to get vaccinated against coronavirus.
Intelligence officials are investigating why suspected Chinese spies returned to the United States on student and work visas at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to internal government documents reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon.
Mexico’s Religious Affairs Unit has reported that 270 evangelical pastors have died of COVID-19 in the country, Evangelical Focus reports. Seventy-two Catholic priests, and 15 nuns have also died of the virus, the Unit reported.
The world appeared a step closer Tuesday to learn about the origins of the COVID-19 outbreak amid reports that a senior Chinese state security official defected to the United States.
Russia’s government has blamed a surge in COVID-19 cases on reluctance among Russians to have vaccinations amid concerns about side effects. Critics also point out that it usually takes years to develop vaccines, while Russia was the first country to announce a coronavirus jab.
Israeli authorities have begun rolling out a new document showing proof of COVID-19 vaccination or recovery, the Times of Israel reports. However, the Health Ministry has stated it is acting to ensure that current certification remains valid so that people can travel in the interim without having to undergo expensive testing.
Hungary’s conservative government says a new law prohibiting sharing with minors any content portraying homosexuality or sex reassignment is linked to its fight against pedophilia.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed a law banning state agencies and public officials from closing houses of worship.
Christian leaders in India and Nepal are dying of COVID-19 at such a rate that “scores of Christian ministries” are in danger of closing as there is no one to lead them, aid workers say. ‘Black fungus’ now poses an additional deadly threat in India, where thousands of pastors and other Christian leaders reportedly died.
Former Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said he has “high confidence” in an assessment published by the State Department in January linking the controversial Wuhan Institute of Virology to the Chinese military.
The Group of Seven (G7) nations have agreed to participate in a worldwide vaccination plan “to halt the coronavirus pandemic.” It comes amid concerns among G7 leaders that impoverished countries are being left out in the global jab drive. They also want a global tax as they seek to raise their contributions to meet an overdue spending pledge of 100 billion dollars a year by rich countries to help poorer ones cut carbon emissions. And, the leaders made clear they will be seeking to rival China in reaching out to lower and middle-income countries.
Israeli scientists are developing an oral COVID-19 vaccine that may be ready as a booster shot for humans within nine months, the Times of Israel reports. The vaccine has so far worked well on rats, whose antibody levels increased with no side effects.
Countries should also avoid giving the Astrazeneca coronavirus vaccine to people over 60, the head of the EU drug regulator’s COVID-19 task force was quoted on Sunday as saying, amid fears over rare blood clotting and as more vaccines become available.
Israel’s longtime Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was ousted from power Sunday by parliament, the Knesset, which approved a new coalition government.
The Group of Seven (G7) nations will provide 1 billion vaccine doses over the next year as part of a worldwide vaccinating plan, Worthy News learned.
European Union leaders on Thursday called for an unfettered investigation into the origins of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, which they said is necessary to draw the right lessons from the pandemic.
U.S. President Joe Biden began his first official overseas trip Thursday with a warning to Russia, but his remarks didn’t impress Moscow.
A new Rasmussen Reports poll has shown that only 40% of likely American voters believe chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci has been truthful about US government funding for “gain-of-function” virus research: 46% believe he lied, and 15% are not sure. Moreover, the poll showed divisions along partisan and racial lines on the issue of whether Fauci lied or not.
A report on the origins of Covid-19 by a U.S. government national laboratory concluded that the hypothesis claiming the virus leaked from a Chinese lab in Wuhan is plausible and deserves further investigation, according to people familiar with the classified document.