Houseplant of the week: ZZ plant
You can put this glossy green baby in a dark corner. It isn’t at all fussy and can handle all sorts of mistreatment
Read moreMonth: December 2021
India bans Mother Teresa charity from receiving funds from abroad
Licence application of Missionaries of Charity is rejected on Christmas day amid a wave of anti-Christian sentiment
Read moreCovid news live: South Africa says fourth wave has peaked; US will soon see ‘viral blizzard’, expert warns
Health officials in South Africa say its fourth wave has passed after a dip in infections; the US will see new Covid cases rise dramatically next month, an infectious disease expert warns
- UK PM Boris Johnson says UK doing ‘incomparably better’ against Covid
- South Africa says Omicron-fuelled fourth Covid wave has passed
- Germany, Italy and Portugal to relax isolation, Spain to cut quarantine
- Omicron havoc for airlines as JetBlue cancels almost 1,300 flights
- Covid booster jab offered to all adults in England, says government
- See all our coronavirus coverage
Australia Covid news live: Scott Morrison announces change to isolation time as nation records more than 32,000 cases
Scott Morrison announces change to isolation time; South Australia records 2,091 new Covid-19 cases and four deaths; Queensland records 3,118 cases; Australian batsman Travis Head tests positive ahead of fourth Ashes Test; NSW records 21,151 new cases and six deaths; Victoria records 5,919 cases and seven deaths. Follow all today’s news
- Frydenberg raises RAT pricing concerns with competition watchdog but doesn’t order formal inquiry
- How Australia went from Covid-zero to Covid-central in just a few months
- What are the new rules on Covid isolation, close contacts and testing?
- Vaccine rollout tracker; cases and data tracker
- Get our free news app; get our morning email briefing
- Follow our global Covid live blog
- See all our coronavirus coverage
Speed of Stand News shutdown sends chilling signal to Hong Kong’s media
Analysis: the police raid and closure of the pro-democracy website has left journalists wondering who will be next
Read moreCovid live news: Omicron accounts for 58.6% of all infections in US; Wales reports 12,378 cases in past 48 hours
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data highlights spread of new variant; Wales warns it is quickly catching up with rates in England
- Omicron ‘not same disease’ as other Covid waves, UK scientist says
- Covid test shortages threaten New Year’s Eve celebrations in England
- Asymptomatic people in the US told to isolate for just five days
- Covid pills are ‘very promising’ but what are challenges in using them?
- See all our coronavirus coverage
Australia Covid live news updates: almost 500 extra Sydney cases undetected in community for days after mistake by major testing facility
More positive cases after Sydney lab testing error; ‘sacred’ SCG Ashes Test to go ahead, NSW minister says; Queensland reports 1,158 cases, scraps day five testing requirement after Brad Hazzard criticises ‘tourism testing’; massive demand for testing in NSW blows out wait times as state records 6,062 cases and one death; Victoria records 2,738 Covid cases and four deaths; Tasmania reports 43 cases and the ACT 252 – follow all the latest news
- Covid positive test rate in NSW jumps to 6.5%, highest since start of pandemic
- Covid hospitalisation rates: how is Australia’s health system coping with the spread of Omicron?
- Vaccine rollout tracker; Cases and data tracker
- Get our free news app; get our morning email briefing
- Follow our global Covid live blog
- See all our coronavirus coverage
Covid live news: walk-in PCR tests unavailable in England for several hours; France considers new curbs
No walk-in PCR tests available in England for a few hours due to ‘high demand’; Emmanuel Macron expected to announce new measures in France
- Boris Johnson not expected to announce more Covid restrictions
- Germany toughens Covid restrictions as Omicron variant takes hold
- See all our coronavirus coverage
UK obesity plan will fail without action on unhealthy food – report
Exclusive: Centre for Food Policy says efforts to lose weight are being thwarted by constant exposure in retail and advertising
Read moreA day at the beach: ‘In the sea, I lost my hold on my daughter’
An ocean bath looked like shelter on a high swell day. Then an almighty wave picked Gadia Zrihan and her daughter up, dragging them into open water
Read more